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 Rotha's Wedding in Tboung Khmum
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.
Dakota Work and Ministry Team
A week after the Hyde Park team left, we had another team of visitors from South Dakota. Pastor Keith Nash from Mitchell, SD has come to Cambodia many times over the years, but this time he brought Pastor Jim Biswell and Duane of Watertown Wesleyan Church. Here you are seeing Pastor Jim and Duane worshiping in a church in Kampong Cham.
Pastor Jim preached four times that Sunday, at four different churches and cell groups around Kampong Cham. Here you are seeing Pastor Jim and his translator Leak sharing the story of the life of the Apostle Peter, and the lessons that we can learn from his spiritual journey.
That Sunday was full of worship, building relationships, and traveling roads that could be considered impassable. We journeyed for nearly twenty minutes along roads with great numbers of rocks and ruts to arrive at this church. Here you are seeing the house in Toul Sre where a group of Christians meets every Sunday
Along with preaching and teaching, this team also came to work on the New Building Project. We continued to backfill the foundational holes, working for an entire week in order to help the workers and the contractor at the lot, investing our sweat and hard work in the future of the WBI.
It was great to work with these men throughout the week. We spent several weekends at Pastor Biswell’s church while we were in the United States, but it was a special blessing to have him come to Cambodia, to work, laugh, and share together all that God is doing in our lives. Here you are seeing Tim working with the men, dumping one of the many baskets of dirt that we filled throughout the week.
Pastor Keith’s main ministry was teaching a module of classes at the WBI. He taught about the theology of God and Man. His method of teaching by story and by example was a great blessing to our students. Here you are seeing Pastor Keith and Leak teaching at one of the WBI chapels.
Having visitors such as these men was a great joy to us. Here you are seeing Tim and Pastor Keith enjoying a story together during the final night of their stay in Phnom Penh.
Team from Hyde Park Wesleyan
After a week of conducting medical clinics around the country, a team from Hyde Park, Pennsylvania spent a day working at the lot of the New Wesleyan Bible Institute. They spent the day backfilling the foundational holes with great mounds of soil using traditional Khmer tools and baskets. The intense heat and backbreaking labor did nothing to dampen their spirits, and we had a wonderful day of working together.
With American ingenuity and machinery, any skilled operator could have accomplished what we did that day in a single hour. However, working in the Khmer way speaks volumes to the Khmer workers who are building our school, a testimony without words.