Dear Faithful Supporter,
“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” Romans 12:18
For the past six months, God allowed us opportunities to help some church families in a long and difficult journey to find conflict-resolutions. The process involved multiple meetings, patience, and discernment as we listened to each side of the story. There was forgiving and asking for forgiveness, many tearful moments, and lots of prayers. In some cases, we had to spend an overnight in remote villages in order to gain a better understanding from their perspective. At times, it felt like a losing battle, but, by the grace of God, as each party was willing to allow God to be the center of their lives, reconciliations and resolutions eventually took place. In the Srae Nouy region, four individuals who once considered each other as sworn enemies, became close friends and ministry partners after reconciliation took place. Today, these reconciled leaders travel in pairs every week on their motorbikes to teach discipleship classes at two new village house churches—these leaders planted two new churches after reconciliation!
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| Prayer service at the floating village followed |
Recently, Soeuth and some leaders visited the Kampong Klang floating village. After finishing sharing a brief message about loving and forgiving one another, Soeuth encouraged participants to find a partner to whom they could share their burdens and pray with. It was a tearful yet rejoicing moment as believers came together in humility and prayer. As a result, two families were willing to put aside their personal differences and start things afresh together…
Family Reunion in the Middle East…
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| A family reunion at the airport after four years apart! |
As shared in our previous updates, we went to the Middle East to spend an amazing time spending with our two adult sons, beautiful daughter-in-law, and three adorable grandchildren during our family reunion. Jonathan met his youngest nephew, Levi, for the first time. The three grandkids absolutely love their “Uncle Jon." We were especially thankful to God for sweet moments of family time. In the short time we had, we were able to visit many interesting historical sites, enjoy a few dishes of home cooked Cambodian meals, sleep in a tent like hotel, ride camels, and swim in the Red Sea! Since the beginning of our visit, however, most of us have been plagued with flu-like sickness, one after another, which lasted more than a month each. Despite the sicknesses, we managed to do and enjoy everything that was planned. It was totally worth it all and we were thankful for this amazing family reunion.
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| Riding camel for sunset view |
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| Lao Family visiting the Red Sea |
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| Enjoying our prescious grandkids |
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| Reading time with "Uncle Jon" |
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| Catching time with the Lao Guys |
Dates & Events needing your prayers…
- April 12-13, Soeuth teaches a monthly leadership class (April 12) at Living Water Alliance church in Poipet, followed by a Sunday message on the next day. A number of house churches in the Poipet region will join together for this early Easter celebration weekend.
- April 14-16 is a festive National Khmer New Year holiday, “the year of the snake." Please pray for safety for those who travel to visit their hometowns as the local people have a tendency to celebrate this event in the wildest way. This is one of the major testing times for believers because their family members often pressured them to observe traditional ancestor worship. Pray for spiritual protection for all believers, especially for those new believers who recently got baptized.
- Resulting from the recent earthquake in Myanmar, although we are located at least 1000 kilometers (about 620 miles) away from the actual site, we literally felt the ground beneath us shake! Some church members who were swimming in a local pond when the incident happened testified of seeing unusual and scary movements in the waters! All the waters from the deep wells in all of Anlong Veng areas turned brown and rusty for a few hours after the quake. Praise God, no one was reportedly hurt and there were no significant damages to the newly built Firm Foundation Library!
- The Firm Foundation Alliance church in Anlong Veng will have a combined Easter Sunday and Khmer New Year celebration on April 20. Church families were encouraged to invite their non-church friends and relatives to celebration, followed by a baptismal service.
- Please pray for strength and stamina as we wrap things up in ministries as well as transitioning responsibilities to key church leaders during our one-year home assignment in the US. For the first three months after we depart on May 15, the 23 house churches in the Anlong Veng and throughout the northern Cambodia regions will be without a physical presence of an International Worker. Pray for the leaders who are taking on added responsibilities to overseeing the growing church ministries. God will protect His church. Pray for peace and comfort for those who are staying behind.
- During the next couple weeks, there will be bitter-sweet moments as we will say goodbyes to our dearly beloved friends in Cambodia. Pray for our travel mercies within the country as well as our overseas trips. Pray for Shalom in all of us.
- At this writing, our key ministry partner and Anlong Veng Ministry coworker, Aide Rose Fernandez, is on home leave for three months in the Philippines. She will return to Anlong Veng in early July. She will be the key International Worker overseeing the ministries in Anlong Veng until we return, summer 2026.
Firm Foundation church families prayed for Aide before return to the Philippines - The first week of May, our youngest son, Jonathan aged 23, will drive from Florida to stay with friends in NYC to wait until we arrive. For the past three years while serving in Cambodia, Jonathan had a hard time adjusting to life in America without having any close family nearby. During his darkest moments, we were thankful for Godly, concerned friends who willingly reached out to help Jonathan in practical and tangible ways. Please pray for wisdom as we will work with Jonathan to find his “what next” in his life…
Lord willing, we hope to visit and see you again during this upcoming home assignment year. Please feel free to reach out to us through email and let us know what God is doing in your life. We would love to pray for your needs as well. If you happen to be in the New York or New Jersey areas, please feel free to drop by for a visit or spend a night at our place. We will have plenty of spare rooms for your stay.
As always, we are so grateful for your faithful and loyal partnership in the growing Cambodian ministries through your love, support, through your faithful prayers, and sacrificial giving to support the Great Commission Fund. Because of your involvement, God is at work in amazing ways. We can’t wait to share with you, in person, about stories and testimonies of the lives that God has been doing in and through them. Until then, have a blessed Resurrection Day.
Because He Lives,
Soeuth & Syna Lao
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