A beautiful sight seen by some of the Cambodians last night. Very glad they got to see the northern lights.
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This was a unique day, as the children of High Level Christian Academy came to the church (High Level Evangelical). We ended up getting more donations with the market from the teachers and students in the morning, which we did not plan for. The High Level kids were very interested in the market items, with several small knick-knacks sold.
The High Level kids were treated to two dances ('stick dance' and 'praying mantis dance'), a reading of My Forever Home by Marie, and a demonstration of the different uses of a krama (a traditional Cambodian garment). The schoolkids greatly enjoyed the entire performance, with the krama demonstration earning several laughs as Marie brought up volunteers to model the uses. We had the Cambodian team sing their nation's anthem, followed by all of the Canadians performing ours.
Once the schoolkids left, we packed up our stuff. It took a little longer than usual as there were several items that got scattered around the church. Once it was time to go, the Cambodians once again sang for the volunteers.
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The bus trip was relatively short, as we drove to La Crete Christian Fellowship. This was a different setup from what we normally did, as we were leaving our stuff and billeting at La Crete, but performing at Tompkins Evangelical Church at Buffalo Head Prairie which was only twenty minutes away. The kids had some time to play in the gym and a park across the street before hopping back on the bus.
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We arrived at Tompkins, where the kids immediately trying to play with the electronic keyboard in the basement. When I went to the washroom, I was quite surprised to see the boys spraying the air freshener on their hands like it was some kind of soap. I took the air freshener away as they were quickly depleting it, which they found very confusing. It was definitely one of the stranger encounters I had with them.
The supper provided was a variety of different curry options to put on rice. The boys seemed to have eyes bigger than their stomachs, as several of the loaded up with an excessive amount of rice. The dessert was a selection between apple pie or apple crisp, with ice cream on the side. Several of the kids opted to skip the apple desserts and only get the ice cream.
The audience for the performance featured a large amount of kids, who initially opted to sit close to the back. Blaine spotted this and urged them to move closer to the front, as they would likely miss the intricacies of the 'stick dance' and 'praying mantis' dance. Many of them listened and moved up to the very front row to watch.
The funniest moment of the night for me happened during Andet's testimony. As I was in the lobby with Shelly, we both heard a brief piano note ring out from the basement. Shelly immediately ran to the basement to stop the kids from playing with the piano, while I stood there chuckling. These kids are certainly keeping us on our toes.
The market purchases were a fun experience for me as several children paid with cash, leading to an abundance of change being made. Many of them seemed uncertain of their math when handing me the money, which I found rather adorable. The trip back to La Crete saw many of the children fall asleep on the bus, as it had gone dark out. Thankfully for them, several of the billets lived very close to La Crete Evangelical, meaning they could quickly hop into bed.
God bless & Jesus saves.
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PS: Here is a video that should have been in yesterday's blog from when the kids were in Beaver Lodge.
Was Kapriel or one of the girls sick? I noticed Kapriel (I think that's who it was) in the audience and only 10 of the kids doing the Praying Mantis dance. Enjoy their singing too!