NTU Student project

Students meeting at our home

On 6 December, Ping and I will leave for Baray. We will meet up with a group of 22 NTU students from the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Leadership Development Programme. They will spend a week in Baray working with Esther's team on a number of village projects. I have to say we are both really looking forward to this trip.

Their Project L.O.V.E. brief itinerary is as follows:

Day1 Sunday
Arrival -packing of hygiene packs, food rations

Day 2 Monday
Making the roads
The whole group is involved in the project for today

Day 3 Tuesday
Making 3 wells and pavements concurrently
3 gps of students at 3 different places.

Day 4 Wednesday
Repairing roofs of a small house of 4m by 5m with zinc roof.
This is one of the most important project to give shelter to the
elderly and the poorest ones.

Day 5 Thursday
Teaching hygiene in school but taking on 6 classes.
Each group to teach in 2 classes taking about an hour in one class

Day6 Friday
Visit village homes and distribute clothes and food rations

Day7 Saturday
Leave for Siem Reap.

O Ta Saeng School commissioning

My apologies for being so slow in posting my updates. Things just kinda snowballed after we got back from Cambodia.

So the exams are over now and I've finished marking the exam scripts...so I have a bit more breathing space now. Also looking forward to our next trip to Baray.

The school at O Ta Saeng was completed on schedule. We had a bit of an opening ceremony. It was also good meeting up with Ps Lee Peng Chiat from Alor Star methodist Church. I felt especially satisfied that we were able to build this school in collaboration with Alor Star despite our not having known each other before...and having done so in faith and trust.

In the end the inflation bumped up the cost of the school almost 50%, but by God's grace we had just about enough funds to pay for everything.

Commissioning of the school

So the school should be complete soon. My trip there is pretty much confirmed for 4-7 August. We'll be meeting with the contingent from Alor Star Methodist Church. I believe there will be a kind of handing over of school keys to the village leaders/school principal.

Jhon Sim will be accompanying me. It is a nice time to go as JetStar Asia has got a special on the flight to PP. But I think it's going to be all wet and muddy as it is the rainy season. Still I think it will a great trip.

We will also be exploring other options to help the villagers...perhaps a school for another village or a scholarship scheme to help deserving students further their education in the high school/college/university.

Readings from Proverbs

We've been on this "Read through the Bible in a year" programme and at the present wading through the Book of Proverbs. This writings are supposedly written by Solomon, though it is not universally agreed that he was the author or wrote all of it. Parts of it appear to originate from Agur, Lemuel and 'men of Hezekiah' who may have been mere translators. In any case, the Book of Proverbs contains a collections of 'wise' sayings....shrewd observations of life.

Quite a few are directed towards the proper and 'wise' treatment the poor. For me it has been a powerful reminder of our human responsibility to care for the need and disadvantaged among us.

Here are a selection I have extracted:

11:1 The LORD abhors dishonest scales, but accurate weights are his delight. 2 When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom. 3 The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity. 4 Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.

24 One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. 25 A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.

14:31 He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.

17:5 He who mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker; whoever gloats over disaster will not go unpunished.

19:17 He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done.

21:13 If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered.

22:9 A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor...
22:16 He who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth and he who gives gifts to the rich-- both come to poverty.
22:22 Do not exploit the poor because they are poor and do not crush the needy in court, 23 for the LORD will take up their case and will plunder those who plunder them.

Projected completion

Received confirmation that the school should be completed by end July/early August. Esther had suggested we meet in Baray on 9 August for the school opening, but this is probably not workable, 10 August being my wedding anniversary and also coincides with the beginning of the semester.

I am however planning to bring a small group of NTU (Nanyang Technological University) engineering students to recce the villages to do some student special projects with the villages. I will probably target to go up sometime mid semester for the opening.

Inflation

Inflation has caught up with us in Cambodia, and the costs for construction has jumped about 25%. We now have a bill of USD28,900. Fortunately God as usual, has provided for this inflation ahead of time, so we should be able to meet out commitments.

Praise Him from whom all blessings flow.

We on the way....!

						USD
75 sets of tables and chairs (joint ) USD20 each,						$1,500.00
3 tables for the teachers USd20 each						$60.00
3 toilets/bathrooms						$1,300.00
3 classrooms						$18,600.00
One Drill well						$1,200.00
TOTAL						$22,660.00

This is the budget for the school building. The constribution of Mt Carmel to this endeavour will be USD $12,660.

Thank God for His faithfulness in providing. We are so overjoyed to be able to begin building.