In Joyce’s Khmer class of 11, there are 2 Chinese, 2 Filipinos, 3 Koreans, 1 Cambodian American, 1 Chilean, and 2 North Americans. Not all are missionaries. But this small demographic shows the face of mission in Cambodia. The Church of Jesus Christ is reaching out in diverse ways through an amazing array of people. We were delighted to learn that there are even some Nigerian missionaries to Cambodia! God is working through all of his people for all of his people. In the words of a song that our tutor taught us: no knong Preah Cris, yeung jiya crewasah dai muy—in Christ, we are one family!
How is the language learning going? Some days are very frustrating. We feel like we’re in kindergarten, mixing up our d’s and b’s—actually, the Khmer alphabet equivalents (of which there are many). As we try to speak, sounds come out wrong, the vocabulary which we should know, almost know, thought we knew … eludes us. Other days we manage to communicate something in some small way which excites us and gives us hope. It’s hard to believe that there could be joy in this humbling, stretching experience, but there is. We are thankful that we can laugh at times with classmates at the university and with our tutor, Borey.
As we have talked with people we realize that it is very difficult to stay on task and follow through with Khmer lessons. Many people fall away at some stage—mostly because they become occupied with something else. The course is intensive and it is difficult to keep apace. The basic program is a one year course with four levels.
Please pray for us to be able to stay focused and keep working hard. Also pray that Christ will enable us to absorb the language and become fluent.
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