Hello, and Merry Christmas!
I hope that you are having a great end to the year 2007. As many of you know, this year has been one of a lot of change in my life (hence the longer Christmas letter). If you are on my email list, you already know many of the things that have gone on in my life, but part of the joy for me is sharing it with you…
To begin with, I actually need to share something that happened in 2006. Before the end of the school year (June 2006), I was preparing to go back to Cambodia for the third summer. For a variety of reasons, I began to pray about leaving Mansfield Christian School after the 2006-2007 school year, in order to pursue some type of ministry in Cambodia for a longer period of time. I was not sure what that would look like, but I felt that it might be a route that God would want me to take.
After five weeks in Cambodia during 2006, I was sure that I wanted to attempt living there for a longer period of time. After praying about it and talking with others, I made the decision to leave MCS. It was not an easy decision because of the relationships with students and colleagues, but I felt confident that it was something that God was leading me to do. In January of this year, I presented a chapel to the school on my trip to Cambodia from the previous summer, and also told the student body that I would not be returning.
At the same time that I was trying to finish strong at MCS, I was working to complete my Master’s Degree in Music Education at The University of Akron. I had both written and oral comprehensive exams to take, as well as course work to complete. I prepared well for the writtens, but the orals where literally one of the hardest things I have ever been through. The best word for it is grueling. After it was over, I honestly did not know if I passed or not. By God’s grace, I did pass, and was able to walk at the commencement ceremony at Akron in May.
Simultaneously, I was helping the senior class at MCS to finish their last year by helping them to organize their senior trip. We ended up going to a small cabin in Tennessee. It was a nice week in the Smokey Mountains. The senior class gave a very generous gift to me towards my financial support raising for Cambodia, as well as recognizing me with an award for willingness to serve in foreign ministry. I was very grateful for their thoughts and gift.
I conducted my 48th and final concert at the school in late May. That was hard as well. God blessed me greatly while I was at Mansfield Christian. He really knew exactly where I needed to be for those 12 years, and he knew the people that I needed to have in my life at that time as well. There were so many students and faculty that had been an avenue of God’s work in my life. There were many special thoughts and people in my mind as I left the school. I will always be grateful for all the God did in me and through me during those years.
After the MCS commencement, I only had one week to finish putting my life into a storage unit and then head off to Cambodia. It seems like a long time ago now, but it was a very nice summer of renewing friendships, spending time with orphans, college students and teachers and serving in any way that God provided. Three students from Mansfield Christian came on the trip with us and they were a real blessing both in Cambodia as well as Thailand.
I began teaching English at Pannasastra University in Phnom Penh in early September. That has been a good experience as well. I am teaching in my second term now, and just yesterday I had a very gratifying thing happen to me. About ten of the students from my first term came to me and said, “our new teacher is not as good as you, can we be in your class?”… that certainly is good for the confidence level, as well as a confirmation that I am doing what God has for me right now.
I have also been learning the Khmer language. I am by no means fluent ( I have been told that takes a few years of study), but I am learning a lot, and there are many times when I snag a few words from passing conversations that I can use to guess what is being talked about. I can say a lot of things, but sometimes being able to comprehend another language that it spoken at about 1000 miles an hour is another story altogether. I would appreciate your prayers for me as I learn Khmer, and as I seek to know how God wants to use my knowledge of this.
Also, as many of you know I have been dating for the first time in a really long time. I met Seda (Say-da) when I first came to Cambodia in 2004. We have kept in contact for the last few years through email and phone calls, but this year we decided that we wanted to start dating. Dating in Cambodia is a bit different than in the States, and we have both had to make changes. We did take a hiatus for about a week about a month ago, but things are again going well. We would both appreciate your prayers as we consider the future.
Some of my friends always laugh at this part of my Christmas letter, but here is a laundry list of various other things that have happened in 2007…
… teaching a Bible study to the Cambodian college students on the book of John … driving a motorcycle to work every day… a continuing and expanding love for the music of Miles Davis… a LOT of pictures and posts on my blog ... Reading books… taking dozens of carloads of stuff to my storage unit… many rides with motorcycle taxis… getting a hairline fracture in my arm which made me wear a sling for a month plus… my brother coming home safely from his second tour in Iraq… listening to a sermon everyday from John Piper that I download from iTunes (the iPod and laptop have been huge blessings here)… my father having a pacemaker put in… my sister giving birth to her second son… email, email and more email… helping to lead a team of people from Ohio during their time in Cambodia… eating more rice and various strange foods than I ever have in my life… finishing paying off my college debts… reading Agatha Christie mysteries… cheering for the Buckeyes and Indians from half a world away…
Okay, I think that this is getting too long, so I will end it by saying that it is tremendous to think that Jesus came to earth as an ambassador for God, and that He came here to die… to die for all of us sinners so that we could have peace with and forgiveness from God… I hope that will be the center of your Christmas no matter where you may be… And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins…May God bless you in every way…
By His Power and Grace
Graham
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