Mabery Reunion

Memorial Weekend is a great time for family reunions and this year we had many of the Maberys down in Hot Springs Village. My grandparents are gone, but of my dad's siblings there are Uncle Bob, Aunt Janet and Sheila remaining. Janet and Sheila came along with several of my cousins. It was so good to visit and remember our early family gatherings. I put in the group photo that shows chaos, because that is usually how large gatherings are! Ha! Our family picture is missing someone... Greg. He is wandering around Europe with a buddy after graduating from Harding and before joining the workforce. I especially enjoyed the sermon Jim Dubose spoke Sunday morning about remembering what Memorial Day is really all about. The family fellowship is great, but to remember the men and women who gave their lives to insure the freedoms this country has. More importantly he went on to say as Christians we remember each week the sacrifice Jesus made to insure our salvation. Hope you had a wonderful holiday, also. Gail

Wedding Shower

The ladies of the Village Church of Christ gave Brittany a beautiful wedding shower at our good friend's, Paula Bennett, house. The women were so generous and I thank everyone for their love and their kind words to Brit. Some people came after Brit left for college then on to Dallas, and really didn't have a chance to know her. Rick and I were able to visit the church family where Zac and Brit will attend in Palestine, Texas. What a blessing to know that they will have the love and support of a church family like we have had here in the village. I especially want to thank the hostesses for their effort in making everything so beautiful. Jamie Gross, Jessica Havard, Paula Bennett, Jo Goings, Rose Hall, Chloe Holmes, Frances Jensen, and Becky Smith.

Family

What a wonderful weekend! It started out with my neice's, McKayla, graduation from Jessieville High School. What fun to see Jimmy and Elizabeth Mitchell! Of course being in the school's arena brought back so many memories. Then Greg's graduation on Saturday from Harding University was so exciting. It was mixed with joy and sadness as Greg and his friends said goodbye after four years together. This year's HU graduating class was the largest so far. It is so great to see all the families and friends together celebrating this special occasion. I miss my parents in these moments, but I know that they would be as proud as I am of Greg and his accomplishments. It was great to see Russ and Rosemary Burchum and Gary and Danita Jackson (missionaries in China)who also had graduates. Sunday we shared Mother's day with Rick's mom, Delores, who we are blessed to have here for a visit. These memories are etched in our hearts and we praise God for our many blessings! Gail

HOMEWARD BOUND

I took this picture of the Mekong just before boarding a bus to the capitol and a plane ride home. Gail has been home for 2 weeks to help with our daughters wedding. Our son graduates from Harding tommorrow so we are leaving for Searcy this afternoon. It is a blessing to have my Mom with us for a few days also. Hope you all have a wonderful Mothers Day on Sunday. We may not blog as much while we are home but will try to keep you all informed as to our activities. God bless you all.

WEI for the Crew

This last week we had our first WEI English class for our crew. Eight of our crew of ten attended the first session. One other, Vorn the night guard, will study at a different time during the day.
All of the guys are interested in improving their English skills. We teach them advanced conversational English studying the World English Institute material written by Dick Addy. Dick uses the Bible as the basis for his course so each student learns the word of God while improving his English.

Cambodia Bound

Bill Kidd and his lovely wife Owanna will be joining us on the Ship of Life the end of this month. We first met the Kidds in 2004 on our first visit to Cambodia. Bill has worked with Partners in Progress for many years all over the world. Bill is a talented lab technician and will set up our laboratory on the ship. He will also teach one of our staff to perform several basic lab tests to help our doctors diagnose various diseases, infections, etc.
Bill and Owanna are outstanding Christian missionaries who we have learned to love and appreciate over the last few years.

The Buddhist Tree

There was a cool rain today. The rainy season is not far away. The rain brings the precious water needed to grow the rice that is life giving. The people show great excitement and happiness when it rains. Rain means life goes on.
The Cambodians have a “Buddhist Tree”. I think it is called a banyan tree. I’m not sure. The story is that the Buddha sat under a banyan tree and became enlightened.
In front of our ship now is a very large one. The people sit all day under the shade of the leaves on the enormous root system that is exposed by high water in the rainy season. They wait all day hoping to be seen. It is cool under the “Buddhist Tree”.

The Crowd

Jesus was met with crowds of people. Everywhere he went there were crowds of people. The world is full of people. Many people!
At first the crowds were small. Daily they grow. Yesterday there were between 4 and 5 hundred waiting to be seen. We can only see a small percentage of them. It is so hard to choose but we must. We hand out numbers to those who seem the most needy but it is hard to tell. Everyone has a toothache. How to choose who is seen and who isn’t. I usually choose the ones who look the poorest. It is so hard to choose!

Update from Bill

May 2,2007 Kompong Cham, Cambodia

The "Ship of Life" is plying the Mekong River 90 miles north of Phnom Penh where we are seeing an average of 100 patients per day. Project Director, Dr. Rick Northen, along with Dr. Wattnach Chea, is seeing people that have never seen a dentist or doctor. Many have grossly exaggerated problems that come from having no access to health care and little knowledge of common preventive measures. Most have not used a tooth brush, ever. Many women with thyroid glands the size of cantaloupe, huge cysts and tumors, and every other chronic ailment imaginable are coming. Some we can help, and others we can try to assist in accessing free surgery and treatment that is available if they can get to the city.
The Lord's influence is being felt and soon, we pray there will be churches up and down the river where the ship is working to spread good will and His love.
The Health department reports that the Governor is overjoyed with our work and commends all who have a part in making this possible. We have been asked by the Health Department to make a presentation to the 30 other humanitarian organizations that work here on May 25th and they know that many of them will want to partner with us in some way. Some have already offered their assistance and cooperation which will allow us to expand our influence and the amount of good that can be done.

To God be the Glory,

William E. "Bill" McDonoughInternational Director PARTNERS IN PROGRESS