#294 - Celebrations and Sorrow and I did a Vidya!

Vol. # 294 

Good morning from my kitchen here in Phnom Penh! 

It is MUCH TOO HOT to be up on the rooftop. We are just finishing up a 2-day holiday, Water Festival, and a full day at church on Sunday! Many activities have occurred since I last wrote to you.

- I was honored to be invited to the 70th anniversary of the Khmer Bible: 1954-2024. This picture depicts the current head of the Cambodian Bible Society, Lokru Pisit, who is also an elder from New Life Fellowship Church, Phnom Penh, as well as one of the worship leaders in voluntary capacity at the church. It was so humbling to see the evolution of the Bible from just one translation in scroll/paper form to digital form where the Khmer Bible is available to not only adults but also to children. There is a Khmer Bible geared to cell group study and interaction for kids. Just as for English translations where we have NIV, The Messenger etc., the Khmer Bible is being translated into other interpretations as well, moving from the old way language version to 6 versions! On my IPad I can have both the English version and the Khmer version on one page, which is helpful in my own Khmer Bible study! 

 

70TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE KHMER BIBLE

The artist painting in the background depicts the Bible as the light held by His hand! It was moving to see 4 separate artists draw different parts of this picture before bringing it together as one whole picture before us on the easel! We in the western world are so blessed to have so many translations of the Bible, His Voice. I pray that I do not become nonchalant to having that direct access to His Word while so many still do not have that privilege and freedom to read His Word!

DAVID & CHRIS MANFRED; BOARD CHAIR OF BIBLE SOCIETY IN CAMBODIA AND C&MA PRESIDENT 

- Just after this ceremony on Sunday, I was invited to join the church planting team as they were going to support one of the provincial leaders whose wife had suddenly passed away one day prior. I did not personally know the leader or his wife and was at first hesitant to go since I was not confident in having the words in Khmer language to comfort them using the Scripture, but as I prayed that night I felt that I should go as I am not usually invited to go to the funerals. As I stepped out and walked to the daughters who were standing there, they greeted all those before me with the traditional raised palm gestures, and when I reached them, the daughters (each separately) came and hugged me, crying on my shoulder. 

AT FUNERAL

I was surprised at first, but immediately just stopped and held each one, hearing His whisper in my own ears saying, just be my Presence to those who are grieving, no words but my quiet solid Presence! It was a cremation ceremony on the Buddhist land. Christians are allowed to pay to do Christian burials there since the small country church has no land of its own to bury their dead. I got to hear the testimony of the husband. Many years ago he had prayed for this dearly departed wife who had gotten in a terrible accident and was told that she her brain would not function properly and she would have to be taken care of. However, this husband prayed each day over his wife, and asked his congregation to do the same and they exhorted God to have mercy and to heal the mind of his wife, and God, in His grace and mercy, heard their prayers and she was healed!  For over 20 years since then she has been working alongside with him! I was so grateful that I heeded the voice of the Holy Spirit. The team and I were so blessed to be there.

- I was invited to attend the wedding of the son of our former leader of Women’s Ministry, Sister Malis. I got to know this precious woman of God and her husband when I was part of the welcome team for our 30th anniversary! She is a successful businesswoman along with her husband, yet so humble, and they both gave of themselves, serving so unselfishly. I got to see servant leadership at work, as well as the loving and respectful relationship between the 2 of them. I was invited to the morning ceremony that has all traditional Khmer components: begins very early, either at 6 or 7 and will go until lunchtime; then there is a break until the reception at 5 onwards with dinner and dance! My Khmer sister, Oun Sreyleak, who is a seamstress and has her own business, sewed both of my outfits, the Khmer traditional as well as the western dress. 

WEDDING EVENING ATTIRE

LOKRU VIRAK AND SISTER BORAMEY;:FUTURE LEADERS OF DANGKEO CHURCH PLANT

We had a great time celebrating the covenant of marriage of this young couple as well as the Christian testimony of the parents who made sure Christ was at the Center of each part of the ceremony! I was glad to witness the passing of the Christian legacy from one generation to another (the parents are the first in their family to become Christians). It was a huge wedding and it was a blessing to celebrate it with many from our church!

 
- Lastly, I know many of you have been praying for the translation team of which I am a part. This is a pic of a small part of the Information Desk Ministry that also helps in the facilitation of the translation ministry. Last Sunday we had 4 big teams visiting from USA, Australia, Singapore, China and Canada, over 30 foreigners. So we had to get the translations set up for them so they could fully participate in the worship service!

 

- A final note to give you all a bit of a chuckle. I did a ‘Vidya’. 

I went to the WRONG wedding (in my defence it was not really my fault since it was the location given!) In the pic you can see people going up the stairs. 

I also went up, thinking hmm, where are my people? I got up the stairs, even got a wedding souvenir, went to get a free coffee at the coffee bar, but thankfully did not sit with the other guests, as I kept looking for my friends! Thankfully, I got a call saying where are you? My reply: WHERE ARE YOU?Why are you not here and on time? It got all sorted out eventually. The location was further up the road at another wedding venue. Many also got lost but I was the only one to be part of the wrong ceremony. I was in the wedding video as well as the pics, so the poor bride and groom must be thinking who is that expatwhen they watch the video! LOL! I got a standing ovation from my own people when I eventually got to the correct location!

 
Prayer Request: please continue praying, as we plan on the new location at Dangkeo, on my role in helping with the English classes. I am still at the main campus but would be advising on the establishment of the English program.

Prayer Request: Please continue to pray for the healing and health of my brother Krish, and for my parents as well. 

 

Thank youas you continue to labor alongside me, dancing with the best dance partner, our Lord Jesus Christ! Please continue to send your stories and requests so I too can go to Him on your behalf! 

 

 

Love, His Warrior and Disciple, 

Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia, 

Your sister, Vedya 

#293 - Clean Up Day at New Church Site and Khmer Holiday!

Vol.# 293

 Hello to my fellow dancers with Our Leading Partner, Jesus the Christ! 

Just thought I would send a quick update on the activities over the past 2 weeks. In my previous update I alluded to the new campus site, and in the past week, we as a church went to literally clean the church, getting it in some semblance of order for the professional team to come in later. We gathered to pray and sense His leading over the core group who will eventually take over the running of this campus site at Dongkao.

 

The first picture is the group picture. It was a very hot day and my team (TEAM 1) was assigned to the lower floors, to clean the windows and sweep the floors. It has been a couple of years of dust/mice accumulations and the yard was overgrown, but the mango trees and other fruit trees were a lovely sight to see, and yes, to sit under for the shade when it got too hot!  Pictures 3 and 4 show the view of the new house church on clean up day.

 

Pictures 5 and 6: We gathered upstairs to pray over the core group: Lokru Virak wearing the red short-sleeved shirt will be the new campus pastor. His wife and two kids were out picking up food for the team, so there are no pics of them as yet. The other team leaders were introduced to us so we could pray over them as a group. Lokru Samdy, our lead pastor was and still is in Seoul Korea for the Lausanne Congress, so could not be there. However we were all given a chance to speak blessings over them. This new location is near to the Killing Fields (you can Google this), one of the top tourist sites here, where so many died during the Pol Pot regime. Yet we prayed that this attraction to view death will be turned around to come to see the life that this church will bring to the community, the hope of Jesus and the introduction of free educational classes that will be taught at the church.

There are many layers of spiritual harvest yet to be reaped. Isaiah 58:12 talks about the rebuilding of ancient ruins, repairer of broken walls … I see this occurring through the establishment of His church, New Life campus site! More to come …

Pictures 7 and 8: This week is the Buddhist holiday of Pchum Ben, where prayers are made on behalf of the ancestors at the pagoda. Food is prepared and taken and prayers are made from early in the morning onwards! Many leave the city to go to their hometowns in the countryside as part of the Khmer tradition to go with one’s family members to the pagoda together to present food prepared by same family members. This can be isolating for those who are followers of Jesus when they do not go to the pagoda and some have to find the balance of honoring the family cultural traditions and being true to the Lord Jesus Christ. One of my younger sisters in Christ wrote to me of feeling dissociated and lonely spiritually since she is the only true follower of Jesus in her family. However, she has washed the fruit and cleaned the dishes when her family members return from the pagoda as her way of showing honor to her parents!

 

In between cleaning at the church site, I went to visit another Khmer leader couple who will go to the new campus site. I visited them at a clinic. (Picture #9)

Prayer request: Please pray that others who are younger spiritually will know how to balance honoring their family within their culture while honoring Jesus as their Saviour.

At church, we all brought in Khmer snacks for everyone to eat and enjoy after we worshipped our God at Sunday services, even doing traditional Khmer dance as part of our worship! We only had 2 services instead of 3 as many from our staff and congregation members were going to the countryside to spend time with their families.

 
Prayer request: My washing machine that was a third hand (not second hand, LOL) has broken down, so I am praying for either the right workmen to come and fix it or get another one at a bargain price! It is the holidays so all businesses are closed. I am praying for His angels to be sent to give me the right advice! 

Thank you all for your continued giving towards me, in your time and finances, in sending my your prayer requests so that I can join you at our Master’s Feet to intercede and to give thanks to the One who gives us our breath and life! 

 

 

Love, His Warrior and Disciple, 

Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia, 

Your sister, Vedya 

#292 - God's Ways are Not Our Ways!

 Vol.# 292

Thank you all for your prayers for my safe journey back to Cambodia!

 

There were no delays and I arrived around 11-ish on Sunday night and as I walked out, I was greeted by our senior pastor and his wife who came to pick me up. When I got to my place, Julia and Chetra were waiting to help carry my 2 suitcases up the stairs! There is still construction work going on (3 months ongoing!) and an iron grid was laid on the road so that rolling the suitcases along the street was not possible. So Chetra had to lift the suitcases and walk to my doorway, then climb up the 32 steps! 

While I was away, Lauren (another important part of my community here) helped with arrangements for cleaning my place and getting it ready for me to return. Yet the construction goes on and for the first 2 days until Thursday, no one could leave their place on my street and no one could enter, for they were laying the concrete down on the road! So an enforced rest helped me to get things in order here in the apartment. 

On Thursday I was back in the office and unaware that I would be attending a prayer and blessing on a new satellite campus site for New Life Foundation church early in the afternoon. It is situated on the south end of the city, and as we went to clean and pray and walk in the area, I was so blessed that I was able to be part of this ordination. I also ate lunch with part of my team but by 3pm, after being back in the heat and prayer time, I was ready for my bed! 

As I left the new site, and did a tuk tuk prayer (instead of a prayer walk), I saw many children playing outside and a nearby school. On the 28th we will have a ‘mission’ to go and clean and paint the new place. It was a residential house and will be a home church. Lokru Virak and his wife, Sister Boramey, will be the ones to lead this new campus. Lokru Virak is still the head of HR at our main campus but will soon slowly release his responsibilities from here at the main campus to focus on this new campus called Dangkor Community church, New Life Foundation. I will be with the team on the 28th as we go to do the practical work of cleaning and getting the new campus ready. There is much work to be done, and later on I will give the back-story to the planting of this new campus! 

Answered Prayers: 

God’s ways are not our ways! I usually get an aisle seat on the plane but this time we could not get an aisle seat, so Ian and Ramona were able to get me a window seat. I like the freedom of being able to get up and walk, and yes, go to the bathroom when needed on such a long flight, so I was a bit apprehensive especially as my seat partner on the aisle was a tall guy and his knees were jammed up to the seat in front of him. I was calculating how I could squeeze by if he fell asleep or if I had to jump over him! But all of you prayed for my trip back and God answered this way: I only had to go to the bathroom 3 times on the 14-hour trip, and I only had to go when my aisle partner went. Moreover, my seat partner next to me was a smaller size so I did not feel cramped! 

 

Then, my seat could not tilt back so I finally had to call the flight attendant to help and with the 2 passengers on the back of me pulling at the seat, I finally could tilt the seat to rest until the meals came! Then they had to push the seat back in place! I dared not try to tilt it back again after the meals, but again, our Lord allowed me to rest my head against the window so I could rest. 

 

I had the opportunity to actually look out and to see His beauty in the skies, and yes, to thank Him for my time back in Toronto with my parents, my sister and bro and my visiting family members from England. One of my prayer partners had prayed and gave me the picture of angels carrying the plane and as I sat overlooking the wing of the plane, I smiled as I could picture this and felt His assurance that He will be looking after me in the future but also that my Mum and Dad are being held in His arms back in Toronto! Thank you, Maggie, for that precious picture you painted in your prayer for me! 

Prayer Request: 

Please pray for His wisdom and discernment as roles have changed here and I am asked to help out as a spiritual prayer partner in the new campus site as well as have a more active role in the weekend services preparation. I will add more on this in my upcoming newsletter!

 

I wish I had more time to personally visit with many of you on my last visit, but please keep sending me your prayer requests and your life stories so that I can pray along with you at our Father’s feet! 

Still dancing with Jesus…

Love, His Warrior and Disciple, 

Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia, 

Your sister, Vedya 

#291 - Departure and What Does Bong Srey Vidya Do?

 Vol.# 291

Good morning from the balcony here at my parents’ apartment in Scarborough!

 

The air is cool and I am enjoying the cooler temperatures while I can! It has been a while since I sent you an update. 

 

I have been with my parents, enjoying the opportunity to spend time not only with them, but also with my eldest sister and her family and their kids from England. My parents got to spend time with their grandkids as well as their great-grandkids and I am now a great aunt (emphasis on the great! LOL) as well! 

 

From the pic posted above we had our family who live here as well as those visiting. Missing: my big brother Krish and his kids Christian and Gaby who live in Florida, and my sister-in-law Cheryl, Vish’s wife who was hosting her own guests at same time! 

As I get ready to return, I always seek His guidance into my role back in Phnom Penh, specifically at New Life Church. I thought I would ask a few people who are not the main leaders at church a question: ‘If you had to write a job title or position for Bong Srey Vidya (me), what would that be?’  I got a few responses that I have not edited either in content or grammar/spelling. It is always illuminating to see through the eyes of others what they perceive my role as at New Life Church Foundation, Phnom Penh. So here they are: 

1.      Hello, my name is Pisey Lai. 
If I recruit bong Srey Vidya to be a staff at church, it would be Manager to Senior Pastor. Because she would remind the pastor to give sermon before preaching time to the live interpreter team on Sunday. She is the only one who have the courage to remind and tell the pastors what to do.

2.      Hello, my name is Sambath Long. 
If I recruit bong Srey Vidya, I will recruit her as a Snack Manager at church. Because she would buy snack everywhere and every plan she go. She is the only one who have the snack to courage everyone and do everything cause bong Vidya has Snack.

3.      Hello, my name is Samuel Seng. 
If I were to recruit bong Srey Vidya to be a staff at church, she would be the one who leads the connection team. Because she is great at connecting with people, local or international and I think it's stem from her genuine love and care for God's people and even more so she is a great mentor to most and an amazing prayer warrior. We call her Prayer Mama for a reason.

4.      Hello, Hi, Good evening, I’m Thavin. 

If I recruit Bong Video to be a staff at church she would be a.……(no idea) because she would listen, check, and ask when the translation not working well.
But thank you for choosing to work with us. You are a good sister.

5.      Hello, my name is Samuel Sout Visa. 
If I were to recruit Bong Srey Vidya to be a staff at church, that’d be a Security and Building Facilitator. Because, she knows most of everybody that coming to church. Often times, she always recognized someone strange and seems weird then she would report that to the teams to help look after that person. Building Facilitator: because she always roaming around, walk in and out almost every room. She might know the building so well, so why not be that?

 

So, I need to add some information to the first perceived role I have at NLF as Manager…I ONLY gently remind the speaking pastors to please NOT give the translator/interpreter the notes to the Sunday sermon an hour or 20 minutes before the sermon, but it would be preferable to give it a couple of days in advance. Since it took time for the speaker to listen to God and then communicate His heart to us, then we would like the opportunity to do the same, by reading the Scripture and familiarizing ourselves with the text. Most of the interpreters are spiritually young and do not know the Bible well, so new names and new words have to be learnt how to be pronounced correctly, for example, devil is NOT de-vil but de(h) -vil!  

 

The last note is from the Worship Leader Veasna, and this is his perception of my role. ”From me as I think back of what you have done and as I experienced myself I would say your role is: Staff Spiritual advocacy. You connect with staff on personal level and bring their prayer request to Jesus, and you connect with Jesus on their behalf, and tell them how Jesus feels about their daily (activities). You fed people with bread but also bring bread of life for their spiritual life as well..”

Many of you have asked what I do at New Life Foundation. I thought it best for you to hear the words of others as to my role. In the past I have asked my senior Pastor Samdy and his wife, and one of the elders, Pastor Pisit and his wife, to share on video, but this time I wanted you to hear from the regular members who are my co-workers at the church.

 
This brings me to my departure date: September 14th! I will be at RAC this Sunday, so I pray and hope that I get a chance to see some of you at church. I want to thank you for your grace for allowing me this special time to be with my parents here in Scarborough. I thank you for your continued sacrifice of finances and time spent in interceding for me, time spent in reading my updates and praying along with me! I am so grateful! 

Prayer Requests: Please continue prayers for healing for my big bro in Florida, for His favor to flow over him. Please pray for my parents as they are in a new season in life and for His favor over them with doctors and workers!

 
Please send your life updates to me as well so that I can pray along with you! Thank you for continuing to dance with me as Jesus continues to lead! 

 

 

Love, His Warrior and Disciple, 

Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia, 

Your sister, Vedya 

 

#290 -Thank you! Arrived in Toronto!

 Vol.# 290

I was overwhelmed by how many of you were praying for me! Thank you for your prayers. 

I just got in a couple of hours ago. My sister Sita picked me up from the airport and yes, there was the usual traffic on the highway here, but it was really nice to be on a highway! 

Both flights were full and my ears did hurt, but only a tiny bit on descent. I had really good seatmates on both flights. There was a delay of 50 minutes in the first flight. My pastor and his wife had picked me up to take me to the airport, and even though it was drizzling, traffic was not that bad and a few of my fellow workers from church came to see me off! I breezed through customs in Phnom Penh and subsequent customs check points and my luggage was already on the carousel when I got there! Sleep eluded me on the plane as I would drift off but then be awake, but after 23 hours of travelling (including layover), I am SO GRATEFUL to have had a smooth flight, no disrespectful passengers, and favor with the officials because of YOUR prayers!

 

Will write more in later update but I just wanted to say THANK YOU! 

 

Love, His Warrior and Disciple, 

Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia, 

Your sister, Vedya 

#289 - Recent Ministry Events and Prayer Requests

Vol. #289

 Good morning from a coffee shop here near the riverside in Phnom Penh! 

There is construction going on in front of my place and it is my day off. Thankfully the noise is NOT that bad but the power went out a couple of times, so I decided to come and pay my P.O. Box bill and have my coffee time with Jesus in an air-conditioned location! 

**Prayer Request: Before I give you an update on the events in the past month here ministry-wise, I would like to ask for your prayers for my big brother who was given a cancer diagnosis recently. I will not divulge details to protect his privacy, but I ask for your prayers as we go to Abba Father, the Healer, on his behalf, for His healing, for His grace and His peace. Thank you for joining me in prayer on his behalf.** 

PHOTO#1: ME WITH KIDS FROM MALL FOR 1&½ HRS. ON SUNDAY MORNING

The first photo shown here are of 3 kids who come from the mall that you can see from the background. They wanted to come to the Sunday school class but needed to be registered by a parent or guardian. Their parents work in the mall and in the local market nearby so they cannot do it. So that morning after we tried to stop them from running upstairs to the classes knowing that they could not get into the class, I asked if it was possible to be the guardian for the time needed for the class. After I got permission from Lokru Samdy, we went over instructions with the kids, about obeying the teacher etc. and they were allowed to attend. For the second service, Donnie (another Canadian married to a Khmer and adopted a Khmer daughter) became the guardian for that second service. They were happy to show me their arts and crafts from the Sunday school afterwards!

Prayer Request: Please pray that whatever nuggets these kids learn from the class would be seeds of His love that would grow in their souls and that their parents would see that they are accepted and loved by the church.

PHOTO#2: OUN DAVIN STARTING OWN CLEANING BUSINESS

The second photo is Oun Davin. She was one of a group of cleaners who would come to my house but her work hours were horrendous and it took a toll on her physical and mental health. So through conversations and encouragement with Lauren (another of my friends and expat here), she made the big decision to step out and start out on her own! It was a very bold decision as she does not have the backing of a company with their cleaning machines, but she works hard and does a wonderful job and is trustworthy. And yes, she is a young Christian! I decided to follow Lauren’s lead and became her second client! 
Prayer Request: Please pray that she will get other clients who will treat her with respect as His daughter, and also pay her the wages that she deserves!

 

PHOTO#3: PASTORS FROM PROVINCE: THE COUNTRYSIDE

The third photo: We just finished hosting the ‘Strong Ministry' mini-conference at our church. The local pastors from our church plants from the provinces (countryside) came in with some of their leaders to learn more about worship and how to lead and maintain relationships within the church, to be refreshed, and to be healed before going back out into their work in their churches. Their church buildings may be small with no A/C, with multi-functional use as classrooms, community-meeting room as well as for worship! Most times the pastors there and their leaders and spouses do all of the work themselves, not having different leaders for other ministries. So the burnout rate is high amongst them! I was walking by these leaders who came in early for the first session and just felt that I needed to get them tea/coffee! I had just spoken to my parents via video and I remembered all of the hard work they put in when they worked in Trinidad in church planting and leading in churches that were small and not well equipped! I had spoken to Mom and Dad about them and they graciously gave towards getting Bibles (with commentaries etc. in Khmer language!) for these precious pastors. We have many resources in English but not that much in Khmer language YET. However, the best Khmer Bible commentary that we have here is going to be gifted to them as a surprise on behalf of my parents! Thanks, Mom and Dad!

 

PHOTO#4: SHOES OFF, HOLY GROUND, HONEST WORSHIP

Fourth photo: I had to take this one. One of the pastors there just took off his shoes. The Presence of the Holy Spirit was so strong that we all had to either take off our shoes or just kneel before our Holy God, for it was Holy ground. It was so humbling to see such innocence of worship, such utter adoration before Our Lord, Our God.

GRANDMOTHER GETTING BAPTIZED WITH THE HELP OF THE YOUNGER GENERATION!

Fifth photo: Yesterday we put up the baptismal pool inside of the church (no major leaks!) and 32 precious souls were baptized! The oldest baptismal member was a grandmother who became a Christian from another organization and was asked to be baptized. Their doctrine was to sprinkle her with water, but she felt within her spirit that she needed to be submerged, so she came to ask for special permission from Lokru Samdy to be baptized alongside the other young people here, even though she is not a member of our church! He gave his permission and you should have heard the shouts of encouragement as the younger generation group was helping her to climb into the baptismal pool. Then she went under the water and then came back up with the help of Sister Navy (Lokru Samdy’s wife) and Oun Dina, a young leader with the men’s group! Yes, I was on my feet shouting (I am a bit hoarse this morning!). 
Prayer Request: Please pray for the rest of her family and those in her community, as they will listen to an elder as she shares her story of the love of Jesus! That is her younger sister in the pic walking alongside her!

 
Thank you all for your continued prayers and sacrifice of finance and time to read this and to pray with me. I am ever so blessed! 

Love, His Warrior and Disciple, 

Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia, 

Your sister, Vedya 

 

#288 - NLF 30th Anniversary on Resurrection Day!

 Vol.# 288

I am writing this in temperatures that are soaring over the 100F mark as you can see from the photo shown! April is usually the hottest month, yet this year seems to be hotter than ever! Sweltering is the adjective that comes to mind as I sit in the tuk tuk travelling or just sitting in my room. The air conditioner is squeaking out cooler air and for that I am grateful, but I will head to the church where the air conditioner is working! 

SE ASIA HEAT MAP

A BELATED BLESSED RESURRECTION DAY to all!

We have been busy with our own 30th Anniversary that coincided with Easter/Resurrection Day, with months of pre-planning. Last week was one of putting the plan into effect. The celebration of thankfulness for His steadfastness to NLF was held at an outside venue, Aeon Mall 3. This was the closest venue to the land that was given to us for our new church building, and the visit to the land and worship service there was planned for Sunday afternoon with tents being erected on the land for the first service there!

 

PREPARING GIFT BASKETS FOR DELIVERY TO VIP GUESTS' HOTELS

As I sat making gift baskets for the VIP guests that were due to fly in, I thought of my former team at RAC where we prepared for the big Easter breakfast and Friday night dinner not so long ago! Here I was part of a particular team and not part of the leadership team that was overseeing the whole event as I was at RAC, so the stress level was minimal. I got to enjoy meeting and getting to know new members of the church. Oun Sreylin pulled us together (she is the pregnant one to the left of the pic, with her husband). Even though the youngest, she was the most organized and gentle of souls and we had laughter and fun in the midst of transforming an empty ordinary room into a VIP room worthy of Jesus Himself! 

MY 30TH ANNIVERSARY TEAM. CAN YOU FIND ME?

Thank you for your prayers over this event. The actual onsite set up with the stage and lights began on Thursday, and we were not allowed to put on the air-conditioner because the room was so big and the doors had to be opened for the equipment and furniture to come in, so the sweltering was ongoing! At the end however, to see the Cross up on a stage in the mall brought me to my knees. Here was a symbol of the most sacred of holy days, representing Jesus choosing to die for us so horrendously, a gift that was of NO COST to us yet the most expensive cost because of His death, and then the RESURRECTION! The red and white cloths draped over the Cross represented His death and blood, and the white represented His rising from the grave. It was erected at a mall that represents so many ‘gods’ of expensive things that are of great costs to us! 

THE CROSS AT THE MALL ON RESURRECTION SUNDAY

It was wonderful to proclaim Jesus as GOD over what the mall represents with over 1000 people who came from the different provinces in Cambodia as well as overseas, from Australia, Brazil, USA, Singapore and Thailand! The reason for such a celebration was that Pastor Dooley and his wife Jennifer obeyed the first call to come to Cambodia to establish His church (they have since gone on to establish other churches in Asia). What a humble couple and it was a privilege to hear their story of being part of the foundation of New Life Church Cambodia!

NLF FOUNDING PASTORS, ERIC & JENNIFER DOOLEY AND CURRENT PASTORS, LOKRU SAMDY AND NAVY

Prayer requests:

 

-   It has been a whirlwind of activities and now this week there is the debriefing and inventory meetings. Pray for us as we try to coherently and honestly give the strengths and weaknesses of the event without any blame casting.

-       
We will be celebrating Khmer New Year from the 13-16th of April. Many will go to their hometowns to pray and give money to the Buddhist priests for their ancestors as well as to celebrate the New Year. Pray for safety as they travel and for Christians as they balance showing respect for their heritage with their values and beliefs in Jesus the Christ.

-       
Please pray for a place within the city to relax. With the extreme heat comes power outages, so the best place to be is a hotel over the holidays since they have generators and, yes, swimming pools! 

Thank you for ALL for your continued prayers for me here. Please send in your prayer requests as we do this life journey together, albeit at a distance!

HE IS RISEN INDEED! 

 

 

Love, His Warrior and Disciple, 

Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia, 

Your sister, Vedya