#296 - Your Answered Prayers for Return Trip to PP!

Vol. #296

When I asked you to pray for my return to Phnom Penh, I did not know how God was going to answer beyond all that I had expected! 

 

The flight was full from Toronto to Hong Kong. There was not one empty seat. HOWEVER, on that 15-hour flight back, that seat 64C became one of comfort and sleep! I did not even look at movies/TV on the screen except to see the path of the flight. The 15 hours passed so quickly, and the 2 people sitting on my row only got up to go to the washroom twice during that long flight. I even made friends with a group of 29 that was travelling to go Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand! This same group of friends started to travel together over the years and go on a trip once a year. They are from…Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana! I wish I had started a conversation with them at the beginning as we were waiting together at the gate to board, but I had a mini-coughing fit and they had inquired if I was okay but I did not continue the conversation until we were ready to get off board in Hong Kong.

 
There was a family sitting in front of me with one child who had difficulties in expressing himself in a proper ways. As I listened to this kid shouting, my first thought was ‘oh no not for the next 15 hours!’, but then I had this rush of sympathy and began to pray for this child and thanked God that his family showed him such love combined with grace!Thank you for praying that I would be more like Jesus even if only in thought! 

 
When I was in HK, my friend Lauren, who had arrived in PP a day prior, sent a pic showing a confusing sign at the airport in PP directing where to go in queue if I already had an e-visa, and she mentioned that not all of her luggage had arrived with the family. I immediately began to pray for favor, already knowing all of you had been praying for me. Well, I got into the airport and GOD answered your prayers specifically. I was waiting to go up to one of the few Customs officers, when one suddenly appeared and waved for me to go over! In five minutes I was NOT only finished there, but also my 2 suitcases came on the luggage carousel and I was out of there! 

Lokru Virak’s wife, Sister Boramey came to pick me up at the airport. My friends Julia and Chetra messaged me to find out where I was, and they were waiting at my place to help me take the luggage up the stairs, and waited for me to change, to take me out for lunch!

 
I feel so blessed and I say THANK YOU. Sometimes we think asking God for the ‘little things’ means we are bothering HIM, because He has so much more serious things to focus on, forgetting HE IS GOD! HE also wants to have a relationship with US, which means trusting in HIM for the small things and initiating that communication which is a conversation that can be ongoing all day.

 
I am preparing for a wedding today for Oun Sreyleak. She was my student back in Rescue, and is now working at New Life Foundation church in HR. I am blessed to be a spiritual mentor to her and to be a witness at her wedding! What an honor!

 
Thank you again for your prayers.

 

Love, His Warrior and Disciple, 

Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia, 

Your sister, Vedya 

#295 - Christmas Preparations in Phnom Penh

 Vol. # 295

Blessed Christmas as we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ! 

I thought I would send you photos of how we prepared to celebrate the reason for the season!

At first sight, when you walked into the lobby area of the church, you would see this very tall Christmas tree and perhaps think, what is the difference between this tree in a church and one you would see in the big malls in Phnom Penh? 

On closer inspection, however, what you would note is that the Christmas tree’s most prominent decor is made up of photos: photos of each member of our congregation and families! We wanted to point out the importance of relationships and people by having our members send in photos, and then we use them as the primary decor on the tree. This was done leading up to the Christmas week, and then on the final Sunday, our lead Pastor Samdy talked about the primary and most important relationship in our lives, that of Jesus the Christ, and the reason HE chose to come on earth! It was so much fun to see the members come in to try and find their photos and then take photos of it! 

Also from the beginning of December, we did a fun shoot of pictures that we then put out on the church's social media highlighting different colours that the people can choose to wear to enter into the fun spirit of the season! See if you can find me in the photos on the poster! 

I was surprised that I was invited to be on it as the only expat. I was there at rehearsals where they were doing the Cambodian version of Joseph and Mary with the traditional Khmer dance and song intertwined within the story. It was so beautifully presented with the involvement of the little kids doing their parts as the animals in the stable. 

 

Like the rest of the world, the economy has been on a downward slide here in Cambodia, with finances being tight. So when the idea of having a booth and asking the members to donate towards gifts that would be won at the 3 Christmas services on the 22nd, I thought that we would not get much in way of donations. I was so proven wrong! From the youth to the older generations, we were blown away by the generosity of the people and I was told everyone was so excited to happy for each other when a gift was won! From those who had little, much was given, not only in resources but also in volunteer time to prepare for the programme as well as the physical preparations within the church.

 
As we enter 2025, I can look back and thank God for the lessons learned through the ups and downs. I cannot thank you enough for being my dance partners in His incredible time here in Phnom Penh! I know that this can be a bittersweet time. Many have lost loved ones this year; many have received unexpected negative health news, loss of jobs/income. I want to pray with you as Our Comforter and Prince of Peace comes in to literally ‘be with you’, His intimate Presence surrounding you in those moments when you are alone. May you know that HE came for YOU, that you are the ornament on our Father’s heart, the most precious gift. As the new year unfolds, and we step into 2025, I pray that you step in step with the Father, allowing Him to be the ONLY dance partner and leader, following His steps through the reading of His Word and spending time in prayer at His feet.

 
Prayer request: Please continue to pray for my aging parents and my big bro in Florida as we seek His miracle of healing and wisdom in next step of care.

Prayer request: As we launch our new church plant in Dangkeo in Phnom Penh, please pray for unity amongst the launching team of which I am a small part as I help in the establishment of a Skills Training programme in the new location.

 
Please send in your prayer requests as we continue together in this journey! 

 

Love, His Warrior and Disciple, 

Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia, 

Your sister, Vedya 

#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