J&J's NewsLetter To You, December, 2014

But in our time something new has been added..... And He did it by means of Jesus Christ.  Romans 3 ~ The Message View this email in your browser

John & Jackie's NewsLetter To You December, 2014

Dear family and friends, Keep the emails coming our way. We thrive on hearing from you with family and life news. Here's our update for 2014. Let us know what you think?   So here we are at the beginning of our third year in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Who’da thunk!??? God’s plans are amazing and sometimes unpredictable. God, however, is totally reliable in everything. We thank the Lord for calling us here to be a part of what He is doing in this country. For Father God has put us in a place where the experience and abilities He has given us can benefit the people who are making a difference. The talented and gifted people we serve are the people with the amazing testimonies and stories. Evangelism and Discipleship are happening under functioning lights, where clean well water is available and where pumps are functioning. Mercy Ministries (clean water, education, health clinics, family encouragement outreaches and more) are happening; Our Siem Reap Base Schools (DTS, SOW, Preschool Teacher Training and IPHC) and Full-Time Staff are enabled by having classrooms, buildings and washrooms which function properly. Jackie assisted in getting the main building painted. (She’s cat woman when it comes to the high-up-in-the-air work.) We have been able to help and cooperate with our local church, with diverse N.G.O.’s and a couple of schools. We have helped to install water wells and purification systems, solar photovoltaic electric power systems and drip irrigation systems. We also have taught in a D.T.S. school, lead devotions and meetings, offer private counselling and advice (when asked) and have been involved with updating our Siem Reap web site. Sometimes we’re just mom and dad, or grandma and grandpa. This New Year, we plan to facilitate relationship training groups for both married and single people. We will use the Love & Respect Marriage Conference video series by Dr. and Mrs. Eggerichs. We hope that this training will be adaptable for use with Khmer people. We would appreciate your prayers that these groups will strengthen relationships and bring stronger unity within YWAM and others here in Siem Reap. Speaking of full-time staff:  YWAM Siem Reap is looking for 5 full-timers. Check out our blog article" Full Time Staff Opportunities" to find out more! There are many needy places on earth, but this is the one He has assigned us to. Cambodia is tottering and stumbling forward in its development and recovery from almost unimaginable horrors. Anyone with a heart to help is welcome to contact us. We ask for prayer support, financial help when needed and if you are called, your physical presence.   And that's it: Our 2014 Newsletter to You!   We wish you a very Happy Christmas Season and hope that the New Year, as it unfolds, will bring you your heart's desire. With all our Love and Respect, Jackie & John It seems that we are mostly acting as candle holders. Are you surprised? ~ The mailing address in New York is still valid but expensive! Please mail cards and letters to:   University of the Nations, John Street P.O.Box 93078, Siem Reap Angkor, Siem Reap, CAMBODIA ~ Please click on the link to our blog (even for only 10 seconds). This helps us keep our account current.    http://johnjackie.blogspot.com/ :-) Thank you. For unto us a child is born ... ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ From the back wall looking towards the front ... Papayas, Chinese Kale, Hot Chili Peppers, Marigolds, one lonely Russian Kale, Strawberry, Wing Beans, Purple Passion Fruit, Brown Beans and along side the house about 20 Pineapple. Jackie's hobby! Genesis 2:15 says: "God took the Man and set him down in the Garden of Eden to work the ground and keep it in order." Just doing what I am designed to do!

2013 Personal Keeping Family & Friends up-to-date with our Adventures. Our mailing address is: Jackie Blanchard & John Street 616 Corporate Way Suite 2-5248, Valley Cottage, NY USA 10989 unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences

A Bit of This & That ~ November 2014

Here we are in the beginning of November already! We have both been very busy and happy at it. Being retired and working at whatever comes our way is fun. Volunteer work in a place where our social income covers all we need is a great way to ease into old age. I am starting to see GrandMa's skin, wrinkles and flab on my not-so-young-anymore body. I am regretfully happy not to have to work so very hard as I did even a few years ago! The continued heat makes exercise almost impossible although this being rainy season makes getting outside more inviting. ... except for the mosquitoes! John has been out walking on a regular basis and in my eyes moves much better because of the exercise. The last few months I have been feeling a lot better. The thyroid hormone pill, to replace what my thyroid is not producing, is working to clear up my brain. I still get varying degrees of hot flashes but they are becoming the norm and only wake me long enough to turn on the fan then turn it off again or to cause an increase in sweat during waking hours. Like Diane used to do, I walk around at home in very loose flowing tent dresses! Going out is trickier as in Khmer culture people do not show "skin". I basically wear cotton and put up with the excess moisture and higher temperatures! I try not to complain! People are getting used to me pulling out my fan for 10 minutes every hour or two!  J

We have done a fair bit of traveling these last few months: In August, we went to Battambang for a staff conference. We met with some very interesting and amazing people and found out a whole bunch about what people are doing in the name of Jesus in this country. It was a special "YWAM family" time for us.

Soon after Battambang, we went to a village about a 3 hour drive (2 taxi rides and $40 later!) into the country. We have a very special young lady friend there, named Yireh, who is the same age as Laura. She has been in that small village for about 5 months teaching English and living as a Christ follower amongst these people. I have made 2 collages of photos from that trip so you'll see some of what we saw and did. Yireh did almost all the translating for both John and I; I sure had plenty of opportunity to practice my meager Khmer! One of the most interesting things for me was watching the people prepare for the huge meal we all ate together the day John spoke to about 25 guests. It was like watching a camp cook out but with completely different food and everybody helped in some way. Even me! See if you can find me in there! (Middle-right photo) Can you see the kitten napping on the hearth? (Bottom-left photo) Get out the magnifying glass!

Preparing a meal for 30 people - this is how Khmer people cook - rain or shine - every day!

September 9 - 12, we flew over to Bangkok, Thailand. We needed to do some medical tests. John had his hearing checked; as expected, he has hearing lose at higher levels and should be wearing aids but they are not in our budget! I had a colonoscopy and related tests done. The doctors still have no idea why that tumor marker seems to be rising but we'll keep an eye on it. All was clear! I am not in the least worried. Que sera sera and I am entirely in God's capable hands! While there, we did some shopping; I even spent 2 hours at IKEA! J

A week later we spent three days on a trip to Phnom Phen. Our business at the American Embassy lasted about 20 minutes. We are starting not to enjoy that 8 hour each way bus ride on roads that would make the trip up to Senneterre/Val d'Or (40 years ago)  look like a piece of cake! The highlights were a lovely, lively dinner visit with some good friends and some time just to ourselves with no schedule to follow. Hopefully travel will be limited to local trips for a long while. 

Our daily happenings never follow any specific routine but each week has its scheduled appointments. Mondays are for YWAM meetings (at least 2; with people time in between). Tuesdays and Thursdays I have language lessons in the afternoons. Those mornings are filled with housekeeping, gardening and cooking. We seem to have no problem with finding "projects" to fill up Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays; re-wiring, plumbing, gardening or just visiting with people who need to talk. Sundays we try to sleep in and spend time on the Internet before going to church from 4 to 6 and going out with friends in the evening for a meal.

My hair keeps getting shorter! I am too cheap to pay $25 US for a proper hair cut so I go to various Khmer hair dressers and walk away with some pretty awful cuts. Then, within a few weeks, I get the scissors out and "fix" it all by myself. J Most Khmer women wear their hair long. Thus the hair dressers don't know how to cut short hair! The barbers do a better job on short hair but most won't work on a woman!

A month or so ago a young man serving on our staff decided that the main residence/ home base needed a paint job. It really did! I've been trying to figure out how to do it since we arrived but it was too big of a job for me! Anyways, he bought the paint and started in ... He had lots of help from 8-10 young people who are part of a "World Race" team who came to stay for a few weeks. They managed to paint just about everything and it looks so much better. I was very impressed with this young man's project management skills! He and his team could not figure out how to do the very high part over the stair-well. Me describing how to build the scaffolding only produced blank, questioning looks ... Once I had the scaffolding in place none of them was willing to get up there! So ... 

I have actually done some sanding + painting while here in Cambodia!

A few weeks ago I started on a big project. The YWAMSiemReap.org web site is old and wanders off on rabbit trails. It needs redoing. Several people have tried but all are too busy. I volunteered! With the help of iTeamDesign company who are in charge of the template and a young lady who knows web design from the States, who was here for a week or so, I have begun my journey into re-designing our web site. It is wonderfully fascinating and relatively easy but very, very time consuming. I have about 40 hours in so far and am still learning the basics. Tomorrow I will go to the iTeam office for another tutorial! Getting other people to update their parts seems to be my main difficulty. Everyone is so very busy! Good thing I am volunteer at this and we are in Cambodia where nothing has to run on-time nor to a deadline! I just want to get it done asap so that I can get back out to my garden! J

John thinks that soon I will be translating for him ...
I'd rather be up on the rafters teaching someone how to wire a fan! :-)

Early 2014 Going-Ons ~ NewsLetter

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.                     Philippians 2:3-4 NIV

John & Jackie's NewsLetter To You July 2014 Dear  Family and Friends, We figure that it's about time we let you know what we've been up to so far this year. The first half of 2014 has been all about living in Cambodia. Our days do not follow any routine, rather they flow from one activity to another. We live in Cambodia! This is not such a shocker as it used to be! Our support role for University of the Nations, our church and several other NGO's keeps us hopping. We never seem to get the whole "To-Do" list done in any given day. People come first; often we stop our plans mid-stride to talk, counsel or encourage someone we meet during our day. What a good life God has called us to! In Ecclesiastes 9, we humans are told; "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, ..."  We have found many things to do here and we very much enjoy helping out wherever and whenever we can. These two collages show some of our Early 2014 Going-Ons:

We appreciate hearing from each of you from time to time. How can we pray for you? May God bless you in all your ways. With all our Love, Jackie & John Important Notes: ***The mailing address in New York is still valid but it is expensive to courier the mail to us here! Please mail cards and letters to:  University of the Nations - John Street, P.O.Box 93078, Siem Reap Angkor, Siem Reap, CAMBODIA *** Click on the link (It's in blue!) to our blog (even if you are only there for 10 seconds). This helps us keep our account current. *** If you do not wish to receive future mailings from us please let us know by email. By clicking the "unsubscribe" option below, you stay in the social media realm and we do not have control of what they do with your email address and name. We have the power to "unsubscribe" you with no trace left anywhere (we hope!). *** We have disabled the "Archive Bar". You will not be able to post the link to our blog on social networks. Do you know someone who wants to check out our site?  Please give them the link by personal email, by phone or by an old-fashioned paper note.   :-) *** Please do forward this on to anyone you figure might be interested. Thank you http://johnjackie.blogspot.com

Eventful Last Day - Day 8

November 22, 2013

This morning we went exploring at Psar Leu;
          the local's market and the largest in town.

On a mission to find Hooks for the kitchen - we found some! 1540

Mom & Daughter - Happy to be together! 8834-1

Something for everyone! What fun to explore!

All shopped out ... Da took us to The River Garden for lunch - good food and a very cool and quiet spot. 8840

Then we went home for a nap - time to pack!

Laura again assists me with teaching my English classes.

Our last evening together we ate at our favourite Korean Restaurant;

   treated ourselves to Sorbet and Ice Cream at the Park Hyatt's Glass House 

       and dropped Laura at the airport by 9:30 for her flight home.

That last BIG hug was so special!

Thank you, Laura, for treating us to this special time together!

We thank God!