Was up by 5:30am as it was getting bright. School started at 7am and I attended their morning assembly.
It was quite fun watching the kids being so excited so early in the morning, running and jumping into line. Some of them would put their hands together and mutter some greeting in Khmer to the teachers as they ran past. They then proceeded to sing “This is the day that the Lord has made” and “With Christ in the vessel”. Not very accurate pronunciation of some of the words, but they sure received full marks for volume!
The teachers then headed to the principal’s office for morning devotions where Mr. Yeo shared from the passage in Luke 12:22-31 from the Bible. One of the teachers read it in Khmer and I tried to listen for words that I could understand.. haha.. none! Good thing I could still follow from the English Bible to know that the passage was about Jesus telling his followers not to worry about meeting their daily needs like food, drink, clothes.. for if God never fails to take care of the birds and flowers, how much MORE will He provide for us, His prized possessions! So Jesus calls us to put God’s kingdom as our primary concern, and all our needs will be fulfilled as well. Definitely a good reminder to me as I learn to trust God to provide now that I don’t have a stable income!
Had a little sore throat from last night – probably due to the 2 pieces of durians and lack of water. The price I pay for greed!
Had a chance to sit in one of the English classes for a short while to observe. The teacher was teaching about reading the time on a clock in English. Was interesting to hear how they pronounced “seven” and “eleven”.. like “se-van” and “e-le-van”
Attended the session on Christian Education held in the church hall within the school grounds. Those school kids sure are full of energy, running and screaming into the hall. I was sitting quietly at the last row, not knowing what to do ‘cos of the language barrier, until this little boy turned around and asked me “What is your name?” in English! Hahaha..
The girl sitting next to me also started asking me some questions in English, and we had a short exchange of names, her age, where I was from, and how long I’d be here for. Could have carried on but thought it best that I stopped talking to her so that she could concentrate on the singing (in Khmer) and lesson that was going on at the front!
Man.. I tell u those kids can sing the house down! There was this one particular song which looked really fun, with actions and all, and at the end, the kids would do like a twist as they sang “Hallelujah” and ended it with a jump! Hahaha.. sure drove the kids nuts everytime they sang it!
Again, I couldn’t understand the lesson that was in Khmer, but from the pictures, I could tell that it was about Easter Sunday – where Mary and the women went to Jesus’ tomb to embalm his dead body, but found that the stone in front of his tomb was rolled away and his body was gone! Angels then appeared and told them that Jesus had risen from the dead and is alive! He appeared to his followers and showed them his hands and feet where the nails had pierced through so that they may believe. The lesson then ended with more boisterous singing, and then a prayer with a loud “AMEN”!
I’m actually quite excited about the concept of this school. The Christian schools back in KL are probably run in a similar way, but I’ve never been exposed to one back there. What an experience for me! And what a great way of instilling in these kids who God is, right from their development years!
The Khmer Rouge did terrible things in this country, destroying so many of the elite and forcing the people here into the state they are in. Education is a key element to helping this country, but what they need even more is spiritual education – where they can grow up knowing the God who loves them. And I pray that these kids will one day, by God’s grace, grow up to lead this country with the godly values that they are learning now.
It was quite fun watching the kids being so excited so early in the morning, running and jumping into line. Some of them would put their hands together and mutter some greeting in Khmer to the teachers as they ran past. They then proceeded to sing “This is the day that the Lord has made” and “With Christ in the vessel”. Not very accurate pronunciation of some of the words, but they sure received full marks for volume!
The teachers then headed to the principal’s office for morning devotions where Mr. Yeo shared from the passage in Luke 12:22-31 from the Bible. One of the teachers read it in Khmer and I tried to listen for words that I could understand.. haha.. none! Good thing I could still follow from the English Bible to know that the passage was about Jesus telling his followers not to worry about meeting their daily needs like food, drink, clothes.. for if God never fails to take care of the birds and flowers, how much MORE will He provide for us, His prized possessions! So Jesus calls us to put God’s kingdom as our primary concern, and all our needs will be fulfilled as well. Definitely a good reminder to me as I learn to trust God to provide now that I don’t have a stable income!
Had a little sore throat from last night – probably due to the 2 pieces of durians and lack of water. The price I pay for greed!
Had a chance to sit in one of the English classes for a short while to observe. The teacher was teaching about reading the time on a clock in English. Was interesting to hear how they pronounced “seven” and “eleven”.. like “se-van” and “e-le-van”
Attended the session on Christian Education held in the church hall within the school grounds. Those school kids sure are full of energy, running and screaming into the hall. I was sitting quietly at the last row, not knowing what to do ‘cos of the language barrier, until this little boy turned around and asked me “What is your name?” in English! Hahaha..
The girl sitting next to me also started asking me some questions in English, and we had a short exchange of names, her age, where I was from, and how long I’d be here for. Could have carried on but thought it best that I stopped talking to her so that she could concentrate on the singing (in Khmer) and lesson that was going on at the front!
Man.. I tell u those kids can sing the house down! There was this one particular song which looked really fun, with actions and all, and at the end, the kids would do like a twist as they sang “Hallelujah” and ended it with a jump! Hahaha.. sure drove the kids nuts everytime they sang it!
Again, I couldn’t understand the lesson that was in Khmer, but from the pictures, I could tell that it was about Easter Sunday – where Mary and the women went to Jesus’ tomb to embalm his dead body, but found that the stone in front of his tomb was rolled away and his body was gone! Angels then appeared and told them that Jesus had risen from the dead and is alive! He appeared to his followers and showed them his hands and feet where the nails had pierced through so that they may believe. The lesson then ended with more boisterous singing, and then a prayer with a loud “AMEN”!
I’m actually quite excited about the concept of this school. The Christian schools back in KL are probably run in a similar way, but I’ve never been exposed to one back there. What an experience for me! And what a great way of instilling in these kids who God is, right from their development years!
The Khmer Rouge did terrible things in this country, destroying so many of the elite and forcing the people here into the state they are in. Education is a key element to helping this country, but what they need even more is spiritual education – where they can grow up knowing the God who loves them. And I pray that these kids will one day, by God’s grace, grow up to lead this country with the godly values that they are learning now.
