Here’s a few pictures of some of the meals we eat in the evenings. It’s a variety of soups and stir-fry. For lunch we typically eat leftovers or sandwiches (egg salad, tuna fish, or fried egg.) On the weekends I cook either American or Khmer meals. (For breakfast we eat oatmeal every day except Sunday, when we have scrambled eggs – exactly the same as we did in America.)

 We usually enjoy the food. But, just like in America, sometimes the food is “not our favorite.”

Saturday we went to a 2500៛ Store($0.625). The kids enjoyed spending $0.625 each.

 Sometimes I forget that I look different…that I don’t blend in…that I’m not Cambodian. This is where we belong. But it hit me one day as we were driving to church. I was looking out the window at views that have become “normal” to us…then it hit me: I’m not Cambodian. No one looking in our window thinks we look “normal.” And we never will. We’re different. Our skin is light, our noses are pointier, we sound different…and WHOA we have three “different” looking little kids.

This is one thing that makes the body of Christ so refreshing. In Christ we are one – there is no Jew or Gentile: One Lord, one faith, one baptism. We have come to Cambodia to further His kingdom. The fact is that we are all strangers in this world, and we look forward to our heavenly home where we will stand with people from every tribe and nation free from distractions of differences but joined together in worshipping our Lord.

The picture above is of our friend Sherif. Sherif is an Arab man who left his country nine months ago because he became a follower of Christ. He has been told if he returns to his home town, he could be killed. Please pray with us that he will grow in Christ and that the Lord would provide for his needs as he starts to rebuild his life. Please pray for wisdom for Josh as he meets once a week with Sherif to study the Bible.

Happy 5-month birthday to our sweet little Anna Grace. Anna continues to be a delightful, very happy baby girl. She smiles, laughs, and loves to be held. She rolls over a little bit. I tried to get her hooked on the pacifier, but she has decided that she loves her thumb. (The lady in the next picture is my language tutor.)

Below are some sibling comparison pictures. Of course, because of Becca’s premature birth it’s hard to do an exact comparison.

We are so thankful for the gift God has given us in Anna. We thank Him for the good health He has given her in Cambodia and for giving her a sweet, easy-going personality, which has been a huge blessing during our transition over here. I’m delighted God has given me another daughter and I love watching our girls interact.

Happy 5-month birthday, Anna Grace. You’re growing up way too fast!

Those of you who receive our updates know that our main prayer request for last month was for the Lord to provide a part-time helper for our family. Let me share with you how the Lord has answered our request. We found a lady who was interested in being our helper. But the night before she was to start, I received a call saying that she would not be coming because he husband did not want her working for Christians. However that same evening the Lord provided two leads on other ladies looking for work. I figured it would be another week before we had a helper.

That next Tuesday morning my tutor brought her older sister to meet us. We were not expecting the visit but we agreed on a two-week trial starting the next day. Yayyi, “grandmother” (as we now call her) said she was too lazy to go home and wanted to stay and work: “nevermind about the money.” I was so flustered! I was about to start my 2-hour language class and was not prepared to have someone helping that morning. The first few days were hard for me. It was difficult for me to watch someone else clean my house. I kept wanting to get up and help.

Yayyi is the answer to our/your prayers for a helper for us. She’s a Christian lady who is in her 50’s. This is perfect for Josh, since it’s not awkward for her to be cleaning upstairs while he’s studying or for her to spend time correcting his pronunciation. (She likes to make sure we pronounce things correctly.)

Our helper is an excellent worker. She comes to our home 8-12 Monday -Friday. Actually she usually shows up around 7:30 or before. Her 17-year-old son goes to school near our home and she always rides with him. Yayyi is also a very good cook. She’s careful about washing all the vegetables from the market – always soaks them in salt water. She really wants  to know what we like and what we don’t like. She made it very clear that she doesn’t want us to pretend to like her food just to be polite!

Yayyi only speaks a little English so the added Khmer exposure has been good for all of us. I’ve had some very interesting conversations with her…with her little English and my little Khmer. Once she wanted to know why I don’t wear pink lipstick. I don’t have the skills or vocabulary to say, “it’s too hot to wear lipstick at home and I don’t even like how pink lipstick looks.” So instead I said literally “I don’t like pink lipstick. My husband doesn’t like pink lipstick.” Oh and I didn’t know how to say pink lipstick so I just used hand motions.  I’m looking forward to the day my language skills are at a point for me to have real conversations with Yayyi.

Yayyi is also very persistent in speaking Khmer to our kids and having them repeat words. We are grateful for the language exposure for our kids.

We thank God for sending Yayyi to us and pray she can be with our family during our two years in Phnom Phen. Thank you for praying with us.