March Update (Part 2) 2024

Dear Friend and Family,

Christ is Risen! 

We trust that all is well with you. Cambodia is at the peak of a hot season with an average daily temperature of 98.6 F or 37 C and 70%-80% humidity. In addition to the extreme heat waves, we also face ongoing threats of wild fire. For some reason, local farmers burned off the dry grass from rice paddies as they wait for the rainy season (early May) and in preparation for the next rice planting season (July & August). The heat is intense, but it is the best time for mouth-watering, juicy, and yummy sweet mangoes. The hotter the season is, the tastier the mangoes are…

Enjoying a season of juicy mangoes

Our pet, Candy, enjoying a cool bath

Poipet’s Leadership Class…

With all the busy schedules we had, Poipet’s monthly leadership classes were postponed a few times and had just resumed on March 16. On the appointed time, 37 representatives from eight other Alliance churches from Poipet areas showed for class! Everyone was excited not just to study the Word of God, but also to fellowship with other believers. One of the main reasons for this monthly class is to allow opportunities for church members and lay-leaders to come together in fellowship, be supportive, and be an encouragement to one another. On a weekly basis, everyone does his or her own ministry at his or her various assigned ministry responsibilities. During these monthly gatherings, we often had opportunities to learn about and help church leaders to find solutions for various church issues. Recently, resulting from miscommunications and misunderstanding, some members were leaving the fellowship. Please pray for unity among the church families in Poipet. Pray also for discernment on our part as facilitators/ advisors for the northwest regional KEC churches. 

37 people showed for Poipet's monthly class

Anlong Veng (AV) Team’s Prayer Retreat…

March 7-9: After a long exhausting busy season (November to March) of ministries, the AV team enjoyed a few days of fun activities and relaxing times visiting various places in Siem Reap. To stay on budget and maximize our time, we left Anlong Veng early on a Thursday morning, drove two hours to Kulen Water Fall in Siem Reap Province, enjoyed a delicious pack- from- home lunch picnic in a rented gazebo, and played board games. After a fun afternoon of swimming in the cool waterfall, we continued to spend two nights in Siem Reap. While in Siem Reap, we visited and swam in the Barai Lake, rode in rented boat around the lake, and visited a Bontey Srey (meaning Women’s temple) we were heading back home to Anlong Veng. Everyone had a wonderful time…

Heng's daughters had fun at the AV's prayer retreat

Anlong Veng team's prayer retreat

The KEC National Women Conference in Poipet…

Every two year, the KEC/ National Alliance Women hold a two-day women retreat at various locations. On the average, about 450 women participated the conference, because it was one of the most anticipated events for the KEC church. However, with the interruption of Covid- 19 pandemic, most of the large group gatherings had been postponed. This year, the women conference resumed and the Living Water Alliance Church in Poipet was the chosen location. As days approached, the women committees anticipated that only 550 people would attend, based on the responses received from the participants. On the appointed day, however, nearly 900 people (including children, drivers of buses, and vehicles) showed up! It was chaotic and stressful time for the committees as they struggled to find enough food to feed everyone including finding tents, hotel rooms and other accommodations. Praise God, in the end. God provided all the details of our needs; and everyone had an amazing time fellowshipping with one another…

Village ladies traveling to the women conference

874 ladies participated in KEC National Women Conference!

Dates & Events needing your prayers…

1. In our last blog, we shared about Noeu’s new found faith in Christ. She continues to trust Him in spite of battling with ongoing sickness. She has a tremendous love for God and LOVES to pray! During a weekly small-group Bible studies, everyone was amazed at her boldness and sense of maturity in her faith as she presented her requests to the Living God. Those in the group seemed to agree, “She was having a deep conversation with God, like no one else was in the room!” Although she is a new believer, Noeu’s faith is an inspiration to everyone at church. 

   

   Noeu, seating in the middle, front row, praying at church.

   
   
2. Please pray for rains. Some families already ran out of water supplies. It was expected for this time of the year, but lately the heat was unbearable at time. Everything around us is scorching and dry.
3. March 28-30: The Peoyope (northwest) regional district conference will be held in Svey Sisophon. Soeuth will be one of the key note speakers for the conference. There will be an election/appointment for a new district leader and for new church committee leaders at this conference. Pray for unity among the leaders. Pray also that God will raise up Godly leaders to oversee the churches in the region.
4. April 5-6: The National KEC youth committees will have the next quarterly meeting in Phnom Penh. Pray for wisdom and visions for the youth workers to see the big picture for the National KEC youth ministry.
5. April 10-May 2: We will be visiting three Alliance churches in the west coast for mission conferences and speaking events. Pray that our messages will be presented clearly, meaningful, and impactful for the expansion of the kingdom of God in Cambodia and around the world. We hope to have some quality family time.
6. Rithy and Kristie Ty, and their two small children, our teammates in Anlong Veng, have been battling with health crisis, one sickness after another, since early February. 
7. Our Anlong Veng team has been busy getting bookshelves and books for our newly built library. We received some donated books (mostly in English) and a few laptops stocked up for the students, while the ordered Khmer books are expected to arrive at the end of March. Everyone is very excited about this brand-new library, the only library in Anlong Veng! As students come to read books in the library, pray that we will have the opportunity to share the reason for our faith with and to them. 

   

   Anlong Veng's brand new library is now open to the public!

THANK YOU for your faithful prayers and your support for the Anlong Veng and for northern Cambodia. Because of your partnership through financial support and through prayers, we are able to continue serving more effectively reaching lost people for Christ. Christ came, died on the cross, and rose again on the third day to give us life through faith in Him.

Because He lives,

Soeuth & Syna

March Update 20224

 Dear Supporting Friends and Family,

Greetings from Cambodia! We trust you are doing well. A lot has happened since our last note to you. Here are some of the highlights…

Heat & Fire…

Cambodia is at the early stage of a hot season with an average daily temperature of 95 F or 34 C. We have not had rain since early November! With everything so dry and dusty, there were already a few scary fire incidents that took place in the last few months! Last week, there was a blazing fire incident on the field next to our current house! If not for the brick fence dividing our place from the burning fields, the fire could have easily spread into our location. Although no one was hurt (praise God!), most of the nearby houses, including ours, were covered with ashes and black soot!

This is the result of the fire incident next door to our house house!

LMC in Siem Reap…

Back in  January 12-26, Syna was part of a training team called the Leadership Matter Course (LMC) which was intensely busy! As busy as it was, it was also a joy to watch 40 complete strangers all coming from different walks of life and meeting together for the first time. By then end of that first evening meeting, everyone left the room feeling a sense of belonging as friendship developed! Compared to the previous conferences done in Cambodia, this was the best LMC so far…

LMC conference in Siem Reap

Agricultural Workshop…

January: 29-31, immediately after the LMC, we had a two-full day agricultural and financial workshops done in Anlong Veng where 42 people participated. The focus of the workshop was to help local villagers wisely plan out their financial budget and farm God’s way. The conference was long and the heat was unbearable, but through it all, no one left the workshop prematurely as some had a habit of doing so in the past conference settings. Instead, all 42 people actively participated in all events, engaged and focused, and everyone seemed to absorb in whatever was taught. 

42 people participated in Agricultural workshop

A Birthday’s Present & A New Life in Christ…

On February 1, after teaching a discipleship class, Syna was invited to visit a sick lady in Toul Prich village. There she met Noeu, a 63 widow with five adult children, who, based on the descriptions of her recent medical symptoms, appeared to have suffered from a recent stroke. In her time of need, she cried out to an unknown God and asked for his help. One night in her dream, an image of a man dressed in white kept repeatedly urging her to “Go and look for the Jesus people. You will find your answers there." Upon waking up, Noeu earnestly pleaded with her relatives to “Go and find the Jesus people for me!” Thus came the invitation where Syna and some of her students went to visit the sick woman.

A lady prayed to receive Jesus in sickbed

After brief meeting and sharing the salvation plan, without any hesitation, Noeu prayed to receive Jesus as her Lord and Savior! Since this encounter, with the help of kind neighbors who picked her up for church, Noeu has been faithfully attending the Firm Foundation Alliance church in Toul Prich village. And she even brought a grand daughter to the church with her. The amazing part was, upon the first meeting, Noeu was too weak to even sit up! Now, she is walking radiantly and full of joy! What a privilege for Syna, whose birthday is on Feb. 1, to have the honor of introducing Noeu to Jesus on that day!

The Philippines Trip…

Feb. 7-16: we visited Aide’s (our teammate) hometown in Negros Occidental, about 3 hours drive from Bacolod City in the Philippines. It was our first time visiting this beautiful country and loving it! We the had no previous plans or agenda but simply to meet Aide’s family and friends and to see where she grew up in order to gain a better understanding of our friend’s background. Our purpose was also to “go away and rest." Upon arrival, we were treated like royalties by her senior pastor and the entire church family! We stayed in a beautiful mansion called Beaula Land, just the two of us, free of charge! Beaula Land is a retreat center for mountainous pastors and Christian leaders. It is located directly in front of Mt. Kanlaon, an active volcano located less than 5 kilometers away from where we stayed! We went to the Philippine to rest, and God provided such an opportunity. We woke up every morning surrounded by green rice paddies, palms, banana plants, and were constantly serenaded by the sounds of roosters crowing without the endless distractions from the internet! We went on many hiking routes and swam in crystal clear spring waters. Throughout the week, we also met Aide’s family, church members, old classmates and former teachers, and her many cousins! This was the best vacation we ever had so far…

Hiking adventure in the Philippines

Mt. Kanlaon located in Negros, Occidental, Philippines

Dates & Events needing your prayers…

1. Immediately after we got back from the Philippines, we joined the rest of our IWs teammate for our annual prayer retreats. With our overlapping schedules, we could only participate in the second and the last service of the retreat, but it was so good!!!
2. Feb. 19-25: We traveled around the country with the camp director-couple of the Alliance Redwood Camp. The purpose of the trip was to scout around for potential camp sites which will allow us to host under privilege kids for a once-in-a-lifetime camping experience. We met our visiting guests for first time at the Phnom Penh airport as complete strangers. By the end our trip, we had a hard time saying goodbyes to dear friends. Only God has away of putting people together for His glory and purpose. 
3. March 1-3: we helped host a team of 21 students and adults from Bangkok International School, Thailand. The visiting team had their schedules and flights lined up to visit Anlong Veng, but their hosts caught a sudden sickness which limited them to accommodate the visitors. So, we stepped out to help friends in their times of need. And what a joy and a blessing it was for the visiting team as well as for the hosting villagers.
4. The Anlong Veng team went on a retreat, March 7, 8, and 9 visiting different sites in Siem Reap.5
5. The National Alliance (KEC) Women will hold their annual conference in Poipet, March 21-21, where Syna will be one of their keynote speakers.
6. March 27-28: The northwest regional church leaders will also hold their conference in Svey. Soeuth will be speaking at one the workshop seminars.

Thank you for your ongoing prayers and support. The works in Cambodia continue on because of your partnership through prayers and financial support to the Alliance GCF. THANK YOU! Please share with us what God is doing in your life. 

With a grateful heart,

Soeuth & Syna