MAY 2011

Wow, its already been a whole month since my last newsletter! As fast as it went, so many things happened during that time that it seems like years ago already! Today is the first day of June and Praise God that it¡¯s already been half a year since my arrival to Cambodia!  Realizing that its already been six months since I came here, I have pondered greatly of the abundant blessings God has poured onto me and of the many things that I still need to grow and learn.  It¡¯s so far been an amazing journey for me, despite all the difficult times and disappointments, God has always been lifting me up and showing me things to rejoice upon! And I have nothing but the gospel message to share and testify, prayer requests to be asked for, and Christ to continue to be the center of my life. 

Prayer Request # 1

Prak Chan Leakhena.  Following up with this sister, I have a fervent prayer request to ask for.  After sharing with her the message, studying the bible with her several times, fellowshipping with brothers and sisters, she has now become MIA and cannot be reached.  Many sisters have tried to contact her and call her but no response have been made.  As sad as my heart is, I know that God loves her way more and is more heartbroken for this sister than I can ever be.  We have not heard from her in a while approximately two weeks now.  Apparently its common here in Cambodia after receiving Christ or having interest in believing and reading the bible, some student may just disappear and never come back.  Others might face family problems and are not allowed to come back.  We really do not have any answers and I really do want to visit her home but I am praying that it will be a wise decision.  So please pray for this sister.

Prayer Request # 2

Praise God for a brother named Kakada.  I mentioned him several times on my blog.  He is my student in my 4 oclock class who had absolutely no knowledge on Jesus or even Adam & Eve.  I had the opportunity before class one day to share the gospel message with him.  He was very accepting and open to Christ and wanted to learn more.  I asked a fellow Khmer brother in Christ, Kong, to follow up with Kakada with bible study.  I believe it is the first time Kong has stepped up to lead a bible study and he has been very nervous and shy about this matter, but after encouraging him, for the past two weeks they have been studying the bible together three times a week.  And Praise God! Kakada has decided to join us for church this following Sunday.  Please pray for Kakada to really personally meet Christ and walk in his faith. And Please pray for our brother Kong to continue to disciple this brother.

Prayer Request # 3

Sisters.  It is a cultural issue with the sisters in Cambodia.  It is really hard for sisters to have free time or any time to meet, hang out, study bible together.  It is really hard.  There is a big need for sisters in CSI, Living Stones, and in Cambodia in general.  Due to lack of time, it is really hard for sisters to come together to meet.  The sisters I do meet regularly these are the believers who have really¡¦ not normal Khmer sisters.  Most girls in Cambodia spend all day long helping their parents with whatever they need and the only time they come out is for school.  But I have been convicted that there needs to be a change amongst the sisters.  We will aggressively reach out to the sisters at CSI who does have a little bit of free time.  I have changed our girls bible study to be on Saturdays and this following Saturday I will open my house for any girl students from CSI to come and hang out.  I pray that through this opportunity and gathering we can build friendship and a community amongst the newer girl students in CSI.  I believe that after building a relationship we can eventually lead this gathering into a small group/bible study group.  But for now, for the next couple weeks we will have intentional gatherings of just simple fellowship of spending time together.  Please pray for these sisters.  There are 8 sisters that I have in mind that we really want to invest in, and I will send a follow up of these sisters J

Prayer Request #4

Ignite! Ignite has been amazing. This is the new program we started last month targeting non believers and answering questions most Cambodians have about Christianity.  The questions we had so far¡¦

1)    Why do Khmer people think Christians hate their parents?

2)    Is there only one God?

3)    Is Christianity a foreign religion?

4)    Is God dead?

5)    What do Christians think about ghosts and evil spirits?

It¡¯s been great to really answer the questions most Khmer students have.  These questions and much more for the future were all thought through with our team and our Khmer believers that are leading this program along with us: Daly, Kimly, Lak.  Every week we have students come, play a game somewhat connected to the question, have discussions and have a time of sharing by one of our Khmer leaders.  Rather than it being a bible study, its more like a fun discussion class time?  It¡¯s been quite exciting and to see many new students come join us in Ignite! It¡¯s even more encouraging to see them come week after week.  Please pray for this program that a new generation of CSI believers will arise and a new community of students will be formed!  For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Soveriegn Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations! Isaiah 61:11.

Prayer Request # 5

Next week June 7-August 2, Oklahoma Focus Team will come.  There are five members: three brothers and two sisters.  I am very excited for their arrival and to see how God will use them in this ministry! Please pray for their safety, health, and the deep relationships they will build with the students at CSI! Please pray also for my relationship with the two girls as they will live with me for the next two months.  Very exciting!