Communication and kindness

I'm of the opinion that we just cannot over-communicate out here. The number of times that something has fallen over because the 'communication loop' did not actually fully loop ... ahh, it has been many, many times. Now I often text and phone too much, just to really make sure.

In the Healing Home we really encourage the girls to think ahead and communicate what we need - before we need it. Do we need soap? Please tell us before we have been running a soapless ship for the last week. Rubbish bags? Tell us while we still have a couple - not when the rats are feasting on uncovered food.

Sreymom has been doing great on this. She often gives me a list for shampoo, floor cleaner, toilet duck and all the other stuff that keeps the home supplied. Her note yesterday tho' had us all in a giggle.

A Sreymom classic communication posted on the fridge on good kiwi notepaper kindly left by Robyn.

Here is another living legacy from Robyn's time with us. Robyn came to the Healing Home on Thursday afternoons to do crafts with our patients. Sreyda has hooked into necklace and bracelet-making like you would not believe - and she is selling some too! Soon she will leave us, and for her to have the capacity to earn an income while in a wheelchair is a very big challenge. We are so thrilled at how she has enthusiasm and creativity for this and all the potential craft-making may have on her future.

Home almost alone

Good-bye good friends - Robyn may have the hydration essentials but Marty has a Cambodian treasure in his arms there - a superb piece of hammock!

Three months can fly when you are having fun.

Marty and Robyn headed back to the subtropical sunshine of Taranaki yesterday morning after being with us since late July. With this being their third time in Cambodia, they have established a real network of close friends here now - and lots of these friends are Khmer. It's been a neat time and they have been of huge value to different ministries and people here in their willingness to serve and to bless.

We are almost alone - Supei the Taiwanese lady from New York now gets the superior suite on the second floor. She will be gone before my good mum flies in on November 18 for four weeks with us.

Our staff

I am sometimes asked if I miss being the a church pastor. Of course our lives are very, very different here compared to life in New Plymouth - and it is a very fair question.

The short answer would have to be 'no'. I am so glad that Sue and I let go of a life and a people where, mostly, we had tremendous years and sack-fulls of happy memories. The letting go process was difficult but as I look around at the people and the opportunities that fill our life now, I am so glad that we now live here.

One of my greatest satisfactions here is the wonderful opportunity we have to focus down to just a few choice young people and to purposefully build into their lives. One of the very first words that I felt God speak to me when we came to Cambodia was about how the future of this nation belongs to a new generation who carry a different spirit. We get to build into some of this new generation. How amazing that is!!

Here are five of the nine staff that currently work for us at the Healing Home - bright eyed and bushy tailed this morning. I run a staff Bible-based training hour each Friday. Today we focussed into the subject 'beware the leaven of the Sadducees and the Pharisees' - all part of raising young people who are real, not religious!

OK - introductions: Sopheap our mercy-hearted little responsible carer and Sypho who has just joined us - one very fine lady. Front row is Dtouch our weekday cook who is so hungry and growing so well; Sreymom who is structured, quick to learn and a heap of fun, and Bunthorn who teaches the neighbourhood kids.

Missing are Bonna (she works Mon, Tues and Fri afternoons and all day Saturday), Neth our weekend cook and Sarah who is on deck Sundays. We also have young Rin who volunteers two days a week and sleeps at the Healing Home. With two staff sleeping over every night, there is a roster of all the girls that rolls along amazingly smoothly.

Tioman

Sue and I are still purring after a great break away. It turned out that we made a smart move by taking our first four days at Tioman Island, two hours boat ride off the south-east coast of Peninsula Malaysia. We were pretty tired, so a spot of island time was just delicious.

Room with a view - we stepped out of this simple bungalow, a few steps onto the beach then waded knee-deep into the water; flippers and facemasks on and the tropical fish were literally there. We found Nemo but happily not Bruce.

Restaurant with a view - life is very much laid-back island style at Tioman. One evening we went into a simple beachside restaurant and waited and waited ..... Despite open doors and billboard outside, there was neither cook nor staff to be found. We gave it 15 minutes and wandered down the path! Another time Sue had almost finished eating the iceblock from the outside icecream freezer before the shopkeeper showed to collect the loi.

Not wanting to be breakfast - around the wharf a serious school of these little guys were being preyed upon by a few garfish. Where Sue and I snorkelled there was an abundance of tropical fish - a bit like swimming in an aquarium. There was a huge variety too, but nothing bigger than 1kg, except for the little blue-spotted stingray.