October Update 2020

 Dear Praying Friend and Family,

Autumn greetings to those of you who are in North America. We trust you are well.

Rains & Floods…

Cambodia is in the middle of a heavy rainy season. Many parts of the country are under water this week because there is too much rain. Also, we learned from church families this week that the Kampeinh Poy Dam (a dam that was made during the Killing Field regime when thousands of Khmer people were killed as the result) broke out. As a result, the entire Battambang province is completely under water!

Road to Banan

After 40 min. of driving, we returned home because the bridge to Srae Kandal village was under water

In Anlong Veng, many of the dirt roads/paths to our weekly village ministries were mostly damaged and heavily flooded. For the past few weeks, because of heavy floods the Rohaal village weekly village ministry had been postponed for a time. We kept the Rohaal’s church families in touch through frequent phone calls. Please pray that their faith would remain steadfast in this time of isolation. This past Sunday, we had already left the house and were 40 minutes into driving in an attempting to go to Srae Kandal Alliance house church when a call from a church member came saying that the main bridge, the only route into the village, was completely under water! Disappointed but fully aware that God must have some other plans in mind, we reluctantly returned home…

Sanke River in Battambang province was heavily flooded this week

A man from Battambang caught some fish for dinner in his flooded yard!

God is Still at Work, Even in the Darkest Times...

In their darkest moment of grieving, Vanna and Srey Noch (See "Sad News from our last post: a young couple from Popel village recently lost two children in a drowning accident) found reasons to smile again and to celebrate God’s goodness and faithfulness over their lives and ministries. Early in October, after taking some time off from ministries, the grieving couple returned to Kampong Pluk floating village to resume weekly ministry among 6 families of new believers (this Alliance village house church was birthed on August 19th where 23 prayed to receive Jesus at one time). In spite of the couple’s absence, the weekly meetings continued. Young believers there came together faithfully to pray for their beloved leaders (Vanna and Srey Noch). When the couple finally rejoined the meetings Vanna reported recently to his discipleship classmates at Srae Nouy, “The house church was packed with people!” After Vanna took time to thank the people for their prayers, four new people came forward to pray to receive Jesus-- one of them was Vanna’s own brother! Vanna also shared, “I had prayed for my brother’s salvation for so long.  Finally, God opens his eyes to see the truth. When everything around me seemed lost and despair, God was still at work. Even when I did not see any light or feel any hope, God was working."

Pheap’s Meals on Wheels…

Over a period of six weeks, Pheap persevered and patiently practiced riding her motorbike cart over and over again.  She endured and suffered some minor cuts and bruises from accidents where she was often running into trees or falling off along deep trenches beside the roads. But, no matter the difficulties or the hardships, Pheap was determined to perfect her riding skill at any cost in order to begin her new business which the Toul Prich church people lovingly and appropriately nicknamed it as “Pheap’s Meals on Wheels."  Since early October, with her excellent cooking skills, Pheap got up early in the morning to buy food supplies from a local wet market then prepared at least 5 course meals. She also prepared delicious homemade soft drinks made from mung beans, soybeans, and squashes. Every helping hand was needed at home for this daily food preparation, including Pheap’s three-year old daughter, Sarah! 

Pheap's Meals on Wheels

Once the food was cooked, the family carefully loaded up large pots/ containers of prepared food, then Pheap took off with her food cart for a day of selling sometimes with or without little Sarah riding along in the front seat.  Initially when she did not have many customers, instead of making profits as she had desperately hoped for, she was losing more money from her saving. As her fame began to spread slowly among the community, Pheap now gained more customers and earned $5-8.00 in daily profits! No matter how busy she was or how well the selling would be, Pheap always managed to be on time for a weekly Firm Foundation discipleship class where she enjoyed studying with five other believers in Toul Prich village. Recently. Upon request, Syna gave Pheap some Christian tracts to share with her customers. Beside her cooking skills, Pheap is known in the community about her bold and courageous ability to share her Christian faith to everyone she meets. Because Pheap was determined to do what is right before God (please refer to "Pheap’s Conviction" in August update), the Lord Jesus is blessing her business every day. Pheap’s conviction and consistent perseverance is a testimony to her family and community.

Some additional praises and prayer requests for your consideration…

1. Upon their interests and frequent requests, 4 young girls (ages 12-15) starting learning from Syna early this month on how to teach and lead children Sunday school. Pray for wisdom for Syna and the girls. Pray that they will be able to understand memorized bible stories as they practice the lesson contents with each other. 

   

   Sunday School Teacher Training class
   

   
   
2. We asked you to pray for R&K (please refer to "Prayer Answered" in August update) to conceive again. At this writing, K is in her early trimester of pregnancy. Please continue to keep them in prayer. Both are enjoying studying in a weekly Theological Education by Extension (TEE) course with Soeuth.
3. 9 students who study in Soeuth’s TEE Book 3 are preparing for a mid-term exam on Oct 27th.
4. Continue praying for Vanna and Srey Nock as they mourn the loss of their children.
5. Please pray for the construction work project at Heng and Moum’s house which began since early October. Damaged roads make it nearly impossible for the workers to transport heavy construction supplies to the work site. To avoid unwanted potential thieves, all of their household belonging are being stored upstairs in a cramped stilt home. 
   

   

   Heng and family standing by the porch of their new home with all their belongings
   

   
   
6. After 7 months of postponed ministries due to Covid restriction, we plan to resume teaching a leadership class in Poipet monthly ministries starting October 30. 
7. The original plan was to travel with the National KEC youth committees across the northwestern and central regions of the country, Oct 14-18, to visit and fellowship with youth leaders from the regions. However, due to this week flood we will instead travel to Phnom Penh on Oct. 15-18 to do youth ministries in the city. Even so, many parts of the city are also under water because of too much rains.
8. Despite these heavy rains we have had that resulted in floods within many parts of Cambodia, the people who live in floating villages still suffered from not enough water for their daily fishery lifestyle! The annual expected water level between early September to end October would be somewhere between 10-12 meters deep of water. But this year, according to a report we received from a church leader at Mart Klaa floating village, this week they had only 1.8 meters of water in the Tonle Sap Lake! People are wondering about strange things that are happening this year including the Covid pandemic and even the unusual reserved cycles of water supplies…
9. Under normal circumstances, Jonathan would be home for fall break this week, Oct.10-18. Because of Covid, he is staying with kind friends in Penang, Malaysia, while trying to catch up his school works. We appreciate your on-going prayers for our youngest son as he is hoping to finish well with his last year of high school at Dalat. Pray for clear direction as he need to make decision about what next…

Please share with us what God is doing in your part of the world. We are very grateful for your partnership with the Anlong Veng church ministries. Thank you for your prayers and financial support towards Alliance Mission which enables us to keep on serving here bringing the Light and the Hope of Jesus to Lost people in Cambodia and around the world. We are truly blessed by your prayers and support. Thank you!

Blessings,

Soeuth & Syna