Winter '23 Newsletter
This season is full of big Khmer Buddhist holidays such as Pchum Bun or literally translated as balled rice gathering, a 15-day long holiday and it is believed that the gates of hell are opened up and families will travel to different pagodas in search for their passed relatives up to seven generations to bring them food and drinks for the afterlife. The spiritual warfare during this season can be quite intense. After working together for so many years, noticing battles happening and the separation the enemy so desperately wants, our team prayerfully draws to the Lord with intention. In this season, we search the Lord even more and see His hand moving in ways we never expected. We are thankful for these battle seasons because we get to witness all the ways the Lord cares deeply about the details of our lives. What a gift it is to go into these holidays knowing the Lord is already victorious!
Our church and Inspired Missions team came to visit us during the thick of this and it was perfect timing! We were so blessed that our family was able to come and encourage us and love on us when we needed most. I’m not sure they even knew what they were walking into when they came, but we had a wonderful time planning for the future, praying together in person and laughing a lot. God is in the details and He knows the desires of our hearts.
Children of Hope Update
It has been a busy year for a few of our older kids. In Cambodia, they have a 9th grade exit exam and a 12th grade exit exam. If they do not pass then they have to repeat the entire year again. At the end of summer, one 9th grader took her exam and passed! Huge moment of relief! This school year we have a student studying in 9th grade and a student in 12th grade, so this a big year of extra classes and tutoring. The younger kids are getting in the groove of routine starting this new school year studying both Khmer and English.
A big prayer request would be that we would be able to find a permanent home to fully move into. We have been blessed beyond measure with the home we are currently in. We love our landlord and he enjoys us too. It’s been a great opportunity to witness to him and to show him the ministry. We had planned on moving closer to the kids’ school (currently about an hour away), but we were unable to find a house within that time. Our landlord showed us mercy and signed us for another two years, but that means back to the house hunting. Really just praying for the Lord's direction, not wanting to rush into anything that doesn't fit. Please keep that in prayer while we search.
Most of our staff have graduated or will soon graduate from university and have begun working outside the home in their desired professions. We are overjoyed to watch them bloom and head out into the world, and definitely on our knees praying over them as they venture out. They still live at home, but no longer work doing childcare, so it’s a new season beginning again for Katherine and I as we navigate life with less staff in the day. Praying the Lord brings forward future staff for the house.
Svey Rieng Pastors Conference
Pastors gathering together to study the Word and grow together in unity of the Body is something that never gets old to me. The passion of these men to know God's Word and how to properly divide it for the benefit of the church is nothing less than admirable. We are going through Ecclesiastes, which is not a well understood book but is so valuable, seeing the difference between the purpose of life without God juxtaposed to a life with Him. It is encouraging to us all that not only does our life have meaning but it urges us to reach the lost. Keep these churches in your prayer that they can continue to be a light in their community that will lead many to Christ.
Jungle Mission
Trips to the jungle is not for the faint of heart as we ride our dirt bikes for 20+ hours over 200+ miles in 3 days with some sections of jungle road that takes several hours to go a few miles. I’ve personally grown to love riding like that but the most rewarding part is meeting the people who are living everyday life there and being able to show God's love to them and the Gospel. Mordegai has been serving the people there for more than ten years and has built a great relationship with them. An open door to the gospel is there as this last visit I was talking with one of the villagers and they expressed to me that they really want to know more about Jesus and that they are 60-70% believing and love listening to the audio Bibles we have given them but don't know much about God and how to believe and worship Him. They told me they want us to share more and teach them more about Jesus because they trust us and know are hearts are sincere since Mordegai has been faithfully serving them and caring for their medical and physical needs for so long now. Pray for us that we can present the Gospel to them and reap a plentiful harvest.
Cows for Christians
Praise God for His continued provision! We were able to add two more cows to the fleet and continue to see the Lord use this program to bless His church in Cambodia. Pastors Taem and Long Svake were ecstatic to take care of these cows and look toward their future to grow their cow herd. It may seem small to some but one cow is very valuable in the life of the average Cambodian farmer. Please continue to pray for these church leaders and their churches to grow not only in their financial stability but most importantly grow spiritually.
Fertilizer Loans
Currently twenty families are benefiting from our interest rate free loans. This program was started 10 years ago and the families have remained faithful to pay back the loans after each harvest and stay away from the micro loan debt cycle that is all too easy to fall into especially as a farmer.
Bible School
Our students are getting so close to graduation! In February of next year, we are planning a graduation ceremony that will have 10 graduates. I couldn't be prouder of these students as I have seen them grow in maturity and serving in the church. Our goal is to equip Cambodian Christians so they can lead godly lives and serve Christ faithfully wherever their lives may lead. It is safe to say that these students are doing just that as they are serving the Lord in various ministries and are exhibiting the fruits of the Spirit in their lives. It shows their seriousness of their faith to sacrifice this amount of time to study and complete our school program while simultaneously going to university and some working as well.
Family Update
Our little family is plugging away over here. We hit the ground running full speed for a few months after returning from America. It took a while to settle back in for us, but Harlow was so happy to be home eating all of the rice and dried fish she could. It is quite strange to have a child with a completely different life than we did growing up. Throughout the year, we have been struggling with bouts of different illnesses that has caused us to slow down from time to time, but we are thankful we are slowly learning the answers to these issues. Please just pray for our continued healing and protection from sickness for a while. Harlow is doing great and growing like a weed. She will probably start school around 5 years old, so in the meantime we are doing school at home and Curtis is very diligent with her Khmer language studies.
