Kovach Kourier - Monday, October 29, 2007 9:33:21 AM

ADJUSTING TO LIFE IN PHNOM PENH

It has been almost two months since we issued a “Kovach Kourier.”  It has not exactly been life as normal, though we are starting to adjust to life in Phnom Penh.  I don’t know if seeing funerals, ice distribution trucks, flooded streets, motorbikes piled two to three feet high with vegetables or noodles will ever seem normal.  It has been a joy to also see a fair share of new life in the community.  Our landlord’s daughter had her fourth child (their first girl).

We had the opportunity to travel to Thailand for eleven days.  It was a nice break and helped us gain a new perspective on Cambodia, which we believe will help us cope with the way things happen here.

On the way home from the airport we were using our tuk-tuk driver who drives relatively safely.  We thank the Lord for him and use him whenever we can (and want to travel together as a family).  We got hit by a car but both vehicles were traveling very slowly so nobody got hurt.  This has been our fourth accident.  It’s one of those things that I just can’t understand why people act the way they do.  The car hit our tuk-tuk going 1 mile/hr and hurt his own bumper more than anything else.  Nobody showed any anger or even said much.  It was just like another day.  I just hope our tuk-tuk driver, who is our regular, didn’t sustain any damage.  It wasn’t his fault.  The other guy just hit us.  I think he didn’t dare ask for compensation because car owners are generally more powerful socially than tuk-tuk drivers.

We have started to get serious about looking for a place to live with a parking option for a car.  Please continue to pray for that.  We know the Lord wants to teach us to be content in every situation.  But it is un-nerving taking our baby in anything less safe than a car. 

We thank the Lord that even though we have had leaky faucets which twice almost flooded our restroom, we did not have any damage done.  The whole restroom is waterproof!

OUR MINISTRY

Language study is still our primary ministry.  We have finished our second quarter of language study at the Royal University of Phnom Penh.  Lately we are learning more spiritual vocabulary with our mission's language tutors.  This includes royal language (that God and the king use).  For example, Jesus does not “niam” (eat) because only regular humans “niam”, but He “souy” because He is a king.  And of course animals do not “niam” (eat) either, they “sea” because they are not people.  See the table below.

Church Building potential site

We have had the opportunity to visit many Khmer (Cambodian) churches and will probably settle down in one within walking distance from our home that we like.  I enjoyed visiting a village church just a half hour drive from us. It is one of the daughter churches of the larger one that our mission planted.

TIGER MOSQUITO ON THE LOOSE

A lot more people have contracted dengue fever (carried by the tiger mosquito) since our last letter.  Of course the toll on our team is small compared to the 38,000 infected so far this year in Cambodia.  It has taken the lives of 389, nearly all of whom are children.  Please continue to pray for God’s protection and quick recovery for the victims of the tiger mosquito.

Recently we bought a 50cc Honda Super Cub motorbike.  It had just been imported so did not have a license plate yet.  I went to the local police station to start the process of getting one.  Our landlord’s daughter went with me to prove our residence.  I brought two copies of my passport, license, etc.  When we arrived, the man I needed was not there.  Soon he arrived on his motorbike and we gave him the paperwork.  This police official threw the paperwork in the basket on his bike to take it to be stamped at another office.  As he pulled out of the driveway, onto the street, I saw an afternoon gust of wind blow all my personal information onto the street toward the local market. The police official yells at a vendor to grab the papers.  I trotted out to help also, not realizing how strong the wind was or how much of my paperwork had been lost.  The police official decided he only needed one copy of each sheet so that was all that was retrieved.  But I didn’t realize this until it was too late and the other copy of my personal paperwork was irretrievable. 

Nathanael had his first moto rides on local streets with Sally holding him as we rode through flooded roads both paved and mud.  Now I understand why when houses in our neighborhood are remodeled much of the rubbish is not taken to the dump.  The refuse construction materials are distributed on the roads nearby.  It is to prevent the roads from getting too muddy and so the vehicles will not get stuck.

Nathanael in Bike Seat1

PRAISE THE LORD FOR…

·         A good study trip to Angkor Wat.

·         Safety in traveling.

·         His continual protection from disease.

·         having steady electricity the past several months.

PRAYER FOR…

·         Kurt’s grandmother who is ill and recently moved to an assisted nursing care home in Ohio.

·         Search for housing.

·         Our language and culture learning.

Thank you for standing with us through prayer!

eXÍF salI & NafaNEGl

Kurt, Sally and Nathanael Kovach