Counting Our Blessings

Getting up before the alarm meant our morning walk was earlier than usual. The sky changed from dark with the early morning glow to full morning light in the 30 minutes it takes us to walk our usual course. Because we were earlier there were more people still sleeping, including the security guard in our building.

The weather is changing and we noticed the flag at the monument blowing in the Northerly breeze. More often it has been blowing from the South. Rainy season seems to be subsiding and we have seen more clear or partly cloudy skies in recent days.

There is more evidence that Christmas may find it's way to Cambodia, even if it is not on the official holiday list. More shops and show windows have put up the Christmas trees, some even have artificial snow. That is the only snow we will see for Christmas this year.

Our day was spent working through projects to help in turning over those responsibilities we have had. When we arrived there was no instruction manual or anyone to give us a starting point on how to implement Self-Reliance in Cambodia. The former senior couples were PEF Missionaries, and we really had to start over in everything including PEF support. We received training and guidance from couples in the Area office, but we still had some restrictions we had to work through and couldn't do everything from our training. As we prepare to leave there are no replacement missionaries for our position. Phanna and Sameth are doing so well in their positions, most of the bugs have been worked out so that Self-Reliance Services can roll forward and bless so many people.

What we have done as Area Self-Reliance Missionary Communication couple will soon assigned to another couple. That was another area we had to start over and define our role. We are putting together a file that will give a summary of what we have learned from each couple during our Skype visits with them. Reviewing our notes has reminded us what a blessing we have received in serving among the valiant senior missionaries serving in Asia.