December Update 2023

Dear Prayer Supporters,

Warm Christmas greetings from Cambodia. May you experience a true meaning of the Christmas season—The Emmanuel God.

The National Khmer Evangelical Church (KEC) are busy preparing Christmas events throughout the month of December. In order to get the best options for their favorite guest-speakers, some churches began planting this celebration and invited speakers as early as September. An Alliance church in Svey Sisophon already had their Christmas celebration on December 2! Christmas is one of the most anticipated events for the National believers. It is an opportunity to invite unchurch friends and relatives to join the festive celebrations. For church leaders, this is an opportunity for ministry outreach to those who have never heard of the Gospel before. Please remember to pray for the Cambodian churches throughout the country as they celebrate Christmas this year.

The Youth Camp…

Last month, we asked for your prayers for the National KEC youth camp. Here are some updates. On the appointed day, youth leaders brought in their youth groups to register by the vans or buses full of excited young people. Some had traveled almost 13 hours! Although 469 people had officially registered and paid for the camp registration fees, about 100 others had not registered but showed up here and there throughout the week. Of those who participated, at least 85% of them were first time campers! Some of the registered campers were as young as 8 years old. The theme, Rise Up and Walk, was intended to encourage the young people to break off hindrances or obstacles that were holding them back in life. One young lady,  Kimbuy, testified about her struggles with poverty and growing up as an orphan. Despite many challenges that could have prevented her from pursuing her dreams, Kimbuy refused to allow circumstances dictate her future. To earn a small income during her high school years, Kimbuy woke up early every morning and bicycled around town selling hot freshly baked French breads. After high school, with the help of scholarships, she studies at a local university and earned a degree in finance. While she worked and studies—her daily pep talk to encourage herself to keep on trying is, “I can do all things through Christ who helps me."

Nearly 570 people participated in a youth camp

Of the 570 participants, at least 85% of them were first time campers!

Another young lady, Jenda, shared how she wanted to attend the camp since 2018 but didn’t have enough money. She stared saving for the next camp, but it was cancelled due to Covid. “I was heartbroken. Now, after four years of waiting, I am finally here!”

On the last evening, the students heard a message about hidden sins that can hold people back in life. They were encouraged to write down any sin that might preventing them from moving forward. At the end of the service, about 150 people came forward to drop off their notes into a bonfire and ask God to help them “rise up and walk” from their old way of life.

We were grateful to the many people who help prayed and donated funds so this camp could take place. Please pray that participants will continue moving forward into their God-given destinies.

11 Soccer Kids Got Baptized…

Shortly after the youth camp, the Firm Foundation Alliance church in Toul Prich village had a scheduled baptism on November 29. Originally, 16 soccer youth had been disciple, trained, and prepared for this special event. Everyone was excited. However, on the appointed day, only 11 youth showed up while the other five young people were forbidden by their not-yet believing parents from moving forward with their faith. They were sad, but we encouraged them to respect their parents and told them, “When things begin to cool down at home, we can plan another event in the future."

11 Soccer kids got baptized

Dates and Events needing your prayers…

1. Dec. 9th, about 100 kids and their parents have been invited to join the youth Christmas celebration at the Anlong Veng Ministry Center. This will be the first Christmas celebration for many of them. Pray for receptive hearts, especially from the parents. The children, many of whom are the only believers in the family, have been working hard practicing their special songs and memorizing their lines for the play.
2. Dec. 15-16: There will be the first Christmas celebration ever done in Korkspean village in Sarong. Since February 2023, in respond to the needs, we have been going to teach a discipleship class there on a weekly basis where about eight adults and a few teens showed up for class. About ten families of newly believers meet together every week for Sunday worships. This year, they are hosting their own Christmas celebration on Dec. 16, and a baptismal service will be followed after the Christmas celebration. Some of the church families from Anlong Veng planned to spend a night at this village on December 15 as we plan to show the Jesus film to the villagers then.
3. Dec. 17 at 3 pm, a Christmas event will be celebrated at Trampang Krasang village. The leaders are expecting at least 150 people will participate. 
4. Other Christmas events that we will be joined and celebrating in the coming weeks: Three celebrations will be in Poipet for December 23, 24, and 25. The Toul Prich Firm Foundation Alliance Church will have their evening celebration on December 21; and the Srae Nouy will have their big celebration on the evening of Dec. 31 until New Year. This year, the Srae Nouy church will have a celebration and a church dedication for their brand new church building!
5. Pray for receptive hearts from the audience and for good health and safe traveling for all. 
6. January 17-26, 2024: The Leadership Matters Course (LMC) will be held in Siem Reap Province in Cambodia. A number of the Alliance Workers will participate in the 10-day training program.

Please share with us what God is doing in your life. We would like to be a blessing to your through prayers. As always, because of your faithful prayers, your generous financial support toward the Great Commission Funds, and because of your persistent partnership in the growing Cambodian ministries, we are able to continue serving in Anlong Veng and throughout northern parts of Cambodia and beyond, sharing the message of Hope in Jesus Christ to hopeless and lost people in Cambodia. Thank you! Wishing you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Blessings,

Soeuth & Syna

November Update 2023

 Dear Faithful Supporters,

Warm greetings! We trust you are doing well. We apologized for the delayed updates. Lately, we have been going through a long season of challenges. Some of the issues related to ministry ministries while some others were of personal and family matter. By the grace of God, some of the issues are on the road to mending or recovery…

“Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn…” Romans 12:15

Soccer Kids at a Buddhist Funeral…

Recently, one of the soccer youth from Poipet, “Jonny," was grieving for the loss of his beloved grandmother. Like most needy families in Cambodia, many children were left at home to be cared for by elder parents or extended family members while the young parents went off to find work either in Thailand or in some big cities. Jonny had been raised by his grandmother since he was 2 years old. Now at age 15, he lost a very significant person in his life. He was noticed by his peer sobbing incontrollably.  Because his grandmother was not a believer, the family had a traditional Buddhist funeral. His soccer teammates and friends were mostly new followers of Jesus. As usual, before and after each soccer match, the team would huddle together to pray and give thanks to God for the outcome of each game. At the end of their prayer, the team would habitually shout in a unison voice, “In the Mighty Name of Jesus, Amen!” At this funeral, however, seeing their grieved stricken friend sobbing, the team’s captain gathered all 22 youth to pray for Jonny. At the end of this prayer, however, they shouted their usual ending statement and ended with a louder AMEN! Their shouting was heard by all the funeral participants including the Buddhist monks and priests. To the youth’s amazement, everyone praised how well the young people were behaving and by the way they showed love and support to their friends in need. The grieving family was especially grateful for the support of these young people…

Starlight Soccer Team, from Poipet

Soccer kids showed love and support to their grieving friend at Buddhist funeral

Harvest Time…

Harvest season on Cambodia

It is harvest season in Cambodia. After months of waiting since July, farmers finally rejoiced for the fruits of their hard works and were busy gathering crops. However, because the rainy season began much later this year, it also ended later than usual. Normally, the rainy season finished by mid October or by early November. This allows farmers time to collect their crops and put into storage. However, this year, even in late November, there were still few heavy rain showers every now and then which caused severe damage on crops in some fields A few of our church families were affected by this. Some families of the Christian community who gathered their crops on time saw their friends' trouble and were willing to share their precious harvest food with them. It was a beautiful picture to see the Body of Christ coming together to lift one another’s burden up, especially in their time of need…

Pink Eyes And Flu…

For the past few months, there have been strange sicknesses among the families in rural region that took place in every village. First, there was a pink-eye epidemic that seemed to spread at a rapid pace. Adults and kids alike, at least 2-3 members of each family have pink-eyes! Then, there was a flu-like illness that plagued every person in every village as well. The common described symptoms were chills, low-graded fever, sore throat, chest pain accompanied by deep dry coughs, severely bodily aches, and generalized weaknesses. We were spared from the pink-eye episode, but we had suffered 5 days of flu-like sickness. We cancelled classes multiple times to allow farmers enough time for harvest as well as for us to regain strength. Please pray for good health for all.

Youth Camp...

As shared in the September update, we are getting ready for the upcoming youth camp (Nov. 24-27) at Kampong Cham province. This will be the first large group youth gathering since April 2018. Due to Covid-19, the April 2019’s youth camp was cancelled. Needless to say everyone is excited for the upcoming youth camp event. So far, we already received 480 registrations. However, the youth committees expected at least 550 people in attendance. This year conference theme is “Rise Up & Walk." There is still work to be done before everyone arrives on Nov. 24. Please pray for receptive hearts for from all participants. Pray for key note speakers at five main events and for all workshop speakers. Pray that God would be glorified as his people come together for a cooperate worship.

Dates & Events needing your prayers…

1. The Toul Prich Firm Foundation Alliance church will plan a baptismal service for new believers on Nov. 29.
2. The small house church at Kork Spean- Samrong which was started in February 2023 is thriving well. The small ban of believers have been faithfully meeting together on Sundays for service on their own while about 8-10 of them joined our disciple class on Wednesdays. Because of limited time, we can only commit to Wednesday classes, but the designated “leaders” were encouraged to use the same lesson learned from the Wednesday class to teach to their larger group of 30 people on Sundays. A few members of this group are excited about sharing their bold faith with their relatives and friends. As most thriving young believers, they have a lot of questions about walking faithfully in God. It is very common for us to receive phone calls even late at night asking us to explain about a passage of Scriptures or how to sing one of the Khmer traditional hymnal songs. The church families are preparing their first Christmas event followed by a baptismal service—all in one day events on December 16. Pray that nothing would interfere with those who are committed to follow Christ. 

   

   Discipleship class at Kork-spean, Samrong

   
   

   

   Weekly youth fellowship at Toul Prich Firm Foundation Alliance Church

   
   

   

   Weekly discipleship class at Toul Prich

   
   
3. Please pray for the many Christmas events that are about to take place in the next few weeks all over the country. The Firm Foundation Alliance church in Anlong Veng will have their celebration on Dec. 21, two separate events scheduled in Poipet on Dec. 23 (one in the morning and another in the evening), another evening service at Living Water Alliance church in Poipet on Dec. 24. The Srae Nouy church will have an evening service at their bran new church on Dec. 31…  Pray for safe traveling for all, and for good health. Pray for receptive hearts. Many church members are encouraged to invited unchurch family members and friends…
4. November 1, we moved to another rented house, a few kilometers closer to the Anlong Veng Ministry Center. A new place is much quieter and more peaceful. There were no more inconsiderate, noisy, and loud neighbors as it was at the old place; the electrical power is MUCH stronger including great water pressure. However, the draw back is that, this new place is a bit distant from central town—too far away from internet routing. We are working closely with the IT people of the areas to have an internet line installed to our new place. As of date, have been without internet access for almost 3 weeks. We visited local coffee shop frequently in order to send or to receive email updates. It is not the end of the world, but it would be nice to have internet access working again soon, Lord willing.

We are very grateful for your faithful prayers and support. We sincerely appreciate your on-going partner in growing Anlong Veng and northern Cambodia ministries. Your faithful financial support which enables us to remain service Christ in this hard place shining the Light of Jesus to Lost People in Cambodia and around world. If God lays in your heart for any opportunity to visit us of to bring in a short-term mission trip to our areas, we would LOVE to have you visiting us and to share with you what God is doing here, there, ad everywhere. Please kindly share with us what God is doing in your life. Happy Thanksgiving!

With a grateful heart, 

Soeuth & Syna

September Update 2023

 Dear Supporting Friends and Family,

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these,"  Matthew 19:14

11 Soccer Kids Received Jesus!

Recently, we had opportunities to share the gospel to kids around the Anlong Veng community. One such opportunity was through soccer ministry. The kids who came regularly to play soccer at the Along Veng Ministry Center’s property continued to spread words to their peers and invited their friends to “Come, let’s go to play soccer at Jesus's field!”. At a most recent sports event, 62 kids came to play soccer. Our teammates have been intentionally hosting weekly evangelism youth bible studies on Sunday afternoons. On the average, 25 kids willingly participated. As shared in our August’s updates, many of these children come from broken and dysfunctional families. They have many responsibilities at home to help with farm work, to cook and to clean, and to take care of their younger siblings. At home, they hardly got a chance to be “kids”. At the soccer field, it is our greatest JOY to see them laugh, be silly with each other, and fellowship with their peers. For the few hours they are with us on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons, our team intentionally makes efforts to create opportunities for them to feel welcomed. On Sept 24, after a heart-to-heart discussion about Jesus’ invitation to “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”, (Matthew 11:28), 11 additional soccer kids prayed to receive Jesus! Many of these children already involved in various small groups and discipleship classes. Only God knows the future for each of these precious children. As they keep coming to the “Jesus’ field”, we will do our best to meet their needs in whatever capacity that God allows us…

11 additional soccer kids prayed to receive Jesus

Seeds Being Planted at Local Public Schools…

Another opportunity was through an on-going good relationship we had established with the teachers and with the students from the two nearby public schools. On August 24, thanks to the generous financial support from Phillipsburg Alliance church of the Metropolitan District, we were able to purchase water bottles and distributed them to church kids as well as to the students who are from the two local public schools. Grateful to the generous donation, the two school principals allowed us 30 minutes, at each of the two schools, to share a short evangelism message to the audiences! This was an historical moment for the Anlong Veng ministry. God alone knows the outcome for this new development. For now, we remain steadfast in making our presence meaningful and impactful among the Anlong Veng community.

School kids lined up to receive water bottles

Middle school kids received water bottles

The KEC National Conference…

Sept.21-22, we had opportunity to participate in the Khmer Evangelical Church (KEC) National conference along with 300 plus other church leaders from around the country. The conference was at the KEC National office in Phnom Penh and the conference’s theme was based on Jesus’s word, “… On this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it…” Matthew 16:18. It was a beautiful site to see the hunger from the audience as they listened intensely to the messages and stayed engaged in three practical workshops given by Alliance International Workers. This was the first national gathering due to the interruption from the Covid-19 pandemic. Needless to say, everyone was thrilled to attend the conference.  While fellowshipping with friends, I, Syna had opportunities to fellowshipped with friends from Kampong Cham province. Among them were two mem who attended the conference for the first time. In fact, these men were not even believers yet when they were invited to the conference. Through watching how the Christians interacted with one another, they began to soften and showed strong interest in Christianity. At a divine moment, one of our teammates lead the two men into a relationship with Jesus Christ!

300 plus Alliance National Leaders attended a KEC conference

Two men prayed to receive at the KEC conference

KEC leaders worshiping God at the KEC conference

300 plus church leaders attended a KEC converence

A Mission Conference in Hawaii…

August 30-Sept 15, we had opportunity to speak at a mission conference at one of our partnering Alliance churches in Hawaii. We were grateful for opportunities not just to speak at the planned events and in various small groups but also had opportunities to meet with new friends, a new partner church, and with new partnering individuals! In one such opportunity was a divine appointment with “Tere”. During a women mission luncheon, I (Syna) shared briefly about my first encountering with Jesus while living inside a refugee camp in January 1980. I also shared how I witnessed the God’s love being compassionately demonstrated through various International Workers who were sent there by different relief agencies… At the end of my talk and to my great surprise, Tere came by to greet in the Khmer language! Tere was one of the relief workers who happened to be in the same camp around the same time that I was there!  Amazed beyond description, I could only utter a ‘Thank You’ to Tere and to the countless other Workers like Tere, who had sacrificially answered the Call to serve, even in such a hard place as those camps along the Thailand borders, so that I and thousands of other refugees could have the Gospel access. I am grateful to God for faithful Int. Workers like Tere. Who I am today is because someone was willing to say YES to the Call, no matter the cost. By the grace of God, I was able to see my story came in a full circle…

Hiking at Manoa Fall trails

Dates & Events for your prayer consideration…

1. Sept 18: The Anlong Veng team was invited to participate in teachers’ appreciation luncheon, partly, because of our involvements in the Anlong Veng community. Among those who participated in this event were 12 public school teachers, three village leaders, the Anlong Veng district leader, and the assistant director for the Anlong Veng Educational department. 

   

   At the teacher's appreciation luncheon

   
   
2. Oct. 7:  Syna will speak at a regional women conference in Batthambang province.
3. Oct. 13-15: The entire country of Cambodia will celebrate a Bon Pa-jum Ben holiday. Similar to that of the Halloween which is celebrated by the western countries, Bon Pa-jum Ben is a very dark and eerie holiday for the local Khmer people who normally celebrated and worshipped ancestorial spirits, mostly from out of fear evil spirits. From past experiences, this is one of the most testing times for new believers who would be pressured by family members to bring food offering to the local Buddhist temples. Often where there were team conflicts or any personal issues or potential accidents or other calamities happened, they happened more often around this time of the year. Please pray for protection against the evil schemes…

Because of your faithful prayers and financial support, we are able to make our presence meaningful and impactful as we live and share the Hope of Jesus in this dark community. Thank you for your involvement. Please share with us what God is doing your life.

Blessings,

Soeuth & Syna

August 2023 Update

Dear Supporting Friends and Family,

Warm greetings from northern Cambodia. We trust you are enjoying your summer with family and friends. 

Rains, Floods, and Snakes…

Cambodia is still in the midst of a rainy season. This year’s rainy season began at a much later time than usual, but it’s better late than never. While the rain brought much joy to the farmers in the country side, many who reside in the city faced numerous flooding incidents resulting from too much water! In addition to floods, many farmers have to deal with unwanted creepy, crawly visitors such as snakes, centipedes, poisonous spiders, and other pests. In mid- July, we received repeated phone calls from church families about family members suffering from snake bites. One lady, Nuon, from the Firm Foundation Alliance church in Anlong Veng was bitten by a Russel viper! It happened while she was cultivating her casavas field about 40 kilometers aways from a nearby town. A kind farmer nearby saw what happened and drove Nuon on the back of his motorbike to a referral hospital in Anlong Veng. How she managed to stay awake during the long bumpy motorbike ride and still alive is nothing but a miracle. Nuon retold how she kept on shouting over and over again, “Preah Yea-sue (Jesus) help me!” until she arrived in the hospital. She is okay now.

Visiting Nuon at Anlong Veng's referral hospital

Rains and snakes...

Progress on Po’s Back…

In our last update, we shared about Po’s lower back herniated disc. The pain levels improved significantly since then. He was able to move around with great cautions. Please continue to pray for a complete healing as the family depends on him for a living. Also, because of his back problem, a few village ministries under his responsibilities were put on hold due to lack of workers. Pray for the believers in Kampong Pluk floating village and believers in a few other villages as they faithfully met together for fellowship BUT without the presence of a shepherd to teach them God’s Word. As time allowed, we managed to visit Kampong Pluk a few times these past two months.

Po's walking with man-made crutches

Building Constructions…

Working with a very tight budget, the Srae Nouy church building construction project is about 80% completion. The main goal was to have a roof completely built before rainy season arrives, it was accomplished! Currently, every available helping hand fr church families is needed to help carry dirt to level up the sanctuary as the workers laying bricks to build the stage. From time to time, we were able to drop by and pay short visits. It was a beautiful sight to see church members proudly come together to volunteer their services to build “our church."  Some families who could not help with manual labors donated kilograms of rice or vegetations or chickens or ducks from their farms to help feeding the workers. They sang joyfully praising God as they worked side by side. This working unity among the church families was a testimony to the hired not-yet believing- workers. One of these hired workers was heard to comment, “Look how the Jesus people (referring to local Christians) help each other without being paid or asked!”

Srae Nouy's church building

The Anlong Veng’s library building project is about 50% completed. Unlike the Srae Nouy church, this library is being built by hired contract workers. Usually, each worker uproots along his/her family and camps in small huts or shelters during the entire building projects—however long it takes to complete each project. It is very common to see pregnant women, nursing mothers, or small children hanging around the work sites while the workers do full time work. These working families were willing to move from far away provinces for any job opportunity. Even though they received handsome payment in exchange for the labors, saving enough money for the cost for food is a daily struggle. Local Christians grabbed the opportunity to share Christ’s love by sharing their food resources with the workers. Their food items could be a bunch of bananas, green papayas for cooking, or any vegetations they gathered from the fields. As the believers dropped by to share their food, they also took the opportunity to share with their new friends about their faith in the one true God—Jesus Christ.

Contruction of the Anlong Veng's library

Seed Planted Being at Two Local Public Schools…

During the past few months, we hosted three separate teams of pastors, educators, and counselors from the US and from Singapore. Each of the teams was given opportunities by local teachers to conduct a 2.5- hour workshop seminar to students and teachers in three different locations. Working with students (grates 4-9), we did rap sessions where students were encouraged to anonymously write down questions of their curiosities. As random questions were drawn out and asked aloud, and with students’ full participation, we answered questions concerning sex, alcohol & drugs, the differences between boys vs. girls, about family conflicts, wars, politics, religions, animals, natures, and many other questions. In these rap sessions at the two local public schools, there were repeated questions about the origin of man or “Who is responsible for making this world?” The few Christian students from among the crowd were quick to shout their answers and pointed everyone to the Lord Jesus as the Creator God of this universe. While one team member spoke through interpretations, other members did prayer walks around the school campuses. Altogether, we did three rap sessions among 236 students…

A rap session at a local public school

In addition to the student workshops, the counseling team had a two-hour workshop privately with 12 local public teachers. One of the topics was to help teachers understand better the differences how boys and girls were wired. At the end of this session, one female teacher boldly shared her new discovery, “You’d just saved my marriage! I was very frustrated with my husband about the way he did things that I was considering to divorce him. But after this workshop, I can understand him better. I will learn to live and to work with him a bit longer. Thank you, for sharing this information with us!”

Overall, the workshops were successful, well received, and enjoyed by all the participants so much so that all the teachers and students invited for the teams to come back! The Seed has been planted. In God’s timing, we pray and hope to see spiritual “fruits” in the near future…

Dates and events needing your prayers…

1. July 26-31: The Alliance Mission field held a field forum in Siem Reap where about 75 of us (including teammates, children, and visitors). It was a very enriching and fun week as the workers came together for fellowship. This was our biggest Field Forum we had so far. The timely sound doctrine messages about the Life of Elijah spoken to us were well received. 



Alliance Mission at 2023 Field Forum

2. With many traveling trips around the northwest regions for workshops followed by Field Forum in Siem Reap, we were away from Anlong Veng off and on for about three weeks, not being able to join the soccer ministry. When we finally showed up at the soccer field on August 6, 52 young people excitedly rushing by to greet us, each shouting “You went away for so long!” During our absence, the youth began to spread word about the “HUGE” soccer field at the “Jesus’ field” and invited their friends to check it out. With so many children and very few adults to help, our Anlong Veng team is figuring out how best to accommodate and meet the children’ needs. Many of these children, not yet believers, are mostly from broken and dysfunctional families. At the “Jesus’s field” is where they can be themselves—playing soccer and other sports and having the opportunity to be kids. Pray for wisdom as we work out plans and strategies. 
3. As of date, 22 children prayed to receive Jesus since the soccer ministry was launched in January. On the average, 25 youth participated in a weekly youth gathering, 80 children (aged 4-14) participated in a monthly kids outreach ministry, 16 teens participate in weekly discipleship classes, and about 35 kids participate in an afterschool program. When the children come to the church property, we have opportunities to share the gospel with them as well as to teach them about life in general. We are grateful for these vast opportunities to reach community children for Christ.



Soccer kids received instructions before dividing into groups





Weekly youth fellowship in Anlong Veng




4. August 12: the National KEC Youth Committee members will hold an all-day meeting to discuss and plan for youth ministry as well as plans for the youth camp scheduled for November 24-27 at Kampong Cham province. We are expecting at least 500 plus youth will participate. The last time we had a youth conference/ camp was in April 2018! Needless to say, everyone is exciting for this coming event. If you are interested in sponsoring a youngster to attend the camp or if you feel led to support the KEC youth ministry financially, please let us know.
5. Lastly but not least, we were beyond blessed to have our youngest son, Jonathan, visiting us from central New York for three weeks, July 4-25. In light of the Covid pandemic, this was his first trip back home since he left Cambodia for boarding school in Malaysia on September 2021!

Jonathan's home visit

Please share with us what God is doing in your life. We want to be a blessing to you through prayers. We are grateful for your partnership in the northern Cambodian ministry. Your generous and faithful donation to the Alliance Mission enables us to remain serving in this part of the world sharing the Good News of Jesus to lost people in Cambodia and around world.

With a grateful heart, 

Soeuth & Syna Lao

June Update 2023

 Dear Supporting Friends and Family,

Trusting the Lord that this note will find you well. We want to update you on what took place since our last note sent to you. A lot of exciting things have happened. Below are just a few highlights…

Visiting Team from the Metro District…

Metro District team visiting Anlong Veng

As shared with you last month, June 7-13, we had privilege of hosting a team of seven pastors/church leaders from the Metro District from the New York City and New Jersey areas. This was a historical event for us having these leaders visit us and in the church ministries of Cambodia, especially in Anlong Veng. The team had opportunities to teach leadership seminars in Srae Nouy, preach at various village house churches, and participate in various youth and children events including a walk-through visit at two local public schools. Their visit not only brought encouragement and support to us and strengthened our partnership opportunity, it was also a learning experience for the guests. 

Leadership seminars will Srae Nouy

A walk - through visit q two local public schools

Metro Team getting ready to play soccer with AV kids

A Prayer for Healing: God Showed Up!

In May, Po, age 32, standing at 6- feet tall, strong, athletic, a devoted husband and loving father of two small kids, one of the key leaders at Srae Nouy, had accident resulting in a severe herniated disc to his lower back. He was in constant excruciating pain and could barely walk or even lying flat on his back, for more than three weeks! The family took him to various clinics in the areas, but nothing was helping.

On June 9th, shortly after the leadership workshop seminar was completed, we visited Po at his home and prayed for him in faith. After a series of fervent prayers, Po noticed that his pain levels significantly dropped from a “10” to a “7”, then to a “3”, and finally he heard a “POP." After we’d finished praying, Po stood up, began to straight stretching to the left then to the right without any sign of discomfort! We all cheered loudly. Next, Po lifted his right knee, then his left. He began walking! 

Everyone was AMAZED at the power of God at work right in front of us. When Syna spoke with Po a few days later, he was grateful that he was able to finally to sleep flat on his back… Similar healing incident happened also in a floating village, where a lady received significant pain relief immediately after prayed for. And this week, another of similar incident also took place in another church gathering. God is at work making miracles every day. 

A prayer for healing over Po at Srae  Nouy

A worship service at a floating village

Worship service at a floating village

A prayer for healing at a floating village where God showed up.

A Church Dedication at Battambang…

On June 17, we were invited to participate in a church dedication at a remote humble village called Reach Don-koev, in Battambang province. Due to a low budget, the church elders had gone about from place to place asking from anyone for any spare building supplies from the surrounding village families and even from other distant churches. Upon availability, everyone generously donated flanks of old woods, metal beams, including wires and/or other nuts and bolt needed for a building construction. Some workers donated their skills and times of service free of charge, while some even offered to transport donated supplies to the working site. Some families offered to cook and prepare meals while other families donated rice and food supplies needed for the workers. Even with all the generosity from everyone including all donated supplies, the church was still short of a significant amount of fund for purchasing building supplies. After the history of the church and the financial reports were given, the leader to an offering collection. After the money was carefully counted, they collected the exact amount that was needed, $440.00!

Soeuth cutting a ribbon at a church dedication in Battambang province

Members and families of Reach Fon- Koev Alliance church

Leaders prayed for members and for church at Reach Don-Koev Alliance church in Battambang

Dates and Events needing your prayers…

1. June 30, next leadership workshop seminars in Srae Nouy led by a guest speaker from Singapore.
2. July 4-25: Jonathan will visit Cambodia. Pray for precious family during his visit even while we will be working around planned ministry responsibilities.
3. There have been too many incidents where hard issues happened to church families. The situation may not be much, but when hard things happen to poor village families, it was hard not to get involved emotionally and even financially. Some examples of this include a family in Toul Prich who had to pay back a price of a cow when one of their family members accidentally killed the animal, or another family’s precious motorbike was stolen from their house—this was their saving and their only mode of transportation, and yet another family had an acid explosion accident where one family members was severely burned. These were just a few the many domestic incidents took place among the church families. Pray for wisdom as we go about daily visiting church families who are struggling with life and finances—to be able to discern clearly  who to help, when to help, how much to help or not to help at all…
4. The construction building in Srae Nouy still lingering one- the main construction works were done, but the finishing up nuts and bolts may take extra time to finalize it. The church families are very anxious to start using their brand new church building. Also, the Anlong Veng’s library construction building is almost done with the phase 2- the foundation phase. The workers still think that it will all be completed by December 31, 2023, Lord willing…

A most recently monthly kids outreach ministry in Toul Prich

Dropping off kids after a monthly outreach ministry

Please share with us what God is doing in your life. Thank you for your prayers and support. We appreciate your partnership in the Anlong Veng and overall northern Cambodian ministries.  Your continual and generous support to Alliance Mission enables us to remain serving in Cambodia sharing the message of Hope in Jesus to lost people in Cambodia and around the world. Lost people still matter to God…

Blessings,

Soeuth & Syna

May 2023 Update

 Dear Supporting Friends and Family,

Warm greetings! We trust you’re experiencing God’s presence and blessings upon your life. Sorry for a delayed update. We‘ve been busy lately…

Family Time in the Middle East…

On May 11-23, we had an amazing visit and a wonderful reunion with our oldest son, Justin, and his family who are serving with Alliance in the Middle East. The last time we were together, it was in late November 2021 in New Jersey! Needless to say, this was a very special meaningful visit and a blessed family (minus Jonathan) reunion. Our two older and adorable grandchildren, Jesse (4) and Maya (2) had grown and changed so much. And the family welcomed an additional member, Levi James, was born on April 25 weighting 9 pounds! When we arrived on the evening of May 12, Levi who was just 3 ½ weeks old had already and had grown out of his newborn outfits and he was so strong enough to lift his head and was able roll over! Levi is bathed with love and adoration from his two older siblings. Words cannot describe the joy we had upon seeing and holding our grandchildren! In addition to spending every precious moment with the family, we also had opportunities to visit a few historical and biblical sites including Petra, the Dead Sea, Jordan River, Baptism site, Mt. Nebo, and some other historical sites. With a newborn baby and two active toddlers at hands, we did not expect that Justin would have time to show us around. But God made it possible for us to visit these many interesting places while enjoyed being with our family! It was truly a special blessing from God.

Enjoying our grandkids at the Middle East

Our three bundles of Joy!

House Dedication in Poipet…

In addition to our trip to the Middle East, we also had a few fruitful ministry opportunities to share with you. On April 28, Soeuth was invited to give a message for an open house celebration at Poipet. Although the couple (the house owners) with their four children are believers and members of an Alliance church in the area, many of their extended family members were not-yet followers of Jesus. At the appointed time, Soeuth gave an evangelistic house dedication message. About 30 people were among the audience all of whom had paid close attention to every word spoken. Among the audience, one elderly man, in his mid- 80’s, was a Buddhist priest. While Soeuth was speaking, he sat up straight and listened to the message. After the service ended, this elder man just followed us at every event, he was following and wanted to sit next us during during a break time or at the lunch table, and he asked many questions about who this “Builder of life/ builder of home” (Soeuth was referring to Jesus) was. Although this prominent elderly man did not make any decision on that day, we felt strongly that the Seed had been deeply planted in his heart.  We pray that he would eventually call on the Name of the Savior before his time on Earth is running out…

An elderly Buddhist priest reading a passage of Scripture at a house dedication service!

Teammates’ Visit…

April 28-29: We had the joy and the privilege of hosting our dear friends, co-workers, and Field Director couple who came to visit us and the Anlong Veng team and ministries. We had known Dave and Chris Manfreds since summer 1995. As newly arrived Alliance International Workers into the Cambodian mission field, we and the Manfred had shared the same house together for one year! Sadly, that was the only time we had ever lived together in the same location in all these 28 years of ministries. Since then, we saw each other  a few times a year but only at conferences or large meetings or in major church events. Their recent visit to our location was very meaningful to us. On Sunday, Dave delivered a powerful sermon at the Firm Foundation Alliance church. Everyone in the audience paid close attention as Dave carefully gave a vivid illustration of what it looks like to be filled with the Holy Spirit. At the end of the service, two people prayed to received Jesus!

Two people prayed to receive Jesus on April 29

Dave Manfred preached at Anlong Veng

          Men Retreat at Anlong Veng…

As soon as we returned from vacation (May 23), we hit the ground running. Even with jetlag and all, we had to get the house ready to receive 14 KEC (Khmer Evangelical Church) members who were traveling from other province to spend a night at our house, the next day! They all came to Anlong Veng for a northwest regional men retreat which took place at the Firm Foundation Alliance church in Toul Prich village. May 25, other people also came from various regions and villages to attend a one-day retreat. This was the first time that the Anlong Veng church had hosted an event for people from other regions. Although it was a Men Retreat, some wives decided to come along and joined the service! 78 people in all participated. The Toul Prich village ladies prepared a two- course Cambodian meals for the hungry bunch. Soeuth spoke about “God’s faithfulness” from Joshua 24:1-15…

Below Are Dates and Events Needing Your Prayers…

1. May 11, while riding in a 3 hours taxi from Anlong Veng to the Siem Reap International airport, we had a long meaningful discussion with our drive, Saron, about religion Saron’s wife, Pheap, and their two daughters are members of the Toul Prich Firm Foundation Alliance church. As we were about to depart, we told Saron that we would be praying for him. Before leaving Saron turned and said, “You never know. Maybe one day, I might just show up at church to surprise my wife”, then he thanked us and left… On May 23 upon our return from vacation, we made arrangement for another driver to pick up, but for some unknown reason, Saron showed at the airport instead. Again, we had another meaningful conversation about “religious” talk. This time Saron remarked, “I went to church on Sunday”. From what we’d learned, Saron did show up on May 14 to join the beginning part of the service. He left before the sermon was about to start.

   

   Saron, the taxi driver
   
   

2. We were grateful for the opportunity to spend time with family in the Middle East. Please pray for Justin and Katie as they are trying to figure out sleep schedules for the newborn baby and daily routines caring for the two older kids while they (the parents) are still in full time language studies. To their credit, they are doing amazingly well… 
3. Please pray for our youngest son, Jonathan, aged 21, who is living with some friends in central New York and is currently looking for a new job. Please continue pray for his adjustment to life in the States without any close family members nearby.
4. The building constructions for the Srae Nouy church and for the Anlong Veng library had been resumed and are progressing well. From being close proximate to the church fellowship, one worker named Visal, a key welding worker at Srae Nouy has been observing closely how believers interact with one another. His mother is (a member of Toul Prich church) lives her Christian life and seeing how believers related to one another in love and in unity, he recently told Soeuth on the phone, “Pastor, I used to drink heavily while or after work. But since I came to work Srae Nouy (since early February), I haven’t touched a can of beer! Somehow, I just don’t have the urge to drink any more. Also, I certainly don’t want to be a disgraced son to my mother and to you”. Although Visal has not made any decision yet, we believe he is getting closer to the Kingdom of God. Please pray for all the workers for safety at work and for their salvation…



Construction building at Srae Nouy



5. May is coming to an end, and we still have no rains! It is a constant cry from the village people who are praying for rains. Normally, farmers should have begun planting their crops already by mid- May. But this year with prolonged droughts, planting season has been delayed. Some eager farmers took the risk of planting their crops in early May thinking that rain would come. Now, these farmers suffer great loss of good seeds designated for each planting season. At a church leader meeting recently, we anticipating there will be significant shortages of food supplies as early as August or September. The church leaders are already made plans anticipating for the food distribution for needy families…
6. June 7-14: We are excited and looking forward to host a visionary visiting team of seven pastors/ church leaders from our very own sending Metro District! Needless to say, we so thrilled to have them visiting our ministry locations very soon. Pray for their safe traveling and for opportunity to be involved in local ministries.

We are grateful for your on-going prayer and support. Thank you for your partnership in the Cambodian ministries. Your generous financial donation to support the Alliance Mission enables us to remain serving in Cambodia, sharing the message of Hope found only in Jesus to lose people in Cambodian and around the world. We are very grateful to you!

Blessings,

Soeuth & Syna

Visiting Petra, Jordan