End of August 2024 Update

What’s that saying? “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.”

Well, we’re working on it, slowly acclimatizing to both urban and rural Cambodia (two different experiences, believe me), traveling by tuk-tuk and local vans, bargaining at the local markets, growing our own lettuce (at least, we think it’s lettuce), wading through intermittent flood waters, contending with the squatty-potties, enduring (with varying degrees of success) the heat and humidity…and eating local Khmer food.

At our 6-week Disciple Making training in Chhouk, a small town on the way to Kampot, the pastor’s wife and daughter routinely cook a traditional Khmer lunch for about 36…over an open fire. I visited the outdoor kitchen next to the church to see their preparations (they cook while we are training); the curries they produce are amazing. The cook efficiently lowers the heat by removing or adding logs and covers the cooking rice with a “lid” of weighted-down banana leaves. Lunch starts with a big bed of rice with a spicy, multiple-vegetable, meat/fish stew ladled over it and unidentifiable vegetables, all accompanied by staggeringly hot chilies, peppers, and garlic.

Eating these hot dishes gave Peter a hankering for his familiar African curries. When we returned to Phnom Penh, we consulted with our South African brother-in-law, the family’s resident “curry expert,” obtaining an impressive list of instructions and spices. A small Indian Mart recommended by friends had everything mandated; we found a grinder and famed black pepper in the Kampot market, so all is ready for curry-making. Of course, the thought of turning on the stove and actually cooking in this heat is daunting, but Peter will be the one sweating. No wonder Cambodians like outdoor kitchens!

And where is my usual rant about tuk-tuk traffic? I’m finally desensitized! Here’s a clip of a typical ride, which no longer bothers me a bit.

https://youtube.com/shorts/R-vAKKMQ3lE?si=JRl1Ea72DxWDNZjL

However, the van rides to the provinces for training are a whole new level of white-knuckle crazy. These drivers have schedules to keep and, by George, they’re keeping them, regardless of who or what is on the road ahead. It’s better not to watch while your van, horn blasting, overtakes…well, EVERYBODY!

This month, we’ve been blessed to begin two more 6-week sessions of Disciple Making because of God’s provision and the willingness of AMG-Cambodia’s Pastor Lak to organize and contact leaders and pastors in Chhouk and Kampot province (hence the crazy van rides to the provinces.) Disciple Making is particularly rewarding because the trainees first learn effective evangelism techniques, and then learn how to teach others…becoming disciples who make disciples who make disciples! They come to learn but leave as teachers and multipliers. The church planters and Kids of Destiny leaders we trained last month caught the fever and began training their own groups at once, sending photos of their sessions. By this kind of multiplication, Cambodia will be won for the LORD.  

Since the new shipment of water filters arrived (thank you, LORD!), more leaders have been able to set up filters in their target villages or at their kids’ clubs...another way to show God’s love. It never fails to thrill me that a simple water filter donated by people in the States (often, by the way, from Kid's VBS offerings) can have such a huge impact on the lives and health of children! What we take for granted is an absolute blessing here!

Additionally, our long-awaited Khmer Heroes of the Bible children’s coloring books have arrived, to the delight of missionaries with children’s clubs in the province villages. Huge thanks are due to the Kids of Destiny curriculum authors and printers who helped us get books to those whose hearts are on fire to reach rural Cambodian children. Recently, we went with two young missionaries to visit one of their children’s projects in a remote village; as we arrived, barefoot children ran alongside the truck, clutching their booklets and shouting, “The Jesus men! Here come the Jesus men!” Would that we ALL be known wherever we go as “Jesus men!”

As always, we keep up with missionaries we’ve trained in the past. In MaeSai, Thailand, right on the closed border, Pastor M____ and his wife, K___ labor exclusively with displaced Burmese refugees, running a preschool and church, planting house cells, evangelizing, and disciple-making. Themselves originally from M_____, they are uniquely positioned through language and culture to minister to these beleaguered people. The monsoons have caused extensive flooding in MaeSai, as in most of Thailand; these pictures are from MaeSai close to where we lived and where these pastors serve.

And at the Children’s Rescue Home over the border, the children are learning to plant vegetables to help reduce the cost of feeding 40 growing kids. The rainy season accumulation has solved their water issues, at least temporarily. We can only pray the well will function come the dry season.

The news from Pastor Jaime in the Dominican Republic is mixed; the good news is his arm is healing well, the ministry including the Manna Pack/Gospel distribution has continued with the help of some missionaries visiting Handfuls of Hope, and the Haitian churches continue to grow and baptize new members. Their Saturday Kids’ Club is flourishing; there is a need for more volunteers and programs for slightly older kids who are “in-betweeners.” Pastor Jaime has been ramrodding many projects from the sidelines, sporting his sling… at least some of the time. I don’t envy Jackie, his wife, trying to keep him relatively compliant!

But there is distressing news as well, for which we covet your prayers. 6,000 boxes of Manna Pack food (two containers) are held up in customs by the Dominican powers that be. Last month, the distribution and preaching team doubled its effort to get food to Haitian churches, hiring a big truck to transfer boxes and using up the current supply. Pastor Jaime says he’s getting calls daily from Haitian refugee pastors telling him they are starving as they can’t get work in the DR and fear going back to gang-ridden Haiti. However, nothing more can be done until government officials in customs release the boxes that are already in the country. There is a paperwork snafu that seems insurmountable: But God. Please pray, pray, pray!

As we head into September, along with an evangelism trip to three unreached villages close to the border of Vietnam (we’ll be traveling by boat), we’re adding a 13-week Academic English course at a mission seminary to our weekly schedule. We ask you to pray with us for stamina and anointing to teach these special young people who have the call of God on their lives.

Every morning when we wake up, we thank our LORD for His tremendous favor towards us; supportive friends and family, good health, and a country open to receiving the Good News of the Gospel. Who could ask for anything more?

“And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written:

“How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” Romans 10:15

P.S. After I wrote about the balut eggs last month (15-day-old duck embryos we thought were boiled eggs), a long-term missionary, Jim Randall, offered this sage advice on eating what is set before you: "Only eat the crispy bits. That way you’ll avoid anything squishy like that.” Hmmmm. Sounds about right to me.