#266 - A Blessed Christmas 2022!

 Vol.# 266

A Blessed Christmas to one and all!

 

YES! I AM BACK in Toronto, and NO, I did not bring the snowstorm! 

Thankfully I got in just before it started. I want to thank all of you who prayed for safety and good seatmates on the flight. We had an hour and 20 minutes delay in Phnom Penh and an hour and half delay in Seoul, but we got in with luggage intact at Pearson. My seatmates, a young couple from Mississauga, stayed after they retrieved their own luggage to help me get my luggage from the carousel! I am so grateful to my own family here for the warm welcome back and to you whom I saw at church last Sunday! It has been 3 years since I have been physically on site, and it was a bit emotional as memories came flooding in of time spent at RAC! 

At my local church in Phnom Penh, New Life Fellowship Cambodia, the focal point of the Christmas decorations was a HUGE gift box! Three weeks ago I was a bit disappointed when I walked in early on Sunday and saw this huge gift box centrally positioned in the lobby.  We as a staff had been trying to change people’s perspectives on the reason for the season, which was NOT gifts and presents! However, those who planned knew and understood their own Khmer culture. So many came to take pictures and selfies and were posting them on social media! Then the box was slowly being turned each week. On the second week the message was that we were part of the presents, people themselves, relationships and families. Many were urged to take pics of their families, friendships, and cell groups. On the last Sunday I was there, the box was fully turned to reveal a crèche. The cradle with the straw was in it, and I know that this Sunday it would be fully revealed with the baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph, and the wise men! I thought it was a brilliant way of truly reflecting on the REAL REASON FOR THE SEASON! We went from the fanfare of the wrappings, to the relationships, to the core of Christmas which is Jesus coming to earth as a babe for us. God then gave me little gifts that were more tangible and worth more to me than any physical gift could have because it was only Jesus who knew what was in my heart!

 

This began with the 5P’s Christmas get together! Again as I was leaving earlier than most of the dates of small gatherings among the ministries, our group decided to celebrate before I left! Usually we would go out for a special dinner and take a gift to be exchanged! This time, the decision was a day trip to the beach! I was overwhelmed since I had been praying and asking God if it was possible that I could go to the beach to get a reprieve from the city before coming back for Christmas! I had not been out of the city for over a year! As I had told no one but Jesus of this desire, I knew this was His special gift specifically for me! Oh the joy of it all! We had never done our Christmas gatherings like this before! So off we went on the new beautiful highway that was just completed for the Economic Conference of world leaders. A trip that would have taken 4-5 hours on a bumpy dusty road only took 2 hours on a smooth road with beautiful landscaping along the highway to be viewed! The weather was perfect, the water warm and salty and the bbq we did on the beach was delicious! 

There were 2 activities that we did that day that stood out to me and goes back to the heart gifts of the season. In the van as we began our trip, we got to choose a name and for that day we were to be ‘angels’ for that person but to act in a way that was anonymous so that at the end of the day as we travelled back in the van, we had to guess who our angel was! So we had to know the love language of that person in order to truly be their angel! The next activity was that our leader gave each of us a big sheet of paper that we stuck on each other’s back and then we got to write something positive about that person on the sheet! Since we were writing on each other’s back, it was anonymous who wrote what! I tried to capture in a photo what was written, taking into account English is not the first language of all my team members, and also that it is difficult to write on someone’s back while standing up! Again, it was a tangible gift, and though the words and actions cost nothing in dollars, it is priceless and I am blessed!

 

Another usual prayer I had as I left to go to the airport was that God would bring those in whom He wants me to invest in the upcoming new year. Unexpectedly three of my former students from Rescue came to see me off, and I got the opportunity to not only pray for Oun Sreyleak, Visal’s wife who is now 5 months pregnant, but also they all in turn prayed over me AT THE AIRPORT! The leader of the 5P’s came, Lokru Pheatra, and the other Oun Sreyleak, who is another former student who is studying the life of Abraham, came with another former student who is now a new member of the 5Ps’ group! Lauren, my friend and former classmate from Khmer language studies and now part of my community in Phnom Penh graciously drove me to the airport (sorry, no pics of her!). It was a God-given gift to be able to pray over this couple, and I love that no one is self-conscious to be prayed over in public especially as this young wife is young in the faith!

 

Can I encourage so many of you that in this season, maybe it is that ‘word’ or phone call or smile rather than the physical gift/present that is worth more than the dollar gift itself? You know that love language of those in your circle, as GOD gave us the ultimate gift, His SON, He captured all of our love languages into ONE, Jesus the Christ! 

Have a Blessed Christmas and I pray I get a chance to see many of you face to face! 

Love, His Warrior and Disciple, 

Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia, 

Your sister, Vedya 

#265 - Honouring my mentees and SOCCER GAME!

Vol.# 265

 

Hello from my desk here at the office! 

Everyone is listening to an online seminar on church history. This is relevant because in January of 2023 we will be celebrating 100 years of Christianity here in the kingdom of Cambodia!

 
I thought I would give you a few snapshots of what has been happening here since the last time I shared with you! 
Snapshot #1: If you remember, I have been mentoring Oun Muylen who was at the helm of Prison Fellowship and had switched careers to BRAVE ministry where she has been an important advocate for those who are poor, and also reaching out to teach and disciple others in the province, including her home town. She had invited a few of us to celebrate her engagement to Bird (Yes, that is his name!), whom she met while she was at Prison Fellowship and their relationship grew during COVID even though it was online! Fast-forward 2 years and now they are engaged! What struck me about this special night was the fact that Oun Muylen called each one of us up to stand with her, and she told her mostly non-Christian family of the impact each one of us had made on her life!

 

 

Snapshot #2: You can see my sister Mel who is wearing a black off-the-shoulder dress in the group photo. It was Mel who saw Muylen’s potential and encouraged and mentored her into the role created for her by Mel at BRAVE, the NGO headed by Mel. I was struck by the change over Oun Muylen as I saw her standing there looking so beautiful and confident, so different from the timid, shy woman I had met so many years ago! She spoke so boldly of her faith in God and how God had brought her and Bird through many struggles, and the steadfastness and love of our Lord Jesus Christ! I was so blessed to be invited to be a part of this occasion!

 

Snapshot #3: Oh how exciting to see one of my mentees go off to the States for a 3-month leadership course! Oun Aly had been there before as a part of another leadership program by Raven’s Hope International. She had applied for her American visa, and we had prayed over the interview, and prepped her with responses. We prayed over her being released from her position here so that she would be able to go, and her leader Lokru Krong was so gracious in releasing her to be trained! She needed my help at the airport, so I dressed as if I was travelling and just walked boldly into the airport just holding my passport and the guards at the entrance let me in! She was glad I was with her since she was in the wrong line at first, and then I advised her to go and stand in line at the correct counter even though that counter was not yet opened. Within 5 minutes we had the longest line behind us (we were 5th in line) and Oun Aly was so glad we stayed to get her checked in for her seat etc. (Most of you are probably in shock thinking Vidya is helping someone else with this when most times she needs the help?! Well, experience with being in wrong line at the wrong counter in the past has taught me a lot!!!)

 

Snapshot 4: At the staff party with Oun Sreyleak! So proud of this young woman, she was my brightest student at Rescue, and then she came to work in the HR department at New Life Fellowship Cambodia. She was on the planning committee for our staff party and did an amazing job! It reminded me when we did our own events at RAC and the immense planning and then execution of that plan for the event! Oun Sreyleak had sent me a text 3 weeks ago saying that she had not read her Bible in such a long time and wanted to restart her time with God. She wanted to read His Word by studying the characters of the Bible. I study/read by using the yearly Bible schedule and then journaling when a verse/scripture stands out for me, but Oun Sreyleak wanted to use the personal stories as her way of getting to know more about the God we serve. With some help from Pastor Sunder who gave me some links to podcasts, I was more prepared to help her. So I asked her which character she wanted to study (Lokru Samdy has been preaching on the life stories of different persons each Sunday in our church services), thinking as usual that Ruth or Esther or David or even Paul would be the usual answers. Imagine my surprise and delight when she responded with Abraham! She was brought up at Rescue reading and accumulating information on the different characters in the Bible and now she wanted to go deeper and figure out why Abraham is called the father of faith! It has been exciting to receive texts from her late at night when God reveals something to her. It just affirms the FACT that when we take the time to sit at His feet, He will reveal Himself through His Word!

 

Snapshot #5 and #6: Missions Day. This was amazing for the fact that we were helping another church of the same denomination to clean up and prepare their new church facilities for this coming Sunday’s worship service. Now in Canada we would not have been ordinarily allowed to go while construction was still going on, but because they needed to get things done quickly, a call went out and I was so humbled to see ALL groups from within our church go to help and clean up for another church! It took some of us an hour to get there, others 2 hours since the location is so new that it was difficult to find on the Google map! We were divided into groups to work on the inside and then paint on the outside of the church. The landowners of the former location wanted their land back since last year, but in His grace had allowed the pastor to be able to get a new location! I may not be able to attend a service before I leave here on Dec.13^th, but prayerfully in the new year I will be able to go to support them! Can you find Vidya in the group photo?

 

Snapshot #7: THE BEST!!!! After all that cleaning in very humid temperatures, I had enough time to get home to shower and change for the final football match of the 2 leading teams here in Cambodia! I mentioned in a previous update about Seon Powers, a fellow Trini who is the captain of one of these teams in one of my updates. Well, Seon gave us 6 free VIP tickets to go and cheer them on! The youth from the church here went with me. I was wearing the football shirt with No. 34 on it, which is Sean’s number, and a free shirt given to me by him, and we yelled and shouted advice to the referees (!) when it was needed and the match was filled with highs and lows. Unfortunately at the end we lost by one goal! However, that didn’t dampen our spirits as we continued to shout and scream just for being there! (Yes I am aware that Canada is out of the World Cup but I am still a diehard fan of my team!). 

I was going to meet Sean’s family the next day but unfortunately could not make it, so…

PRAYER REQUEST: Pray that I would be able to get a time before I leave here for Canada to not only meet (or as we Trinis say, ‘lime’) with Seon and his family, but also that I would have the opportunity to pray for their little girl Mila who has epilepsy. She is only 2 years old and her mom Mali and Seon have been worried about her.

 
Prayerfully I will be able to connect with some of you on this trip, but I am aware of COVID restrictions and how I still need to be careful since I am with my dad and mom who are respectively 95 and 85 years young. 

 

I thank God for your continued sacrifice of finances and time as you give and pray and send notes to encourage me over here. Please keep sending your prayer requests and tidbits of your life adventures with Jesus! Keep dancing with Him as I am. HE is the best dance partner!

 

Final snap shot: Guess who win the big prize at the staff party? Yes, ME! And I never win prizes! 

 Love, His Warrior and Disciple, 

Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia, 

Your sister, Vedya 

#264 - Ministry Recap in Photos!

 Vol.# 264

Greetings to you all on an amazingly cool day here in Phnom Penh! 

    ON MY ROOFTOP WITH LOKRU AND SISTER NAVY

It has been a whirlwind of activities here at the church and at the Skills Teaching Centre.

Praise:

Thank you for praying for Lee. It was her last day as the head of the cleaning crew in the Cleaning Company. I got the chance to pray with and over her as my home was the last place she was going to clean. Her crew kept asking her how come she got along so well with the foreigners, namely my friend Lauren and myself. She told them it was because we were Christians! Lee needs a break but she is helping out a brother coming out of jail as well as hosting her own family coming in from the province. She is the main breadwinner in her family but work was too exhausting and she herself was in great demand since she understood and spoke English quite well to interact with the expat community.

LEE

Prayer Request: 

We exchanged contact info. Please pray for God-opportunities so that I would be able to maintain the relationship that only God could have initiated! She appreciated that I would pray for her and her family.

We had the largest number of candidates for baptism two weeks ago here in the main campus. Forty-seven people got baptized! We had to put up 2 baptismal pools in the church and this time there was only one minor leak and we were ready with mops! We had an opportunity to pray over all of them once they got baptized, and for me, that was very moving, to see young and old alike, praising God and weeping at the same time as they took this step of obedience in their walk with God. They are all connected into small groups, and 90 percent of them are volunteering at the church as well.

BAPTISM PHOTOS

This pic of a table laden with food with people gathering around reflects the celebration of Dream Builders Evening that was another name for Volunteer Night! Out of a congregation of 1000 (2 church services), we have 375 volunteers in the different ministries at New Life Church. It brought back memories of the many times I was a part of events at RAC. Praise God for the many who volunteer here.

DREAM BUILDERS EVENING

Prayer Request: 

My role is to check in with some of the leaders to make sure that they and their volunteers are not getting ‘burnt out’. Please pray that God would give me wisdom as I meet with the different leaders. Sometimes they do not know how to draw healthy boundaries because they feel guilty that they need a rest from ‘working for God!’

 

The next 3 photos highlight praying for the Church Planting Team. Bro. Krong and his wife Liep are the leaders of this ministry and we were hearing stories from those who went out to plant churches in the provinces and got to sing and pray for Cambodia, from the north, south, east to west.

BRO. KRONG

PRAYING WITH CHURCH PLANTING TEAM

Prayer Request: 

Pray for wisdom for Bro. Krong as he leads this team. Two of the chief leaders have problems with their mental health that has affected their families and ultimately the unity within the group. Pray for me as I sit and listen and pray.

 
Thank you from my heart for all of the prayer and financial support that you have sacrificed on my behalf. I am so blessed! Please keep sending your prayer requests and I love to hear what is happening in your lives as well as we ‘dance’ together on this journey with Jesus! 

His servant and yours. 

Love, His Warrior and Disciple, 

Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia, 

Your sister, Vedya 

#263 - Pics and Prayers

 Vol. #263

I am sending prayers out to those affected by Hurricane Fiona. 

I have been watching the devastation left behind and I pray for His Spirit of comfort and grace over all!

 
Pic #1: These wonderful Khmer women are a part of a cleaning company here in the city. I got connected with them when I needed a good cleaning outside and inside of my place, and they were really good. I have been teaching them how to clean more efficiently so that they can get the better paying jobs from expat individuals and companies.

Prayer Request:They are all non-Christians and I have been praying for God to open doors into their hearts so I can share about His love. The leader is Lee and right now she is a bit frustrated with the workload even though the pay is good. The down time between jobs is non-existent and they bring all the equipment like the vacuum and mops on the motorcycle in dry and rainy seasons! Lee will quit next week. She just needs a rest. Since she goes on all of the jobs, as she is the only one with high proficiency in English, she will take time off. Please pray as I will wait at home for her to come so I can pray with her and exchange contact info so we can keep in contact. I really do think she has the makings of a strong Khmer leader but right now she is too tired and discouraged to stay on. I will also be connecting with the expat owner of the cleaning company (his partner is Khmer) who has asked me for advice on how to take the company to that next level of success!

 
Pic #2: 5Ps staff meeting at Lokru Pheatra’s house. We all prepared the food together and then put the mats on the floor and ate together!

 

 

Pic #3 is of the soul care ministry that is comprised of School of Ministry and discipleship teams.

 

Prayer Request: There are still divisions in our group. The same people will sit and eat together. Please pray for unity and that each group will see beyond their ‘silo’ to see the big picture of being one in Christ!

 
Pic #4: Finally, the only Trini that I have met since I have been here got together! My sister Sita connected Seon with me when she found out he played football here. It turns out that Seon is not only from Trinidad, but also from my hometown of Arima! His partner is Thai/Dutch as he used to live in Thailand and played for the national soccer team there. When COVID struck, he came to Cambodia to help out the provincial teams. Now he has switched to the Phnom Penh football team so we finally got to meet after over 6 months of messaging! I had brought him some Trini curry and seasoning mixtures and he got me an official football (soccer) jersey!

Prayer Request: Seon‘s daughter, Mila, has child epilepsy and he was asking about child dedication and church. I just spoke to Lokru Samdy about child dedication and we decided that it was important to invite Seon with his wife and baby to church so that the elders can pray over this little one. Please pray for a deeper connection with Seon and his family!

 
Pic #5: Graduation and certificate ceremony for Skills Training Centre with 79 students from the Thai, Computer and Chinese classes! It was an honor to be part of the prep for the team and then to be present to pray over them. See if you can find me in the pic!

 

Prayer Request: Our English classes are open so students can come when they want to. The other classes are fixed so that attendance, doing the homework and coming on time are compulsory.Please pray for more funding for the STC as the classes provided are free for the students but we do provide a salary for the Khmer teachers.

Next year January, we will be celebrating the 100-year presence of Protestant Christianity in Cambodia! We have already rented out the venue and building booths for next year. I am on one of the prayer teams for this. We have invited the Honorable Prime Minister Hun Sen and other government dignitaries as well as the Christian NGOS. Lokru Mara, who is an elder from my church here, is spearheading the celebrations. 

 

Prayer Request: Please pray for unity over denominational lines so that the world can truly see the celebration of Jesus the Christ; that there will be no squabbling and ego power trips amongst those involved.

 
Thank you all for your continued sacrifice of time and resources as God continues to use me here in Cambodia. Please continue to send your prayer requests as well as your life stories so I can pray and rejoice along with you! 

 

 

Love, His Warrior and Disciple, 

Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia, 

Your sister, Vedya 

#262 - Thank you for your prayers for Cell Group Leaders Retreat 2022!

Vol. #262 

From a very grateful heart, I want to say thank you for your prayers!

The Request: I asked for a safe ride, no rain. 
Praise: We got there safely, and it did not rain for the 2 days and one night we were there! It rained elsewhere but not in that location!

 
Request: I asked you to pray that I would not be claustrophobic so that I could enjoy the moments there.
Praise: At one o’clock, I awoke and did feel a bit claustrophobic, but I unzipped the tent and stepped out and just breathed the fresh air and looked at His handiwork around me. Then I went back to sleep. Thank you!

Request: I asked for God-moments.
Praise: I specifically prayed that HE would allow me to just sit next to someone, without the need to speak but to be silent and present with him or her. In the bus on the way, I sat next to a sister who was starting a new job after being a clothes seller in the market. I was quiet (!!!!!) while she shared her journey of where she was for the past 3 years, and where God had now brought her to work in administration at New Life School. This sister had been so faithful to Him, leading a cell group in the market where she sold the clothes! We just praised God to see His Hand at work!

 
Praise: I sat next to Hour (pronounced ou-ah) who was shy. I asked her how she was and then she opened up that she had seen me before at church and wanted to chat with me. I felt led to buy her a coconut water and she was so surprised by this that she got teary eyed. She needed a sign of His love that morning, and the gift of the coconut water and my being present with her in that time were in her words a Godsend! 

From the pics you can see the beautiful scenery and landscape, wide open with space to walk and just be! We stayed in the tents but there were other accommodations like bungalows and dome shaped structures and villas. You could rent sporting buggies, bikes or fishing rods. There were horses to ride if you could pay the $60US for an hour! I got to talk to the manager there and he got us the coconuts right off the trees at the camping site!

Well, most of you would know that with me there are ALWAYS some stories that I will not share here (but funny ones!). However, at the staff meeting yesterday they were asking for people to come up to share and the cameraman who is married to Nekru Chakriya just said he had fun especially with Bong Srey Vidya! Well, that apparently opened up the microphone to share ‘Vidya stories’!!! Three people came up and all are laughing so I HAD to go up to the microphone to share as well. I shared how so many of you had been praying for us, and also how God had answered those prayers! The aftermath of all of this was that after the staff meeting, the same pastor asked to speak with me privately. He wanted to share something in confidence and to ask for prayer. I know that the fun vulnerable time we all shared on the weekend was the door that opened up the door of confidence and trust! Sometimes God uses the ‘silly’ to open up the heart to deepening relationships, to talk about life and spiritual issues.

 
Enjoy the pics! Thank you all for your prayers! Please continue to send in your requests and sharing of your life as well! 

Love, His Warrior and Disciple, 

Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia, 

Your sister, Vedya 

#261 - Camping and Prayer Request!

 Vol. #261

Good morning from a very humid Phnom Penh!

I have some urgent prayer requests. 

I was invited on a camping trip on August 19-20th to accompany the leaders of the cell groups from my church, New Life Foundation Cambodia, as well as the leaders of the Soul Care team, a part of the 5P’s team at the church. It is an honor to be asked to go with them since it is the first time they are doing this kind of outing with the cell leaders and I am the only foreigner (one other, but he has been married to a Khmer and living here for a while, so most think of him as Khmer now as he is fluent in the language!). Did I mention this is a CAMPING trip?

Prayer Request: 

- Please pray for safety on the trip up. We have about 45 of us going and it has been raining heavily each day. Praying that it does not rain during the day so we can truly enjoy the outdoors.

Prayer Request:

- Please pray for meaningful connections, for God-inspired conversations or silence, as He would ordain! 

Prayer Request:

- As said above, this is camping. I am a bit claustrophobic, so the idea of being zipped up in a tent is NOT very exciting and already I have been having anxious moments thinking about it. They are the same feelings I experience before I board a plane and have to be in an enclosed space for 13 hours or so without an open window and space to walk! 

Prayer Request:

- Please pray that this time would truly be a connecting of hearts and minds even though there is a language barrier, but that His Spirit would be the bonding connector! 

Prayer Request:

- Please pray that there will be no injuries for anyone, and that we all will be in great health! 

Thank you so much! 

 

Love, His Warrior and Disciple, 

Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia, 

Your sister, Vedya