Some morning wedding pics in the park

In the morning of our wedding (Feb 7), we went to Hun Sen Park and had a lot of pics taken... Independence Monument is in the background... some of the pics were not that great, but for those of you who like wedding pics, you'll love it...

Killing a coconut

After the funeral in KT, I learned how to get the milk from a coconut, but it was more difficult than it looks... didn't help that the knife/hatchet wasn't very sharp...

Our SECOND wedding...

We had two weddings... one in Phnom Penh for all of our friends and co-workers that live here, and then a second one in Kompong Thom for all of Seda's relatives and neighbors from when she was growing up. Because of some problems with my computer, I have not been able to get the pictures from the first wedding yet (although you can see the pictures that John McC took below)... but here are a few from the second wedding in Kompong Thom... some of them were Photoshopped by the photographer, so be ready for some chessy photos at the end...

Two Funerals for Loak Yim Lam

Seda's father died on January 17, but this is the first chance that I have had to post any pictures. We had two services. The first one was in Phnom Penh at our church. Her father had made a profession of Christ, and was showing interest in growing in his faith when the cancer really began to get bad. He continued going to church until his body would not allow him. Because of this, Seda wanted to have a service at the church... those are the first pics...



Unfortunately, her mother did not want this, and requested a second service in the Buddhist religion. For me it was a really sad time, because you literally saw people mourning with no confidence that he was okay. Below are some pictures.

Pictures of our wedding by John McCollum...

Thanks John, we loved them!

Our pre-wedding pictures...

Here are some pics that we had taken at a shop... rented the outfits, and all... the backgrounds are totally Photoshop... although they were not able to do much about the landing strip on top of my head... if you want to see the pictures a little bit bigger, click on the slide show, and it will take you to an external website where you can see the pictures a little better...

Hope House Christmas Program 2008

Here are some pictures of the Christmas program that Seda's Center (Hope House) prepared... to my mind, the great thing about this production was that it brought in SO many Buddhist families to hear the story of Jesus birth...

Transform Cambodia Christmas Party 2008

Here are some pics from a Christmas party with people from Seda's work...

Pics from the Battambang Christmas Program 2008

Christmas with Seda's Family 2008

We had a pretty simple Christmas here in Cambodia this week... a gift or two for people, reading the Christmas account from Luke, and playing a game with banannas... ah, Cambodia... here a few pics...

Gospel Commission Fellowship Christmas 2008

Here are some pics of the Gospel Commission Fellowship Christmas program... complete with an after service meal...

Asia's Hope Christmas 2008

Here are some excellent pics from the Asia's Hope Christmas program in PrekEng... the kids did a great job! Savorn and all of the teachers did a fantastic job of organizing it also... including carving up a cow!

A long time coming...

I have had such great intentions of writing synopses for each of these books, but alas, there is no time... so in case anyone cares, here are some books that I have read, and in some cases begun to digest mentally and spiritually, over the last (geesh) 6 months. (????)

1. The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical by Shane Claiborne... I will just have to say that I am reading this book for the second time, and the first time I was really confronted with a book and ideas that need to be broadcast into the lives of every Christian... I was impressed with the fact that there are things about this Christian life that I have missed out on, and things that need to change in the way I live the Christian life... I hate to say it this way, but "You must read this book". Here is a short video of Shane reading an excerpt...



2. Tramp for the Lord, by Corrie Ten Boom. I have heard of this woman for a long time, but I have never read anything by her. This book was sent to me by some friends at the church in Mansfield, and even though it took me a while to read, it was SO encouraging to read about the faith and works that God performed through this little Dutch woman who lived through the Nazi holocaust and concentration camps... Here's a 1974 interview of her with good old Pat Robertson...



3. Black Echo by Michael Connelly. I have read this book several times before, but I continue to count it among Connelly's best... it may be his first book of the 20 or so that he has written, but it is a compelling novel that has great characters and competnecy in regards to presenting an understanding of a police officer in Los Angeles... his Harry Bosch series begins here, and for novel readers, it is a good one to pick up...

4. I have slowly gotten into reading John Grisham... I know that I am about 20 years behind the rest of his fans, but I have read three or four of his books now, and really enjoyed them... So, I recently read The Client... well constructed, but even though it touched me as a bit unbelievable at times, I enjoyed the artistic side and how he put all of the pieces of the story together... here is the trailer from the eventual movie...

A wedding update!

The Cambodian marriage law forbidding foreigners from marrying Cambodian women has changed, and Seda and I will be getting married SOON! Actually... February 7! Please keep us in your prayers as we try to get a lot done in a short amount of time! We are obviously excited, but more importantly, we want to honor the Lord on that day, as well as in all of the preparations. And by the way, you are all invited! May God bless you.

Exciting news about Asia's Hope, and some prayer requests for me...

This is a two part email... the first part is a Facebook posting that was written about what Jesus has been doing in and through Asia's Hope in 2008... very encouraging and exciting to be a part of... toward the bottom, there are a few prayer requests for me... Thanks for reading! Graham

Part 1...
"Grassroots. Multi-denominational. Indigenous. Asia’s Hope is truly a unique organization that God is using to unleash hope to orphans in Southeast Asia.Thanks to the generous support of churches and individuals from all over the world, 2008 has been our most exciting year yet. Here a few facts you may not know about Asia’s Hope:

In 2008, God grew our organization from 4 orphan homes to 14. That’s 350% growth in just one year! At capacity, these homes will serve 500 orphaned children. This year alone, we rescued 233 new orphans from a life of poverty and abuse.

13 of our 14 orphan homes are sponsored by individual churches or organizations. That’s 93% of our projects in long-term relationships with a diverse group of Christian communities.

More than 91% of the money donated to Asia’s Hope goes directly to work in Southeast Asia. Less than 10% goes to administration and communications.We have more than 90 workers from Cambodia and Thailand, and only one American on staff.

Asia’s Hope is a truly indigenous organization that is responsible with its financial and human resources.All of our orphan homes are run by responsible, accountable and well-trained pastors. Our children are well-loved, well-educated, and enjoy all of the benefits of a stable, Christian home.

Asia’s Hope is investing in long-term, capital projects that will provide care for generations of orphans. Thanks to your generosity, in 2008, we completed 3 new orphan home buildings that we own, are occupied and are paid in full. We’re currently building three new orphan homes, which will be completed by February. We’ve also purchased three new pieces of property which will provide homes to even more children. We have spent more than $340,000 on these projects in 2008 alone."

...Part 2
1. As many of you know, Seda and I have been in limbo as regards getting married due to a temporary Cambodian law that says foreigners may not marry Khmer women. Due to the fact that there seems to be no end to this temporary status, we have decided to take a leap and apply for a tourist visa to the US. It is characteristically difficult for Khmer people to get visas to the US, but we are going to do everything that we can to make a case for it. It will take several months, so please keep us in your prayers. We would love to come around March or April, but it is hard to say with immigration issues.

2. For anyone who has known me for more than about 20 minutes, you know that I sometimes struggle with discouragement. I have had a bout of this in a few different ways lately, so please keep me in your prayers so God will help me to keep my mind on His plans and purposes and encouragement.

3. I continue to need your prayers in regard to support raising. I know that things in the US have been tough lately, and I am very grateful to those people who have sacrificially given to the work God has given me here, but please continue to pray for me that God will raise up monthly sponsors that will help to make my work here effective! If you know of someone who may be interested in helping me, please send them my email address.

4. Finally, Seda and I have begun working on a project of Values Education that was proposed to us by Dave Atkins at Asia's Hope. There are SO many things that we consider common knowledge that we take for granted as Americans, but that Cambodians in poverty often know nothing about. These topics range from how to make right and wrong choices, to personal hygiene, to how we should recognize and respect authorities. I am excited about this because it really incorporates all of the Christian school education philosophy that I learned when teaching at Mansfield Christian School. Not only are we teaching the values that are important for developing citizens of Cambodia, but it also will be under girded with an understanding of where these things are derived from in God's character... for me these are really cool things.

Okay, that is all for now... God bless you all, and I look forward to talking to you soon!

Let Christians Vote As Though They Were Not Voting

A good little article about perspective on voting...

Let Christians Vote As Though They Were Not Voting
October 22, 2008
By John Piper

Voting is like marrying and crying and laughing and buying. We should do it, but only as if we were not doing it. That’s because “the present form of this world is passing away” and, in God’s eyes, “the time has grown very short.” Here’s the way Paul puts it:

"The appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away." (1 Corinthians 7:29-31)

Let’s take these one at a time and compare them to voting.

1. “Let those who have wives live as though they had none.”
This doesn’t mean move out of the house, don’t have sex, and don’t call Honey. Earlier in this chapter Paul says, “The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights” (1 Corinthians 7:3). He also says to love her the way Christ loved the church, leading and providing and protecting (Ephesians 5:25-30). It means this: Marriage is momentary. It’s over at death, and there is no marriage in the resurrection. Wives and husbands are second priorities, not first. Christ is first. Marriage is for making much of him.

It means: If she is exquisitely desirable, beware of desiring her more than Christ. And if she is deeply disappointing, beware of being hurt too much. This is temporary—only a brief lifetime. Then comes the never-disappointing life which is life indeed.

So it is with voting. We should do it. But only as if we were not doing it. Its outcomes do not give us the greatest joy when they go our way, and they do not demoralize us when they don’t. Political life is for making much of Christ whether the world falls apart or holds together.

2. “Let those who mourn [do so] as though they were not mourning.”
Christians mourn with real, deep, painful mourning, especially over losses—loss of those we love, loss of health, loss of a dream. These losses hurt. We cry when we are hurt. But we cry as though not crying. We mourn knowing we have not lost something so valuable we cannot rejoice in our mourning. Our losses do not incapacitate us. They do not blind us to the possibility of a fruitful future serving Christ. The Lord gives and takes away. But he remains blessed. And we remain hopeful in our mourning.

So it is with voting. There are losses. We mourn. But not as those who have no hope. We vote and we lose, or we vote and we win. In either case, we win or lose as if we were not winning or losing. Our expectations and frustrations are modest. The best this world can offer is short and small. The worst it can offer has been predicted in the book of Revelation. And no vote will hold it back. In the short run, Christians lose (Revelation 13:7). In the long run, we win (21:4).

3. “Let those who rejoice [do so] as though they were not rejoicing.”
Christians rejoice in health (James 5:13) and in sickness (James 1:2). There are a thousand good and perfect things that come down from God that call forth the feeling of happiness. Beautiful weather. Good friends who want to spend time with us. Delicious food and someone to share it with. A successful plan. A person helped by our efforts.

But none of these good and beautiful things can satisfy our soul. Even the best cannot replace what we were made for, namely, the full experience of the risen Christ (John 17:24). Even fellowship with him here is not the final and best gift. There is more of him to have after we die (Philippians 1:21-23)—and even more after the resurrection. The best experiences here are foretastes. The best sights of glory are through a mirror dimly. The joy that rises from these previews does not and should not rise to the level of the hope of glory. These pleasures will one day be as though they were not. So we rejoice remembering this joy is a foretaste, and will be replaced by a vastly better joy.

So it is with voting. There are joys. The very act of voting is a joyful statement that we are not under a tyrant. And there may be happy victories. But the best government we get is a foreshadowing. Peace and justice are approximated now. They will be perfect when Christ comes. So our joy is modest. Our triumphs are short-lived—and shot through with imperfection. So we vote as though not voting.

4. “Let those who buy [do so] as though they had no goods.”
Let Christians keep on buying while this age lasts. Christianity is not withdrawal from business. We are involved, but as though not involved. Business simply does not have the weight in our hearts that it has for many. All our getting and all our having in this world is getting and having things that are not ultimately important. Our car, our house, our books, our computers, our heirlooms—we possess them with a loose grip. If they are taken away, we say that in a sense we did not have them. We are not here to possess. We are here to lay up treasures in heaven.

This world matters. But it is not ultimate. It is the stage for living in such a way to show that this world is not our God, but that Christ is our God. It is the stage for using the world to show that Christ is more precious than the world.

So it is with voting. We do not withdraw. We are involved—but as if not involved. Politics does not have ultimate weight for us. It is one more stage for acting out the truth that Christ, and not politics, is supreme.

5. “Let those who deal with the world [do so] as though they had no dealings with it.”
Christians should deal with the world. This world is here to be used. Dealt with. There is no avoiding it. Not to deal with it is to deal with it that way. Not to weed your garden is to cultivate a weedy garden. Not to wear a coat in Minnesota is to freeze—to deal with the cold that way. Not to stop when the light is red is to spend your money on fines or hospital bills and deal with the world that way. We must deal with the world.

But as we deal with it, we don’t give it our fullest attention. We don’t ascribe to the world the greatest status. There are unseen things that are vastly more precious than the world. We use the world without offering it our whole soul. We may work with all our might when dealing with the world, but the full passions of our heart will be attached to something higher—Godward purposes. We use the world, but not as an end in itself. It is a means. We deal with the world in order to make much of Christ.

So it is with voting. We deal with the system. We deal with the news. We deal with the candidates. We deal with the issues. But we deal with it all as if not dealing with it. It does not have our fullest attention. It is not the great thing in our lives. Christ is. And Christ will be ruling over his people with perfect supremacy no matter who is elected and no matter what government stands or falls. So we vote as though not voting.

By all means vote. But remember: “The world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:17).
Voting with you, as though not voting,
Pastor John

Asia's Hope Retreat

Here are a slew of pics that I took when the Asia's Hope staff went to Sihanoukville with their families this past month... I haven't had much time to get them on the web, but you can see some of the fun that they were having... the pics of Sophang at the end burying himself in the sand and especially funny...

Some days, it just feels like this...

Somedays you are being refreshed by the water, and some days,

you are just sand slipping through the hour glass...

Another bug?

Here's another friend from the hallway, and no, Seth... I did not eat either one of them...

Patches

Well, my good friend and companion Patches passed on this past Saturday... I adopted her from a family that was moving to different parts of the US, and had her for about three years... she had lived with another family for the last 17 months while I have been in Cambodia... she was a great cat... here are some older pics...