Greetings from Cambodia!

I just got back from Cambodia, and though I would have loved to experience my first third-world country with my loved ones, the experience was good. The first day there I arrived at 7am only to wait in a two hour line through customs. Once we arrived at our guest-house, Bou Savy Guesthouse, we ate breakfast and headed out to the temples. Our first three temples we visited were called Angkor Thom, Bayon, and Baphuon. Visiting three temples in one day is not something I suggest everyone does. It was very hot and took over five hours to completely tour them all, however, it was worth every second. My favorite temple was Angkor Thom. This temple had so much detail to it and was still standing beautifully. I cannot ever start describe the way I felt standing in these temples. They are one of the most beautiful man-made creations I have ever seen.My second day was more relaxing because the kids were tired from the first day, so we only went to one temple. This temple is the more famous one of all of them, Angkor Watt -- maybe you have heard of it. I was not that impressed with this temple compared to Angkor Thom, but it was still very beautiful. After visiting the temple for about two hours, we jumped back into a Tuk-Tuk and headed for a hotel that had a swimming pool. For the rest of our second day we went swimming and just relaxed.

The third day Mark left to return to Singapore, which meant everyone could sleep in because Mark always woke us up early. Audrey, on the other hand, likes to sleep in so that is what we did! After we woke up at 8am and ate breakfast, we headed toward the temples one last time to visit Ta Prohm. You may have heard this name before as well if you are a Tomb Raiders fan because the first movie was filmed at Ta Prohm. This temple is also sweet because it is in the middle of a jungle. The jungle has literally moved into the temple. There are tree that are on top of the temple walls and there are trees that have planted themselves right in the middle of the temple hallways. It is amazing to be able to walk through a temple that has been taken over by the jungle!

I wanted to write one journal about the temples and my next one will be about the other things we did and about the people of Cambodia. I hope you enjoy the pictures. Next time you all are over in Asia most definitely stop by the Angkor temples in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

This week I would like to challenge you to look around outside at what God has created…thank Him for that. When you look at nature, you get a small glimpse at how beautiful God really is.

I love you all,

Cynthia

Experiencing Singapore

So a ghetto friend of mine, A-dogg, said that I should update you on my life, so…here goes! ONE, my computer is fixed! Praise the Lord from whom all blessings flow. It was quite the process, but it is finally working. Next order of business is my weekend. On Friday I went out with the middle school teachers to a going away party. This party was fun at first when everyone was talking and having a good time, but then everyone started drinking and talked about dumb stuff. They would bring up topics that I could not relate to and everyone had someone to talk to, but I didn’t because I am new! So most of the time I sat there and read a book, while laughing at the drunken people who kept on saying the F word. How exciting.

On Saturday I went to a softball game, worked on some homework, and went for a bike ride. Sunday was the first day I would go to church in Singapore with Mandy, a friend of Ivory’s back in the States. Since church did not start until 2:30pm we went downtown and eat some lunch before heading to church. Mandy is a wonderful sister and treats me well. She introduced me to Singapore by eating their food and seeing the sights.

The church is called New Creation Church and is quite charismatic. The teaching was on tongues and it was…in the best word, interesting. Some of the things the pastor said were good and others were completely false doctrine. It was good to get to worship in church and to have that back into my life as far as music goes.

After church, Mandy, Tim, and I went out on the town! We walked everywhere including the music theater. It was pretty sweet inside and outside and there were a bunch of little bands playing their stuff and trying to get money.

We also walked to the Merloin, which is Singapore's masticate. It is half mermaid and half lion -- it was pretty cool! Most of the day we just walked around and saw all the sweet buildings that Singapore has and saw a little history. This is all for now, hope you enjoy the update and pictures! I love you all very much.

Seeking His Reason,

Cynthia

Computer Heaven?

Hi friends....this is Breana, Cynthia's best friend/roommate/blog updater. haha. Cynthia's hard-drive on her computer crashed on Sunday, so if you've noticed a lack of communication lately, that's why. It's been a stressful last few days trying to figure things out with Cornerstone in order to get her a new hard-drive. It's obviously difficult figuring things out from the other side of the world, so your prayers would be greatly appreciated. Cynthia has to have her computer during her time in Singapore to complete her online classes, to turn in lesson plans and journals to her supervisor here at Cornerstone, and also to be able to communicate with friends and family. We have a friend from church, Rick, who actually arrived in Singapore last night and will be meeting up with her and doing his best to help her fix the computer. Praise God for his provisions already. Continue lifting up our sister to God in prayer. She needs and appreciates your love and support.

Blessings,
Breana

“Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.” - Deuteronomy 7:9

One week down. . .nine to go!

I made it!!!!! My first week of teaching is over! I just want to say, as far as teaching goes, it was not hard AT all. Like I said in my first post, these kids are well behaved and the school is one of the best in the world. The biggest discipline problem is the type of shoes the students wear. Every school in Singapore has to have a uniform and every uniform has to be different according to the school. Here at SAS, it is a white collared SAS shirt with blue bottoms. The students can wear any kind of bottoms -- skirts, pants, or shorts. I don’t know the rule about shoes, but I know that there is one. I came to find this information out when I went into one of the Head Master's office and saw a whole book shelf full of Crocs. I asked him what they were for and he said, "Well, when the students don’t have the right shoes on, they have to wear these." I was thinking to myself I would never wear the same shoes again, that way I could wear them all the time!

The school has about 1,100 students in the high school with about 100 students in the special education program. Here, the special education program is called “guided learning,” therefore I teach guided learning. I teach five classes -- three are study skills and two are English 9 classes. My students are sweet and from all over the world. Everyone has a different accent and you sure can tell when a student is from Texas because of the Deep Southern accent (plus they are loud and proud like Texans). When I went out with a couple of new teachers this weekend they said that the students have been asking where I was; the teachers said that I made an impact on their lives already!

Let me tell you a little about the SAS high school. First, the whole school is outside. There are birds, plants, bugs, and snails all over the place. I walk outside my classroom door and I am outside in the beautiful sunshine. I guess this is how most schools are in the world besides in the US, but its new to me and I LOVE it. Another good thing about this school is that it has every course you would ever want to take. Honestly, you name it we have it. Just comment and name a course and I am sure we have it. We have six different dance classes, eleven different theater classes, every band class you can think of, and over fifteen different language classes. I call this place every teacher’s heaven. I think this is as close as a teacher gets to heaven in this school, but on the other hand I think that my teaching abilities need to be elsewhere. I feel called to somewhere that they need great teachers and don't necessary have them. At SAS, they have teachers with Doctorates begging for a job. We have many teachers at SAS that have their Doctorates, which is crazy because they could be teaching at a University or something. Oh yes! I almost forgot, there are four different cafés for the high school alone, including a Subway! The school is very friendly and everyone always stops and talks to everyone. It has great community that I think Cornerstone would love, and maybe even learn from.

That is all for now, my family! I must go work on some homework on this beautiful Sunday! God Bless you all. Know that I love you all very much and pray for you often.

“Who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time.”- 2 Timothy 1:9

Learning that Christ is Victor,

Cynthia

Singapore! Singapore! Singapore!

The picture above is my host family's house and my home for the next ten weeks. The mom, Audrey, and the dad, Mark, both work at the Singapore American School where I teach. They have two kids -- Daryn, their youngest daughter who is 11, and Kyle, their 13 year old son. The family loves to be active and sports are a part of their everyday routine. It is an interesting household in that no one gets home until five because of sports, and on the days that they don’t have sports, they are awake at seven in the morning to play basketball and shoot around outside. Every day is filled with a sport or with running.

They are a good family and are very well off! HA. The house is beautiful and has mostly marble walls and floors. There are five bedrooms and four bathrooms; I have my own bedroom and share a bathroom with Daryn. Having my own room is hard for me because I hate being alone. It's hard being in a place where my love languages aren't being met. Regardless, the house is very nice and it's quite convenient seeing at I live two minutes from the school. Another great advantage of living in this house is that it is only about seven minutes from the train station. This is a wonderful advantage because the train is the cheapest way to get around the island and the mostly widely used means of transportation. God has really blessed me with quality living arrangements.
I hope you enjoy the pictures and the update. I am truly blessed to live in this beautiful home and in this beautiful country. Addie, our maid, spoils me! I can count always having my clothes washed and ironed and I can count on having my meals cooked everyday, three times a day. It's such a blessing.

I believe that is all for now. I am thanking God for providing and trusting He is doing the same for you all. I love you all very much. Thank you for the prayers and love -- I need them both greatly while I am here.

Blessings,
Cynthia

Asking for a Miracle

I have one prayer request not for myself, but for our maid, Addie. She is from the Philippines, but has been a maid in Singapore for 16 years. She has been away from her family for 16 years; she has 5 children -- 4 girls and one boy. She never got to see them grow up because she had to come to Singapore and make a living to support her family. Now her husband is deathly ill and has to stop teaching. Addie went back home two months ago to see her husband and to get him medical help. She borrowed 2 years of salary from my host family in order to pay for the medical help. So, Addie is here in Singapore working for a family 24 hours a day 6 days a week for nothing. She has to work two years to pay off her debt. I was talking to Audrey, my host "mom" if you will, and she said that they can afford to cut her debt in half. That is still really sad. I was talking to Addie today and she said that her husband was only making 3,600 US dollars a year for teaching so they have lived a poor life. I want you to pray that God works through my sinful self and shows my host family the Lord. I want you to pray that Addie is provided for. I want you to pray that my host family shows Addie complete favor and forgives her debt completely. Our LORD is great and he can do anything. I believe He can and will do this for Addie.

Ok, I love you all very much. Thank you for the prayers, thank you for the love, and thank you for being yourself! Seek the Lord with everything you do!

Pinagbelae,
(blessings, in Tagalog, which is what Addie speaks)

Cynthia

Rainy with the High of 90

That is the weather forecast for the rest of my time here in Singapore! Let me just say that my body is not used to the heat -- I sweat just as much as Bre does when playing soccer! I can get past the weather though, because Singapore is BEAUTIFUL. Once you get out of the tall buildings where you can see land, it is amazing. If you think tropical plants, bird, and trees, you are getting a good picture of Singapore.

I am teaching ANGELS! Today was my first day of teaching and the students at SAS are not like any student you from the U.S. that you have met. These students are motivated to learn...it’s crazy. The students are from all over the world -- France, Japan, China, United States, EVERYWHERE.

Tomorrow I am going out to dinner with a friend of Ivory Smith's that lives in Singapore now. I am excited to get to know her and to finally know someone around my age. God is good because she used to be a missionary, or maybe still is, and goes to a local church here, so now I am going to have a church which is a HUGE blessing.

I think that is about it for my first post -- short and sweet -- but there will be more to come, I promise!

Cynthia