Matuschka Family

There’s a child’s blanket sitting on an empty chair in my living room. Gabe had wanted to take it with him to school, but I explained that blankets weren’t allowed in school. The first day of school was yesterday, Gabe’s first day of Kindergarten. My house seems hauntingly empty. Legos remain stacked in the corner, books sit tidily on their shelves, toys have been picked up and put away, beds are made. I miss the days when we could spend hours building a Lego creation or sit in a blanket tent and read good books. A special part of childhood has been left behind and it is time for Gabe to start a new chapter.
Gabe’s first day of school went off without a hitch. He said his favorite part was meeting his new teacher. Lucy is beginning fourth grade and was as eager as ever to begin, she was even happy to have homework! Tee is starting seventh grade, his first year of switching classes throughout the day. He seems to have liked all his teachers and is looking forward to having PE everyday.
I know I will be okay and even learn to enjoy the freedom that comes from having all the kids in school. My own school will start up at the end of August and, I’m sure will keep me busy studying. I think what I want to do is meditate on the days that are now behind me in hopes that they will remind me to savor the sweetness of all those yet to come.

“The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
The plans of his heart to all generations.”
Psalm 33:11
We believe the Lord has a plan for our family and for Cambodia. I believe with all my heart that it was in God’s plan for us to return here to Cambodia to finish the work He has called us to with Asian Hope: serving Cambodia’s poor and destitute, young generation. We arrived back in Phnom Penh on July 22nd. Tom’s mom traveled with us to help us with our transition back here. It has been wonderful having Mamaw share Cambodia with us over the past two weeks! We are all very excited to be back and have been busy unpacking and adjusting to the time change.
It is a very busy time here in Phnom Penh. New teachers arrived here in the last two weeks and I helped with their new teacher training. I talked to them about transition and culture shock. Our goal is that they have as smooth a transition as possible into this new and foreign culture. Gabe and Lucy participated in Vacation Bible School last week and have really enjoyed getting out and seeing their old friends. School starts next week and we are all looking forward to getting into the routine of school.
God has a plan for Cambodia’s young people. We believe Asian Hope is part of fulfilling that plan through its work with orphans, schools and combating human trafficking. Asian Hope has kept Tom busy catching back up with each of his department heads as well as meetings about visas and helping to move the girls’ home to its new location. Asian Hope is in the middle of a $75,000 matching campaign to directly support our orphan ministry. It is going well and you too can help us reach our goal of $150,000. Go to www.asianhope.org for more details.
Thank you all for your prayers and your financial support for our family. We couldn’t be doing the work here without you. You are part of God’s plan for Cambodia as well. You are making a difference!

I wasn’t sure when we came to the States in December if we would ever be able to return to Cambodia. Having been diagnosed with Bi-Polar Disorder, I didn’t know what our future would hold. The last five months have been a real struggle for our family as we come to terms with what this diagnosis means for us. It has meant a complete overhaul of my lifestyle and schedule as well as ongoing counseling and medication. In February I began a Bible study called Believing God by Beth Moore. The whole message of the study is to practice present-active-participle faith in God, choosing to believe him constantly, each day. This Bible study became an anchor for me as I had to choose to believe that I could overcome this diagnosis and learn how to live life with Bi-Polar Disorder. I also had to choose to believe that God can do what he says he can do; if he had called us to serve in Cambodia, as we believed he had, we would then be able to return to Cambodia despite the diagnosis.
It is my great pleasure to announce to you that we are indeed returning to Cambodia in mid-July. This is a huge answer to prayer for our family. In faith we have gone through and will continue counseling. Now the counselors all agree that we are in a place where we can return to the field and continue our work in Cambodia for Asian Hope. Our family is very excited. The children are eager to return to Logos International School and all their friends. Tom and I are thrilled to be able to continue our work with Asian Hope back on the ground in Phnom Penh. Faith has won out. Believing God always brings with it great reward and we have really seen God’s hands in our lives over the last six months. Thank you for continuing your partnership with us as we work to rekindle Hope in Cambodia in the love of Christ.

It’s 5:30 in the morning. The sky is a pale misty gray, the humidity from last night’s rain hangs in the air and puddles on the ground. The air is heavy and moist; the neighborhood has quietly begun to stir. My own ritual begins as I sit outside on the front porch and pull on my socks and running shoes, the day feels cool. Familiar faces are slowly trickling by my front gate, the neighbors that join me in this worldwide liturgy of greeting the day.
I see them nearly everyday along the lonely back stretch of the neighborhood. The eldest sits hunched in a wheelchair, her head wrapped in a traditional krama, her long skirt hanging past her ankles. Her face is toothless and withered like a dried apple; her fingers are bent and misshapen. She is always with another, younger woman. The younger appears older than she likely is. She too is dressed traditionally. She has a few more teeth and you can see fine black hair peeking out from under the krama. She walks slowly behind the wheelchair. Sometimes I see her sitting beside it talking with the eldest. Something about their camaraderie attracts my attention. The devotion of the younger to hold this ceremony daily; the slow walk to the end of the neighborhood, the scheduled rest halfway and then the ever-slower return home. I wonder how long it takes them each morning.
I am certain the intrigue is not one sided. Each day I pass them I am given the evil eye, the suspicious, “what are you doing here?” stare. I suppose I deserve it; I am a white female, running (something few Khmer women do) and I have this crazy hair sticking out all over my head. It really bothers me that they seem so offended by my presence. It creeps under my skin and congeals into a challenge; what can I do to break through those hostile stares? How can I win them over to my side?
On the third day, I go for a long shot. As I pass them on the backstretch, I take a deep breath, slow down, put my hands together in front of my face and give them the traditional greeting. I am instantly rewarded with huge, toothless grins but the real victory came the following day. As I was warming up, the older woman waved me over to her. She greeted me and then gave me the typical Asian interrogation; how old are you? How many children do you have? Are they boys or girls? Where are you from? Why are you here? About halfway through the interview four other women, more my age, came over to listen in and giggle at my infant-like Khmer. As the bombardment of questions slowed to a halt, I tell them all how happy I am to have met and talked with them. I say my goodbyes and begin to jog away. I felt like singing but instead raised my eyes to the sky and thanked God for two new friends.

We thought a busted water pipe flood was bad. As Lee Corso would say (you can tell I miss college football), “Not so fast, my friend”. We have been hit nearly relentlessly with monsoonal rains for 3 weeks. At the beginning the road outside of our gate flooded. Nothing new there as it did this last fall and even came in the gate a few feet. The torrential rains continued and the flooding spread far into our yard. That was a little annoying but workable. Next the rains flooded the entirety of our yard encircling the house. When the cars and trucks passed in the water outside our gate, the wake they created would push water inside our house.

Our landlord was quite unresponsive. Finally he came out and filled a few sand bags and set a layer around our front door. That wasn’t enough.

Last, Friday night after 3 days of no rain a huge downpour came and the entire bottom level of our house flooded. Danielle, the kids and I were working quickly to move furniture upstairs and belongings upstairs and out of the water. Our house is surrounded by dirty water and breeding squadrons of mosquitoes. I spent all day Saturday making sand bags, moving them into place to make a higher barrier and mopping the muddy, sewage laced, muck from our downstairs.

Since Friday, I have been in a debating contest with my landlord on terms of the contract and what defines default. I think I have won the discussion (no doubt with God doing the heavy lifting). Today he came by to refund 2/3 of the security deposit and will refund the remainder when we move out. Pray that he upholds his end of the deal and most importantly that God provides a great new place for the sanity and happiness of our family and provides it soon.

I am sorry that I have been remiss in keeping up with posting current events in the life and times of the Matuschka family. So to catch you up on the last month, here we go…

I had the privileged of taking one of the Asian Hope girls to nursing college in India. Her name is Fanny and you can read her bio under the Higher Education program page at www.asianhope.org. We were blessed with the curse of staying in Delhi for 8 days as we jumped through the hoops of the Cambodian Embassy. All we needed was one letter stating that the embassy had no objection to Fanny studying in India. Easier said than done. Continually we were told to come back in one day or two days or after the weekend. Each time with nothing to show for it and no real explanation of why. Most of the time we were not allowed to enter the building. The guard would phone to the inside and then relay the message.

During our wait we toured most of the major historical sites in Delhi and took a train in the lowest class seating to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. That trip was a great

On Monday we were allowed in and met a high ranking official who had been away the prior week. He was quite abrupt with us. At one point he asked me where I was from. When I said, “I am an American”, he said, “I hate you”, paused, looked right at me and then laughed in a way that revealed both joke and truth in his comment. Then we were told to come back the next day. We arrived the next day at 10:00 am as directed and were told to wait outside the gate. The wait lasted an hour before the phone rang and the request came for the American to enter the embassy and no one else. Fanny and my Indian friend were forced to wait outside.

The official and I sat for over 2 hours talking one on one. None of it concerned Fanny or the letter. We spoke of Cambodia’s history and his past involvement in the wars and government. He harbors deep wounds and resentments toward America and his family members that are now Americans. “I kept looking up in the sky, waiting for the American planes to return to save us. They knew what was happening and left us to die.” He is fiercely loyal to the current prime minister but also pretty jaded in regards to the internal political games that he has lost a time or two.

Later we all went to lunch together and then spent the afternoon talking about his business prospects, future, family, etc. He is a staunch Buddhist and has even built the second Khmer Buddhist temple in India on his property in Delhi. We finally received the letter at 5:45 PM. After that we went to this man’s home to meet his wife and daughter and saw the temple he was so proud of. I don’t know what the future holds for this relationship. I have been put into contact with his cousin here in Phnom Penh. The cousin is looking for business partners, which I am not one. But I have agree to look at his business plan and give him some suggestions.

May the love of Jesus envelope this entire family.

The rest of the Indian saga is ongoing even though I am no longer there. Please be praying for Fanny and her sister Lydia. They are in a tough situation. The paper work is still not complete for Fanny and I am having some communication struggles with the school administration. Your prayers are coveted.

We had been counting the days: five, four, three, two, one, zero… Here we were, the first day of non-home school for Lucy. She was so excited she could hardly sleep, or eat for that matter. We had answered every one of the myriads of questions she could think of in those last few days; whom do you think I will sit by? Where do I go to line up? Will I have enough time to eat? As I braided her hair (“Do you think I should wear two braids everyday?”) it began to sink in; here was the beginning of her journey away from me. But, I haven’t had her long enough!
Then there is Tee, starting his first day of Junior High. His hair is long; so long it hangs in his face and curls in the back. Trying to give him his independence, I resist the strong urge to brush it out of his eyes. I tell him to stand out front so I can take his picture. He started doing push-ups twice a day, everyday, a week ago. He suddenly has an interest in staying “in-shape.” He poses for the camera looking like he is trying very hard to be cool. I realize, what I think no longer has top priority.
I take a deep breath, take a few more thousand pictures and load up the car. This is the first day of a completely new phase of my life. Maybe all three of us are feeling the same things: happy, excited, nervous, and scared. With tears in my eyes I realize I can’t wait to see what this new season brings.

Catherine has made a full recovery. We were able to spend a few days with her in Bangkok during our Thailand trip. I was a pleasure to watch God take care of this little girl and listen to the openness of her parents regarding their faith and fears.

Update July 19th
We have been able to spend time with Catherine and Akemi every day since Thursday. We are so very thankful that she has been discharged this morning and is on her way home right now. The doctors decided not to cut on the toe and expect her to fully recover. The only complication they expect is for her body to have a very tired and flu like reaction to the anti-venom in the next week or two. Thank you for your prayers. We praise God for his providence throughout the ordeal.

Update July 14th
We have been without internet connection for a few days. But here is a link to a comprehensive blog about Catherine’s circumstances and God’s work through it all: rheacambodia.wordpress.com
We are now in Bangkok and will probably try to see them before they go. Thank you for praying.

Update July 12th
Bill and Akemi are still in Bangkok with Catherine. She will not be released her until her blood counts are normal. It seems she is still having a problem with her blood coagulating properly. Also she seems to have a systemic infection and the toe is not healing. It is black and looks horrible. We pray she will not lose it. Bill will come home Tuesday and Akemi will stay in Bangkok until Catherine is better, maybe 5 more days.

Update July 11th
Catherine is in the hospital in Bangkok and has been stabilized. The internal bleeding has been stopped and the doctors plan to remove the bandages around her legs that was meant to slow the move of the venom. Please pray that this process does not cause any setbacks or complications.

July 10th
I would like to ask all of you to join us in prayer tonight. We received news today that the 10 year old daughter of some friends of ours in Phnom Penh had been bitten by a Green Pit Viper. This is a very dangerous snake whose venom attacks the red blood cells, depleting the body of oxygen. By the time Catherine had received the antivenom, she was already unconscious. She was flown to Bangkok this morning along with her mother and father. The latest news we have is that she is in critical condition. Please join us in lifting up Catherine in prayer and asking the Lord for complete healing.

This is the snake that bit Catherine

All I can say is I am getting spoiled…
…the Intimidator at Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge. Check out Dandy Don in the important links for the details.

We  just had a visit from an amazing Khmer woman.  She called us this morning to ask if she could drop by to give us a small thank you.  Her daughter is on scholarship in the 5th grade at Logos International School (in Tee’s class) but she has two younger children that have been attending other schools in town that have not been able to give them a top quality education.  Danielle had helped her complete the scholarship application for her two youngest children and I had represented them to the scholarship committee at Logos.  Now all three of her children will be on scholarship at Logos and she couldn’t be happier.

We met Theavy at Christmas time when we attended the Khmer church that meets in her home.  Her husband is a pastor that plants churches out in the province and she runs the church in their home in Phnom Penh that they started over a decade ago.  We have since learned that she works full-time, attends school at night, runs the church and helps her kids with their studies.  Simply astounding.

So there we sit  - in chairs in our living room area with Theavy sitting on her knees in front of us - presenting us with a banner made from Cambodian silk with the verse from Joshua that reads “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”  She is thanking us for being here and helping get all of her children into Logos.  That she had tried before but it wasn’t God’s timing until He sent us.  She explains her concerns that before only one of her children was getting the best education and she worried about jealousies in them as they grow older (doesn’t every parent worry about this).  She invites us back to her church and explains that she will make sure there is a lunch that we will really enjoy (they feed everyone after church as a ministry to the people who attend).

Just plain humbling for an American whiner like myself.