The First Week of School!

Dear Family and Friends!

Praise God and thanks to all of you who prayed for our first week of school! Although there were a few "woops" moments here and there, Kristy and I are thankful for such a smooth and exciting week!

Kristy did an amazing job working with the 3 year olds this week. Just as she thought, there was quite a bit if crying on in the first couple of days, but she said that by Friday only one or two of her kids would cry! (I still do not know how she can handle it, but she does great!) Praise God for her week! I am so proud of her, because she always has really fun and exciting activities planned for the kids! I'm certain they are being blessed! A couple of highlights that Kristy wanted you to know was the times she got to sing with the kids and getting tons of hugs at the end of the day! She said.... "Those are the best parts of the day for me!". Finally, Kristy wanted to tell you how thankful she is for her Teacher's Assistant, Sorphorn (SO - PAWN)! Sophorn is so helpful and works very hard! From my perspective, there is definitely a ministry going on there too! Its quite amazing!

Teaching in fifth grade was a complete blast! I love my kids and know that it is going to be a great year! They are all incredible! I am still trying to get used to lesson planning for 8 subjects, but I'm sure it will come! A couple of highlights of my week, were playing "get-to-know-you" games on the first day and art! In fact, I got to use a couple of games I learned at the National Youth Workers Convention last year! Thank you ROL for giving me that opportunity.

We did have a few more highlights this week that didn't involve school that we wanted to tell you about. First, on Sunday Kristy and I bought a Moto! It was such an interesting experience! We sat at the 2nd hand dealorship for about 2 hours as they basically build the moto in front of us! Also, the dealer gave is his phone number in case the moto ever broke down! How awesome is that! It was amazing, but really that is how business is here! However, trying to get the moto home safely was definitely an experience! If driving a moto for the first time was not hard enough, Kristy had to hold on to one of our bikes while she rode on the back of the moto, because the peddle on my bike broke! After a slow-going ride we made it safely! Since then, riding has become easier and Kristy is even starting to feel a little more comfortablt driving by herself. She hasn't gotten out on the streets yet, but I'm sure she will soon!

Another highlight we had was eating at our co-worker's house. Her name is Taskeen and she is from Pakistan! She wanted o have us over, because she knew that I loved Indian food! However, what she did not tell us, was that the day she had us over was actually her 18 year anniversary! Moreover, she did not want to tell us, because she did not was us to get them a gift! Kind of neat hunh? Her food was absolutely amazing and just talking with her and her husband was a complete blessing. Her husband is a writer and he talked alot about politics! However, it was really neat to hear a non-american's view of American policy! So interesting! And to top it all off Taskeen invited Kristy to come over whenever she wanted to, to learn how to cook yummy Indian food! (I'm soooooo excited!)

Finally, the last highlight we had this week, was going out to lunch. We decided to eat a a new "Terrace" (very similiar to Starbucks" today! The food was great and really filled us up! But when we went to pay we found out that the restaurant was giving a 1/2 off discount because they were new! So we ate a full meal with frappes for 5 dollars! SOOOOO Awesome!

Well, that was our week here in Cambodia! We are still getting used to the food, heat, traffic, and schedules; but it is getting easier every day! Thank you to all of you who are supporting us with prayer and financial gifts! We are truly blessed to call you friends and family! The ministry we have here could not exist without your help! God is doing a great work through you all!

Praise the Lord for such and amazing week!

Humble blessings from Cambodia,
Gideon and Kristy