Sophear and Chamnab: One year later!

October 2017

We arrived in Cambodia near midnight on October 14, 2017.  We came with ideas and expectations and a calling to a specific ministry, and life doesn't look like we thought it would, but we are thriving, most days are healthy and encouraging, and God has brought us into ministries and relationships where we are being used to speak Jesus' name, share God's love, and disciple young Christians.

October 2018

We praise God for how He has taken care of us - He has taken care of us with protection and health, encouragement and thriving spirits, and with new and old friendships.  He has also put us in places and positions where we have had opportunities to share His love, speak His name, and walk beside new Christians, mature Christians, and non-Christians.  Thank you, Cambodia, for accepting and loving our family! Thank you, America, for supporting and loving our family!

 

The kids have changed a lot since we left, so I'll start with an introduction to 4.5-year-old Sophear and 2-year-old Chamnab.  And tomorrow I'll post a blog of highlights from October 2017 - October 2018!

Sophear is musical, artistic, and creative.  She refuses to wear anything that isn't a dress or skirt and can only be convinced to wear shorts when we're going to the playground.  She's still never had a haircut, but loves going to the salon to have her nails painted for $2.  She does chores for 100riel (2.5 cents), which she generously tithes and shares with company, but occasionally saves for candy or toys.  She spends a lot of time drawing and coloring and in creative or imaginary play.  She's learned how to ride a bike here and loves feeding leaves to the bunnies downstairs.  Although she's learned a lot of Khmer language in one year, including three songs, she's still shy around others who do not speak English with her.  Despite this, her sweet, Princess composure has won the hearts of many around her.  She often says, "When I'm in Cambodia, I miss Gas City.  But when we go to Gas City, I will miss Cambodia."

Chamnab - I look at the top picture taken when we had just arrived and I can hardly believe that we brought a chunky, toddling baby who is now a growing and talkative jumping bean with a big, funny personality.  Chamnab is finally sleeping really, really well!  He loves playing with blocks and cars as well as Barbies, Shopkins, etc., but really he spends most of his time jumping and climbing and riding his little toy car and bike (which he calls "moto") around the house.  He loves playing the drum set at church and he often helps himself to chopsticks from our silverware drawer at home, drumming on anything he pleases.  A month ago, he swallowed a coin and had emergency surgery and an overnight hospital stay to remove the Albanian coin stuck in his esophagus.  He was only saying a few words when he moved to Cambodia at 13-months old, but he's a very talkative (and polite!) little boy now!

Sophear and Chamnab are wonderful playmates who greet each other lovingly and enthusiastically every morning, but they are also rivals at times!  Both children love riding on the moto (motorcycle) and playing in the dirt when we're able to leave the concrete jungle of Phnom Penh.

Praise God!
- For protecting Chamnab when he swallowed the coin and had emergency surgery.
- For protecting Sophear when she was hit by a moto while crossing the street (in June).
- For continued health!  Neither of our children have faced much illness since we arrived in Cambodia!
- For the friendships that our children have made with others and with each other, and for the friendships that we have made because our children are friendly!

Chamnab wants to read "Go Dog, Go!" at least 3 times each day!

How you can pray for our children:
- Pray for safety and protection over Sophear and Chamnab!
- Pray that they continue to pick up the Khmer language!
- Pray that the Lord will continue to give us wisdom and grace as we raise, teach, and disciple our children to be people of love, kindness, generosity, and Christlikeness!

We are also praying that, before 2018 ends, Sophear will ask Jesus into her heart.  She often approaches us with really good questions while or after reading a book, hearing a conversation, etc., so we know she's thinking and processing, and we feel she's almost ready!
- Pray that the Holy Spirit would continue to prepare her heart!
- Pray that God would help us to teach her and answer her questions!
- Pray that He would help Sophear to understand and convince her of the Truth!

Families that slide together, stay together!

Thank you for loving our family and loving our children!  Every night before bed, I pray with each child individually - "Thank you for all the people that Sophear loves, and for all the people that love her, and especially for the people that remember to pray for her!"

Taking turns feeding Baby Panun

To see Christ glorified in Cambodia,

Titus, Jewel, Sophear, & Chamnab

Two months in Cambodia!

When I checked last, my “Sophear’s Christmas” blog had 586 views! My goodness, people!! I better keep writing! I thought it would be fun to write a post about what we’ve been doing or what’s been keeping us busy and what life looks like in Cambodia. Although since no one has asked that question (HA!) so I’ll start with two FAQs:

How are the kids?

Kids are great! Sophear has been a champ trying new foods. She never complains about the heat. She’s initially shy, but loves her “uncles” and every kid that’s smaller than her is immediately her new friend! She’s quite a bit bigger than Cambodian kids her age (which raises people’s expectations of her!); however, even when they think she’s five, they all find her vocabulary to be most impressive! She loves going out, having company, crafting of any sort, playing, and watching. A few weeks ago, we bought her a little desk for her room and she’s LOVING being able to close the door and color or “study” in the cool, quiet.

Bible shopping with Sophear!  (Girl loves shopping!) 

Sophear with Tino (building staff) learning how to ride a scooter! (Girl loves Tino!)  She has been asking for a rainbow bike with a bell for Christmas.

Chamnab has grown 5 teeth (4 molars and 1 incisor) since we arrived just two short months ago. On the days that he wasn’t super cranky from teething (and super cranky from refusing to eat because he’s teething), he has also been great! His personality is really blossoming. He’s just 16-months-old, but he works really hard to “keep up” with Sophear and her friends. He loves books, cars, books, finger puppets, going out, books, cars, and peek-a-boo! Also, before we left Indiana, he had graduated to just one nap/day. Between the heat and the new normal wake-up time of 5:30-5:45am, he’s back to two naps/day!

Chamnab is not quite as outgoing as Sophear, but he's getting braver!  He enjoyed "going to school" on Araykhsat Island this week.  He was just playing with the colored pencils and crayons until a child left their picture behind and went to play, then he claimed the paper as his own and began "scribble scrabbling" as Sophear says.

This picture was on one of our rougher and needier days.  Also, he definitely has more than enough clothes in Cambodia considering he only wears them when we leave the house!

Are you settled?

We moved into our apartment on October 21 and we’ve been attending Phnom Penh Church since October 22. We both have working phones, WiFi at home, and all the necessary furniture and tableware. I am comfortable walking alone two blocks to the nearest supermarket and buying the essentials. I have a general idea of what is nearby - including coffee shops, restaurants, and stores - but have zero confidence in getting myself there safely without Titus’ help. Actually, with the one exception of buying groceries at the nearby Super Duper, I have zero capability (or confidence anyways) in doing anything without a significant amount of my husband’s generous assistance. As I push myself, I know the capability and confidence will come, but I’m comfortable “following” for now. The hardest challenge continues to be cooking at home. (There really aren’t enough variations of stir-fried vegetables and meat).

Now, onto what we’ve been doing and what life looks like in Cambodia.

Chamnab and Jewel with new friends and a visiting team eating a delicious lunch prepared by Pastor Chanla and Sister Toni's brother on Araykhsat Island.  It gets pretty warm, but I'm so thankful for a baby carrier which allows me to be mobile and do ministry while allowing Chamnab to sleep safely in my arms!

Much of what we’ve been doing looks like people sitting around a table, around a mat on the floor, or on the side of the street. And when it’s not people gathered together, it’s sitting at a computer - writing sermons, writing children’s lessons, making lists, getting inspiration from Pinterest - or playing on the floor with our kids.

Hosting our friends Pastor Vandy, Tess, and David for lunch before taking the kids to the mall play place.  To receive "it's good!" from Vandy was a very high compliment for my cooking!

We’ve enjoyed reunions with friends with whom we have kept in touch, as well as with friends that even Titus hadn’t seen in many years. And we have made new friends! We have enjoyed meeting the three families of three Cambodian friends from America! I was SO excited to learn that there is a Christian couple from NJ in our building AND they have the cutest little boy only two months older than Chamnab (I’ll admit, I didn’t expect God would grant this request of mine!) and I am so excited to have a play date!!

At a breakfast meeting with our friend, Bunnath, who co-directs an NGO (Fountain of Hope).  In January, I (Jewel) am going to explore the opportunity to volunteer with his organization.

After talking with other missionaries and NGO leaders, I’ve been working on a missions audit to identify the “ministry scene” in Cambodia - what others are doing, what needs are unmet, what are potential partnership opportunities. As a result of some of these conversations and others, we have been asked to do/help with a lot. Please pray that God will give us discernment and we would have confidence in the way He is directing us, that we may know where He wants us to expend our time, energy, and resources!

Titus and Pastor Kimsan enjoy a snack at Brown Coffee after Bible shopping.  Pastor Kimsan is one of the leaders of the Wesleyan Church in Cambodia.  It has been great to reunite with his family!

A few days ago, our apartment lost power (again) at lunch time, which forced us into the street. (No electricity means we can’t cook, have no air, and shouldn’t open the fridge.) Although I was relieved I didn’t have to cook (especially since I had just discovered our chicken had spoiled (again)), I really just wanted to stay home. We descended 10 flights of stairs and into the street, then walked 400m to Barn Barn Restaurant. Long story short, we’ll be joining the owners for a children's Christmas program on Christmas Eve! I’m never happy when the power shuts off, but I’m grateful that God worked this out for good!

Here we are eating pizza for lunch after church with our university students.  At $2.99 per personal pan pizza AND buy 3 get 1 free, it was a great way for us to treat them!

We have some exciting Christmas services coming up and we’ll post a blog after our last one (December 30). Preparing for these services/outreaches/celebrations has been keeping us busy. Thanks to one generous sponsor and two giving churches, we have the funds to pass out some Bibles, hymnals and children’s Bibles this Christmas. The Cambodian Bible Society store is a one-hour drive one-way. Titus attempted to go on Monday and discovered they were closed. Here’s a sampling of what we have after three trips. I love looking through them! I just wish I could read them!! haha

So what fun and inspiring things have you guys been doing to celebrate baby Jesus?

I’ll have another fun post coming on or before December 26! Until then!

To see Christ glorified in Cambodia,

Titus, Jewel, Sophear, & Chamnab

Thoughts on concluding a very eventful year

2016 was the most eventful year of our marriage, perhaps even of our individuals lives.

How God is growing our family:

As 2016 began, our sister, brother-in-law, and nephew were stuck in the Philippines for an extra two weeks due to complications regarding Aldean's Green Card. Finally, they returned to Indiana and we announced our pregnancy. I had horrible 24/7 morning sickness for almost six weeks. January 18-21, we attended Champion Migration Strategy orientation at WGM headquarters – a training that would launch us into support-raising. That same week, I started my online studies towards a master’s degree in Applied Biblical Studies with Moody Bible Institute. That same week, Titus and I both got a terrible case of the flu, which last five days and seven days respectively. While January 18-21 was definitely our craziest week, all 52 weeks required a high level of balancing demanding responsibilities – marriage, parenting, support-raising, working, studies, taking care of our home, our walks with the Lord, etc.

On February 4th, Sophear turned two-years-old and on March 16th, she had surgery to close a hole in her heart. It was a very scary time for us, but we felt so supported! There were people all around the world praying for Sophear and for us! During the days and weeks leading up to and following Sophear’s surgery, we were reminded in a very real way two important truths: 1) God is a big God and 2) He loves our precious daughter, His precious daughter. I’m reminded of the lyrical line “I'm no longer a slave to fear, for I am a child of God!!” It is with confidence in this truth that I am able to go to Cambodia.

In July, we attended Family Camp – a traditional church camp-meeting for all ages. It was our last week as a family of three (Chamnab was born Tuesday after camp), and we shared some special times together as a family living in a small cabin and staying up too late. We also enjoyed the time away from technology and other distractions, which allowed us to reconnect in fellowship with those around us. God gave us many opportunities that week to advocate for the unreached in Cambodia and we’re grateful for how our support team grew that week!

On August 2nd, our son, Chamnab Harvey, was born. As I’m writing this, I CANNOT believe that our Baby Bear (affectionately called Chamnabby as dubbed by Sophear) is five-months-old. We were so busy and the months flew too quickly… and yet, he’s thriving! He’s rolling, he’s sitting unassisted for short periods, he’s laughing, he’s playing… but HOW is he five-months-old?! Over the weekend, I built a blanket fort for Sophear and put Chamnab in the fort (per her request). I sat a few feet away, listening, smiling, burning into my memory what I was seeing and hearing. Sophear was making silly noises and waving toys and Chamnab was laughing until he fell over. Things won’t always be easy in Cambodia, but they will always have each other! We wake up and go to bed thanking God for our fun and beautiful duo!

On October 29th, we celebrated 5 years of marriage. I’m so grateful to go through life TOGETHER. The last five years have been full of adventure! We’ve pursued dreams of a driver’s license, citizenship, educational pursuits, extensive travels, and raising support for our ministry in Cambodia.

How God is growing our support team:

In April, we became connected to a small community of Cambodian Christians in Columbus, Ohio. We have been able to visit both churches on three visits, including Cambodia’s most celebrated holiday – Khmer New Year. It was a real blessing and encouragement to connect with some Cambodian families and to feel so welcomed by them. Our time with this Cambodian-American Christian community grew even stronger our desire to take the Gospel Message of Jesus Christ to reach the unreached in Cambodia. We believe that God allowed us to cross paths with these people for a great purpose!

On May 1, we spoke at our first church, located in Coleman, Michigan. I believe we will always remember the first pastor who had enough faith in us to offer our first speaking invitation! Our first invitation came from a former classmate who sat in front of me in Homiletics my senior year in college (Fall 2010). While some relationships have fizzled in 2016, it has been a blessing (and fun!) to reconnect with old friends and classmates as well as to build new relationships! As we have traveled, we have met some wonderful people –people that we wish we could have spent more time chatting with and people that we hope are not just a one-time-meeting!

In June, we traveled by faith to a small church nine hours away in North Carolina. This was our first time visiting a place that we had never been, where we knew no one (and staying in the home of people we had just met). Along with taking Sophear, I was already well-advanced in my pregnancy. We questioned, ‘Is God calling us to go?’ and ‘Are we sacrificing too much at the expense of our children?’ God was good to bless our obedience to accept His call to North Carolina. Three families/individuals from the little NC church started supporting us and one of the families has been especially loving towards us, even advocating for us!

In September, we began a very busy travel schedule which took us to 18 speaking engagements in 18 weeks. Our travels took us to Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, New York, and North Carolina. Raising support has not been easy; in fact, it has been very hard, but God has been good to us! Very good! As I wrote earlier, we have met many wonderful people and we have also been blessed with opportunities to reconnect with friends from our past! We consider it a privilege to be sent out to advocate for the Great Commission, to advocate for Cambodia’s unreached, and to finally return to Cambodia and commit our days, our mouths, and our hands to winning souls!

To those of you who have “followed” our journey and to those of you who have not forgotten us, although we’ve been away, THANK YOU. Thank you Lord for being us every day, on every mile, and at every podium! We faced some challenges in 2016, but God was with us every step and every decision! We trust that God will be faithful to walk beside us as we continue our support-raising and eventually move our family to Cambodia in 2017!

To see Christ glorified in Cambodia,

Titus, Jewel, Sophear, & Chamnab

And now there's four!

It's been too long since I've written and so much has happened.  The really big news is that, four weeks ago our son was born!  The week before Chamnab was born, we attended Family Camp with the Crossroads District of the Wesleyan Church.  We were scheduled to speak on Tuesday night and we asked many people to pray that Chamnab would hang in there until after we spoke.  God was kind to us and exceeded our expectations, delaying Chamnab's arrival until after camp and allowing us to spend the entire week at camp.

On Tuesday, August 2 at 8:44am, Chamnab Harvey Romdenh was born weighing 8lbs 12.2oz and 20" long.

Titus' uncle Chamnab died during the Khmer Rouge (a genocide that killed 1/3 of Cambodia's population in four years).  Harvey was my maternal granddad, a missionary in Africa, and a person who had an immense lasting impact on my life and call to missions.

Chamnab Harvey means skillful warrior and we trust that he will be a solider in the Lord's Army!  Thank you for praying with us for Chamnab's obedience to God's call in his life!

On Sunday, August 14, we dedicated Chamnab to the Lord.  Our sweet Chamnab is a gift from God.  Psalm 127:3 proclaims that "Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from Him."  But we recognize... He is God's.  We don't know what the future holds for our precious ten-pound boy joy, but we trust that God will lead and strengthen us to guide Chamnab according to His ways.

"Hear O Israel: The Lord our God is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on their children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." (Deuteronomy 6:4-7)

My love tank is filled as I watch our family, friends, and church community pour love into Sophear.  I trust that Chamnab will be loved with the same deep affection and care.  By investing in and loving Sophear and Chamnab, you are edifying our whole family!  We're grateful that we have friends and family on both sides of the world - in the States and in Cambodia - that love our children deeply.

 

Chamnab is healthy and strong, eating and sleeping well!  Sophear loves him very much and has been exhibiting no signs of jealousy!  We are all enjoying the extra family time provided by Jewel's 10-week maternity leave.  We have quite a bit of traveling to do in the next three months - thus will begin our family adventures!

To see Christ glorified in Cambodia,

Titus, Jewel, Sophear, & Chamnab