A Reflective Updates

Dear Family, Friends, and Sponsors

First of all, I am asking for your forgiveness for not updating how my life has been for the past semester. Lots have happened and lots have changed for this past semester. I receive some notice of how the blog has not been a good way of communication for various reasons. However, I will be trying to send both the updates through email and blogging.

I pray that you all are doing well and are wrapping up for the Christmas celebration and the New Year. It sure is an appropriate thing to do to take a rest. Many events can happen in our lives, but rest is a necessity. It is a time for a break to reflect what has happened and what has gone wrong, and especially, to enjoy God’s goodness and everything that He has given to us.

This semester has been a stressful and full of learning. Nursing is such an incredible profession, but the process of going through it is tremendous. Lots of hard work and lot of time needed to invest in the learning. This semester I had three courses: Microbiology, Pharmacology, and Medical/Surgical Nursing, which are the main component of my nursing courses. With it there are lab and practicum. This semester was my first time going into the hospital – “working” in the medical floor.

Nursing theory and assessments came in handy when I started caring for real patients that have all sorts of health issues; yet caring also became a great challenge. Working with the patient was one thing and having a clinical instructor by the side was another. Each clinical day had been really stressful for me because of the interaction of the human body. Nothing is like this piece of work, it is incredible. The details, the connection, and how each part of the body’s function progress and work is overwhelming. In the same way, caring for a patient was not easy. There were many aspects to a patient that lie beneath their disease, and when caring for one I needed to understand the pathology and how it wholistically affects a person.

Though really stressful because of all the learning, everything I learned in first-year nursing began to make sense. Everything seems to converge in this second year! Everything seems to come together and explain why learning all the assessments, why all studying the microbiology, and why a person may need medications, as well as how they affect the system. To me this semester is tremendous! I felt like my brain can no longer retain much more information making it really hard to concentrate. There were just so much to know! However, I do wish and desire to know and understand them as well.

Apart from studying, my student leadership position in the Globe (part of International Student Program—ISP) went real well. Each event we hosted was successful. I hope to do much better in the coming New Year (Spring semester) concentrating on relationship building with the International students.

Well, this semester has been ups and downs for me. More disappointing news I am about to inform you is that I did not do so well on one of my nursing courses. For medical/surgical nursing course, I did not meet the requirement; therefore, I will not be able to continue into the next spring semester as part of the Nursing Program. This semester I worked really hard, but the result did not show effectiveness. I am really disappointed that this happened. I will have another chance to take the course again, but I will need to wait for the another year and to submit a formal letter to the Nursing Committee to allow me to re-enter into the program. This is terrible news, and I feel really bad because I know there are so much trust, hope, and faith were place into my journey. Moreover, I know that all that I can attain today is only through the help of generous donors like you and faithful supports of all my friends and family all over the world. It took me a lot of courage to face what I denied. It has been a really hard year for me. And, much of this stumbling block is probably due to my understanding when I took the exams. What I understand to be the right answer is not what it is! Much of nursing questions this year is base on anatomy and critical thinking. There are those with specific answers (requires lot of memorization), and there are those with applied critical thinking.

Going through this calamity, I really thank the Lord for providing the Regehrs (my home-stay family) while I am here in Canada. They were the source of my encouragement, and they help me to think through what has gone wrong. All these help me to reflect and to get back up. I fail but I cannot keep on falling. Earlier before I knew about my result for the semester, I was seriously considering taking a minor in Biblical Studies. Now, since I am not able to progress to the next semester in the Nursing program, I will fill my schedule with Religious Studies (RELS) courses instead. And, as far as I am allowed to continue studying at Trinity Wester University, I will try my hardest to complete and to achieve what I am here for (of course with all the supports and help I can find).

Once again, I am grateful for all your goodness and loving supports. I had a hard time writing this report and try to put it off, but I know I cannot go further if I do not face the reality. God is still in control and His goodness and faithfulness is unending. I cannot imagine how my life have been if I did not know Him. After all, I would not have the courage to step back up.

That is probably enough for the sad news. Thank you so much once again for your understanding. I did not send it out right away because I did not want it to be a Christmas spoiler. However, I wish you all a lovely Christmas. It is wonderful to enjoy being with the family and to celebrate and remembering the Love of the Father who gave us all the Emmanuel. Best wishes and many blessings for the New Year! Thinking of you and remembering some of the memories we may share or acquaintance. May your Christmas be filled with joy and goodness as you reflect and look forward into the wonderful New Year.

In His goodness,

Sureyah Tach

A Wild, Horizontally Plain Summer

Greetings to all my family and friends around the world!

Wow! Can we control the flowing of the water or the speed of wind by ourselves? I cannot believe how fast the journey has been. It's another year already! First year of Nursing... whoosh! gone by! Do I want to repeat, No! Well, It would be really bad if I do ;-) I think I rather move on. I am still impatient to get done and be in Cambodia, however. But, I will wait obediently.

I am sorry to those who were wondering about my disappearance from blogging for two months. I am still alive, by the way. No Canadian bear dare to snatch me yet. For the first two months of summer break, there wasn't much going on in my life, so I decided not to post anything. For those months, I stayed at home in Abbotsford most of the time and helping out here and there. I also got a part time job at Trinity (TWU) and Mennonite Edu. Institute (MEI)—a total amount of two weeks of work. So yeah. Yet, I slowly tried to gather the documents for my passport extension. (And that is already done). So I can stay legal again ;)

Being a student in another country definitely is a challenge. Also, the system of finance and work are different. But, I'm glad to have my Canadian family to help me through the troubles and figuring out ways to deal with them.

Sometimes in June there was an engagement party for Sara Regehr (my Canadian sister) and Jason Ho. It was actually something because Jason's Dad had a whole pig barbeque. Such novelty it was. Many who came gathered around the table to watch as we sliced the meat! To me, it was quite interesting. I guess it's not Western style.

Although there weren't much happening, I am very grateful for God's grace. I definitely live by it, and I do mean it literally.

Now, the amazing July: Things are great. I was blessed with a full time job as a conference staff at TWU. Definitely, an answer to prayers. And, because of work hour’s flexibility, I got to stay on campus with another staff who is already working. Working here gives me a great pleasure just to see the different group coming to enjoy, to study, and to grow more through their various activities. It helps me to re-notice the beauty of the campus and the dormitory and places I now got so familiar with. Those groups helped me see once again the beauty and to appreciate the many things I have on this campus, because the sameness blinds/make me forget.

The tasks can also be related to some of nursing application as well. When coming into a shift, there are to do lists. I have to know what is the priority and trying to fit them in between demands. So far it's been good, and I do enjoy giving hospitality to conference groups. More so, I start being more independent because of my stay on campus. I actually can navigate to a nearby store in Langley, BC for grocery through the bus. Furthermore, my Canadian family also provided me a bike so I can manage my way and explore the areas. Life has been good, indeed.

Early July during the 50th Anniversary of Grandpa and Grandma Regehr, I got to go on a road trip to Calgary, Alberta.

Along the way, we did some sight-seeing. Again, the majesty of creation reveals God’s wonders and greatness. Such creation. The wonders of His mighty work. Such awesome views. The rocky mountains, the valley, the river, the plateau... such splendid engineering.

Then, there’s Lake Louise: you have to see it yourself. It’s that beautiful… picture cannot capture its true spectacle.

More so, there are the works of Canadians who first build this country by their bare hands. The railroads, especially the Spiral Tunnels, show the knowledge and man's ability to accomplish great things, even without much tools or technology.

As for the anniversary celebration, I really have a great time enjoying being part of my Canadian's family gathering. Affectionately, I got to see the wonderful love of Grandpa and Grandma Regehr. Their legacy bears much fruits and their obedience in the Lord is evident among their children.

I am blessed to see and be apart of the celebration/family, because there are so many broken families in Cambodia who needs such love under God's umbrella. What more can I say? The Lord bless those who are obedient. And, obedient isn't easy sometimes.

Summer break is still a month away. Next year will be interesting for me since I will be in a Student Leadership Position for International Student Program, plus the academic works… I am definitely relying on your prayers. And, yes, I almost forget. Another Cambodian is coming in late August, her name is Sopari. She is also from Logos International School. I am very excited to see her!! She will be a piece of home for me and a great encouragement and inspiration for my next year journey =)

Well, that’s all that I have. I know I always do this, but thank you so much for all you are to me. The prayers, the supports, the encouragement, and everything! You are a part of my journey, and with you I can go the distant and run the race.

May Lord graciously bless you and keep you; His face shines upon you, and give you peace.

He is our Lord and in His name we serve Him. Praise the Lord God Almighty Forever and Ever.

Amen.

Sureyah

Believing and In Faith ...

Greetings to All!!

"Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead... so they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, 'Greetings!' And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him." (Matthew 28:1-9, ESV).

It is wonderful to celebrate the day of our risen Lord! Praise be the Lamb who was slain, praise be the God who is above all... Praise Him who has rescued us from captivity and bring us all into a new living relationship with a hope, a future, and a purpose. Glory be to God in the highest!
I am very grateful for His salvation, nothing else worth more than this.

Well, now that another semester passed and an anticipated summer begins, new experiences and life changing moments also occured. Since it is for awhile that I can update the blog, I will have a lot to say, but bare with me.

Again and again it is such an incredible blessing and a wonderful adventure I have had. It is hard to believe that my first year of Nursing Program already came to an end. This semester was very special as I get to connect with the residents during clinical, learning more about the many aspects of human's body, and other biblical insights. Clinical happened twice a week, but only once every two weeks. Each clinical day was very exceptional.
My life from the first day of clinical until the day we said good bye to the residents was never the same again. As a person who have gone through many farewells and separations, it is hard sometimes for me to allow that feelings to experience by others. I may grew a callous toward that but each good bye has never been my wish.

One of my highlights this past semester is definitely during the clinical time where we were placed in a geriatrich home. I learned so much. Much more than theories in books and new inventions of mankind. The ability to touch people in their present state. A state where one can no longer control what they used to and the desire to do the thing they once did. Thankfulness can sometimes taken lightly. We may be thankful for a new home, car, television, friends, family, etc. but there is a continual blessing that each one of us receive. Each day we can wake up and go to toilet or feed ourselves for each meal. The ability to do just certain simple task. Do you ever wonder waking up one morning and find yourself in a strange location and know nothing about the place? Or what if you cannot move one part of your body at all?

One incredible moments that I will never forget during clinical was a reminiscence box project. The purpose was to bring something tangible that will help the residents to remember the experience they once enjoy in the past. Each resident reacted differently and according to what object presented. My unique experience during our first clinical day: we were told that one of my residents has dysphasia and only shake or nod her head in response. So, already we began to think it will be hard to interact/converse with her. Oh boy. However, later on after a few weeks we heard her voice responding 'yes' or 'no' to us!
That really surprised us and made our day. Yet, as our time to depart came, during the presentation, she responded in full sentences! That really blew me away! What a joy!! It is wonderful to step into a moment in their lives, which we can communicate and feel and touch their memories that enable them to interact in such a way once again.

Another resident who is immobile and could not even open her eyes also express an exceptional response as one of my fellow nursing students played some hymn on the piano. As my friend played, we heard her hummed along in perfect harmony!! It is just so great to experience the moment and be able to reach into their inner being. What we see outside may looked like a shell, but there's definitely a whole person living inside. To me, it is a joy to be apart of their lives even in such circumstance.

I think it was in late February that I came in contact with a group of young Korean team who is planning to go to Cambodia for a short mission trip. I was able to share some messages and some pointers for them. It was great meeting up with them and, hopefully, my guide was beneficial.
Moreso, one of them went to Cambodia earlier; in fact, she is the one who organized the mission team. I pray that God will work through them as they share the gospel message and allow them to learn from this experience. And, I am sure they will have fun ;-)

As the year come to a close during Spring, the Wellness Center and Trinity School of Nursing always organized a Health Fair Day. It is a day when the first year nursing students bring forth what they have learned the whole year. There were four nursing booths/stations: Blood pressure assessment, Respiratory Assessment/smoking, Nutrition/Vaccination/Traveling, and Stress Assessment. Each station represent each clinical group. My team was assigned to stress station, as we didn't have stress ourselves =)


Stress Station, in my opinion was a fun one. We had hand/back massage, sketching, tea, and napping! Yeah, we have a space for a nap. But, it was the massage area that was always full. It was a great day, and all first-year nursing students felt very proud in their scrubs, that includes me ;-). I had fun and enjoyed talking while assessing those who came.

Just a few days ago during 14th - 16th of April was the Khmer New Year. I got a chance to talk to my family back home and was glad to hear that everyone is doing fine with only a few life situations. Khmer New Year is usually my biological family reunion time.

For the next school year, I got accepted into a student leadership position for the International Student Program. I am looking forward to that, and as for that I will be living on campus once again. This time I hope to learn something new as I get used a bit more to life here.

As far as my study goes, everything seems to go well except anatomy and physiology course, but I'm hoping to do well as the result comes out. I particularly enjoy introduction to mission class this term. It was more than just a course it is an insight to strengthen what I am planning to do in the future. Trinity is one place where you learn something extra. As a liberal arts university you get to take extra courses besides the chosen major which help a student to see something differently rather than focusing solely on that major. It may not be preferred by students at the moment, but each course make a difference.


Well, I guess that is all I have so far. All my exams are done and I am in the process of looking for a solid job for the summer, but hopefully everything will turn out well and something interesting will come along the way. As far as my visa and passport goes, it needs to be renewed so that will be on my checklist ;-)

Already then... I hope you and family are doing well. Blessings on the road and journey ahead as the glorious sun appear for those who are in BC, and a long-anticipated summer for all. As of this month may you find renewed strength and glorious faith and hope in remembrance of the day that our Lord Jesus Christ has conquered death and has brought us life. Praise God who heals; the One who has torn the veil. Praise be the Lamb! He is worthy! Hallelujah!!

Many blessings dear friends,

Sureyah

What An Opening of An Awesome Year!!

Greetings to my friends and family,

It is wonderful to receive the New Year once again! The Lord is still and always good. He is active in so many lives. This coming New Year is another year of grace, another year of peace, goodness, laughter, sadness, stress, mercy, and joy. It is so wonderful to serve and be under His wonderful love.

It seems awhile that I ever visited this blog, though made by myself. Last year was a challenging year. There are so many things to learn, and there are so many things unknown. School was quite stressful at times. It gets hard when there are so much materials to know, but few area selected for the exams. However, I thank God that His grace has brought me through. For the the whole Christmas break, I was waiting the whole time for my Philosophy mark. It finally came during the first few days of January. I have been thinking that I probably failed the course since my first exam was not good; but it turned out differently. I was very surprise that I did quite well, in fact, wonderful in my own opinion. It was surely a gift for the New Year. The rest of the classes was good as well.

During the break, I mostly stayed at home enjoying the snow. This year, BC was quite cold compare to last year. I am glad that I came last year and not this year, because even snow was pretty high. However, it lasts only a few days. It didn't stay for the whole season, it only comes and goes. While the season is riped with snow, I was able to go skating for my first time. It was like roller-skate except on ice and lots of work on ankles. It went really well, because I manage to fall on my bum only once. Since the event, I started to admire the hockey players! It's wasn't easy the way they show on TV!

A week before school started, I was able to go to Helmlock Resort. It is a town where the skiers go to ski. Since my experience with the skate, I was reluctant because I thought it might be the same, thinking that it would hurt my ankles really bad. It was a great mistake! Some of you might say, especially when you had experience with skiing before. It turned out to be the greatest thing on earth!! Those who have snow as a part of their lives are so fortunate!! (I mean the skiing part). I don't know how many times I felt, but every time I gain a little bit more experience :-)
Before I actually went on skiing, I took a course which it gave a basic controls lesson such as obtaining the "S" and the pizza for slowing down. Although I took lessons, I still fall like crazy, but it was so much fun. I probably get a medal for falling! Yet, with my level I managed to ski from the top of the mountain. I am so glad that I was able to go. Now, I fell in love with the ski! It's a good lesson, you can never say, "no" until you experience it first. It was worth every minute on that mountain.

It is now another journey into the new semester. Each semester there is always something new. God keeps on reminding me of His goodness and faithfulness. This semester I am taking two Nursing courses, one Biology, and one Religious Studies. All classes provided me such great insight into the wonderful lives that our Lord God has created. In Nursing courses, I am learning about gerontology and the way of its communication. I also start doing clinical; in fact, I just had it last week! Each walk, each step is so precious. It is so wonderful to be able to serve and to see life in a different perspective and new light.

In Anatomy and Physiology, there are more terms and wonderful secrets reveal to me as I walk through the process of the brain and its reflexes and action potentials. In RELS course, which is Introduction to Missions, the Lord Jesus teaches me so much.
Within this week, I was able to go to Mission Fest that was held in Vancouver. It was for my RELS class assignment that I got to know about Mission Fest. What a wonderful time!
There were some booths representing the work in Cambodia!! Moreover, I met three teenage Cambodians! What a great surprise! Since coming to Canada, this is my first time meeting another Cambodian :-)

During the event, there were seminars held by different missionary's leaders. I got to attend a few of them. Each seminar was unique and has so much. At the end of the event in the main hall, we came gather together. I am priviledged to listen to a wonderful story of a man by the name of Stephen Lungu. What an incredible story that God has worked in his life!! I am so touched by his struggles and the glorious transformation! In fact, I found his video story online, if you ever have time to spare please have a look: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1425210587550264985# (It was not from the event, but the same story that I heard). "Out of the Black Shadows" is his autobiography!

What a great God we serve! Love this New Year! God is going to do so many great things in our lives! I just want to jump and shout praising His name! He deserves our praise!! Hallelujah!!

I am so excited for whatever God is going to put on my plate! God is soo good! And, "Yes!" ALL THE TIME!

Just some great moments I love to share with you all!

Thank you for all your support day by day. Thank you for so many prayers that has been lifted up for my sake. Thank you! They meant a lot to me.

Many blessings to all of you. I pray that the Lord will continue to work within you and continue to build up the good work He has already started.

Psalm 98

Make a Joyful Noise to the LORD

A Psalm.

¹Oh sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done marvelous things!
His right hand and his holy arm
have worked salvation for him.
²The LORD has made known his salvation;
he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.
³He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness
to the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.

⁴ Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth;
break forth into joyous song and sing praises!
⁵Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre,
with the lyre and the sound of melody!
⁶With trumpets and the sound of the horn
make a joyful noise before the King, the LORD!

⁷ Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
the world and those who dwell in it!
⁸Let the rivers clap their hands;
let the hills sing for joy together
⁹before the LORD, for he comes
to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
and the peoples with equity.

For His name sake,

Sureyah