A time to grieve...a time to reflect!

So very unexpectedly I find myself sitting in a coffee shop in freezing cold London city. I flew here yesterday. The last few weeks I have been in Thailand working on my ELIC graduate classes. During my time in Thailand my great uncle passed away. He was 87 years old. Ever since my grand father died, when I was 7, my Uncle Eddie basically assumed the role of my grand father. He, and my great Aunt, never had children of their own. He was an amazing man. He was a brave second world war veteran who served in the city of Brugges in Belguim. As a young soldier he had to return home early, before his tour finished as his own parents died in a tragic accident during the war. He married my aunt and they lived a very simple, but a very happy, fifty plus years of marriage. When I reflect back on my life I can not think of a single moment when my uncle ever did or said anything hurtful. He was a tremendous source of love. A generous man who had little to give, but what he could he did. A man who was characterized by his smile, his laugh and his amazing ability for story telling. He did not have children of his own...but if he did I know he would have made an amazing father. I loved him very much and will miss him greatly. The last time I saw him was before I went to Cambodia in 2007. I just praise Father that he did not suffer when he passed away...he died peacefully in his sleep. Please lift up my aunt at this time...for I know this will be a huge loss for her.

I am also making some big decision about next semester. Last semester was incredibly challenging and the stress did take its toll. To be honest I did not cope very well with the extra responsibilities of country leadership, especially having just been on the field for just a year. I buckled under the stress of it all. Asia can be a hard place to be! I will be returning to the field, to asia, once I leave London, but I will be returning in a somewhat different capacity. I will explain more later. Life is short. I long to make my life count for Him. As I reflect back on my life I know I have made many mistakes and have not lived it in a way that totally glorifies Him. As I contemplate my future service, along with the possibility of marraige, I really long to live out the rest of my life in a way that serves and honors Him. I really do wish to live my life on the M field long term. Please ask Father to give me wisdom about how to best do that!

I love you all and thank you for your prayer and support!
Danny

My TV career has been launched!

Last year I was asked by one of my best Khmer friends- Spencer - if I would present a TV commercial spot for his nephew's company. To be honest I was really honored to have been asked, but since my acting skills are non existent I was pretty nervous. The commercial was finally released a few weeks ago. It was premiered at a star studded evening at the Phnom Penh Hotel!!

We spent two incredibly hot weekends in the Eurotech water factory recording the commercial. It was a lot of fun. I did, however, expect to just kind of show up and read a script. When I got there I discovered there was no script- Spencer, Jerry (his nephew) and I had to make it up as we went along!! The company is one of Cambodia's success stories and both Jerry and Spencer are incredible entrepreneurs. It is young gifted men like these who will help rebuild Cambodia!

So go ahead and watch the commercial. It will make you laugh out loud - I sure did! Maybe its the start of a whole new career...he he :-) I think the funniest thing about it is that they dubbed my voice with a Khmer actor!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnBg--ck5Ts&eurl=http://limspencer.blogspot.com/2009/01/eurotech-iso-certification.html?showComment=1231587780000#c2170644297744228189&feature=player_embedded

Hope you all have a great Christmas!

Hi everyone. This is just a quick post to wish you all a very merry Christmas. It is always hard celebrating Christmas away from loved ones...but I also know Father uses this time to reach those who do yet know the true meaning of this special season. Most Cambodian's have no idea what Christmas is all about. Yesterday's front page of the local news paper - The Phnom Penh Post - highlighted this lack of knowledge:

"In a country where only around one percent of the population is Christian, it comes as no surprise that Christmas is not a big public celebration, or even a national holiday. However, as the forces of globalisation penetrate Cambodia, Santa Claus, tinsel and Christmas trees are becoming an increasingly common sight, at least in the capital."

Phnom Penh Post - Dec 22nd 2008

It was a great honor a few weeks ago to invite my students to the English library on campus and celebrate Christmas together, and at the same time, begin to introduce them to why we celebrate this special day!

Thanksgiving in Cambo!

Well we have just finished up a round of thanksgiving celebrations. We celebrated as a team last Thursday and then this weekend the team hosted a thanksgiving outreach at my house. The theme was - bring a dish and a student! We had plenty of food - and plenty of students showed up too!! It was a great time of fellowship and sharing - and of course eating! Most of the students had never eaten Turkey before! It was quite the challenge working out how to cook the turkey too as none of us has an oven big enough!! Or - for that matter - enough cooking gas. In the end we decided to cook it in a crock pot over night at Jim's house and then he transported it on the back of a moto to my house! One of my favorite local coffee shops - JAVA - also made a pumpkin pie which was a huge hit!

The weekend reminded me of all the things I have to be thankful for while here in Cambodia. Thankful for my team. Thankful for my many Cambodian friends. Thankful for the amazing provision of my friends and family back home. Finally, and most importantly, thankful to Father for allowing me to be here and serve amongst these incredible people - and to have the chance to introduce them to the one from whom all our blessings flow! I am constantly aware, however, of the fact that I fail Him in that task everyday, and as such am so thankful for His grace and for the fact that he uses us despite our weaknesses!

There have also been some HUGE challenges these past few weeks. These have included a home invader, a team mate having her purse stolen in the middle of the street, one of our familes being stranded in Thailand because all the struggles there (they are still stuck there). This all on top of some pretty intense spirtual attack. To be honest I, and I know others in the team, are struggling with everything - and would appreciate your thoughts and petitions. We all know, however, that the battle belongs to the Lord - and His ways and plans can not be thwarted.

Cambodia - Kingdom of Wonder

Cambodia is called the Kingdom of Wonder. That was the title the country chose to use as they rebrand themselves to tourists. To be honest...I think it is a perfect slogan to describe Cambodia. Yes there are many things about this country in which I am struck by awe...the genius and majesty of Angkor, the resiliance of a people broken by war, the natural beauty of the lakes, rivers, beaches and jungles to name but a few. But the main reason why I feel this title - Kingdom of Wonder - is so apt - is that there are just so many things I wonder about in this country. I wonder why students come to class twenty minutes late because they were eating breakfast and ask to leave twenty minutes early because they need to eat lunch - they seem to eat so much and yet they are so skinny! I wonder how despite the fact that it is pouring with rain on the way to work and my clothes get splattered with mud...my students always show up in immacualte white shirts! I wonder why it is illegal to have you lights on your motorbike during the day, but perfectly legal to not have them on at night! I wonder why the photocopy technician at our university has an air conditioned office with a TV and a front row seat at all official ceremonies but refuses to actually make any copies for me! And...I wonder why in this Kingdom of Wonder they celebrate their biggest national celebration - Independence day - at 7am with a Parade that includes a balloon release and a giant sized pidgeon on the back of mardi gras float!

This is indeed the Kingdom of Wonder. Every day something else happens that causes me to exclaim - "Why?" Even though there are so many things about being here that I will never quite understand - I understand one thing. I think this country is wonderful!

It's a wondeful LIFE!

I have just spent an incredible week on the campus of Life University in Shianoukville, Cambodia. This is the only "like minded" university in Cambodia - and from what I have experienced this week it is on course to become one of the best universities this country has to offer. As with most ambitious projects here in Cambodia it is funded and adminsitered by Korean believers.

I was teaching in the theo. department. I have not had the opportunity to teach theo. since my time teaching at the University of Mobile. I taught a one week intensive class to the entire theo. department on the Mission and Message of JC. The students were amazing - so motivated and enthusiastic. I found it very hard to leave! The university depends on volunteer professors from the West and at the moment they are extremely under staffed.

Student numbers are rising though and the university has just embarked on an impressive building project. They hope to open their new "Vision" centre next year. The vision center will house faculty members along with guests. It will also include a faculty restaurant and lounge. When it is finished it will be a great place. Next year we will be sending an ELIC team to Life University to help deliver the English curriculum there. Please lift this opporutity up as we begin to recruit at least five new teachers to be sent to Life.

Shianoukville is a beautiful city - it is the main beach resort of Cambodia. We spent a lot of our free time soaking in the sun and swimming in the ocean! Not a bad way to end a hard day teaching.

We stayed at a very interesting hotel! It obviously was past its heyday! The hotel was full of big empty halls that obviously used to be used as conference halls or night clubs. I spent much of my time walking through the empty place dreaming of what I would do with it if I had enough money to buy it. It even had an old helicopter pad!

Meet Mr Scrags!

So I have adopted an orphan! One of the Pagoda cats decided he no longer wanted to live at the Pagoda any more and instead he has taken up residence in my front yard (not that you can really call it a yard). I have a feeling he was kicked out of the Pagoda. He was in quite a state when he arrived. I think the gangster cats may have got the best of him. He has to be one of the ugliests cats I have ever seen. But much like this country - despite appearances he has a hidden charm that just makes me like him. I hate cats. But I like the fact that he lives in my house as he serves a valuable purpose. We have a deal. I will let him stay and feed him a bowl of milk a day on the condition that I never have to touch him, he never enters my house and he keeps all the rats away! So far the deal has worked out pretty well.