I've entered 2005, passed the Lunar New Year festival, and the Cambodian New Year is coming in mid-April. Taking the opportunity to celebrate the new year with others who are in the Lord, I am offering a blessing that each one, every day, will have a heart full of grace and will praise God! I personally need this blessing.

The Indian Ocean tsunami and earthquakes had not yet settled down, and then after the church's New Year's Eve watchnight service, two young sisters were struck violently by a motorcycle and subsequently died. The Field Supervisor's health has not been good, and she had to return to Hong Kong for a check up and treatment. Shortly after was the annual Mission District Meeting, and then the missionary team retreat (see picture). This year, three missionary units on the field will have Home Assignment one after the other, one of those being me. That is to say that the whole team has to double up on workloads. Many changes, some hard to accept feelings - our field director says that this year we wanted no changes, and yet everything is changing.

I have a chance to go back to school and continue the fourth level Cambodian language course that I never finished because of work. Each day I go to class at a set time, and although I sometimes miss class because of work or meetings, it still provides a little regularity in my life. As far as my Khmer is concerned, it is a precious opportunity to focus on learning and improving my Khmer. The last two years and more, the tutor has adjusted to my schedule as work was the top priority. Even during lessons, telephone calls would come and I would have to abandon my tutor and leave first. As far as doing homework and memorizing, it goes without saying that there was often no time and there was nothing to be done about it. Seeing colleagues working hard to do homework, prepare memorized passages, and take tests, it is hard work but also a blessing, so I decided to go back to school. Having classmates studying with me is really nice. Thank the Lord! But, this is also the last course offered at the university, and it will be over at the end of March. Afterwards, I will have to find a home tutor, and will need self discipline and understanding of what to do and what to let go before I will be able to study well.

Probably a lot of brothers and sisters are thinking that one and a half years of language study is enough for daily use, and that there is no need to study any more. The real situation is that we need to be responsible for teaching, leading meetings... Can you imagine someone with a primary school level of language study preaching and what difficulties he or she would encounter? Sometimes three and four year old children can speak with better grammar and fluency than the missionaries. So, when I preach, some people will correct my pronunciation, some will shake with laughter, and some will prick up their ears to try to hear clearly what I am saying. Some of the pastors are thinking of this when they invite me to preach, because then the congregation will be unusually quiet and attentive. Ha ha! Everything has its benefits and drawbacks!

Please pray for our Women's Retreat March 9-11. This is a good time for them to lay aside their household responsibilities for a while, retreating to the seashore to rest and think about God's word. I will be sharing from the passage in Proverbs 31 about the woman of virtue. Pray for the Holy Spirit to speak to each attendee. A number of the women are illiterate and some are not yet believers.