Hey Everyone!!! This has been a long time coming and we have a lot to catch you up on so Bre and I will be writing two separate blogs this time highlighting different parts of our ministries. Thank you for baring with us!

I personally have been greatly blessed the last few months being back on the mission field. Ministry opportunities have been abundant, making my day to day very busy. One of my main ministries at Water of Life is teaching English for our English school. I have 40 students in my class which I co-teach with my friend Chou. The kids are so much fun and I get so much enjoyment from their excitement and readiness to learn. I teach the lowest level at our school which means the majority of my teaching is in Khmer! I never would have thought that I, Curtis, would be teaching a class in another language!!! It has stretched me so much and has drastically improved my language skills. Nothing lights a fire under you more than 40 blank faces staring at you trying to figure out what you’re saying.

My relationships with the pastors in the village have been exponentially growing. It has been so much fun going out there and not only teaching but fellowshipping with them. Before we left for America in March the Svay Reang pastors had been asking me about my favorite American snacks and asked me to bring them some to try….so if any of you know my wife, we brought back 24 snack pack bags of Hot Cheetos. And last week I finally remembered to bring out the Hot Cheetos…. sadly, if you know my wife, only 8 bags actually made it out there. Haha!  

Normally, they are the ones giving me strange foods such as chicken feet, dog soup, fermented khmer cheese, etc. So it was satisfying to watch them struggle a little bit and have to taste a little piece of my home. Haha. I had them rate it on a scale from 1-10 and they said it was about a 7, but I knew they were just being nice because their faces were telling me a different story. Haha!  Anyways, we have always had a strong bond but being able to fellowship with them clearly without a translator makes a huge difference. They love that I have taken the time to learn their language so we can get to know each other without the awkward obvious cultural differences. To be clear though, I still go out there with my friend Chou who translates the actual bible sessions. Its a lot of pressure to monologue about the Bible in a different language! Last month when I was out in the village I surprised the pastors by picking one of the traditional khmer hymns and starting the worship session. I have been actively involved with our church’s (in Phnom Penh) worship team so I have learned a lot of Khmer worship songs. The village pastors were happily surprised that I was not only able to sing but lead a Khmer worship song. Pastor Sokorn, the main pastor, exclaimed “Wow you already know how to sing in Khmer! Pretty soon you won’t need a translator to help you teach either!" It was so encouraging hearing those words from him affirming that all my hard work and long hours of studying has been paying off. Of course, all that credit goes to God because I barely made it out of my Spanish classes alive in high school.

I do have a prayer request as some pastors from a different province (to remain nameless out of respect) have ran into some heart issues regarding money. They are from a very poor area and have struggled with this in the past with different missionaries. They approached me with an ultimatum that if I wanted to continue teaching the Bible to them that I would have to start paying them a small salary. This hasn’t always been their heart but tough times come and the enemy can sway our hearts away from the Lord. My agreement with them has always been to teach the Bible to them and give them skills to be able to study the Bible efficiently on their own. And to not leave any room for the enemy, I have explained to them that I can’t offer them any money except to buy food for the day of the study and a little bit of gas money so that they are not put in a stressful financial situation upon coming to study. This is not because we don’t have an awesome support group that would fund their need, but because money is a huge huge stumbling point in most Cambodian churches. Sometimes providing the money actually will hurt the ministry more by man fulfilling the need rather than them seeking God to fulfill the need. So I ask you to lift them up in your prayers that they would regain a hunger for the Word of God and pray for my discernment that I can continue to lead them towards Christ even if by my actions.

I just want to thank everyone back home who supports Bre and I and shares our vision for the Khmer people. We really couldn’t do it without all of you. Your prayers mean so much to us and they fuel our passion to serve the Lord even more. We are so kindly reminded that we are all one body in Christ and we share this mission with you!  Make sure to look out for Bre’s blog coming in a few weeks!

"For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness."  Romans 12:4-8

God Bless,
Curtis