Dear Praying Friends,
We could not wait to share with you the excitement of the
day! The KEC Poipet churches came
together, June 28th, for a joyous celebration -- 60 people came
forward to publically baptize in a local pond!
Though the service was scheduled for 9:00, church families, with great
anticipation, began to show up at our front door as early 6:00 on a Saturday
morning! Throughout the month, being
that we are right in the middle of a heavy rainy season, some concerns were
raised as to if the roads would be passable for most villagers who normally
travel on bicycles, motorbikes, and or trailers. But the God who ordained the seasons and
nature answered our prayers by holding off the rain for two days! And HE even added a bonus by allowing it to
be such a beautiful breezy day!
As the people came together, the leaders led the happy
crowds in songs of worship. With all the
excitements surrounded the event, we completely forgot to do head counts! At least 100 people were packed like sardine inside
our house, and many were standing outside!
Since none of the Poipet church leaders are yet ordained pastors, the
leaders invited Pastor Nhan from Siem Reap Province, president of the KEC
Peayop (northwest) region, to help Soeuth officiate the baptism ceremony. After a short message by Pastor Nhan, in an
attempt to clear out any previous conception, Soeuth gave a short quiz to those
who were prepared for the event, testing their knowledge and understanding why
they chose to be baptized. As a few people
were given opportunities to share brief testimonies of what God is doing in
their lives, one lady, Mrs. Sivourn, boldly stood up and told us her
story. After being a newly believer for
only 28 days, she not only courageously sharing the Good News of Jesus to EVERY
person of her neighbors and friends, she already led one person to the Lord! Her love for Jesus is already contagious and
an inspiration to everyone!
After the service, the people excitedly marched across the
dirt roads passing a local karaoke shop and a restaurant to a nearby pond. What a parade it was! At the pond, cheered and encouraged by
supporting family and friends, believers lined up into two rows, where Pastor
Nhan and Soeuth were already waiting to receive them in the water. Then, one by one, each person publically
stepped into the water to be baptized.
And no parent could be more proud than we, as one of those that waded
down into the water is our precious son, Jonathan! Since Jonathan, aged 12, has been living in
Poipet most of his life, how fitting it is that he decided to get baptized with
some of his Khmer friends as well! Oh,
what a beautiful day for such a joyful celebration!!!
The church ladies had worked hard, since the day before, to
prepare delicious food for the big crowd, a Khmer traditional meal of rice
noodle and green curry! Not knowing
exactly how many will show up, they’d planned to prepare enough to feed 100
people. But more people showed up than
expected that we need to go to the market for more noodles—a total of 60
kilograms of noodles!
Thank you for praying!
God is good! All the
time!
Soeuth and Syna Lao
