Christian Values Day

So on Wednesdays the University of Nations here in Siem Riep does a Christian values day instead of class in order to evangelize to their students. In briefing us they wanted to make sure our expectations were set that we would probably have 3 to 4 students and thus we would merge our computer class with the English class. And what they said was true for the first two classes as we only had about 7 students. However for our 3rd class everything changed for once the people started coming they did not stop until the room was overflowing. To start off the class we played a game were there are 3 teams and the goal is to see which team can stand on the smallest piece of paper and if you were wondering who won the girls did. Next we sang the song "everybody needs some love" which the lyrics were just the song title at different speeds and pitches like many of the songs that they sing here. Finally we finished up with the bible story of how 4 men cut a hole in the roof of the house were Jesus was staying and then lowered down their friend so that Jesus would heal him. Unfortunately no one came to the lord during this class but that's OK. Because we were still able to plant seeds in all of their hearts and one day I believe that those seeds will come to fruition and that it is just a matter of time before they come to know Jesus.

The Orphanage

Today was a little different as our friend Samein took us to one of the many orphanges in Siem Reip. We started out at 6 in the morning and took a 5 mile bike ride to the outskirts of town. Were we found a small orphange which was really pieces of wood laying agaisnt eachother. We came there expecting to help Samein teach english but we got something much better. For we were able to share the gospel to Samein's class and though the laguage barrier was huge the Holy Spirit was stronger. And we believe that we were able to get through to at least one of the children which if that is all that comes of this trip it will be time well spent.

Computer Class

Well last night was our first run at teaching computers and it was a trip. The language barrier was really difficult to get by and simple words like think or instant had no meaning to our students. That being said we had great translators who helped us work through these problems. And by the end of the night we had fully dis and reassembled a computer and got most of the parts explained.
Now all we have to do is teach them how too diagnose hardware issues which we will do tonight. Then the rest of the week we will spend talking about the software side of things like reformatting the hard drive and fixing driver issues.

We also had the first math class this morning we came in to teach them adding and subtracting and by the end of the class we learned that they were currently learning Calculus at their High School. So to say the least we have our work cut out for us as we attempt to teach Calculus to our new Cambodian friends.


Well that is all for today and in case you were wondering the pictures have been updated.

Our First Weekend

We Started off our weekend on Saturday morning by searching for computer stores in Siam Reip. At first it was depressing as we could not find any cheap parts. But eventually after our 6th or so try and over ten miles of biking we hit gold! We were able to get a computer up and running for $35 and we also got a monitor old but still good. The store owners were so happy about the purchases that they personally closed up shop and took our parts back to the University of Nations.

For Sunday we had two services one for the baby Christians that have come to Christ through the school. Which was a particularly eventful service as the kids put on a rather moving show about Christs love. The worship was full of joy and laughter with lots of dancing. From there we broke into small groups to talk about what we learned that day and to give some more personal touch to questions that every baby Christan would have. The second service was international and it was amazing to see people from all over the world worshiping God not to mention there was air conditioning which was enough to make me feel God in itself.

The best part about the weekend though was the night at the queoue.
It was a place were the local Cambodians hung out and had fun. So what you would do is find a mat and then from there you could play some carnival games which Jason not only tried but won a Sport( a knockoff of Sprite). From there we pereused the food options and picked up several different foods including grasshoppers which both Jason and I ate two! Anyways after getting all of the food we went back to the mat and we all feasted and laughed and just simply enjoyed life. It was great to build realationship and it allowed us to connect and get a feel for how life is here for the common person. Giving a great perspective on life in the outside world and how some things are not all that different from home.

That is all for now and I post tomorrow of how our first computer classes went.

Our First Day of Classes

Well we have just finished our first two days of classes and are starting on our weekend of Computer repair. The classes truly were a joy and it was amazing to see how eager all of our students were to learn. We are currently teaching 5 classes that consist of typing, Microsoft word, power point, photo shop, and excel. I would like to note though that we really are not teaching the excel class as there is already a native Cambodian that is in love with the class and is insistent on the continuing of his teaching. Which just fine for us as we are worn out by that time and it is wonderful watch him teach.
Everything will change next week though when Jason and I attempt to go off the beaten path and teach new classes that have never been taught here before. These classes will consist of a math class and 2 computer repair classes. Word has gotten out fast about these classes and it seems no matter where we go there is someone that will come up and ask us "are you the teachers of the computer repair class?" Thus already confirming in our hearts that we will make an impact in their lives and possibly change them forever.
Well I best be signing off as we have some computer shopping to do.

With Love

Oliver and Jason

Pictures

Pictures

The Trip

Our trip first started in our 15 hour journey down to California and from there went to LAX were we departed for taipei at 1 in the morning. It was a 15 hour flight filled with slepping and lots of movies. Once we got to taipei we were kindly met with a 15 minute quarentine were several people were not allowed to enter the country. We then made our way to our connecting flight making the final 3.5 hour leg to Phnom Phen were safely arrived on time.