Back in Cambodia
We enjoyed our furlough in the US over the holidays spending time with family, friends, and churches. It was truly a blessing being able to connect and reconnect with everyone while sharing what the Lord is doing in the ministry in Cambodia and are grateful to all the hospitality we received while stateside.
We are now back home in Cambodia and were able to jump straight into ministry from the moment we stepped off the plane. Here's an update on what's been happening:
Svey Rieng Pastor's Conference
We were able to travel out to the province Svey Rieng (about 4 hours from our home in the capital) and continue our monthly pastors and leaders' conference. We were blessed to have a small team from CC Big Bear join us. We were honored that a few of the team members shared their testimonies, study the bible together, then afterwards the Khmer pastors were able to share a bit of their stories. One of the team members, Aaron Smith, was also able to bless the pastors with quality bibles to gift their congregations. Many churches have to share bibles and hymnals due to their financial status so they were overjoyed to be able to give their congregants their own personal bible. It never ceases to inspire us with how these church leaders are so passionate about their congregation and eager for God's Word to go out.
Children of Hope
We are overjoyed to be back with the kids! We missed them dearly, especially through the Christmas season. We were blessed by the support of everyone in the states who helped raise funds for their school tuition and education needs. The older kids were moved by the church back in America caring so much for their wellbeing. They are currently on a short holiday break, it’s their lunar new year celebrations, so we've been spending extra time with them having water fights and trying to escape the heat (It's hot season where the average temperature is in the 100's plus humidity). We have one student that will be entering 12th grade, which is a big year for tutoring and extra classes to prepare the students for the huge exam at the end of the year. If they fail, they will need to retake the entire 12th grade again. Students have 3 opportunities to pass (3 years) if they can't pass, they do not get a diploma. So, paying for tutoring and test prep is vital. We also have another student about to take her 9th grade exam. This exam has the same weight of the 12th grade exam. If the student is unable to pass then they can pursue high school education. We are now able to provide the tools necessary for their success.
Jungle Ministry
My missionary friend Greg Pirolo, who served in Cambodia for several years and is now stateside, and I joined Mordegai to his ministry in the jungle. It was an incredible three days where we saw the Lord move in mighty ways. Our local pastor friend surprisingly was able to endure the trek with us and helped proclaim the gospel to all of the families we came across. Mordegai was dealing with the physical needs of the people which gave us an opportunity to share the truth of Christ. Humbling to see this local pastor so boldly witnessing and standing on the grace of Jesus while sharing his wn relatable testimony to the people. There were even a few people that wanted Bibles to learn more about Jesus!
Bible School
We are starting up a news semester this month with 22 registered students and are on track to graduate 10 students by the end of the year. These students are dedicated to know and understand the Bible. Our classes are at night and the students are faithful to study despite already having a packed schedule and workload at university and with some students their jobs.