What's happening with us and Cambodia
CAMBODIA MILESTONES: This past week marked 10 years since Emma 1st moved to Cambodia. Next month it will be 5 years since Michael moved here (and soon after that we met each other!). Thank you so much to everyone who has been with us on this journey, as singles, as a couple and now a family. We love that we get to call Cambodia home and share Jesus with people here. We couldn't be here without your prayers, support and encouragement!
QUIET SUMMER: We are enjoying living in our new home and street. We have lovely Cambodian neighbours we are getting to know as well as other international families. Tonlé enjoys riding his bike on the street with the other kids, and playing what he calls "bally-ball" a.k.a Volleyball on the patch of wasteland at the end of the road. Phnom Penh feels quiet, with evening curfew, limited gatherings (max 10 people) and schools, churches, cinemas etc. still not allowed to re-open. Many of the ex-pat families we know have travelled back to their 'home' countries for the summer or for extended time away. Kids activities are not running, it's super hot and there is not a lot to do, but we are so thankful we have the space in this house and garden to enjoy.
BEACH TRIP: Last week we were able to take a trip to the Cambodian coast for 4 nights. It was the 1st time we managed to get out of the city this year (our other planned trip was cancelled due to covid related lockdowns). It was so refreshing for us to be in beautiful scenery, fresh air and have a slow pace for a few days. We traveled with another family, so Tonlé had so much fun playing with their kids (meaning we could relax more). We also got to visit the family of one of the Century 9 guys. We hadn't realised how much we needed that trip! This week we are back to normal, Michael working at Century 9 and Emma spending mornings on creative projects and afternoons with Tonlé.
PREGNANCY AND TRAVEL PLANS: Emma is now 20 weeks pregnant, and all seems to be going well. We have an ultrasound booked for next week.
We plan to travel to England for the baby (due Jan 3rd) to be born there. Travel is more complicated at the moment. We will need negative covid tests before we can fly. We have been keeping an eye on flights and the ever-changing restrictions for countries where we would have connecting flights. Airlines have a cut-off date for when they allow pregnant women to fly, so we will aim to travel around early November, allowing a couple of weeks buffer incase of cancelled flights etc. We are trusting this can all come together and we can fly. We are also praying for the right person/people to house-sit and look after our sweet little cat while we are away.
While we are in England we will stay with Emma's parents in Herefordshire. When we have a passport for the baby and are ready to travel we plan to fly on to the USA. We will visit Michael's Dad in North Carolina, then his Mum and the rest of his family in California. We are so looking forward to seeing family and friends most of who we haven't seen for 2 1/2 years. Re-entry into Cambodia involves strict and expensive 2 week hotel quarantine, so we want to take 1 longer trip rather than coming in and out of Cambodia. We also feel like we really need some time to rest, pray, refocus. So we will be seeing this time out of Cambodia as a furlough/sabatical for our family to physically, emotionally and spiritually get refreshed.
What's happening at Century 9
The Century 9 team are keeping busy making school lunches as the school year started here and teachers are back at the school. Children are still not allowed back in school. 12-18 year olds here are being vaccinated this month, with rumors of schools then re-opening soon for those who are vaccinated, but no clear news. Michael is fine tuning school lunch and snack menus, building a detailed recipe book, and training the guys to make all the food so that they can easily continue this while we are away (hopefully for kids as well as teachers).
They also continue with delivery for the popular Smoke House BBQ menu on Saturdays, with 2 of the guys fully trained to stay over night and smoke all the meats.
Would YOU like to sow into one of the Century 9 staff?
We have an amazing opportunity for you to be a part of their faith journey:
We are excited to be planning a retreat for the C9 staff. The 9 guys employed by C9 work so hard and we want to take them out of the city to a Christian retreat centre for 2 nights in September. The cost for the retreat will be $80 / £60 per person. This includes 2 nights accommodation, all meals, transport and snacks.
We have been leading the 9 staff through the Alpha Course. A course that explains the basics of Christianity and offers lots of opportunity for questions big and small. We have been encouraged by their enthusiasm, their questions and their openness. The retreat will include 4 sessions of the Alpha course (aswell as fun games, a zip-line, obstacle course, swimming pool etc). We hope it will be lots of fun but mostly that it will be a powerful time for each of them in their walk with Jesus.
We need 9 people to help us by each sponsoring 1 guys retreat by donating $80/£60.
If you would like to sponsor a retreat place you can give through Paypal, Stewardship (UK) .See links below. Or you can transfer directly to our UK or USA bank accounts. Please message us if you would like to be a sponsor.
PRAYERS
Here are a few things we are praying for, we would love for you to join us!
* Breakthrough for the guys during the C9 Alpha retreat in September. * Healthy baby and pregnancy. * For us all to remain healthy and not have Covid so we can travel. * House and cat-sitters for while we are away from Cambodia. * Parenting... a joy and a challenge at each stage! * Michael and the Century 9 leaders to have wisdom and insight leading the restaurant. * Financial provision for Century 9 through food sales / financial support. * Cambodia during this Covid season as it is very challenging for many. We would love to pray for you too. Please let us know how we can pray for you!
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