Yesterday I spoke at the Ratanakiri KEC (Khmer Evangelical Church) Ladies Christmas Event. There were about 100 ladies there from about 10 different Jarai churches. Originally they asked me to teach in Khmer, but once I realized most of the ladies would be Jarai, I requested that I could teach in Jarai. (These days almost all my teaching is done in Jarai, and I do very little in Khmer…so I’ve lost a lot of my Khmer teaching language.) The event went from 8:45am-4:15pm, and my teaching was an hour. I taught on the Gospel, using Christmas and Genesis 3:15. So many of these ladies have been believers for a long time but have very little understanding of what the Gospel is. The first thing I did was pass out a sheet we created with 10 sentences that summed up the Gospel. Once we’d practiced reading these, I used them throughout the lesson and had the ladies read different the sentences every time they came up in my lesson. This kept everyone on their toes! My lesson also included props, having the ladies learn two songs, and my singing some of my Bible verse songs.
Josh and I created a book of catechism questions for the ladies to learn doctrine and for teaching their children. At the end of my teaching time I demonstrated with Becca how you would teach a child the questions and answers.
Our Christmastide started the Monday of Christmas week – though we still did Advent, we also start our Christmas activities a little early. We enjoyed our four weeks of Advent, each night singing and reading Bartholomew’s Passage together. The kids accompanied many of our songs with their piano, flute, violin, and ukulele playing. It’s a very special time for our family. One night we had an Advent Tea and Scripture night.
One thing we celebrated during Advent was Ezra’s completion of All About Reading Level 2. He received a Bible for completing this level. We also celebrated Micah’s completion of All About Reading Level 1.
Our Christmas Calendar included: wrapping paper making, movies (It’s a Wonderful Life), reading The Best/Worst Christmas Pageant Ever, making candy-candy cookies, making giant gingerbread cookies, making Christmas cut-out cookies, sleeping by the Christmas tree. Other activities included ornament making, hot cocoa, candy canes, etc.
Christmas Eve we had a friend over for lunch. In the evening we had our traditional meal of tacos and then watched The Muppets Christmas Carol.
Christmas morning Josh surprised me with my gift – a new stove/oven. My other oven is small and can only fit one pan at a time, which is a challenges with the size of our family. Now I can cook at least two things at a time! The kids exchanged gifts in the morning, and then they did their Christmas pageant. Maria thought she was the second narrator this year and every time Becca would finish, Maria would start narrating, “And then the pretty girl said….” She was pretty upset when “Mary” wouldn’t hand over the baby Jesus.
We had a lunch of cinnamon rolls, hot chocolate, oranges, and boiled eggs. In the afternoon we played a rousing game of Dutch Blitz ,with 8 decks going and Maria walking in the middle of it randomly. In the evening we had our dinner: roast, potatoes, bread, cucumbers. Then we did our Christmas singing. The last thing we did for the night was exchange cards and give the kids their gifts. Everyone was very pleased with their gifts and it makes us happy that they are happy with the things we give them. It’s nothing amazing – no electronics or amazing new toys, but our kids were more than pleased – and that’s a big gift to us.
The day after Christmas we had our friends the Queys over for lunch, and we decorated giant gingerbread!
On the church side of things: Saturday evening, Dec 13th, our church hosted the KEC Regional Youth Event. Over 600 people were there for the meal and service. Josh preached and we helped with the Christmas pageant. The youth and upper elementary kids at our church did the pageant for the youth event and for our church’s Christmas. Becca was an angel, and Isaiah and Clara were sheep this year. Josh spoke at our church’s morning service and at one other church for their evening service. Our church had their Christmas Saturday night and Sunday morning, Dec 27-28. I wrote five new songs for this year. The song for the adults was the Lord’s Prayer. I based the tune on Jarai tribal music, and they did tribal dancing along with the song. Maria really enjoyed helping wash the dishes after the Sunday meal. It was a good time for all.
We are still enjoying our Christmastide. It’s been a wonderful season with Advent and now Christmastide. We are filled with joy, celebrating the coming of Christ.
Last weekend we decorated the Christmas tree. We had a special meal for supper with apple pie for dessert. Then we enjoyed decorating the tree, which happens pretty fast with each kid putting up their own ornaments.
Last week we had our monthly elementary Music & Art day. These two families drive about 45 minutes from the provincial capital to participate. I teach music, Becca teaches art, we eat lunch together, and then the women have a time of prayer together while the kids play. This month we had a Christmas theme and the new music concept was tempo using Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker for examples. Micah and Maria helped decorate the room the day before.
We had a lovely Thanksgiving celebration last Friday – a day later so we could have a break after Becca’s birthday. It was a very nice relaxing evening, since I was able to get all the cooking done by 2pm. After we ate we had a time of singing and Scripture reading. Clara made a apple pie for dessert. (Also noticed the Thanksgiving embroidery Clara finished just in time for the holiday.) We’re so thankful for the many blessings God has given to us – Thank be to God.
We’re studying the Middle Ages, and two weeks ago we had a jousting tournament. The boys really got into it – I’m glad they had helmets with visors to protect their eyes! Maria especially enjoyed being a “pretty lady” at the event.
This week we celebrated Becca’s 16th birthday. The celebrating started two weeks ago with her countdown calendar, which included a night overnight in Ban Lung with me doing a mother/daughter online conference (Seeking Christ), gifts, bike ride with Josh, birthday movie (Fiddler on the Roof), and other things.
Becca decided to go with her Jane Austen countdown calendar theme and have a coordinating cake. She did a great job designing and decorating her brownie cake (which included some peanut butter frosting). For her birthday dinner we had soft tacos and home-fried corn chips.
We decorated our downstairs room for the party, and when it was time, Josh escorted Becca down to see her ballroom. After our meal we tried our hand at square dancing and did some other ballroom dances. Then we had cake, gifts, and ended the evening with a slideshow of Becca’s 16 years. One thing our girls love is making things fancy and another thing is having balls.
Becca is a beautiful young lady who continues to grow in the beauty of Christ. She is diligent in completing her school work. She works hard to communicate in Jarai and is now involved in teaching the Jarai Bible verse to the children at our church a few times a month. She regularly makes time for her siblings. She faithfully serves at home. She looks to include people who are left out. She has a heart of compassion. We thankful for our darling girl, Becca.
This week we celebrated Micah’s 5th birthday! Micah was very excited about his birthday and his siblings were all excited about giving him the gifts they’d bought for him. We started Micah’s birthday 14 days ago with his birthday countdown calendar: lots of little gifts, swimming, movie: Pete’s Dragon, making cookies, etc.
Micah wanted the Queys to come for his birthday, so we had them for lunch (chili and a monkey cake). Becca made Micah a pin-the-tail-on-the-monkey game for the party. She traced Micah. It came out really cute, and the kids enjoyed playing after lunch. The kids had a good time playing together.
In the evening we had another birthday meal: bratwursts (because we couldn’t buy hotdogs – though they were just like hotdogs!), mac&cheese, and baked beans. We had the rest of Micah’s monkey cake with peanut butter frosting, did gifts, and ended with a Micah slideshow. (In the afternoon, Micah fell off his bike and hit his lip – hence the swollen lip.)
Micah is a very energetic little man. He’s quick at figuring out things and quick to notice mistakes in other’s speech. He loves to play outside, and he also loves to be inside being read to. He’ll often come inside during the afternoon and asks me to read to him. We thankful for our youngest Jensen man!
Last week we started Micah’s birthday countdown calendar, and this week we start Becca’s (so the two calendars will overlap about 5 days). We’ll wrap up Becca’s birthday and jump into Advent four days later.
Maria is a hilarious little girl. She is a talker and puts all these little phrases together that cause much laughter on our home. She’s also great at pretend play. For a few weeks now, Maria has been diaper-free (day and night). And I think I can say, she’s finally starting to sleep through the night.
Maria is consumed with “pretty girls.” She loves “pretty girls.” But if we ask her, “Are you a pretty girl?” She replies, “No, I’m Maria.” We’re not exactly sure how she defines pretty girls; in other words, it’s not exactly a compliment if she calls you a pretty girl. For example: we’re currently reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and when Maria saw a picture of Grandpa Joe she said, “Look! A pretty girl.” Grandpa Joe is not pretty at all nor does he look like a girl. Other things she’ll point out as being a pretty girl are also rather perplexing to us. Be as it may – Maria loves anything with pretty girls. Now we just need to refine her tastes!
Last week Josh was also participating at the Ratanakiri Pastor’s Bible School.
Last Friday we celebrated Cambodian Coronation Day in our traditional way. Everyone made his/her crowns the day before. Friday morning we did face painting. Becca helped paint all the boys’ faces, while I did the girls. This takes a long time! By 10am we were ready for our coronation ceremony. The princes and princesses had a procession into the ballroom and were then crowned the new kings and queens of Cambodia. Afterwards there were refreshments served and entertainment…which includes me pretending to sing Rossini’s Figaro (with a speaker hidden under my scarf).
In the evening we did something new; we had a Psalms & Tea evening. We set up the room downstairs with lights, candles, and round table set for tea. Three different kind of store-bought cookies were served with tea and limeade. During the evening, each person got up and recited a Psalm or two of his/her own choosing. You were allowed to use the Bible if you needed it. It was a lovely night and everyone enjoyed it. Maria, of course, was a ham. When Josh got up to recite Psalm 2, he wanted Maria to pay attention, so he said, “Maria……Why to the nations rage?” Maria quickly answered, “Because!”
This week we had a visitor – a friend of a friend of mine – who is doing a 6-month internship in Phnom Penh. When she asked to come up and visit with us, I told her we had nothing to offer her except the big-family experience and attending Jarai church with us on Sunday. She came anyway. 🙂 Kathryn was a very easy guest and interacted well with our family. She was with us Saturday morning through Monday at 5pm when the night-bus picked her to go back to PP. Maybe someday our paths will cross again.
October 28, 2025 we finished our second read-through the Bible. (The last time we finished was June 5, 2021.) This time the kids wanted to read through chronologically, which was a little more complicated to keep track of, but we did it. We do our Bible reading during breakfast, usually just a chapter a day. Sometimes we read a section of a chapter, if there was a lot to talk about. What now….back to Genesis!
The Friday of our vacation, we visited the Angkor Wildlife and Aquarium (which we didn’t know existed). They kindly gave us the resident price, instead of the tourist price. The kids enjoyed the aquarium and the animals outside. We spent about 5 hours there. Maria especially enjoyed the alligator. We were able to see both the freshwater and saltwater fish being fed at different times. The otters were a favorite…they could not wait to be fed! The tiger was active and fun to watch close-up.
Sunday late afternoon we rode the Angkor Eye – an 18 minute ride on an 85 meter ferris wheel. It was a bit frightening at first, but after the kids got used to it, they all had fun! We could see the Angkor Wat from the top of the ferris wheel.
Our drives to and back from Siem Reap were very peaceful. Josh went to PP at the beginning of September to buy our family a van. Now that everyone has his/her own seat, traveling is much easier and shall we say…peaceful. 🙂 Thankful for everything the Lord has and is providing our family.
Last Tuesday we drove to Siem Reap for a family vacation. It’s been over two years since we’ve taken a true vacation with just our family, and it was a wonderful time together. We stayed at a place that had a four-bedroom apartment, which meant we could actually sleep, without worrying about kids waking up other kids; and our kids had an area to play and hangout, instead of being cramped in a hotel room. It was truly a relaxing time for us all. Our kids loved getting up in the morning and having tea or coffee before going downstairs to the hotel breakfast (a highlight). Our main goal was to relax without having to be on top of a schedule. We swam everyday and had real ice cream twice. We played games, read aloud, did some fun shopping, and went to bed at a normal time so we weren’t worn out in the morning. Next week I’ll share pictures from two fun outings we went on.
We’re all thankful for our time away. It was a good break from daily life, from being busy with work and school, and from our normal ministry to other people. Thankful!
Once again our family celebrated International Talk Like a Pirate Day.Why do we celebrate? Here in Cambodia most every holiday is seeped in Buddhism, and all the activities (whether Buddhist or not) are held at the Buddhist temple, so we don’t go. International Talk Like a Pirate Day is just a fun day we can have together.
We started the day (a week ago Monday) with pancakes for breakfast, and then the kids rehearsed their play in preparation for the evening. Afterwards the older four kids did an acrylic painting project, while the 3 younger kids made cookies. The next activity was a treasure hunt: in succession, each kid received a map which lead them to the next map/clue for the next kid to find. The treasure at the end was Blow Pops and a new game Josh’s parents had brought over: Splendor. Splendor is a game the kids would often play with the Kane kids and haven’t been able to play since the Kanes left in August.
In the afternoon I did a art project with the two younger boys. After dinner the kids performed a play based on The Great Brain books. Becca wrote the script, and the kids have been practicing for weeks. They did a great job. Then we had our traditional pirate dancing and watched some clips about pirates, before turning in for the night. It was a fun, full day for all.
Last Thursday we had the 3 Queys over for 5 hours to help give their mom some time to prepare for a new baby. The kids all did great and had a fun time playing together. We’re thankful for their friendship and thankful our younger kids have kids their own ages to play with. Also thankful for the way our older kids can show love to younger kids.
Last week we had another Preschool/Elementary Music and Art Day for the MKs in Ratanakiri. This month we had a pirate theme. The music lesson was on dynamics and Haydn’s Surprise Symphony. The art lesson was drawing and painting parrots. Becca did a great job preparing and teaching the art lesson – she’s great! After the classes, we ate a lunch of chicken soup together (with only had about 4 spills!).
When lunch was over, the three moms had a prayer time together, while my older kids watched everyone upstairs. It bring me much joy to watch my kids take initiative and do such a lovely job watching and playing with these younger MKs. I’m so thankful.
This week we had a 3.5 day visit from Tom Luttman, the director of Bible Visuals International. On Friday, Josh took Tom and two of the MT Bible translators to visit two different Jarai villages over an hour away. It was a good time of encouragement for all.
Sunday, Tom was able to visit both kids classes at our church and see the teachers using BVI visuals. Sunday afternoon Josh drove Tom to Siem Reap for his Monday morning flight. We enjoyed our visit with Tom.
Things here in the Jensen household continue to move forward. We’re still in rainy season and are looking forward to when the rain peters out and the clothes dry faster. Maria enjoyed playing with her sisters. Playing kickball is a neighborhood favorite right now. The boys enjoyed an afternoon of painting. The middle kids are currently in a complicated session of playing with Little People – they have cities, families, jobs, and an extensive commerce system.
Last week from Monday to Friday we had a delightful visit from the Nhoemvan ladies. Our days here were filled with activities: candle dipping, baking, preparing for the masquerade ball and having the ball, a tea party, and many other things. Preparations for the masquerade ball took all day Wednesday with food, costumes, dance practice, and dance cards.
We had some very elaborate costumes: butterfly, peacock, grapevine. Maria did not enjoy the ball at all, as she was afraid of the masks, so I had to hold her the entire time. The ball began with a procession down the stairs (to the The March of the Siamese Children from the King and I). Next the gentlemen and ladies filled out their dance cards, and then the dancing began. After all the dances were done the entire party retired to the banquet hall to enjoy a feast of desserts. Once they were full, the participants returned to the ball room for more dancing and ended the night with a procession exiting the ballroom.
Becca wrote a great description of the night’s events: The main event was a masquerade ball we had Wednesday night. We spent all day preparing for it, designing our masks, baking, and practicing our dance steps. We have had a few family balls in the past, but nothing so elegant as this. Mommy transformed the downstairs into a ballroom with lamps and Christmas lights, and when we were all dressed in our costumes we paraded down the stairs in style as she announced us. I wore my blue dress and a blue bird mask. Anna dressed up as a grapevine with green yarn hanging down her hair and a string of little purple balloons wound about one arm. Clara was a butterfly, and Isaiah helped her make real cardboard wings which she fastened on her back. Ezra and Micah had dinosaur masks printed out for them.
There was also a taller young man wearing a dreadful face mask with a hole for his nose to poke out of (which frightened and disgusted Maria to no end) who gave his name as Santa Claus. He seemed like an agreeable old fellow, and even took my dance card–yes, we used dance cards!–and engaged my hand for a dance. Unfortunately he failed to claim me when the dance came around, so I was led to the floor by Ez, who happened to be lacking a partner. After the dances we returned upstairs for the refreshments of soft pretzels, apple tarts, and molasses cookies. We were attended by a most dignified, if rather eccentric, young gentleman, who said he was the grandson of the other man (which I suppose accounted for his wearing the same clothes), who explained that, although he was naturally fond of dancing, he had been unable to join us because he always let the servants go to bed at seven, and so he had to bake all the refreshments himself!
Thursday morning there was a tea party. The younger boys made cookies for the tea party to add to the other refreshments. We’re thankful for our friendship with the Nhoemans and for our lovely visit with them.
Last week we held our first Preschool/Elementary Music and Art Day for MKs in Ratanakiri. This year there’s not many kids left in Ban Lung, as many families are on home assignment or no longer have kids at home. I thought it would be fun to have a once a month get-together for music and art.
We had a horse-themed day. The music lesson was about steady beat, and I used William Tell’s Overture. Becca did an art lesson on warm vs. cool colors. Everything went well, and it was targeted just right for the age range. Afterwards we had a picnic lunch, and then the moms had a short prayer time, while the kids played games and with the toys. My girls were all great helpers to the younger girls. After the younger kids went home, the older kids all enjoyed playing Dutch Blitz.
