Jesus Loves Me

Good morning from Cambodia!

"Jesus loves me." To be able to speak these words and fully believe them, changes the way you view life and circumstances. A few weeks ago, after kids club, several kids stayed in the room for a few extra minutes. They were doing their own things. Reading books and chatting quietly. My ears perked up when I heard these words, in their local language, "Jesus loves me". One of the little girls, spoke them almost under her breath and to no one in particular. We tell them this truth over and over and have them repeat it often. But what a powerful statement for her to speak over her life. In the midst of her less than ideal life, with mom working, leaving her to fare for herself for the day, she knows that Jesus loves her! 

That's been my prayer over the community. That they would know, deep in their hearts, that Jesus loves them. As I walked through the street to our room in the community, my heart cried out for everyone to know that Jesus values them. He created them and paid the cost for them know love forever and ever! 

Making superheroes!

The kids are so proud of them. We attached pictures of each child's face. Multiple times I saw them flexing their muscles in front of their superhero. It made them feel strong!

Once a month, we have education week. It is just to help support what they learn at school, Khmer alphabet and math. This is the alphabet chart they made during craft time.

We've also done a few basic English classes. Here they learned the English words for different colours. They're loading the train cars with the correct colour stickers. Since we had two trains, it promptly became a competition between boys and girls to see who would be quicker :) 

Learning English body parts with 'Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes'.

One of our team members compiled all the art pieces for each child into separate books. I was surprised how proud the kids were of their work. They usually don't want to bring their pieces home, but they loved the compilations. I guess there was something about seeing it all together and how well they had done.

Playtime!

Heading home after kids club, loaded with fresh fruit. Don't tell the others, but the last ones sometimes go home with more snacks ;)

International Women's Day! This is one of the amazing women on our team! Here she's walking through the community with the rest of the team, celebrating the women by giving them roses. Their responses were remarkable! 

Canada

We got to go to Canada for a number of weeks to rest, rejuvenate, and connect with family and friends. It was such a blessing!

When I got there in March, it was still COLD! Still we bundled up and went on a walk on country roads. 

I miss them so much when I'm away!

Farming with my nephew!

Farming with my husband :)
Colin is so great at trading in life in the city for life on the farm for a couple of weeks because he knows how much it means to me!

Reading to the little ones

Hanging out with this young lady is always a treat! Skyenne, you bless and inspire me with your contagious joy and love!

Catching up with friends was very encouraging! I love hearing what God is doing in each of your lives! 

Family Weekend

April 20th and 21st we had family time. We celebrated two birthdays, everyone together again, and our 20th anniversary of moving to Canada.

These two beauties share a birthday!

Flying kites

Everyone grows up so fast! Hard to believe that I have a 12-year-old niece!

We reenacted a few photos. This one was taken on our move to Canada in 1999. 

20 years later!

Our family in 2008

Sitting on the same rocks in 2019. 

God is faithful! I couldn't wish for a more amazing family! Love and miss each one!

On our way back! Suitcases loaded with chocolate chips, coffee crisps, La Cocina chips, canned peaches, and canned beef. Hearts rested and full of joy and anticipation.

 Thank you everyone for a lovely time and for pouring into our lives again! We couldn't do what we do in Cambodia without all our amazing friends and family!

We've been back in Cambodia for a little over a month now.

Just over a week ago, we witnessed these two commit their lives to each other! It was beautiful and meaningful! I'm glad we were able to be back in time for the wedding.

Life is back to 'normal'. At least as normal as life gets. Work, ministry, friends, marriage, etc. There are new adventures and challenges every day. I will hang on to the truth that 'Jesus loves me'. 

 Love you all!

-Brenda Chen

Christmas Abroad

Happy New Year’s Everyone!! 2019!!

In all my travels, I somehow managed to spend Christmas with my family every year. This year I wasn't with them. For those of you who know me, know that Christmas to me isn’t about presents or food. I know ultimately it’s about Jesus, but a close second is my family. I love spending time with my family. There’s a break from the busyness of farm life. School’s out for a few weeks. Gardening and canning is out of season. It’s cold and snowy outside. Warm and cozy inside. What’s not to love about Christmas with family in Canada?! I still think it’s ideal, but this year I wasn’t there.

For the last few months, Colin and I discussed whether I would go home for Christmas. But I didn’t want to leave him for so long. I remember last winter too well, when we were apart for 106 days. I knew it wouldn’t be as long as that, but it kind of needs to be at least a month, for it to be worth the flight over. We both knew it wouldn’t be financially wise to both go over and Colin wouldn’t be able to leave his job for that length of time anyway. We decided to miss Christmas with my family this time. It wasn’t easy and I’m looking forward to spending next Christmas with them, Lord willing. But we just made a few changes to the usual Christmas traditions and I was ok.

Something God taught me was that there is a difference between celebrating the birth of Jesus and Christmas traditions. I decided to focus on Jesus rather than what I was missing out on. Mary and Joseph didn’t spend ‘Christmas’ at home either. I could celebrate Jesus just as well in a warm country, away from my family, as in Canada with them. At first, I felt guilty for not wanting to attend events that tried to recreate Christmas in the West, with the music, trees, lights, and food. But all that did was remind me of home, which then got me close to turning on the waterworks. So we did all kinds of other fun things that I’ve never done for Christmas before. I wasn’t denying Christmas, just shifting my focus. It’s been interesting. Here’s a few photos of our Christmas in Cambodia. And I actually wouldn’t mind if some of those turned into Christmas traditions for the Chen family 😊

A few weeks before Christmas, we went to the beach for a few days, for a retreat with Colin's staff.

Railway Community Christmas Party! Games, drama, sharing the Gospel, praying, gifts, and food. It was lots of fun!

Christmas Eve Dinner #1. We had a lovely buffet dinner with our dear Mama Ruth. Can't believe we didn't get a picture with her. Guess we were enjoying it too much to think of taking a photos.

  

After dinner, we went to Ruth's house and she showered us with cute gifts. One of them was these snow-covered trees. My little winter forest in Phnom Penh.

 
Christmas Eve Dinner #2. I'm grateful for all our friends here.


Christmas morning - Fast food breakfast


And then watched Mary Poppins Returns


Spent some time walking the mall after.


Came home and cooked dinner to share with our new friends.
They just moved to Cambodia a few weeks ago and were also missing celebrating Christmas with family. Showed them around the city after dinner. God is true to His word and provides family when we say 'Yes' to Him. It was a fun evening!

 
Online Christmas celebration with my family. I thought it might be hard seeing them, and not being there. It wasn't that bad and it help me feel so beautifully loved and included. I'm glad we did it and for how well the internet cooperated. 


As you can tell, internet wasn't quite perfect, but it's already so much better than snail mail.

Between Christmas and New Years I cleaned and organized. 

It's such a good feeling to once again know whats in our house and where it s.

I also made tamales. Colin approved of the the taste, so I'll call it a success :) 

Helped my friends run some errands one morning. Still get a little nervous driving a car in this city, but can't turn down the adventure of doing it.

Got to hang out with this princess while my friends did their shopping.

New Years Eve with our friends. So much food! Thank you Liza once again! 

Also, it's been one year since this beautiful, romantic night! A lot has happened since then and it hasn't all been easy, but I'd say 'yes' again in a heartbeat. I love this man with all my heart!

As much as I would've loved to be with my family for this season, it's been beautiful and meaningful in it's own way. I'm glad we said 'yes' to Jesus and to Cambodia. Full of love, adventure, and faith! 

Life in Cambodia

Hello everyone! I realized that the last time I blogged was just after we got back to Cambodia. So much has happened since then. I will let the photos tell the stories, even though I'm not the greatest at taking pictures. I usually prefer to enjoy the moment, rather than be taking pictures. You have no idea how many times I think of various ones of you, and imagine you here, enjoying the moment with us. But for now, that's where pictures come in handy. To give you a glimpse of our lives on the other side.

Kids Club is still my favorite time of the week! Last week, while doing crafts, one of the kids began singing. Soon everyone joined in, as they continued with their art creations! Spontaneous worship! It was so beautiful! Like anything else, sometimes being a missionary can become mundane and you start wondering if you're actually making a difference. But it's moments like these that make it all worth it! I know God was smiling!

Preparing crafts for the kids

They have so much fun with these simple competitions. They're using clothes pins to grab pom poms and then placing them in the designated spots. Whoever fills all the spots first, wins. 

Stretchy piece of fabric. So much fun, coordinating with each other to bounce balls on it and making sure they land back on the fabric and not on the floor. 

And then there's these moments, when your head is so itchy, you're convinced you've picked up head lice. I asked my friend to check. Thankfully she didn't find any. We do head lice checks and treatments with the kids on a regular basis. Most of them enjoy the attention and the prospect of a less itchy scalp. 

On to other news, 

Colin started a new job. He now works for a company called WorldBridge Outsourcing. It's an exciting opportunity where we feel God opened up the door for us to walk into it. He didn't even need an interview as back in February and March, he was engaged as a Consultant. God knew what He was doing! Colin's job allows him to be in a position to hire hundreds of Cambodians and give them a career. He also gets to bring kingdom culture and be an impact in the marketplace. 

We purchased wheels for me to get around! This little bike serves me really well. I don't miss having a car when I can drive around on a little scooter! It's big enough to get me around town, and small enough that it's not overpowered. 

This is what it looks like after an afternoon of errands and grocery shopping :) 

We moved to a new  beautiful apartment about 2 1/2 months ago. We've made it into our little home and love having guests over for meals. 

What a blessing to meet up with this beautiful family from my home area! 

One Saturday in September, we spent the day with Delmar, Melinda, and Kyra. Seriously, thank you so much for coming! It was really special! 

A few weeks ago, Cambodia celebrated a 3-day holiday. We took that opportunity to head to the mountains with some of our close friends. 

View from the cabin where we stayed  

Trees, grass and fresh air always do me good. 

My husband makes the best stir-fries. Whenever he's around when I'm making a stir-fry, I always ask him to make the sauce. It's so good and it's such a simple meal! 

Then there's times when I miss home... 

So I made Belizean rice & beans and chicken. I have yet to figure out if comfort food is meant to actually comfort or if it makes us more homesick. Whatever the case, it was a good meal! 

Who would've thought?! I found this at the store we usually buy our groceries. Maybe Canada isn't that far from Cambodia after all! 

So that's a lot of little things that have happened here in the last few months. God is so faithful and patient as we continue to learn to depend on Him above all else. 

Love you all! 

-Brenda Chen