What are we up to?

Busy has been the answer for quite some time this year, but at the moment were in over drive.

We have started planning for the 2014-2015 school year.  We are building an additional 100 desks more white boards.  

We are building a new office and turning the old office into a class room.

We're moving playground equipment and raising the level of the side walks because the dirt is hire and makes cleans up an hourly chore.

Summer English class for the kids that are behind.

Adding 3 more bathrooms

  We've had to move the library to make room for the new K-class.  Now the Library is in the sanctuary.

We are working on opening bank accounts for our college kids and staff, which we will begin to change our payroll to a direct deposit for them.  It will be the first time any of them uses and atm machine.
We've hired some great staff at the school  one of them is an NGO guru and is really helping us out with all the government paper works.

We've got a handful of new teachers starting.

Besides opening our first 10th grade class we will also begin having lunch on campus.

100% of our 9th grade class passed their national exam which I find absolutely wonderful.
It's estimated only 20% of the kids are passing the 12th grade exam.
We've hoped to have graduated 4 of our boys but there's massive controversy over the testing this year so were still trying to get the kids into college while bracing for the boys to not have passed.

We've gotten our MOU renewal with Foreign Affair accepted and can continue to operate for the next 3 years.  We've still got the Social Affair to finish.
This morning we finished our yearly inspection with flying colors.

The Cambodian government is making large steps to clean everything up.  So this year I will have to get a work permit and start paying taxes here.
We will also have to start paying a tax for the school income and employee tax.

We've been getting help in trying to get a water filter system at the orphanage, so we've been testing and in the planning stages with that.

We've got some funds for a team house that has been made available.  We finished the rough designs last night.  We could really use some help with proper construction guidance from any professionals out there interested in helping; especially with plumbing and foundation preperation.

We are working on cleaning out our pond this year the fish are impressively massive.  It is always the most fun we ever have at the house is fishing out the pond, it is such and excited gathering of all the kids yelling "over there, behind you".  It's hard to explain but for some reason it just feels like a family when everyone is out there having fun and cooperating on something.  I love it.
Father in-law had some extra baby fish he wanted to give us which is why we had to get rid of the older monsters.

Also the rest of our kids went home this week for their summer vacations.  So the house is pretty quite which is helping us with the rest of the work load.

Team house property was fenced off the chain link temporarily to keep the animals in and the people out while the brick fence was built.

Our worker and 9th grade class made the brick during their work periods.

Chain link fence that came down is going up around the pond.

Ream was ill again this week with a problem I felt was fairly small and would go away, but Ream was a bit scared after her last problem, so we took her to the doctor.
I normally get frustrated having to take someone 2 hours to the doctor to find out it was nothing.  It happens a lot.  This time my prayer was to find happiness over nothing being wrong rather worried about time wasted Also while in prayer over Reams little issue I had a feeling that this was only to get us to the doctor to find there was something bigger at work.  Which seems to be what has happened.
Ream's stomach pain lead to a scan that has found, unrelated; a cyst on her ovary.  It is very small and the doc says not to worry but we're happy to find it and will watch it, pray over it and hope that is goes away or stays inactive if not we have the choice to remove it if needed.

Ream's had a number of medical issues this year.  Thank you for your prayers for her.  Thank you for the support families have given to us this year to help us out.

Though things are busy for us, for me I am enjoying what we feel God is calling us to do.  I love being on the right path.  I love the blessings God brings even during a challenge.

I've said it before but this year was going to be big for the work and probably reasons for some of the challenges.  Losing some staff, Reams illnesses, our well is blocked and not giving us the flow we use to have.  In all these things we still see God working and I am at least still having fun.  These next three and a half months is where we'll start to see the fruits of the years labor.  Please keep reading with us, at least through October.

Lastly with the Team house, and School construction going on at the school it would be a good time to think about what tax deductions you might need for next year.  Or simply help because you want too, now's the time as we have some wires to make shortly.  We could use the financial help with some these projects. Those helps can always be sent to CCF directly or through our websites
http://www.aheartforwisdomschool.org/#!needs/c21kz

Thank you all for you love, prayer and support.

A good work is always being done here.      

Amen!

Cambodia Visit Video

Quick follow up to our Silly Prayer Request

 We've got a lot on our plate at the moment to post full blogs.  Please look over the guest blog link I shared 2 posts ago.  They've got a lot posted, I also posted the link to the left under guest blogs.  

Real short it was a success.

The kids really, really enjoyed themselves.  The whole place was filled with excitement and noise of kids having fun.  

At the end of the day we were exhausted.

We obviously we have to praise God. 

We also have to give our guest and staff huge applause for helping us until the very end of the day.

Thank you.  

Plinko was the most popular game of the day by far.

We are currently working on several things. 

One of them happens to be a new office building at the school.

Planing out the next school year, testing accepting new students.

Having new desks made, shelves and furniture.

Teams.

Changing out our fish.

Changing out staff at the school and the house.

Doing quite a bit of cement work.

Today is the final day of the 12th grade final exam.

 We talked to them on the phone last night, they said Cambodia is making huge efforts to end the corruption on their testing.  The kids were searched for cheat sheets.  All of Takeo students had to test at one main campus in the capital and there are police and cameras everywhere. 

It is a very positive step.  Also our kids have a fair and fighting chance to do well this year.

The 3 of our 4 boys finished all their exams in the allotted time frame.   I am told Channee spent most of the night dancing with excitement.  We're very proud of them.  Today they have a few more tests and they are done.

A Silly Prayer Need

Can you help pray for us the next 2 days.
It is Monday afternoon for us and we are putting on our first school carnival on Wednesday.

Like many things in Cambodia it's coming together late and mostly wrong.
We're confident it will come together.  It might be a bit rickety but as long as the kids have fun we'll call it successful.

We normally just do games and give candy out birthday style but the carnival idea's been something I've had on my heart for a long time and we're making a valid attempt at it.    

I can see the stress starting to creep in.  Please pray that we don't kill each other before it's done.
Please pray for the workers "welders" to finish what they've got on their plate.
Please pray that we'll have fair weather, the kids have fun and safety.

Thank you,

Kit

A New Guest Blog

To the left of the page that your looking at, is a place for our guest blog links.
There is a place for current guests blogs and a little lower than that is a place for blogs of our past guests.

I love these writings of our guests and past guests.  It's for me a perspective other than my own which is fresh and current at the time they are written.  Many times I am choked up by seeing the interactions of guest with the children we are raising, I get to see the work we do paying off.  The children growing, loving, connecting and making new friends as well as touching the lives immensely of our guest here.  Very few guest leave unaffected by the kids here at AGHO.
Also for me these blogs are gap fillers when I can not write because office work keeps me from the hands on work that guest have time for.

So here I present a new blog to follow.
Al and Erin have found us some years ago on the internet and have been in communication and support since then.  It's a relationship we've cherished, so now amazingly they are on their way to spend a couple weeks with us with their 4 children.  We are quite excited and hope you'll check their blog during their stay and see what they see.

Please pray for them as they travel and stay here.

http://uycambodia.blogspot.com/

Kit