We have been assigned to do some taping for a video that highlights God at work in Cambodia. Here you are seeing Tim and Allyn, the director of World Hope Projects here in Cambodia, interviewing Teacher Titus, one of the teachers at the School of Hope in Kratie.
Here you are seeing Tim and Titus working on the question and answer phase of the interview, to hone the answers to usable sound bytes for the final editing.
Here you are seeing Tim listening to the interviews as they are being conducted and monitoring the quality of the taping.
That night following the taping, Tiffany was asked to teach a special lesson to the students of Teacher Tess, the other instructor at the School of Hope.
The following day, we traveled to Kampong Cham where we videotaped the community development work in the community of Toul Sre. Here you are seeing Tim and two pastors walking and talking about the benefits that they are seeing in this community since World Hope began implementing development projects.
The landscape provided great backdrops for the taping of interviews and scenes of people interacting together.
The main focus of the two days in Toul Sre was a seminar on raising healthy chickens. Here you are seeing Tim videotaping the instructor and the participants interacting and learning together.
A major achievement in this community has been the digging of wells that now provides the necessary water to plant vegetables and have more sanitary living conditions. Here you are seeing the people of the community posing around one of their new wells that was just completed this past month.
Following the picture, the group joined together to pray for the well, thanking God and asking for His continued providence for the community.
The presence of these wells is life changing for these people who previously had to go buy water at a considerable expense. Having adequate drinking water, water for irrigation and also for cleaning and hygiene has improved the lives of the people in this community drastically.
Here you are seeing several young children of the community bathing during the heat of the day. Their joy at using the well and staying clean brought smiles to our faces and warmth to our hearts.
Here you are seeing one of the young boys peeking around the well as Tiffany snapped his picture.
Video Footage in Kratie and Toul Sre
Easter Service at the New Lot
Easter Sunday was spent at the new lot where we are building the new Wesleyan Bible Institute. Through a series of circumstances and sharing, a church has sprung up among the workers. Many have accepted Jesus as their Savior, and now they have built a semi-permanent structure where they can worship together.
Following the message, we passed out crosses that had been donated by an individual from the United States. The workers enjoyed these crosses greatly, and here you are seeing our students posing together after they passed out the crosses.
Following the service, we had an Easter Egg hunt for the workers. They had never done such a thing before, and they all really enjoyed it, especially because they were able to eat the colored duck eggs for their breakfast that day. (note.. we use duck eggs for coloring because the duck eggs are white and the chicken eggs are brown in color.)
Here you are seeing our contractor, Mr. Chree, posing with the two eggs that he found. Mr. Chree is a Christian as is his assistant, and he has done a great job of encouraging his workers to attend the church and allowing them time for Bible Studies throughout the week.
Here you are seeing Tiffany with Teacher Channy and some of the workers gathering around the coffee pot after the service. We brought nearly three gallons of coffee, and though they said it was too strong and had to therefore add great amounts of sweetened condensed milk, they drank it all.
Good Friday Service
The following Friday was Good Friday, and we had a time of remembrance and prayer at our house. Here you are seeing Pastor Kimsan sharing with those in attendance after we watched the movie The Passion of the Christ.
After Pastor Kimsan shared, Dr. Bob shared about the significance of Communion, and we all shared in Holy Communion to end the night of reflection and meditation.
Pastor Rotha's Wedding in Tboung Khmum
Quite different from Malachi’s wedding, the wedding of Teacher Rotha and Pastor Voechnear (aka Elizabeth) was a wedding that showed attention to the traditional styles of the Khmer wedding. Here you are seeing Rotha and his parents at the head of the line of guests during the Fruit ceremony where we brought gifts to the family of the bride.
We woke up very early in the morning to prepare ourselves and then travel to the join in this service. Here you are seeing us walking in the line, carrying boxes of cookies on silver plates.
During another ceremony later in the day, this time the “Hair Cutting Ceremony” we posed with Srey Lis for this picture.
Yet again, Tim was asked to give a blessing and a prayer for the new couple. As we have worked closely with Teacher Rotha over the past years, it was a special privilege to be part of his wedding day.
The wedding went on all day, with ceremony after ceremony and meal after meal. We ate three times at the wedding, and the cooks worked all day to prepare the many courses of food that we all enjoyed throughout the day.
During the final ceremony and meal, all of the guests are dressed in their very best clothing. Here you are seeing Tiffany and the students posing together.
The final ceremony of the day, the cake ceremony was a loud and festive time to celebrate the marriage of Rotha and Voechnear. We had sparklers and silly string. We sang songs and clapped and cheered as Rotha and Voechnear interacted together as husband and wife and cut the cake together.
Pastor Malachi's Wedding in Kampong Chnang
The month of March was full of activity and weddings. The first wedding was for Pastor Malachi and his new wife Srey Roath, pictured above.
This wedding was slightly different as it possessed a very light and fun quality, very different from the ceremonial nature of the traditional Khmer wedding. Here you are seeing Malachi and several pastors and friends lounging together for a picture before the service.
The wedding took place in Kampong Chnang, and we traveled there the day before the wedding, staying in a guest house situated about an hours from the actual wedding. Here you are seeing the Bickerts, Mamel, Mam Grace and John Park posing with several jakfruits that were growing on the property of the guesthouse.
Upon arriving, we joined in the morning breakfast of rice porridge. Here you are seeing Tim and Pastor Banyon posing together during the meal.
The missionaries are almost always asked to give a special blessing to the new bride and groom. Here you are seeing Tim giving his blessing and advice for their new marriage.
The ceremony called “Joining the Hands” is an opportunity for those attending the wedding to offer gifts for the new couple to purchase the things necessary to begin their home together. Here you are seeing us giving the money to Malachi and Srey Roath.
A special time of the wedding was when Srey Roath’s father, who is not a Christian , gave his daughter a bracelet during the “Joining the Hands’ ceremony. Here you are seeing the father, carefully attaching the bracelet to his daughter’s wrist. Tears were flowing from the eyes of father and daughter during this special time.
The entire team of missionaries gathered together for this picture with the new husband and wife.
Channa was one of the bridesmaids for Srey Roath, and here you are seeing her pose with Tiffany after the service.
March Piano Recital
Ms. Grace Tsutada had instructed the students on the subject of Holiness and taught them a great deal about playing the piano. Before her departure, she scheduled a second piano recital, and in this picture, you can see her welcoming the guests at the beginning of the recital.
The students had been practicing for several weeks, and their hard work paid off during the night of music and accomplishment.
Here you are seeing on of our students, Channa, carefully playing her piece of music. 
A special part of the night was when Pastor Poleak, who pastors the church that is located on the third level of the Bible School property, played a hymn while his wife Malout sang.
Visit to Boeng Krum
The weekend following Greg and Resie’s departure, we traveled to Boeng Krum for a fellowship with the students and with the church members. One of the main points of the trip was to enjoy the mangos that can be found at the plantation of Srey Lis, pictured here adoring a mango, freshly picked from a tree.
It is always a blessing to spend time with our students, and we learned a great deal from them concerning mangos, the most popular fruit here in Cambodia. Here you are seeing So Phol explaining to Teacher Tiffany how you can tell when a mango is ready to pick.
The countryside surrounding the plantation was very beautiful that day, and we were compelled to take a picture and share with all of you the beauty of the Cambodia.
For our midday meal, we shared in baked fish, rice, and several other dishes. Here you are seeing Srey Lis’s father on the right pictured with the fish that had been slowly roasting all morning.
After lunch, we rested, ate mangos, and went walking around the plantation. It was a special time of relaxation for us and for the students after a long week of classes.
The life of a missionary… eating mangos and sitting with friends on a beautiful afternoon.
Goodbye to the Fernandezes
The team from Dakota coincided with Aleeyah’s birthday party and the departure of Greg and Resie Fernandez from Cambodia for a year of furlough in the Philippines. Here you are seeing Resie and Aleeyah preparing to blow out the birthday candles.
It was a great night of sharing our appreciation for Greg and Resie and their entire family. Here you are seeing the female students gathering for a picture during the party.
Following the time of sharing, we spent time praying for Greg and Resie; asking for God’s special blessing to be upon them in their travels and in their ministry in the Philippines. Here you are seeing Pastor Keith Nash leading the prayers for Greg, Resie, Aleeyah and Esher.
Seeing our friends and their children leaving the field for a year was difficult for us. It was Greg and Resie that welcomed us at the airport when we first arrived, and it was a great pleasure working with them during these years.
Here you are seeing Resie waving goodbye to the students, the missionaries, and the pastors. We will look forward to the time when Greg and Resie come back to the field so that we can minister together again at the WBI and the Wesleyan Church of Cambodia.