#280 - Thank you and Prayer Requests

 Vol. #280

Thank you all for you welcoming words, gifts of time and resources, short chats in person, on the phone or via social media! 

My departure date is next Tuesday, Oct.31^st. The three months flew by quickly but I am grateful to spend the time focussing on my parents and with my siblings helping to get them the aid needed in this season. I know I will be having video calls with many of you when I return to my heart country. I am looking forward to continuing our life journey together with Jesus the Christ being our leader, and yes, the only Dance Partner who is the best leader at all times, because He knows the rhythms of the seasons of our lives down to the second, and is always there to guide when you and I spend time with Him!

 

Prayer Request: please pray for His presence to reign on Mum and Dad as I leave. It is a bittersweet time and I am very grateful to have parents who pray for and over me. Please pray that I would be able to release them back to Jesus unconditionally as I leave!

 
Prayer Request: please pray for travelling mercies; for on-time flight connections and my luggage arriving at the same time as I do back in PP.

Prayer Request: please pray for wisdom for me to ‘rest’ and not jump back into life there. Pray that the a/c repair team, the water filter guy and the cleaning crew all come when they say that they will and that I do NOT have to wait around for hours, BUT that if I do have to wait, that I would do so with His grace and humour!

 
Prayer Request: please pray that I would have good travelling seatmates (or NONE so I can spread out! LOL), and that I turn WOULD BE a good travelling seat mate worthy of Jesus!

 
Please feel free to send me your prayer requests as WE do this life together, albeit at a distance! 

Love, His Warrior and Disciple, 

Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia, 

Your sister, Vedya 

 

#279 - Meet and Greet

 Vol. #279

Thank you all for your patience, as I have not written an update for a long time!

 

I have been blessed to have this time with my parents up in Scarborough, with my eldest brother visiting from Florida, and hanging out with my other brother and sister who live here. 

It is Thanksgiving weekend coming up and I just want to say how grateful and thankful I am to have what we Trinis refer to as “da bone country“, which is Trinidad and Tobago; my adopted country, Canada, which has allowed me to identify my skills and giftings and allowed me to grow; and my heart country of Cambodia where I am privileged to serve with and under my Khmer brothers and sisters for His Kingdom!

 

I was especially honored to have been invited to share at my brother Joe Raineri’s Celebration of Life on September 23rd a couple of weeks ago by my sister Ann, Joe’s wife.

 

I am grateful to my parents who showed me how to love and serve God in different areas, and to a community here, which is YOU who have walked the long road with me, sacrificing your resources and time investing into me so that I can serve and dance with Him now!

I would like to invite you to a Meet and Greet on Sunday, October 22nd at Rexdale Alliance Church after the church service at the Fireside Chapel. Here I will give you an update on His Ministry in Cambodia! I look forward to seeing you! 

 

Forever grateful to Jesus to be allowed to serve Him! 

Love, His Warrior and Disciple, 

Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia, 

Your sister, Vedya 

#278 - Quick update on ankle

Vol.# 278

 

Thank you all for your continued prayers. 

I just wanted to give you an update on my ankle.
I got an appointment at the Fracture Clinic on August 28th, and, yes, I received confirmation that the bone at the top near the toe is broken, but the good news is that it is being healed on its own. It will just take time. 

The doctor said, ‘what did you do?’ He said the bones are all aligned and there is nothing that he can do (put a cast on etc.). I should be careful not to put the full weight on it, no running, and to wear footwear with a solid foundation.

 

So, thank you that God has already done the healing from within the bones. I just have to be patient! 

It has been so good to see many of you at RAC and to visit with old friends! I am with my parents in Scarborough. Thank you for your prayers on their behalf.

Love, His Warrior and Disciple, 

Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia, 

Your sister, Vedya  

#277 - A Fracture!

Vol.# 277

Thank you for all your welcome notes!

 

I just wanted to give you a quick update on why you have not seen me up and around. Back in June, when I went on missionary trip to the province in Phnom Penh, I fell. Since then my ankle has not healed properly, so I went to a Walk-In Clinic here and was given a requisition to get my ankle and lower leg X-rayed. Thankfully I was able to get this done within 2 days and last week Thursday the results came back that I do have a fracture. So now I am awaiting an appointment at the Fracture Clinic at Centenary Hospital to see what is the next step in care for my ankle. 

I do ask for your prayers for:
- an appointment sooner rather that later.
- the correct diagnosis and then correct treatment for my ankle/foot.

 
Thank you all, and I cannot wait to see you either at Rexdale Alliance Church or for chats elsewhere! Meanwhile, please continue to send me your prayer requests and stories of your summer time. 

Love, His Warrior and Disciple, 

Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia, 

Your sister, Vedya  

#276 - In Toronto! Prayers Answered!

 Vol. #276

 

Thank you for your prayers and because you prayed…

- I thought I was leaving on the 23^rd, Sunday night, but in reality I was leaving early on Sunday morning, 15 minutes after midnight on the 23rd! So I had to be at the airport on Saturday night, not on Sunday! Thankfully Ian and Ramona reminded me; otherwise I would have been there at the wrong time! So I am thankful I sent out specific prayer requests to you all.

 
- Due to the Elections many of the taxis, the tuk tuk drivers, and friends here were away at their hometown to vote, so it would have been a bit difficult to get to the airport. But, because of YOU, I got a message from Sister Chakriya and her husband Lokru Darith, whose hometown is Phnom Penh, that they were thinking of me and wondered how I was getting to the airport, and offered to drive me there! My usual drive, David and Lauren, had just left for the USA the previous week.

COMMUNITY AT PP

- As I was on my way to the airport, I got a text from my friend Julia who had come with her husband to my place to help take my suitcases down the 32 steps, and who were going to lock up and check on my place and all she said was, ‘Vidya’, and I thought, ‘oh no, where is my carry-on?’ I had forgotten my carry-on at my place! Well bless them, they both got on their moto and sped through the streets with my carry-on to bring it to the airport for me!

JULIA (front), CHETRA (in blue on R) BROUGHT MY CARRY-ON BY MOTO!

 

- I had not seen my former student Oun Kim-Ly from Rescue for over 2 years and yet he came to see me with his sister. What touched me was that he also has not attended church for 3 years, and yet there he was praying over my travels in public at the airport! This is an answer to prayers made for him in unity with Oun Sreyleak, so I hope this is an encouragement for many of YOU who have prayed for loved ones who have stepped away from the Lord.

OUN KIM-LY,  FORMER RESCUE STUDENT

PRAYING OVER ME AT AIRPORT

- I had asked that I would be a good seatmate, and I got a chance to help the older folks sitting around me. The one man who sat in the window seat kept getting ‘lost’ from finding his seat each time he got up to go to the washroom on the plane so I had to be alert to wave to him after he kept walking by our row!

 
- My suitcases were right there as soon as I got to the carousel. Each one was just coming by as I got there so I did not have to wait.  My sister Sita was there to pick me up at the airport! Thank you Sita!

 
Again, thank you for your prayers! I am here in Toronto.

Love, His Warrior and Disciple, 

Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia, 

Your sister, Vedya 

#275 - Prayer Requests for Travel July 23rd.

Vol.# 275 

Good Saturday morning to all! 

Thank you for always praying for and with me. I would covet your prayers as I travel on the 23rd back to Toronto please! 

- The day that I am travelling is Election Day here. By 3-ish all polls are closed and people have begun to travel to their hometown where they are registered in order to vote (reminds me of Joseph and Mary travelling re: census time back to their hometown!). Please pray that all workers will be at the airport so that there are no delays.

 
- Pray for favor at Customs at Phnom Penh as well as at S. Korean airport.

 
- Pray for no delays at Phnom Penh since my layover is about 2 1/2 hours at Incheon International airport. There have been delays of up to 2 hours at PP in the past few weeks!

 
- One of my friends who was travelling from Incheon had a 4-hour delay on the tarmac there! They had to stay on the plane for the entire time. I would ask that there is no delay, but if it happens, that HE would give me HIS SUPERNATURAL GRACE. I find it claustrophobic to be within the confines of the plane for so long.

 
- Pray for good seatmates and that I WOULD BE a good seatmate as well!

 
- Pray for safety and that my luggage will arrive when I do.

 
- Pray that I would have the time to visit those with whom HE wants me to spend time before I leave and not be too tired. 

 

- Construction is ongoing beginning at 6:30 in the morning here and it is all week including Sunday. Pray for rest in spite of the loud sounds!

 
I look forward to reconnecting with you, my fellow dancers! 

This is the first time in a long time that I am returning during the summer! I am usually there in the winter. I pray that with no delays I can be on site on the 24th for my Mum’s birthday! 

Thank you for your prayers. I rest assured because I know you intercede with and for me. Please send me your requests as well. 

See you when I see you (a Khmer saying here)! 

Love, His Warrior and Disciple, 

Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia, 

Your sister, Vedya 

#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