The day we retruned from Siem Reap (Dec23) I have not felt good. I developed a rash, fever, achy body, etc that took about 5 days to heal up. Immediately after, my eyes got incredibly sore accompanied by a bigtime headache. I went to a doctor and he told me that I had an infection and put me on 7 days worth of antibiotics. After a couple of days I started to feel better and went back to work. Too soon, I guess. My symptoms have returned and I am out of action again. Hopefully my remaining two days of antibiotics will kill this thing off so I can start being productive again.

We have made our decision that we'll return to North America in May. That gives us 5 months more here in Cambodia. We both would like to return to school and work towards a Masters degree. Florida Christian University supposedly accepts credits from Celebration Bible College, so we are gonna see about maybe doing some schooling in Orlando, or at least some correspondance, God willing. Whenever we decide to settle down, and if that happens to be in North America, we would like to be able to pursue employment within the ministry rather than secularly. Chaplaincy would be pretty sweet. A Masters, and ordination, would be required.

Cambodia remains hot. The fruit remains slow, and the ministry crawls forward, seeking to accomodate the increasing demands of New Hope English School. Our job in our time that remains is to pour into the NHES teaches, so that they can shoulder the English school after Jenny & I are gone.

It will be nice to see our home church again, and to spend some time in the company of like-minded people striving for more of the manifestation of God in our lives. Our time in Cambodia has been a realization of how much the presence of God should mean to us. "Obedience is better than sacrifice" has not been just a verse of scripture for us, but a practical life lesson.
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The Desert Monks of Egypt followed a three-step path to mysticism. The first level was called the "Purgatio" during which the young monk struggled through prayer and ascetic practices to gain control of "the flesh" - specifically gluttony, lust, and the desire for possessions. During this period, the young monk was to learn that any strength he had to resist these desires (grace) came directly from the Holy Spirit. At the end of the "Purgatio," or in Greek "Catharsis" a period that often took many years, the monk had learned to trust peacefully in the Lord for all his needs. As the monk underwent this period of purging, he identified with Christ's temptation in the desert (Matthew 4:1–11, Mark 1:12-13, Luke 4:1-13).
At this point the "Illuminatio" or in Greek "theoria" commenced. During this period the monk learned the paths to holiness revealed in the Gospel. During the "Illuminatio" many monks took in visitors and students, and tended the poor as much as their meager resources allowed. They identified strongly with Christ when he taught the Sermon on the Mount, recounted in Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7. The monk continued his life of humility in the Spirit of God; his stoic acceptance of suffering often made him the only man capable of taking on heroic or difficult responsibilities for the local Christian community. Many monks died never having moved past this period.
The final stage was the "Unitio," or in Greek "theosis" a period when the soul of the monk and the Spirit of God bonded together in a union often described as the marriage of the Song of Solomon (also called the "Song of Songs," or the "Canticle of Canticles"). Elderly monks often fled into the deep desert or into remote forests to find the solitude and peace that this level of mystical awareness demanded. In this, the monk identified with the transfigured Christ, who after his resurrection was often hidden from his disciples. Ascetics who achieve this level of ascetic enlightenment are referred to as Schema.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cassian
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If there was ever a year when it did NOT feel like Christmas, this was it. I started feeling sick on the evening of the 23rd, (the day we got back from Siem Reap) and developed a rash, headache, sore throat, achy body, fever, chills, etc which have continued on through today. Today I feel a wee bit better, but feel as if a complete recovery is still a couple of days away.
The fact is, I miss Christmas in the West, with it's snow, and decorated houses with lights and such. I loved just cruising around in the evening feasting on the atmosphere. There is NONE of that here in Cambodia. But, that is the very reason why we are here. It is quite the sacrifice.

Lately, God has stirred up more schooling in our spirits. For years now, I have wanted a Masters degree, but have never even thought of actually doing it. Now we are seriously playing with the idea of more school in 2011. It would be nice to return from the foreign field some day (whenever that may be) and instead of working at WalMart, or wherever, we could get a job as a chaplain at a prison, or hospital, etc. We want to sort of safeguard our futures towards the ministry.

We are also in a season of desperate hunger for the presence and manifestation of Holy Spirit. O come Holy Ghost, and feed us.
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Our Heart of Sin 11/03/2009
 
I preached this message on Halloween night at the Saturday evening Youth Program at New Life in Christ Church in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Translating is Pastor Keat Kove.
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New Hope School. Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
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After a total of 65 hrs travel time, we made it into our destination with a terrible landing!! I have been on literally over a hundred separate flights, and this may have the worst landing ever. The plane actually bounced, and bounced high enough to make our insides feel like we were on a roller-coaster! Then the pilot tried to regain control of the giant beast and we swayed left to right hard enough that we felt like we were at the Great Escape! Welcome to Cambodia!
We passed through immigration, and bought our visa, which is good for a month, and then landed at the Cambodian Mission Outreach center where many of the children from New Hope School were eagerly waiting for us. It was so awesome to see them again. Darlin, Gani, Dop Dop, Mey Mey, Junky, Ben 10, Dto Laa, and so many more have been missed by us greatly. We hope to have some influence in their lives on this trip as well.
After getting our bags in our room, we cruised downtown with Chhorn to Sorya shopping center and picked up some groceries, and we also splurged and got an electric kettle, and a blender! After that we were tired, so we slept.
Our roles for this trip have not been defined yet, so we are meeting with Keat today or tomorrow and chatting about the whole of ministry here and what has changed, and what we'll be doing here. Jenny & I are here to serve Keat and Sally, so we'll be doing whatever they need us to do.
It feels good to be back. Even though the city is filthy, and poverty is rampant, and the bad seems to outnumber the good everywhere your eyes turn, we look not at what we want to do here, but what God wants us to do. And we pray we are obedient to do exactly that.
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