Vol.# 244
The sounds of the hustle and bustle have begun here. Even on a Sunday there is no break from the sounds of construction and the tooting of horns as sellers go by on the street! We are in the midst of the rainy season when the rain does not come gently but as mini-storms where the gusts of winds sends everything flying if it is not nailed down! It is refreshing however!
As a church we have been reeling from 3 deaths that have occurred in the space of 3 days. The first deaths were of a mother and daughter. The husband is a leader of one of the satellite churches not far from the main campus church. The mother and eldest daughter were on their way to the market to sell their produce and got into a traffic accident. Both died on the scene. The father is left with 5 children.
Prayer: Please pray for Lokru Somien as he is now a single parent with one income coming in. Pray that as he moves through this grief journey that he knows the true comfort of Our Lord Jesus Christ as Job got to know the deep intimacy of our God. Pray that those around him will walk alongside the family as they all process this sudden death.
Sister Sreymom: I first came to know of her when there was an urgent call at the beginning of last year for blood donations for her. She had just given birth and they could not stop the bleeding. The second time I heard of her was when she and her husband were on stage at church giving thanks and sharing their testimony of God’s healing through the prayers and practical giving of blood at the crucial time. The other times I encountered her was to pray alongside her after church for others. She was always smiling and ready to pray for others!
Sister Sreymom first began to have symptoms of COVID that started off mildly, but within 4 days she had succumbed to this virus. I found out later that she was the Co-director of Transform Cambodia, a NGO school here, and right up to before she was hospitalized, she was doing her volunteer teaching of Life Guidelines to the next generation! Sister Navy (wife to senior pastor Lokru Samdy) told me, “we thought we would grow old together with our families since we have known each other since childhood!” We had an online funeral service for her. Over 200 ‘attended’. My tuk tuk driver and his wife, who was a maintenance worker at Transform Cambodia, also attended the funeral, and were impacted by this sister. In tribute to her, she said that ‘Mom was best friends with Jesus and she had a praying heart for her people!’
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| SISTER SREYMOM'S HOME GOING TO JESUS: HER HUSBAND SPEAKING TO US |
Update: In my last update I introduced you to Oun Pheareak. Since then he has gotten engaged! Yay! I was invited but could not go since it out of the city and attendance is also limited. He had worked closely with Sister Sreymom, and I was moved by his comment to me that ‘the footprint that she left was one of faith and a true knowledge that God is real because she prayed all the time and spoke of His Word as HIS WORD to us!’ I loved that! His fiancée is Hoy Seakmey and a true purpose partner in the Lord! Oun Pheareak is in his second year of his Masters in Business Administration.
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| OUN PHEAREAK AND FIANCEE HOY SEAKMEY'S ENGAGEMENT |
Oun Veasna: He had co-written a song called Child of God. Here is the link with English subtitles. This song has now been heard all over Cambodia and beyond! His team just finished S.W.O.T. Analysis to be better prepared for the upcoming years. At first he was nervous, but now, after realizing the importance of order and organization within his team, matching the skills and abilities with each member, he has found it freeing!
Prayer: I am involved on Mondays with an online Bible study on Acts with Foundation group from 8-11. We have a devotion/worship time. Pray for a fresh anointing as I study and then listen as others share. As it is all in Khmer and a bit of English, it is sometimes very difficult to understand all that is being discussed as Wi-Fi/internet is not strong for others and therefore the reception is not clear.
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| MY INFO DESK GROUP STUDYING JAMES |
On Friday, I started a Bible study with Oun Muylen who previously was the Executive Director of Prison Fellowship but now is working with BRAVE. She said to me, “Bong Srey (older sister), can we do a study on a book instead of random verses from the Bible?” I actually was being led to ask her to do a study as well, so immediately I said, ‘let us do the book of Esther’! Well, the first chapter of Esther is a bit difficult with the names and the history, and Esther herself is not even introduced, but it gives a background to the evolving story to follow. I knew that but Oun Muylen did not know anything about Esther, so when we got together online, I said, ‘you are probably wondering why did I chose Esther, right’? And she said, ‘yes, it was so difficult and not as easy as Psalms or Proverbs’! And this was the Old Testament! Most of the time it is the New Testament that people study there! Then she thought, ‘okay, Bong Srey must have a reason so she re-read it and said, ‘nationalism’! I was taken aback by her one word summary because it is about nationalism, the existence of the Jews /culture. Then we discussed the Khmer similarities to the culture in Esther’s time, the paternalistic culture and emotions and feelings of Queen Vashti and King Xerxes, and consequences of acting impulsively and not waiting and seeking God’s guidance! I cannot wait to see what I will learn anew from Esther through the eyes of Oun Muylen!
One of my ‘boys’, (ex -students from Rescue), started a new business: food cart. I was going to go on site to support him but could not, so I was able to send money to his account and buy dinner for about 10 of ‘my guys’, also former students from Rescue! A win-win!
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| FORMER RESCUE STUDENT'S FOOD CART |
Finally, I started this talking about the rainy weather, but with that comes some spectacular sunsets! I took photos of three different views of the sky from my one standing position on my rooftop! I was astounded! To my right was this peaceful blue sky, to the back of me was the beginning of the sunset, and mercy, to my left was this amazing fire in the sky! As I looked I can hear Jesus saying to me, Vidya, are you going to be my servant who is neutral, lukewarm or on fire for ME? I just stood there in tears, as I had never seen these 3 views at the same time, just at different angles from my one standing position! Oh! My answer? ON FIRE! What is your answer to Jesus?
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| 3 ROOFTOP VIEWS OF SUNSET |
Thank you for your continued dance with me through your prayers and financial support! Oh yes, I GOT MY OWN POSTAL BOX and new address! Yay!
Love, His Warrior and Disciple,
Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia,
Your sister, Vidya
