August...many emotions, many firsts, but God is God!

Greetings from Battambang!

Nicole, Derrick and Josie celebrating!

Three of our amazing daughters were born in August, this is the first time we will not be in the US to celebrate with them. Our youngest turns 40, does that make us old, or her; no all of us will be just a day older but it is a milestone for her and us! Celebrate well Nicole, we will definitely miss not being able to celebrate this milestone with you!

We were able to listen to most of the Oskaloosa state softball games via internet and KBOE Sports! It is definitely not the same as being there but it helped! When they were playing at 2pm that is 2am here...a bit crazy...

Tara and most of the O'Lears

Again congratulations Josie and the Oskaloosa Indian Ladies on 5th in State!!

Tara will be having a birthday this month also, she just went to spend a week with the O'Lears in North Carolina!

McFarland boys on an Island near Maine

And Lynae too will be celebrating her birthday as always 10 days Tara and Lynae share the same year! The McFarlands are currently in Maine with family having a splendid time.

Grandson Levi, Jenn and Bentley are visiting Grandpa Chris and Grandma Missy and their siblings and the rest of the family. So much going on with our families back home! We love you all and miss family celebrations.

Greatgrandson Bentley with vegetables from Missy's garden

So thankful for internet, including Viber so we can stay a bit connected to our precious family!!

We too took a respite; Ed and I ventured off to an Island called Koh Chang. It is off the coast of Thailand.
It was beautiful place to spend a week, a combination jungle and beach...all created by our Almighty God. Beaches, Rocks, Rain, Waterfalls, Elephants, Song birds, Monkeys, Rain, Sun, Moon, Rain, Crabs, Flowers, Rain...yes it rained but that gave us quiet time which we

Us at a waterfall

enjoyed as well. But it did not keep us bored we have learned during rainy season, you WILL get wet and survive! There are things to do and do them we will. 

Ed here; of special interest to my Rozenboom cousins is that many families we met were on a holiday (vacation for Americans) and interestingly were from the Netherlands and even from our Grandpa & Grandma's hometown of Ede. When told that our family name was "Rozenboom", they responded "YaYa". Small world indeed. It seems most Nederlanders have a 3 week holiday from their jobs to coincide with the students 6 week Summer break.

We are back in Battambang and ready to roll! Monday morning always starts at the YWAM Base with worship, it is such a wonderful way to start our work week!

At the clinic, progress continues toward licensing...but we have already had two outreach clinics which our interns were a great part of! One of our interns detected an irregular heartbeat at an outreach clinic and now the young girl is in Siem Reap awaiting heart surgery hopefully this week.

teaching how to calculate BMI

reviewing CPR

Our interns at the clinic are fun, intelligent, complex,
intriguing, inspiring and eager to learn!

And we have truly been blest with an amazing leader and mentor for the interns in the person of Sophea! God blessed us, Dr Paul and the interns with this awesome Godly woman!

practising EEG

outreach clinic

We have also been blessed with several YWAMers volunteer to help us in many ways. It is beautiful to see God's servants serve together!

Roger a huge blessing helping set up X-ray

Roger whose daughter Suel Pratt is on the YWAM staff graciously volunteered at the clinic for most of his short time here. Roger practises and teaches Xray in California. He was here visiting and dedicated a couple weeks to getting our Xray equipment up and running again! He also used his teaching ability to train local staff. Praise God for unexpected blessings! Roger you were an inspiration in many ways!!

If you are headed to Cambodia in the near future we could sure use a lab technician to check out the laboratory!  

Progress is progress even when it moves at a speed a bit slower than we like. We are in a country who thinks and responds differently that we are used to. Pray for us not to be discouraged, to go forward boldly in faith, knowing God knows our needs even better than we ourselves do!

Thank you each for your prayers, continue to pray for: wisdom as we continue working to get the clinic able to function to meet peoples needs; the heart of each of our interns for those who know the Lord to stay strong, and God to work mightily in those who are searching for truth; pray for us to stay healthy and safe as we NEED to bike more for exercise!  But above all to be bold in the name of Jesus, whom we serve!!

Ed and Mary Rozenboom

II Timothy 1:9

He 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.

Is it really June 15?

Dr Paul explaining

 Wow and we last posted in April?  Time does fly!!

 April went by quickly Ed teaching Tyler for an hour each morning...

 Abby went to America for a month, so we taught the Mighty Girls while she was gone..we got to know Linda, Samphas, Kim and Chanu a bit better...along with Socheata, Nypha and Chanut (sorry girls I know I am murdering names)

 Also classes resumed at the YDC and this quarter we are teaching Conversation Class, discussing relevant topics also doing some critical thinking with them...some great discussions! In the process we get to talk about God and the DTS from Australia has been

Ed with the EEG leads the students administered

telling them  Bible Stories, some the kids act out all trying to show them how great our God is and how much He loves them sending Jesus to die for them. We are so thrilled when they actually get it that they need Jesus as their personal Savior...or even start asking questions, evidence the Holy Spirit is at work within their hearts.

In the month of April we also met Dr Paul! Dr Paul is a paediatric neurologist, there are no other neurologists in Battambang or Siem Reap so his passion is to teach others this skill. And to treat patients that are currently being treated incorrectly because the field of neurology is not understood.

Graduations this past week at YWAM - DTS & SBS

 Dr Paul has another passion to help young women from Rapha House (look online to better understand) into the medical field for jobs that they learn a skill, and also to have a job after their passion and for their dignity.  Hopefully some can go on to take the nursing program, become a doctor... We want them to know they are gifted and talented young women!

Ok that paragraph changed to we ...where we fit in is Dr Paul asked us to be on board with him to help walk through this process. We are a sounding board, hands and feet to get certain tasks done, but it truly is his passion and is becoming ours as we see the need and meet the

Back home Gus after baseball series win!

young women. It is all in God's hand as we cross bridges that aren't easy to cross to establish a clinic to treat patients and to start  training in the medical field.  Hopefully some will even advance to other schools of training as they see their potential.

We are blessed to be able to have others join in as in Molly, Sarah Lee and Angela. Opening doors for these young women to work as techs, CNA's and health care assistants to name a few. This is just the beginning...on this one too I love to claim the verse Ephesian 3:20 "Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to HIS power at work within us."

SarahLee demonstrating stretching a patient

 We see such potential in the youth of Cambodia, they are intelligent, they work hard, some of our students go to school all day, come to us to learn English at 5pm and then go off to learn another language at 6pm. They are determined to learn and have such a desire to better themselves and their country. They have school 6 days a week.

YDC Students acting out a Bible Story

 That is a snippet of the last few months, we have been occupied.

 That along with people just listening to stories, their lives...sharing Jesus, them sharing who Jesus is to them and how they came to know HIM. Hearing stories sometimes hurts our hearts so much, but we have not lived it they have.

And of course life goes on for our children and grandchildren and our extended families back home. We miss them...they miss us. We message, email, talk on the phone occasionally Skype...but we are here and they are there. We have missed important events (graduation, confirmation, birthdays, ballgames, concerts), meals and activities...tears sometime come because it is hard.

God said following His call would not always be easy, and it isn't ... we feel pulled by two
continents.  So if you see one of our girls or grandchildren give them a hug from us. Ok I know we have 12 grandsons and the older ones wouldn't take to much to the hugging stuff...but I miss their bear hugs immensely.

YDC Conversation Class

It is Father's Day, I sent an email to my Father usually I go see my Father. I love you Dad, you are a big reason we are here; your heart for missions, thank you for teaching me to love God above all and my neighbour as myself. The word neighbour is pretty broad, to Aunt Helen the neighbours were those in Pakistan... To Aunt Martha and Uncle Casey the neighbours were in Utah. We all have neighbours those we see where we are at home, work or play...show them the love of Jesus.

God bless each of you!

Ed and Mary

April already!

Greetings dear family and friends!

Thank you for your prayers and please continue in prayer for our hearts and the hearts we meet!

The break from teaching at the Youth Center has been busy, the first week of break our team from The Bridge, Ottumwa, Iowa was here for a good week, including our daughter Melissa, her husband Chris and their daughter  Hannah! It was awesome to have the whole team here but having family experience Cambodia first hand was beyond awesome! It was busy, but also some of the time, especially I, Mary spent supporting those who were not feeling well AT ALL! Most of the team had time that they needed to be very close to the bathroom or just in BED! Many different foods...which many had fun trying but maybe proved not to be so fun later!! But I believe God used each one in ways they can only imagine and they each saw God at work in Cambodia!! Their medical missions in the villages reached out to many people, people who  were so blessed to have Dr Ryan and the Medical and Spiritual Team reach out in Jesus Name!

This past week we were blest in a new way! Nation2Nation happened here on our YWAM Base in Battambang! 25 Nations worshipping and praising God together! A glimpse of Heaven here on earth!
Speakers from South Africa, Iran, Canada (native American), Switzerland and Cambodia!! The goal to reach every tribe and nation in Jesus Name! Amen!! AMEN!!

April starts many firsts for us, Ed will start tomorrow morning by tutoring a young boy who has special needs, his parents are missionary counsellors here working for Rapha House Ministries, with girls who were taken in by traffickers and now are having their souls and needs met thru Rapha House.

This week we get to work with some of the Mighty Girls teaching more advanced English! The Mighty Girls are a football/(soccer in USA)  and they are good! They just won the championship for High School in Cambodia!! Proud of you Mighty Girls!! We are blessed to get to know so many awesome ministries going on here in Battambang and build relationships in Jesus Name!

The Youth Center teaching starts up again after the Khmer New Year which is April 13-15 a very big celebration here in Cambodia!!

Thank you too for those who have been lifting me, Mary, up in prayer for my bug bite turned to cellulitis, praying the second dose of IV's I had today will help this clear up, I am feeling much better and so grateful to Dr Simon, Kyle, Melissa and Jo who have all kept check on me (and Tara from a distance) and guided, prayed, so many prayed over me, I felt so much love through this bit of a bump in the journey.

God bless each of you as you live your lives in His service!

Ed and Mary Rozenboom

A very special supper prepared for our family! Thanks Dom, Kyle and Jamie!!

Hannah painting on hands or faces, fun!

Tara totally in control of her "kids painting"

Joe and Chris triaging

Sara and Laura filling more bowls for hungry kids!

Kids eating Missy telling a story

Not sure who got wetter the men or the kids, water ballon filling, Ed S. have that answer?

Dr Ryan with Sat and Leng, conference or chat?

Ice Cream Party for last day Pronunciation Class!

Pray for Cambodia!

Greetings from Battambang!

A balmy 104 degrees on a quiet Sunday afternoon. Yes it is hot here, but we know it is not as hot as it will get!

The first pictures are taken in our classroom, some of our awesome Pronunciation Class students. This past week, we asked them to write what is the most Beautiful thing in the World to them. We were astounded by their answers: Love, My Family, My Parents, A Rice Field, The Beach or Ocean, The Sky, Ankor Wat, The Cultural Museum...

From that we started talking about our God who created the world. Tomorrow we will continue on that subject, what an honor to share about our Almighty Amazing God, Creator of the Heavens and Earth!

 We hope and pray the Holy Spirit prepares hearts to hear of the gift of God's Son sent to earth for us.

These young people are amazing and it is such an honor to teach them and build relationships with them, to share this time in their lives.

Meeting with some one on one sharing scripture and our faith.

Since our last blog we made the trip to Phnom Penh to renew our visa's. Check done!

 We have some pictures of transportation and travel we would like to share with you.

When they transport anything they make it worth their while, the load is FULL.

To the right you will see a pickup load of supplies and people to do the work... undoubtedly there was more than they could hold so they tied on a two wheel cart that bounced off the pavement every time it hit a bump, which is all the time.

We were pretty sure the two wheel cart would not make it, tied no with ropes...maybe it did...maybe it didn't ??

We passed it so, we don't know.

 Our guess is these little pigs are going to market..


This is the most common way to haul hogs, or tied without the basket on their backs with their legs tied together.

Occasionally we see trucks hauling a full load but this is the most common hauling method.

 Traffic in Phnom Penh is crazy, we thought Battambang was crazy, it is nothing compared to this busy growing city. If you look closely they go every direction, they choose to to get where they need to go!

My theory for traveling on bicycle here is glance at intersections, if you see something bigger than you at a major intersection...stop, otherwise do not look anyone in the eye and keep going...

We walked or took a tuktuk in Phnom Penh, we do our bikes in Battambang. We are looking for a car Ed has had two scrapes with moto's so far this year and we are thankful neither were serious.

We were able to visit with some of God's servants in Phnom Penh. Shelly Boer who works with Iris a ministry for street kids and women at risk.

We visited with Monica at the YWAM Base, it was good to see and hear about their ministry there. And those outside of Phnom Penh.

We had lunch with some CRC and RCA background ministries. Sorry we didn't take pics of all the great servants serving, but we did get a few!

The Suhs, Gil and Joyce...thank you for opening your home for us to share lunch and fellowship.
It was awesome meeting your family and Deb and Mark Wilson and Zach.

Also Justin VanZee was there he is starting his ministry in Phnom Penh also!

While here we had the pain of loosing a dear sister-in-law, being far from family. We have the peace that passes all understanding, of knowing we shall see her again in Heaven one day. But not being present with family was painful. Thank you all for your prayers for all of our family during this time.

Excerpts from Pray for Cambodia!
"Cambodia is a nation with a broken past...the Vietnam War, civil war and the Khmer Rouge regime's purge left the country in tatters...

The effects are still felt today...A level of suspicion and distrust hangs over the culture, even permeating family life, previously a bedrock foundation of Khmer culture. The stifling economic effects of war and oppression have contributed to Cambodia being the second-poorest nation in East Asia (ahead of Myanmar), despite significant progress in recent years...

Stonghold of fear, despair and oppression are being broken as Cambodians experience freedom in Christ."

"He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor..." Isaiah 6: 1-2

God bless each and everyone of you!
In His service,
Ed and Mary Rozenbom

February 16th a warm but good Sunday in Battambang!

A warm but a good Sunday in Battambang!

It has been a few weeks since we last posted, I guess we have been busy! The city here was interesting today, hopefully I can post some pictures...a movie/documentary company not sure; we have heard it is from France, with the cooperation here in Battambang; closed down much of the city center to film what it looked like when the people were made to evacuate during the Khmer Rouge period (1975-1979). The Khmer Rouge refers to the rule of Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, leng Sary, Son Sen, Khieu Samphan and the Communist Party of Kampuchea over Cambodia. This four year period cost approximately 2 million lives through the result of political executions, disease, starvation and forced labor.

A bit of a history lesson on Cambodia, but this does make for a young, poor country as many of the educated were the target of the executions. Also it makes a country hungry for the gospel of Jesus Christ, Buddism is the main religion of this country with Muslim the next in line. We had two dear young women over for lunch today after church and were sharing about Jesus and it is quite amazing how Buddism is a good introduction to who the living God is! One of our guests has been a Christian for several years in fact she teaches at School of Biblical Studies at the YWAM Base. The other young woman is new to Christianity with many questions. Sharing the gospel truths is the most exciting task on this earth! We serve a risen Savior He is in the world TODAY!! Yes our Lord Reigns!

We are teaching English again each weekday! Pronunciation class most are graduates of level 12 but know their need to enunciate more clearly! Charlotte who we teach with had a great challenge last Friday! She gave words like "1-edge, 2-itch, 3-it, 4-each, 5-age, 6-hatch, 7-hitch..." what she did was number each of theses words and gave the words aloud and the students had to come up with her "phone number" from the given words. The students struggled very much with that, very much we have our work cut out!!

We moved again if you don't keep up on Facebook with us, it is a very very good move! No Kareoke Bar next door to keep us awake at night! And the price is so much better, it is closer to downtown, so walking distance to the market, drink shops and restaurants! So good less biking in the dark! We are all about that!

We helped a YWAM family move and have been helping a bit getting some things fixed at their house, challenges we are happy with! Oh I must share when you are working with YWAM it is like the melting pot of the nations! Also helping Jeff and Melissa move were the Russian YWAM outreach team (most speak only Russian), and the Crossroads Team from Kona, that team has Americans, English, Norway, to name some of them. Many languages but one God!

One of Jeff and Melissa's daughters is teaching us Khmer, not sure who has the biggest challenge Reisa or we!

Also Ed has done a bit of repairs at the playground at Jeevit's House, some boards need replaced..termites or rot either one but it cannot wait another year!

We attended our first Khmer Christian Wedding! They celebrate!! it was fun and a learning experience, so thankful to be a part of this Christian couple who has chosen to serve the Lord to bring the gospel to their nation!

We found out our new apartment will host 13 people, it was a privilege to host the Crossroads Kona Team for supper the evening before they left Battambang! We are praying for each of you to go forward in God's plan for your lives you each are people God has specifically called into His service somewhere, some how! Thanks for touching so many lives in your time in Battambang!

More blog following pics...for some reason the pics worked their way into the words, and I am ready
for bed and not going to spend more time adjusting, and that is the honest truth :)

a deserted Battambang this morning

another picture depicting the Khmer Rogue

Our new neighborhood across from our apartment

The football field we see from our apartment

being silly, after Wednesday evening meeting

Ed and Mek

Ready for guests at the wedding dinner

Chicken dinner stopping for a cool drink

Yuka and Ed

Kvo and Channouen

Ed, Rina and Myslelf

Kunthea,  Izzie, Laura and Whitney

Nigm and Dara getting married!

The fruit walk 

Beth, Katie and Rina

Ed and Jeff in Khmer attire??

Deb and I went all out Khmer style

Ed and I at entrance of wedding

Ed and I with Nigm and Dara at the parents honor eve

Waddell girls, Reisa, Hannah and Zerah

Reisa teaching old folks Khmer

Ed fixing the playground swings

 being fitted for a Khmer dress all of $7.00 to rent

prayer time before english classes

We did make it out to the land that Ed worked on last year it was so amazing to see how much had been completed and it has just begun, so much more to do!

We are enjoying fellowshipping with old friends and new over meals at base, restaurants or their homes or our home; a true blessings to share the goodness of our Lord together and building relationships. Hoping to start a small group in our home, pray for God's leading on that!

This afternoon we met some of the Mighty Girls Football Team, (soccer ball in America) they are GOOD! and lovely Christian girls, the four we met, and their coach Abby  were competing with some of our YWAM folks on a game! tough competition, ours were mostly guys! They all got a great workout in the heat! We have a great view of the Football field from our apartment. Ed said "I see some good sized white folks.. I think YWAM is playing".We walked over he was right, but of course there were many Khmer playing also..some competing barefoot! ouch!






























So many opportunities to let your light shine in a dark world, one was visiting with a gentleman on the street this afternoon, started some good conversation..praying we or another christian continues it someday soon!

This week we must renew our visa's so we will be journeying somewhere this week to accomplish that task, we are hoping we can do that in Phnom Phen to meet some missionaries of the CRC serving there!

Prayers and blessings to all of you who choose to follow our blogs!

We as well covet your prayers that we may continually be bold for Jesus!

Ed and Mary Rozenboom