Wow...I cannot explain...

DATELINE: August 28, 2013
Patricia E Lyon

…but I will try. The music in church Sunday at Khnar Thei Village was so wonderful that I just crave it when I am away. You have never heard “Nothing But the Blood of Jesus” and other such Victorian hymns sound like they do at the Khnar Thmei Methodist Church. The music is still in my head: Deanna’s new (used) Yamaha keyboard, Thro (like a violin), drum, tambourine and guitar, and bold singing in Khmer/English.

After a wonderful sermon which I kind of understood, I retold the story of the Last Supper which managed to include King Jayavarman. I asked who would betray Jesus? They knew.

Then Pastor Sokha and I took the dainty white cloth from the elements. It was really inexpensive white lining but passed for exquisite organdy. When he took the wooden lid off the tiny communion cups I was amazed at the color of the grape juice…lavender. The bread was a wonderful fresh baguette. We stood in a large circle and Pastor and I passed the bread and wine around. We ran out of baguette after me, the last person, so I had a little extra.

After worship, everybody knew what to do and who was riding with whom.

Mony had shopped Saturday and the car was full. He managed to add an orange cooler filled with ice and some fresh fruit to fit in the car.

The road to the picnic site was quite a challenge for the weighted Toyota. We wove around and through puddles of unknown depth and contents. We were surrounded by blue butterflies that I had never seen before. After some negotiations, we parked and all the students appeared to carry the food.

Deanna and I had barely made it down the branch/dirt ladder to the picnic mats on the lake when we noticed people were already setting up the meal. They knew what to do.

Deanna spoke about the program and how happy we were to see all the families there. This is the first year that some of the more shy parents came to the celebration. A card was passed around which became more like a year book. Su Ahn is a natural at making sure stuff like that gets done.

Mony purchased fish, chicken and rice from local vendors. It used to worry me a little but now I dive in. Mony had managed to find neon magenta dragon fruit. I had never seen it before. So beautiful and sumptuous.

Some of us flopped into hammocks. Others gracefully put on swim clothes while wrapped in sarongs. We took pictures of people floating in inner tubes and splashing. The rain showers made no difference to people in the water or out of the water.

Then the wet ones began to come in and put on dry clothes. Sopheap was honored for completing four years at the University of Southeast Asia. She took the card as her gift…from all thirty-one that attended the second annual graduation party.

Next year there will be five graduates! I can’t wait.