Coming to America

Just like Eddie Murphy...

Gambles Newsletter                                    07/10/18                               Volume 4, Issue 5 serving Cambodia through engineering design and discipleship Pix Miriam surprised her good friend on the last day of school.  These two girls laugh almost non-stop when they're together! Moses with his really good friend.  He's spending most of the summer with him. These two are so active it makes me tired just listening to all they do. The infamous ocean game of tag.  My kids won most of the matches but lost this one. We were able to go for a marriage get-away to Avila Beach and got the chance to kayak in the ocean.  We saw otters, seals, sea lions, ate kelp, and worked our upper body muscles. We put a fun short survey together to compare Cambodia with California.  Anyone who correctly answers all the questions will get a $5 gift card to Starbucks.  I hope we have multiple winners this month!     Hello USA To Harvest Church Thanks to our church family here in Roseville, we were so graciously provided a house (4 bedrooms, 5 beds near Chad's family) and a vehicle for our two-month stay, several gift cards for movies, groceries, restaurants and lots of personalized notes for our family members.  It was A-MAZ-ING, genuinely overwhelming and loving.  It was like Jesus reached out and gave us a big hug and said "Well done, my good and faithful servant."  We can't say thank you enough to those who God uses here to take care of missionaries.  Those of us who go to the nations DESPERATELY NEED those who stay to welcome us home with open arms.  So thank you. Thieving dryer After one and half years of line drying our clothes in Cambodia, we thought it was heaven to have a clothes dryer again.  What a luxury!  But within the first week of arriving, we are missing a few socks!  So, we have conclusively decided that it really is the dryer that steals the socks.  Family Although we said goodbye to Shanthi's mom who visited us in Cambodia before we returned to the USA, we have said hello to Chad's entire family and Shanthi's sister, aunt and cousin.  It has been wonderful to watch our nephew play a little league game, to go to family BBQ's, camp with Chad's dad at Bodega Bay and spend quality time with family.  Please continue to join Shanthi in praying for discerning what God wants her to do in Cambodia. For the first couple months, she'll substitute teach for the science teacher at the kids' school. Pray for all the transitions our family will be going through in the next couple of months: the return to Cambodia with 2 kids instead of 3, Chesna entering Trinity Western University in Canada, and living in an apartment for Nathan while he studies in his 3rd year at Calvin. Please pray for projects to come into the office.  We have a lot of potentials for the coming term, but not many solidified. Our office staff will be having a 3 day retreat to pray, plan and prepare for the upcoming term.  Pray that we would hear from God and have His direction as we move forward.     ស្លាប់ រស់ ព្រោះ អណ្ដាត   sounds like "slap rue-uh prue-uh on-dat" You live or die by the tongue If you speak well, others will respect you and you will not have enemies.  If you speak ill of others, life will become much more difficult.  This proverb is also used of the power of others' tongues: they have the power, through gossip, to cause you a lot of trouble.  Reminds me of Proverbs 18:21 "The tongue has the power of life and death.  Those who love it will eat its fruit." Miriam's Massages (or was that messages?) You know that kids say the darnedest things.  Here you will get a few funny quotes from our kids. "Do you not have YouTube?!? How have you not heard about the yodeling Walmart kid?" ~Miriam to her 23 yr old cousin "So that's my death certificate." ~Miriam when looking at her Ugandan birth certificate. Moses' Corner Kick I arrived back in America and things have changed but not that many. My friends are still taller than me but give it a few months and I will pass them up. California is just a little hotter than Cambodia right now but when I go back to  Cambodia it will be hotter there. I am enjoying spending time with my best friend because I haven't seen him in almost 2 years. I haven't gotten to eat at the restaurants that I have been craving (Taco Bell/Chipotle) but I will eat them soon. The best thing about being back is that we have our own house and we don't have to move so much, and spending time with my friends.