November Update 2019

Dear Prayer Warriors,

Autumn greetings! For those of you who are living in the four-season North America areas, please enjoy the beautiful fall colors for us. It is rice harvest season for Cambodia. Due to severe drought we had earlier this year, the crops are not as plentiful as expected by the many disappointed farmers. Sadly, our church families in the rural areas suffer greatly as a result. Despite the failed physical crops, God in His faithfulness is encouraging and blessing the young believers who are from the Anlong Veng and Srae Nouy areas with a season of abundant spiritual harvest!

Rice harvest season in Cambodia

Grabbing the Opportunities…

Recently, Soeuth spoke the same message about “Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind” to two different village churches. After explaining Jesus’ words found in John 9:4 “As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me," Soeuth challenged the believers with a thought-provoking question: “How can you make someone feel special this week?” During the next few days, church families took this challenge to the next level. Mrs. Noun, age 40, a mother of two school-aged kids, a vibrance young believer from Toul Prich village who sells vegetables for a living, had a golden opportunity to share Christ with two other sellers at a local market! Mr. Savy from the same village church visited sick people at a local referral hospital where he was able to share a message of Hope to some patients. Encouraged by Savy’s message, a middle-aged couple accepted Savy’s invitation to come to church. At the end of the service, this couple prayed to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior! Still a few other members from the same church continued to carry out this challenge seriously. In a Firm Foundation class recently, we were greatly encouraged to hear new believers earnestly praying for their unbelieving friends and relatives!

Noun (in green top) prayed for unsaved relatives at Toul Prich village

Firm Foundation Classes…

After a season of “in and out” with their Christian walks, the families at Srae Kandal village are back on track, this time with a full determination to resume Firm Foundation class! During a church service recently, there was a precious moment of genuine prayers for confession from the entire congregation! And as Soeuth was about to preach, a believing young mother who was living and working in Thailand called just in time to listen to the message online! We were quite impressed and thankful for modern technology. The connection was working well even in this remote and far away village!

Youth Rallies…

Oct 14-16: Riding in two vehicles, we traveled with 10 other KEC people to join the hill-tribe regional youth conference/rally at Rattanakiri province. During the long road trips to and from, we encountered some mishaps on the way, but God protected us all the way through. 398 people came to participate in this youth event…

Youth rally in Rattanakiki

398 hill tribe people participated in youth rally

Oct. 24: We also participated in another youth rally in the big city of Phnom Penh where about 80 people participated. Although the number is quite small compared to those youth from the hill-tribe people, this rally was a significant milestone to the people of the city areas. Due to lack of time and interest, young people from the city areas hardly had time for fellowship. This was one of the first large-group gatherings for this region! And we hope and pray that there will be more to come…

Tuesday Classes…

We always look forward to teaching discipleship classes on Tuesday at the Andong Chan and at Srae Nouy villages! People came to class ready to learn and always with eager participation! Due to the lack of/limited education from the students, the lesson content and class discussions were often geared toward oral learning. Recently, in Syna's Christian Family class at Andong Chan where 21 students participated, there were lively discussions in response to the question: “How can one ‘Seeks first the Kingdom and His righteousness’ and trying to live a godly lifestyle in the community while struggling against extreme poverty?” Mr. Kong responded, “I did not have enough money to buy fuel for my motorbike, but we needed to visit for a sick family in a remote place. So, I just trusted God and went. And God allowed someone to pay for the gasoline I needed." Still another lady answered, “My rice fields need to be harvested before the rains come. But coming to class today is important. So, I am trusting that the Lord would hold off the rains for the next few days." And He did! We are amazed everyday at the way God works among these new believers. As believers continued to put their complete trust in the Living God, He is working mightily in their midst stirring hearts and answering their prayers!

Kong’s Passion…

Oct. 29 -Nov. 1: We had an opportunity to host two Alliance film crew members who came to do a follow-up story on Mr. Kong. In one village where they were filming, Kong was supposed to “act” evangelism outreach for the sake of filming. But Kong, being passionate about evangelism by nature, grabbed the opportunity in a genuine and sincere way. His true passion was revealed whenever opportunities allowed for him to share Christ with others. Instead of acting, Kong boldly shared the Good News of Jesus to the many onlooking villagers. As a result, three people prayed to receive Christ as their Lord and Savior!

Kong sitting by his old motorbike leading a prayer service before class

Poipet Class…

It is always a joy every time we visited our dear friends in Poipet! In our recent visit, 34 people came to participate in a lively class discussion. It was encouraging to hear that recently the 8 Alliance churches in Poipet came together for a joined baptismal celebration where 38 people were baptized! Under Pastor Chean’s leadership, the Living Water Alliance church is doing well. And by the grace of God, the other seven smaller groups are also thriving.

34 people participated in the recent Poipet leadership class

The Field is Ripe for the Harvest…

As believers were inspired and encouraged to live out and share the Good News to their friends and relatives, more people are coming to church every week! Some have prayed to received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior! Through the faithful efforts of evangelism from Godly servants like Pastor Dy (from Srae Nouy), Mr. Kong (from Andong Chan), the newly convert—Samuit (from Srae Nouy), Noun (from Toul Prich), and from many other faithful servants from other villages-- overall in the past two and half months, 72 people prayed to receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior!

Field is ripe for harvest but the workers are few

Soeuth led a family of five to receive Christ at a floating village

Other requests, dates & events needing your prayers…

1. As we previously shared about the need to purchase a piece of land for the Anlong Veng Ministry Center, please be in prayer for this need. We are praying for the right location that will  strategically meet the needs for the community. If you are interested in supporting this project, please send your donation to the C&MA Office at 8595 Explorer Drive, Colorado Springs, CO 80920, please designate it to Anlong Veng Ministry Center. You can also give online at https://www.cmalliance.org/give. Please designate your gift to "Anlong Veng Ministry Center" with account number: 1-47200-46-64-01030. 
2. Please pray for the new believers to remain strong in their walks with God in the midst of persecutions. 
3. As Sumuit (Srae Nouy) is being used mightily to draw many other drunken men to Christ, he is facing tremendous spiritual warfare. Pray for overall protection for him and for other believers.
4. Nov. 23: Next Poipet leadership class.
5. Pray for the Christmas celebrations coming up in December as Alliance churches are busy planning events and activities. In the business of planning events, may we all remember the true meaning for the season.
6. Nov. 28- Dec. 2: We will be speaking with and sharing about Cambodian ministries at Alliance International Church in Hong Kong.
7. Dec. 3-11: Syna will attend the Global Leadership Conference in Malaga, Spain.
8. Dec. 20: Our son, Jonathan will come home  from Dalat school for winter break.

Thank you for so much for your on-going partnership with the Anlong Veng and Cambodian ministries.  We appreciate your prayers and financial support. Please share with us what God is doing in your areas.

Blessings,
Soeuth & Syna