#274 - Proveng Province Trip in Photos

 Vol.# 274

Whew! 

It has been a whirlwind of events since I last wrote and asked for your prayers for the mission trip to the province of Preveng! There are so many pictures and images to sort through, but I also needed time to process our time there at our sister/plant churches. So through a series of pictures I hope I can capture the answers to the prayer requests that I gave in my last update!

 

Thank you again for faithfully partnering with me in prayer!

- Photo#1: Our group comprised of the Support Team from my Friday morning devotions plus one other person from the 5P group meeting at 6:30 to board the small bus to Preveng. We held hands and prayed in a circle (much to the bemusement of those walking by on the street and the tuk tuk drivers awaiting their passengers!) for His safety before we boarded the bus.

 

- Photo #2: On the bus! Missing 3 of the crew because they were sitting up front and could not be in the picture.

 

- Photo#3/4: In Scripture the killing of the fatted calf symbolized the feelings of welcome and celebration! The first thing I noticed as we got off the bus and walked into the yard was the pastor of the main church at Prey Kuy, Lokru Eang Samoeurn, tending to the roasting of a calf in preparation of our meal that evening! Each household in this part of the countryside has chickens, cows and, if it is possible, a fish pond to be self-sustainable in providing for their household as well as to sell in the local market to have money to pay for their day to day needs. I saw the man-made pond that they had dug out a few weeks previously and was beginning to put fish into them to harvest.

 

- Photo#5/6:  Davann, Lokru Samoeurn’s helper, Sister You Im (Lokru S’s wife) and his sister-in-law were there to greet us and show us where we were to sleep. You can see the inside of the church where we put our sleeping bags and where we would be painting a second coat of paint on those walls.

- Photo#7: Blank wall before the word “welcome’ in Khmer would be written.

 

- Photo#8-12: One of the objectives of this mission was to physically get the church ready for its opening in the new building, by not only painting the logos and the building itself, but also by planting flowers and trees in the front and back yards. When we went to buy the flowers to be planted, I just felt I had to contribute by buying 3 fruit trees as well! Those of you from Trinidad are familiar with the fruits ‘pommecythere’ or golden apple and pommerac. When I asked which fruit trees would be helpful in providing a sustainable resource to be sold in the market for their personal income, these 2 were chosen! The third one is milk fruit plant that is also a popular fruit here in Cambodia. I was able to plant these and pray over the fruit for years to come as well as to pray over the spiritual fruit that would be yielded from this church plant Prey Kuy in Preveng province!

 

- Photo#13: Another objective on this trip was to go and visit and pray for different households. So we separated into smaller groups and this is my group on the Saturday morning!

- Photo#14: This is Nekru Eang Phoung. She has been labouring in her community for many years! This dedicated servant of God met us and we had to walk/moto to the place where kids and older people were waiting for us. She is in her mid-thirties and has such a passion not only for God but also for those in her community!

 

- Photos 15-19 show some of the kids and elders from her community. They had been waiting for us to arrive to do some games, give out treats and exercise books, share His gospel and then pray. I was asked if I had a message (impromptu) and all I sensed God saying was to say ‘thank you’ to those who were older and had worked so hard for their families, most of them women from the village.

 

- Other photos: Praying over a young kid who had a problem with his leg. Praying for a young woman who felt sick all the time, and depressed. She had the red string around her wrist as she had prayed to different idols in order to be well. As we prayed, Oun Makara and I prayed for the Holy Spirit to come and be over her, to be the One who prompted her to ask if she should cut off the string as a sign that now she trusts in Jesus Christ and wanted to be free from other spirits! Well, as we prayed, she herself asked that the string be cut off her hand! So many prayers were asked for physical, emotional and spiritual healing!

 
I want to thank you for your prayers not only for myself but also for the team. I sprained my ankle, and that Saturday morning as I got up early and watched the pastor feed the chickens and prepare the breakfast with his wife and others for us, I could hear the doubts in my mind such as ‘Vidya, you sprained your ankle, how can you go to pray for others who need healing? Will you be a distraction to your team as attention will be on you and not on those you are serving?’ Then as I prayed, God said, just obey and go and I will give you what you need as you go along! So I went and am so grateful that Our God is the provider not only of strength but also of His discernment as we prayed and gave encouragement to those we met.

- My team: They came to my house to pray for my ankle WHICH IS SO MUCH BETTER! Thanks to Lauren who has been helping me as well! 
God uses us when we obey Him. We may think it is a small thing but nothing is ever too small in His kingdom purpose!

 

Thank you again for your partnership with me here in my heart country! 

Love, His Warrior and Disciple, 

Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia, 

Your sister, Vedya 

#273 - Prayer Requests: Preveng Province

Vol.# 273 

Hello faithful prayer warriors!

 

Over the past year I have been asked by the church planting team to accompany them on various mission trips to different provinces/regions within Cambodia, and I have not felt the urge to go to any on site. I would rather give resources to the team, pray with and for them, and if and when I felt the Spirit say to give resources, I would! But this time I felt the Holy Spirit say go with the team! So on the 16/17^thof June, I will be going with the Support team (HR, Media, IT, and Finance teams), about 20 of us, to Preveng province. 

 

May I ask you to pray for:

- Safety as we travel to and from Preveng, but also within Preveng as we will be visiting 4 different church plants. Yes, it is a big province!

- We will be painting the inside of one of the main churches. The outside already painted by another of our church plants here in the city.

- Plantinggarden/flowers around the church.

 
- Helping out with the children’s program.

- Visitation: going into the homes and praying over those who are sick.

 
- Listening and praying with and over the church leaders the names of whom I list below:
Location#1: Prey Kuy: Senior pastor: Ps. Eang Samoeurn, his wife You Im; pastor’s assistant: Davann.
Location #2: Hob: Senior pastor: Sous Pheng; church planter member: Sin ChanReatry. 
Location #3: Trokeat: Senior pastor: Ps. Pun Pon; church planter member: Hon Ham.
Location #4: Chamres: Senior Pastor: Ps. Eang Phuong; church planter member: Bou Chat.

 

- I will be accompanying the teams who will go to pray with the church leaders/home visits. Please pray for His discernment and wisdom as I go with the team. I am in a supporting role of listening and prayer. I would like to meet the Khmer teachers who are teaching English in these rural areas to encourage and support them as well!

 
- Pray for health for all and bonding in His Spiritas we unify to encourage and come alongside those who are working in areas where it is difficult.

 
Thank you for coming along to pray! We are all staying at the pastor’s house in the main location there. I already bought a sleeping bag, and yes, I have my mosquito spray! I will carry some medications to give out as well (Tylenol for the kids, stomach meds). I am praying for God-led conversations(with an interpreter) one-on-one and His eyes to see and His ears to hear the needs of those we will be serving! Blessings and thank you! 

Love, His Warrior and Disciple, 

Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia, 

Your sister, Vedya  

#272 - Prayer, Reconnecting and Conversations

 Vol.# 272

Good morning, but not from my rooftop because the temperatures have been soaring from 97F and upwards so far, too hot to be up there! 

Today we have the day off from work. Lokru Samdy has given all of us time to recuperate and be restored after a hectic 4 days of all-day seminars followed by special services in the evening. 

Thank you for your prayers as I have been joining the devotion times for the Church Planting Team on a Wednesday morning, and then the Support Team on a Friday morning, and sandwiched in between our 5Ps and all staff meetings! I have included a couple of pictures of the CPT and ST devotional meetings. It has truly been a blessing as different members of each of these teams would lead and share a specific scripture or theme that God has laid upon their heart for that particular week. With the Church Planting Team, we sit around the table and sing and pray and after the person chosen to lead shares, each one of us then will share how it affected us. It forces all of us to pay attention and be fully involved (no phones allowed) in the process and then we share a prayer request and pray for each other.

 

At last week’s meeting Sister Matha shared on ‘having God’s ears to hear and His eyes to see’ when she goes out to the provinces to meet with other church planting leaders to hear their hearts and discern their needs. I had just gone to buy bread and had to walk down 2 flights of stairs (escalators not working) and was near the office when one of the cleaners of the mall building called out to me and I waved and moved on. I felt that God was saying to stop and give her one of the loaves that I bought, but ignored it and moved on. Just as I got to the door of the office, I felt God saying, ’where are your ears, Vidya, and your eyes? Did I not tell you to stop and give the bread? Did you not see someone in need?‘ I went back to the ‘sister’ and bent down and gave her the bread and as we looked into each other’s eyes, she smiled and I felt God’s pleasure! I went to the Church Planting room to share what just happened, letting them know that yes, even Bong Srey Vidya is learning more to obey that still small voice from the Holy Spirit!

 
The Support Team, comprised of more people, meet in a different space, a bigger room where we always begin with an icebreaker game, separated into 3 different teams and we are ALL competitive! We have a worship time and a chosen speaker to give a short sharing on a particular theme. It is interesting as those who are not usually in the spotlight, for example, those who clean/repair at the church now will stand in front of the group and share what God has been doing in their lives. How has this changed my relationship with the different members? The shyer ones now say ‘Good morning Bong Srey Vidya’ when they come into the office and they have included me in their coffee times or informal conversations at the desks.

 

Conversations: I am in awe of His timing! I felt that I should eat quickly and return to my desk at the office during my lunch hour. Everyone was still at the table but I went back and sat in the darkened room (we usually turn off the lights so people can rest quietly at their desks if needed) thinking mmm I really did not want a rest timeand was just about to leave when Donnie, a fellow Canadian, entered the office and asked if I had time to talk! We talked and prayed and I shared with him that I was just about to leave when he came to the office but felt that I should stay at my desk.

 

Then I got a message right after asking if I could meet with one of the young worship team members for a chat. I said yesand the youth was going through his first heartbreak and was struggling, so I listened, and prayed and grateful that another leader and I were able to give the same words of advice to him!

 

KHMER WOMEN LEADERS AT SISTER SOPHA'S HOME
(I was the only expat invited! Honoured!)

Reconnecting: You all have already met Oun Muylen from previous updates. We had not met since before Christmas last year so when she reached out, we met up at a coffee shop. She has been out to her hometown province training and mentoring leaders there. We had what I thought was a random conversation about teaching and education, but then she said, ‘Bong, I have been talking to school teachers about class management and class preparation and you have been sharing on this, not only the practical prep but the spiritual prep before you go to teach!’ So this conversation is not random at all! I cannot wait to hear more about what she is doing through BRAVE NGO in the provinces!

 

Two weeks ago we had the baptism of 30 people! My role on that day was to pray with the other leaders and shout encouragement as each person got baptized! As I prayed over one woman, she said, ‘Bong after this service, I am leaving to go into the province and I am excited as a teacher to share what God is doing in my life!’ So I prayed for her physical and spiritual protection as she was leaving at night time and moved by her words of wanting to share with those in her hometown province about what she has learnt about Jesus and taking the step of obedience to be baptized! 

Finally, I hosted a lunch with my former students from Rescue who now live at the dorm of New Life church and work/volunteer at the church. We are still connected from so many years ago. I am so proud of all of them as they now live in the city and are going to school and working at the church.

 
Thank you all as you continue to share His heart rhythm for the people of Cambodia with me, your sacrifice of finances and time as you pray with and for me. Please continue to share your life stories with me so I can join you and ‘dance’ with you in as we do life together! 

Love, His Warrior and Disciple, 

Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia, 

Your sister, Vedya 

 

#271 - Blessed Resurrection Day and Khmer New Year!

 Vol. #271

Today’s update comes on the heels of Easter and also at the beginning of the Khmer New Year which runs from April 14-16^th. At this time most of the people return to the countryside to their provinces, to celebrate the new year with families, eating traditional food, playing games (sangkran in Khmer), taking special presents for the elderly members of their family, and going to the Buddhist temple (woat/pagoda) to receive blessings from the monks and to give presents/money to the monks to ensure a prosperous new year! At the church, we had 2 sangkrans, one for the congregation and another for the staff with the traditional games and foods.

IN KHMER TRADITIONAL WEAR FOR KHMER NEW YEAR

LEADING GROUP OF GUYS AT CHURCH KHMER PARTY

 This update comes in a series of pictures, some of which you can see and two more that I hope to paint in words!

 

- Belated birthday celebrations with 2 of my younger Khmer sisters, Oun Sreyleak, who was a former student from Rescue Orphanage (also brilliant!), who now works for HR at New Life Foundation church and Oun Aly, who is in charge of missions at the Church Planting Ministry Department at NLF. They had both wanted to take me out for my birthday, so promptly after work, we rode to the riverside to spend ‘cool’ time overlooking the Mekong River! I was so blessed to have this time with Oun Aly who asked me what I would want for them in their spiritual lives as I have invested time with them! I got to bless them as well as they asked how they could pray with and for me!

 

- Belated celebration with Lokru Pisit and his wife Seyha and three kids. They came to pick me up and we went to the riverside to a Vietnamese restaurant where a little cake was brought out to celebrate Pisit’s and my birthdays. We have a tradition of celebrating together for the past 5 years! However, this year Seyha was in South Africa so I had a cake sent to their house with the accompanying prayer, “Lord you helped the widow find the lost coin, you helped the shepherd find the lost sheep, please help the delivery guy find the lost Pisit! “ Seriously, I got a call from the delivery guy, who could not find his house, and as soon as we said the prayer (I was at Lauren and David’s house), they connected!

 

- The stone. 40 members of New Life church from all of its church plants were gifted with the opportunity to go to Israel last month! Oun Veasna, who is the Worship pastor at NLF, brought me back this stone. His words, “I prayed and asked God which stone I should give to you from the few that I brought back, and this flat shaped one was the one because it symbolized the rest I get, the sense of comfort and shelter that you give to us, to me and my wife!” I was so surprised! I wrote the word ‘rest’ in English on one side and had Oun Veasna write it in Khmer on the other side. 

- We had one of the founding ex-pat partners/pastors and his team preach a message on Emotional Healthy Lifestyle. The last part of the message focused on ‘forgiveness’! Picture this with me. He called on male and female leaders from NLF to come up and stand in one line and then requested that those who needed to forgive (because of wounds/anger by someone) or be forgiven to go and stand in front of a leader who would represent the person in their lives who warranted forgiveness! So if a male person in their lives hurt them or was hurt by them, the congregant could go and stand before a male leader to be prayed with or who would stand and listen to their story! I was in a support role. If a woman went to a male leader, I would be standing alongside because it would be more appropriate if the woman needed a reassuring hand on her shoulder or to hold her hands etc. It was overwhelming to see members of the congregation line up to go before each leader and to see the tears and hear the cries of so many who had held anger/resentment due to hurts in their lives and to see the beginning of the journey of healing and restoration to become emotionally and spiritually healthy!

 
- Lokru Samdy had just finished a series on prayer. In the service we had pieces of paper that were given to us. He asked each of us to write down prayer requests, so for about 5 minutes the sanctuary was silent as we wrote down our requests. Then he asked us to stand and as we were lifting up our prayer requests to Him, Lokru Samdy was reading out loud God’s promises from His Word as the background to the prayers of us, the congregants, who were giving our requests to God. It was quite powerful to hear His Word being spoken out loud above the voices of the congregants, to hear His Word being proclaimed over our own voices.

 

- I always pray and ask God to show me a practical gift to be given over and above my tithe to His church and the gift of 2 fans was what He showed me! This fan can be plugged in using a phone to be charged, so that it works when there is no power. It has a LED light on it that is very bright and can go from low to medium to high in strength for when it gets too hot! This pastor from the province was one of the recipients of a fan. It was NOT just me who was giving this gift but also YOU. As you are supporting me financially and in prayer, you can get an opportunity to be His loving heart to others so THANK YOU for your continued sacrifice as you are my dance partners here in Cambodia!

 
- Easter celebration decor inside the church (reminiscent of Christine K at RAC!) by Oun Theng and then Khmer decor for New Year outside in the lobby of the church!

 
Please continue to send your stories and pictures of your life so I can pray with you too at our Father’s feet! 

Love, His Warrior and Disciple, 

Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia, 

Your sister, Vedya 

#270 - Here I Am, Lord!

 Vol.# 270

As I sit listening to the birds and the sounds of laughter coming from the cafe below, (No, I am not on the rooftop. It is too hot with the hottest season coming in April), I am grateful for another birthday year and for all of your comments and video calls!  

 

It began with my sis Sita surprising me with a video call followed with calls from Mom and Dad, my big bro Krish, and messages from Vish and my eldest sis Savi from England, and then a surprising video call from my nephew Darren and his family in England singing Happy Birthday with gusto! 

 

On the Saturday before my birthday, I received an email from Ken and Claire Bradley (prayer letters) and the title jumped out at me, Here I Am! Claire proceeded to reference from the Bible the many times someone responded to God’s call with the answer Here I Am! Claire added that she wanted that response from her and Ken accompanied by joyful expectation and not resignation! That resonated with my spirit, to joyfully surrender to our Master’s leadership and to be directed by the Holy Spirit in all that I do! With this in mind, God began to orchestrate some events in the last few days:

 
- Women’s Event on International Women’s Day at the church: As this is focused on the Khmer women, there would be no translation of the talks/instructions and I had to think if I should attend since I had no active role. I felt God say to ‘show up’, to be a presence and to say Here I Am, show me what I can do. Well, I was asked if I could help with the offering count and was glad to do so to release others to go back to listen to the discussions going on in the main auditorium. Then there was a game that we all had to participate in a circle, and I joined in to the laughter of others! I thought it was a small thing, but I heard the comments of ‘oh the foreigner sister loves to be with us, enjoying our games!’ Then, as I was about to leave, I noticed one of my younger sisters washing the trays on which we had served snacks, and I knew she was going out for lunch with her mentees to celebrate Women’s Day which, by the way, is an official holiday here. So I suggested that I wash while she went out with her younger sisters. I was there to say yes to God’s direction, releasing others to do what was needed, and felt His affirmation of thank you for surrendering to His nudges in my spirit. By the way, there was a lot of singing off key by me as I washed the dishes to the amusement of others! Can I encourage you, my fellow dancer, to be a presence for Him by saying Here I am Lord in whatever form that may be? 

SOME ATTENDEES: CAN YOU FIND ME?

PLAYING GAMES

NEW WOMEN'S GROUP LEADERS WITH OUN PISEY, YOUTH LEADER IN FRONT

- Usually for my birthday, I go to the salon that I have been going to for about 8 years now (going on 12 years I think of being here), and the owner and I celebrate our birthdays together since it is on same day! Well, this year the salon was going to be closed for renovations and Jheri the owner had sent me a message not to worry this year, that we will not do the cake! WELL..If you know me, I thought, no celebration? Hmm! I got an idea, and went to a bakery and had them write HAPPY NOT YET BIRTHDAY in Khmer (that itself was a puzzle to them even though I wrote it in Khmer, they kept trying to correct me! LOL!), and delivered it myself! Jheri just laughed and laughed when he saw the inscription and the girls there were delighted to have cake! I do let them know that I am glad that Jesus the Christ has given me another year and I am grateful for His goodness in the way of their welcoming hearts and excellent service to me as explanation of our celebration!

NOT YET BIRTHDAY CAKE WITH SALON OWNER

- On the day itself, David and Lauren with their kids Chloe and Lily invited me over for a birthday lunch filled with delicious food (chili and scones were divine!) and fun time with the kids. I am so grateful that they are here and not only part of my community, but family as well!

CHLOE AT DAVID AND LAUREN'S HOUSE FOR BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION. NOTICE THE WHIMSICAL DECOR ON MY BEHALF ON THE WALL!

- On the Tuesday following my birthday, we had a staff meeting and the staff surprised me with a birthday cake! I already received birthday messages on the group chat, so this was genuinely a surprise and I was touched by this gesture!

STAFF GIVING ME BIRTHDAY CAKE

- Thank you to Pastor Wayne and Betty for your video call! Always well timed and even though it was late for you at nighttime, it was a joy to see you and to be prayed over by you both! 

Prayer Request: 

As there is a transition of leadership of the main campus leader, who is also the leader of the 5Ps group of which I am a part, to another church plant, I ask for His wisdom as I help Lokru Pheaktra and his wife finish well here and then go into a new season in the other church; also, aiding with our own team members as they adapt to the changes and prepare for a new season as well! 

Prayer Request: 

Pray that I will prepare myself spiritually to listen to and follow His Spirit as I will be sitting in on the devotional times of each sector in the church office: HR combined with Support Services of IT and Financial, Church Planting services, Skills Training Centre and of course 5Ps, which is Soul Care, Worship and Youth and Children’s Ministries combined! Two staff meetings ago, as I stood shoulder to shoulder to pray with one sister, she suddenly turned into a full hug and began to cry, and I realized that she thought she had no one to pray with and turn to. I began to realize that I had FAILED as an Intercessory prayer warrior FOR ALL OF THE OFFICE STAFF. Some of them thought I was only part of the 5Ps and that I only prayed for that group and the main leaders at the church. I felt convicted by the Holy Spirit to go to the leader Lokru Samdy to not only apologize but also to figure out a way to show the staff that I was available to all. The solution was to attend the separate devotional times (which would be 3 separate mornings) when the group is smaller and I would sit with them being available, with a Here I AM presence!

 

I want to say a special thank you to my friend Maggie who in this season has been showing me how to be present for that one person. Maggie is showing me how to sit and be His Presence one to one, just as I imagine God, the Great I Am, sitting with me and allowing me to be the centre of His attention even for a couple of minutes. Thank you, Maggie, for that gift of your undivided attention! 

Thank you for your continued sacrifices of time and resources so that we can dance together here in my heart country of Cambodia! For my Trini folks, I had successfully brought back a small bottle of Peardrax (successfully I say, because it was a glass bottle and could easily break in the transportation process!). So on my birthday as I sat on the hammock on the rooftop, I finally opened it up to have with my Grace plantain chips that Ruby had so generously supplied!

 

Please continue to send in your prayer requests and stories about your own life! I love going to the Master’s feet on your behalf! 

Love, His Warrior and Disciple, 

Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia, 

Your sister, Vedya 

#269 - Clips of Life On My Return

 Vol.# 269 

As I sit here on the rooftop early in the morning, the sun is beginning to rise. I noticed how brilliant and bright it is with the intensity of colours in the halo of the sun, and then that intensity begins to fade and then becomes a steady yellowish colour, no more of the hues of orange / reddish colours. I prayed that my faith and walk with God as I re-enter life here would be more like the steady yellow of the sun as it shines throughout the day, and not like the short-lived brilliant hues of the sun when it first comes through the clouds. It is in the day-to-day moments or grind of life here where I want my faith in Him to be like the intensity of the sun. I want my passion for Jesus to be reflected in what I do and with those I meet.

 

Now saying this, I ‘hit the ground running’ as I returned back to my heart country here:

Here I am on a video call with Oun Thavin who left for Nepal on a 3-month leadership training course, her first time away on a plane by herself. So I video-called her while she was waiting to board.
Oun Thavin was also one of my former students from Rescue Orphanage and she is charge of Events/ Worship Coordinator at NLF. This was the next day after I re-entered Cambodia!

Prayer Request: her studies will be in English. Pray that God will give her discerning spirit to understand what is being taught. Pray that I would be an effective helper to her from here in PP.

Here I am back on the Information Desk with the head of my group, Oun Pisey. She was one of my former students when I taught at Rescue Orphanage! She was in Grade 2 back then! Together as a team we are trying to connect with the other ministries (Welcome Ministry, Cell group, Prayer, Translation, Media and IT Ministries) that specifically work on a Sunday morning so the services flow smoothly. We had a few glitches to work out that morning, so please pray for:

Prayer Request: Please pray for better communication between these ministries, for His creativity on how to problem solve without the ‘blame factor’ on why there is a problem occurring, but as a group to work in unity together for His glory.

 

This is the Interpretation/Translation team that I was asked to speak to, to encourage as well as to point out areas of weaknesses where we need to improve on the English translation of the messages. Together with Oun Pisey (NOT THE SAME PISEY, but the young leader who is in charge of the Youth Ministry also leads this ministry), we spoke on preparation and praying over the sermon before translation and as our Senior Pastor was also present, to remind the pastors to give in their notes during the week and NOT 10 minutes before the sermon so that the translators who are young on this team will be better prepared to deliver what God is saying to the pastors to us, for our souls to be restored and refreshed!
Prayer Request: This ministry has been under revision. There are many critics who are frankly correct in their assessments of the delivery of the English translations but I need to know how to give helpful critique in order to increase morale. Can you pray for a better understanding of the Word of God, for a hunger for those who are translating to read His Word, for if you do not know the content of the Bible then you are just transmitting information and not sharing the Word of God on Sundays. I reminded each translator that for that hour they themselves are the ‘preachers’ to the English speaking guest at church, it is their voice in the ears of the listeners so they need to know and understand what they are speaking about, and that they should ask an English speaking native on how to pronounce some of the words! I told them even first language English speakers have problems with some of the names of places and people in the Old Testament, so to be brave and ask!

 

On my first Saturday back, here I am already at a wedding for 2 of our office staff! See if you can find me in the photo!

My brother had gifted my parents a couple of watches but as they already had watches given by my other brother from before, I brought them back here and gave them to the Head of Church Planting Ministry who prayed and gave them to 2 deserving people, a provincial pastor and wife in the countryside. They were so happy to receive them and quite proud to show them to their community there! Thanks Bro. Vish! 

Here is a pic of Lokru Krong (head of Church Planting Ministry) and his wife Liep on my rooftop a few days after returning back here, reconnecting time.

 
I often talk about the importance of community here. I have shown some pics of my Khmer community, and now I can show you my ex-pat community! Before I came back, my friends David and Lauren (who I met back at Khmer language school) restocked my fridge and Chloe, their daughter, drew me a welcome home painting for Valentine’s Day (we celebrated the day before when we were all free!). I was invited to their house for a scones/whipped cream and jam teatime! So glad to have them as part of my confidantes and prayer partners here in Phnom Penh! Doing life with them here has been and is reassuring and safe, filled with laughter and joy!

The above are clips of life as I returned. There are many reconnecting meetings on one to one basis to be done. Please continue to send your prayer requests as well as snippets of your life stories as well so we can do life together, and yes, “Dance with Jesus!” 

Love, His Warrior and Disciple, 

Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia, 

Your sister, Vedya