March 2008 Newsletter

March 23, 2008
Dear family and friends,

He is risen! I pray that this Easter season finds you well as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

My life is quite different now than it was when I last wrote to you. I have left busy Phnom Penh and am just finishing up my first week in the countryside village of Mesang in Prey Veng province. The differences are quite stark. Instead of dodging cars and motorcycles while I ride my bike, I now dodge chickens, cows, and cow patties. The air is filled with the melodious sounds of birds chirping instead of horns blowing. Life seems much more laid back. And of course, the neighborhood is quit a bit smaller.

As a child, I enjoyed reading the Little House on the Prairie series and watching the television show. Sometimes I feel like I have stepped onto the Little House set, except with more water buffalo and mangoes and fewer blizzards and rolling hills. I ride my bicycle down dusty dirt roads. I worry about getting tuberculosis and fleas. There is a hand-pump to get water for washing clothes or the dishes or for taking baths. There isn’t much power, so we go to bed and wake up early. Sometimes candlelight is the only light. And you really can party until the cows come home (The party ends around 6PM).

There are changes that I don’t like: There are no internet shops around here, and the closest market is forty-five minutes away. And I am finding rural Khmer to be slightly different from city Khmer, making communication somewhat difficult. Also instead of contending with one cat who just wanted to hide under my bed, I now faceoff with three cats who want to sleep on my bed and shred my mosquito net (I even caught one cat eating a raw fish head on my bed one evening). There is also an obnoxious resident rooster who begins his crowing at 3:30 AM.

But there are some good changes, too. There is more shade and wonderful breezes that when combined, make it quite comfortable. Mango season is beginning, so I can eat mangoes every day. And I am living with a Christian family this time. I also have a lot more to do.

A month ago I was studying Khmer every day and exploring Phnom Penh. This month I am visiting village chiefs, talking with strangers while sitting under their houses, and learning how to feel infants’ livers to see if they have heart failure due to beriberi (vitamin b1 deficiency). While I am here in Mesang, I will be helping and learning from Debbie Coats, a nurse practitioner, to do some research into beriberi, specifically what the infant mortality rate is and why so many infants here are affected by it. I will also be spending some time at the tuberculosis clinic where Debbie sees many patients.

I am confident that the nine weeks that I am here in the Prey Veng will be a great time of learning, but I also know that they will not be easy in any way. I miss the comforts and conveniences of Phnom Penh; can I live with the simplicity here? Sometimes being a missionary means living without running water or electricity, and I’m in Cambodia to test a call to long-term missions. So I’m going to stick it out. Perhaps I’ll even learn to like this lifestyle. Whatever the outcome, I trust that God has something to teach me about Himself and myself during this time.

Blessings,
Greta

Praises
--Mango season is here!
--For safe travel to Prey Veng
--We found a translator to work with me while I do research.

Prayer Requests
--for continuing transition to my new environment
--for protection for my health
--for continued improvement in my Khmer and for courage to speak it
--that I would sleep well at night