Christmas in Cambodia

I wasn’t sure what to expect of Christmas this year. Since Cambodia is almost completely Buddhist, I thought I may not see any signs of it at all. However, Cambodians love to celebrate, so they’ve added Christmas to their list of 42 holidays. There are decorations on most store fronts as well as around some of the monuments. We have been told that most Cambodians think of Christmas as a western New Year’s celebration (not to worry, they celebrate New Year’s on January 1st, Chinese New Year in February, and Khmer New Year in April). If gifts are exchanged at Christmas, it is only between boyfriends and girlfriends and sometimes husbands and wives. We’ve had to keep reminding ourselves it’s Christmastime since it’s consistently in the 80’s or higher each day, so we've been listening to Christmas music. Some of our favorite Christmas tunes this year are I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas and Baby, It’s Hot Outside.

We recently read the following in our daily devotional, Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals:

Nicholas of Myra (Fourth Century)
The original “Old Saint Nick” who inspired the tradition of Santa Claus, Nicholas was a bishop of Myra in fourth-century Turkey. Little is known about his life except that he entrusted himself to Jesus at an early age and, when his parents died, gave all of their possessions to the poor. While serving as bishop, Nicholas learned of three girls who were going to be sold into slavery by their father. Moved to use the church’s wealth to ransom the lives of these little ones, he tossed three bags of gold through the family’s window. We recall this ancient Christmas gift, even as we remember that 1.2 million children are trafficked each year in the global sex trade today.

Merry Christmas and Peace on Earth,

Katy

Eating in Cambodia

Since moving to Cambodia we have eaten a lot of good Khmer food. We have gotten used to eating rice on a daily basis, and we’ve noticed that we pile on a little more each day. Khmer food usually is good and simple. Each meal typically is a huge scoop of rice, a smaller scoop of vegetables, and a little meat. However, there are also some creepy things that we have tried as well. One day in our Khmer class, our teacher brought us crickets. I thought the cricket tasted kind of like chips, not too bad…except that one of the legs got caught in my throat for about half an hour! 

We also worked ourselves up to trying “baby duck eggs,” which are fertilized duck eggs.The first time I saw one of these, I thought I was opening a hardboiled egg, but what I found as I peeled back the shell was a hardboiled egg with a little baby duck staring back at me from inside.  I did not eat it the first time I saw it because I was filled with guilt and compassion for the little bird who was looking up at me.  However, a few weeks later, we went to the night market, and they had deep-fried baby duck eggs, so we tried them.  Neither one of us was able to eat the head! 

 Finally, we have also tried fried tarantulas.  I was hoping there would be some kind of breading but there wasn’t—just fried tarantula.  If I had to eat one of these 3 items again, it would probably be the cricket, but reality tells me that at some point I’ll probably eat all of these items again.  They all tasted okay, but each one made me feel a little creepy!

-Katy

The unwelcomed visitor

Today we had an unwelcomed visitor in our apartment. I was sitting in a chair reading when I noticed something stretched out on the floor. I looked at it a few times and then I realized that is was a snake. Katy was in the next room and I didn’t want her to see it because I knew she would be scared, so I grabbed a shoe to try to smash it before Katy realized what I was doing.  Killing it with my shoe didn’t work so well, and Katy heard me and left the apartment.  As all this was going on, our language helper showed up for our lesson, and she is also terrified of snakes. Our language helper found a wooden club and handed it to me. With the club I was able to defeat our unwelcomed visitor. This is the first time we have seen a snake in Cambodia besides the huge ones at the zoo. Hopefully this is the first and the last time we’ll have an unwelcomed visitor.  What can I say, it’s always an adventure every day here in Cambodia.

- Alan

We made it!

We are in Cambodia! Our travels went right as planned, and we and all of our belongings arrived safely here.  We were greeted at the airport by some of our coworkers and program participants.  It was really comforting and exciting to walk out of the airport into a foreign land and be met with cheers and hugs.  We have enjoyed our first few days here and, much to our delight, we have been inundated with language and culture.  Any worries we had of not being exposed to the language are gone, and we plan on going tomorrow to sign up for language school.  Since we plan on making these first few months a time of intense language learning, we will be stopping our communication briefly so that we can focus on spending as much time practicing Khmer (the language of Cambodia) as possible.  We will take a break from our blog but look forward to updating you in a few months about what we’ve experienced and learned.  Today in Khmer church, I understood 7 words:  16, 11, 7, thank you, yes, hello, and Amen.  Hopefully by the next time I write, I will understand a lot more.  Don’t worry, although we hope to improve our Khmer, we still plan on continuing to communicate with you in English! 

-Katy

We're on our way!

Hello all,

Well, we're on our way to Cambodia, only a day left in the United States. It's been a great summer spent with family and friends. Our bags are packed and we're prepared as best we can be. We had a great sendoff from Common Ground Christian Church a few weeks ago. We feel very blessed and encouraged by all of you.  Goodbyes are tough, but there's no way around them. Please know that you are in our thoughts and prayers, and we will miss you. We value your friendship, and please feel free to send emails. Our email address is beringerak@gmail.com.

So what am I feeling right now? Well I'm nervous, a bit scared,  and have some anxiety, but when I think about the people that we'll be serving in Cambodia all these feelings go away. We're excited and ready to see God lead the way in our lives and in the lives of the people of Cambodia.

Our travel time is 26 hours. Akron, OH to Atlanta, GA to Seoul, Korea to Phnom Penh, Cambodia.  We have flown this flight a few times and have a system for not going stir crazy on the 14.5 hour flight from Atlanta to Seoul: we try to sleep as much as possible!

Our next post will be from Cambodia!

Alan

Saying Goodbye

We now have plane tickets for August 24^th.  The next month of our lives will be filled with goodbyes.  Although we are excited for our new adventure, we are sad to be leaving family and friends.  Here are some important dates in the next month.  All are invited:

July 31 (Sunday)—attend Monticello United Methodist Church service

August 3 (Wednesday)-6:30pm at Common Ground Christian Church (4550 N. Illinois St. 46208)

"Nehemiah Night"---This is our church's monthly prayer night.  The church will be praying for us specifically on this night. 

August 6 (Saturday)--Open House-- at Common Ground Christian Church 1-4pm--cake and punch provided--nothing fancy, just stop by and say goodbye. :)

August 7 (Sunday)--Common Ground Christian Church will be praying for us at each service.  This is also our last day in Indianapolis.

Our Trip to Georgia

Katy and I were invited to speak at Lighthouse Church in Rossville, GA this past weekend.  We left Indianapolis on Friday and met up with a few friends along the way.  We had a great time with the Lighthouse community, and it was very encouraging for us.  Thank you Pastor Fred, Tracey, and Heath for connecting us to Lighthouse Church. 

Where are we?

That's a really good question these days. Our training at MTI was
wonderful. We met so many great people that God is calling to all
corners of the world. The language learning portion of the training
calmed my fears of learning Khmer. We now have tools that will make
language learning fun and very doable. The cross-cultural training was
excellent. We're now more prepared to be successful in doing God's
work in Cambodia. Thank you MTI staff for a great experience and
preparing us to serve the people of Cambodia.

So MTI is over, where are we? Currently we're in Akron, Ohio visiting
with my family. This summer is mainly going to be spent in
Indianapolis, IN, Monticello, IN, and Akron, OH. We're looking to move
to Cambodia at the end of August. We're extremely excited to go and
serve in Cambodia where God is calling us.

God has been teaching me patience over the last month as we have come
back to the Midwest without having a home of our own anymore. Don't
worry, we're not living out of our car down by the river. We have
plenty of family and friends that have opened their homes for us to
rest our heads. Just about everything we own is now in storage.
Organizing everything took longer than we thought. Glad that's over!
Starting to say goodbyes is tough and overwhelming.  Although life is
a little unstable, I trust and believe that God will provide more than
enough patience for me.

God bless,
Alan

Terrify No More

I have been reading the book Terrify No More, written by Gary Haugen, the president of International Justice Mission.  IJM is a human rights agency that secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression all over the world.  The book describes a brothel raid that IJM did about 10 years ago in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, where we’ll be moving soon.  About 40 girls ages 4 and up were set free due to IJM’s strategic work.  There was a particular passage in the book that challenged and encouraged me.   I wanted to share it with anyone who might read this:

                     

Our investigators march into these dark, ominous settings because they believe they are called by God to be that defense.  As Sharon Cohn often says, “We can’t expect the children to be more courageous than we are.”  Some Christians are uncomfortable with the idea that God has been in a dark, repulsive brothel, that he could possibly be a witness to all the evil acts that take place there.  Our investigators are not only comfortable with the idea---it’s the truth they count on.  Robert Earle explained his emotional state during this first journey into Svay Pak.  “I don’t mean to discount the feeling of apprehension or vulnerability that comes from being in the dark, completely disoriented in an entirely unfamiliar setting,” he said.  “But I also don’t want to discount the fact that prior to going into this village we had prayed.  I know that sounds very simple, but it makes all the difference in the world, certainly on an emotional and mental level, but more important, on a spiritual level---to draw upon the resources of God who is already in that place and is familiar with it.  He’s already aware, sadly, of every horrible thing that happens in there.  So you call upon his promises that he’ll be with you.  You’re not going in there alone, someplace that he can’t lead.  He’s been in there for years, and he’ll be there long after I’m gone.  You’re simply not going in there alone. 

--Katy

Out West

We've made it to Palmer Lake,CO where our next five weeks will be filled with language learning and cultural training at Mission Training International (MTI). Our drive out West was filled with adventure. After spending time with family, we headed to Boise, ID to visit with our church's newest church plant. Along the way we stopped to enjoy some of God's beautiful creations, Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Parks. Both places offered some nice downtime and relaxation as we both enjoy spending time outdoors. After a few days on the road, we made it Boise.  What an encouraging time! God is moving in the North End Collective Church in big ways. It was nice to see old friends and meet new ones. I hope we were as encouraging to them as they were to us. On our last night in Boise, the leadership team prayed over us; it was awesome. In a way we can relate to the church plant, picking up and moving to go share our faith with others in a new city across the country or across the world. Thank you Boise church plant! What a great few days! 

We're at MTI now.  We just went through orientation this evening and classes start tomorrow. It is nice to meet people that are going to serve all over the world, knowing that God has a plan greater than we can even imagine. We're looking forward to the next five weeks.

Alan

Transition

    Over the last couple of days I have said goodbye to my coworkers and friends, packed up a moving truck, driven 350 miles, and unloaded all of our belongs. I’ve known that transition was coming but now it’s starting to sink in.  Katy and I are preparing for our journey out west to attend missionary training in Colorado Springs, CO.  It’s tough to say goodbye to Indianapolis. It’s been our home for eight years, and we look forward to visiting Indy throughout the summer.  Now we’re looking ahead, excited for what God has in store for us as we take steps of faith. It’s neat that God has timed our transition during the Spring when everything is changing all around us. The dead, dormant grass is turning green, flowers and trees are starting to bloom, and potholes are being filled in.  Easter is another reminder that change has happened, is happening, and will happen. Easter is a great reminder for me that our Lord and Savior is real and was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for all of us. Today Katy and I step out of our comfort zone to pursue a calling that we’ve felt for the last couple of years.  It’s scary and exciting all at the same time.  Wishing everyone a very blessed Easter.

-Alan

Visit to MUMC

This past weekend we spoke at my home church, Monticello United Methodist Church, about our plans to move to Cambodia.  What an encouraging time!  I wish that everyone could grow up in a church like MUMC.  People who attend there understand what it really means to be the church, the body of Christ.  I think my family started attending there when I was around 5.  Since that time, I have seen people love and care for each other and others through good times and hard times.  Thank you MUMC for being such a faithful group of people!     --Katy

Doors

There’s a trip to Cambodia going next week.  Maybe you should go and see it…..okay….now where exactly is Cambodia again?

We had been investigating an overseas move and some of the doors we had opened in the process had been shut.  We had met with the church staff to determine what to do next, and they had asked us to go home and think and pray about what our ideal overseas work situation would be.  At our next meeting, Alan shared that he would like to work with development projects, working on existing projects and coming up with new ones.  Katy shared that she would like to work in a social work capacity and teach English.  We also shared that we would like to host mission trips and that we were interested in Southeast Asia.  We also felt called to work with an organization strongly connected to Common Ground.

The church staff then shared with us about a Christian development organization, Center for Global Impact, which Common Ground was building a relationship with.  The organization was looking for a couple to move to Cambodia and work with its projects.  They also wanted the couple to host mission teams.  As we listened to the description of what was needed and checked on the map to know specifically where Cambodia was, we both felt in our hearts that this was certainly worth exploring.  It seemed like such an exact fit.  Then, Jeff told us the crazy news—there’s a trip going next week, maybe you should go.  Miraculously, both of us were able to get the time off from work with just a week’s notice.  We visited in September 2010 and both felt really at peace while we were there.  Upon returning home, we prayed about the decision and both felt God prompting us to move to Cambodia. 

We returned for another trip in February 2011 to prepare for our move in August 2011.  It is neat to see how God was able to match a need of an organization with our desire to serve.  We know that the journey will be challenging, but we are confident that this is a good fit.  Although it doesn’t always seem so, God has a clear plan for us.  If we wait on Him, he will make things clear in His time about how He wants to use us for His glory.  He shuts and opens doors.  We are excited to see what doors open when we move to Cambodia.