November Update 2021

Dear Supporting Friends and Family,

“Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His love endures forever” 1 Chronicles 16:34.

We have so many reasons to be thankful for this year. We are grateful to God for the gift of life, family, good health, protection, daily provisions, and opportunities to join God at work in the Cambodian ministries. During the past four years of the northern church planting ministries in the Anlong Veng and in the Srae Nouy regions, we were beyond blessed to see many fruitful ministries taking place in such a short time. We are thankful to God for YOU, our dear ministry partners, for your countless prayers for our family and for ministries. We are thankful also for the financial support you gave to support the Alliance Mission. Because of your involvement, we were able to remain serving in Cambodia sharing the message of Hope in Jesus to lost people in that part of the world. THANK YOU! At the same time, all the works in Cambodia was not done by just the two of us—we are blessed to work alongside some AMAZING, Godly Cambodian National Ministry partners such as Mr. Kong, Pastor Dy, Po, Heng, and Mrs. Rate, and so many others. We wish we could tell you all, but for now, we will just share briefly about Pastor Dy…

Pastor Dy (left) on a boat.

Although we knew of Pastor Dy (pronounce Dee) many years ago from our previous interactions among the Alliance gatherings, our friendship deepened July 2017 when we began church ministries in Anlong Veng and in Srae Nouy areas. Pastor Dy, a 54 year old loving father of three adult children, devoted husband, and very humble servant of God is also a great man of prayer. Originally from the southern part of Cambodia in Kampong Cham province, as young believer, Dy uprooted his entire family and settled down in Srae Nouy around 2008 due to family and financially related crisis. To survive, Dy and his two young sons learned a trade of carpentry and earned a meager income through selling wooden furniture that Dy and his sons made. Because of debts, Dy literally ran away from his hometown to hide in Srae Nouy! But God found Dy in his hiding place and gave him a sense of purpose, a new direction in life. Living out his faith wherever he was, Dy became a spiritual leader to a small group of believers who had heard the Gospel of Jesus through Dy. 

As the number of believers grew, The Srae Nouy Alliance church was shortly established under the leadership of Pastor Dy. Having very little education but with daily devotions to the studying of God’s words, Dy led a group of vibrant believers to the next level. Initially, every night, Dy and the Srae Nouy believers and their families willingly came together in prayers. Their persistent request was, “God, reveal Yourself to us. Please come and show us your ways.” Twice a month, the leaders faithfully fasted and prayed with the same petition. As a result, God showed up. He met them in powerful and amazing ways. 

Every week during Sunday church service, Dy and the Srae Nouy Church families witnessed miraculous healings on those who came to church desperately seeking prayers for healing. When the believers united together in faith and through prayers as they laid hands over a sick person, God responded. When people with mental and or physical illnesses and their families came to seek God in faith asking him for healing, He simply showed up in their midst. Believers of various journeys of faith had seen miracles and wonders. Some had personally experienced miraculous healings. As a result, the fame of Jesus spread near and far within the Anlong Veng and the Srae Nouy regions drawing curious seekers to come near to His kingdom. 

For all these young believers, God put Pastor Dy, a timid and humble man as their spiritual leader. When we had finally met Pastor Dy face to face in the summer of 2017, we told him and the other leaders who were standing beside him, “We are here to work alongside you for the next four years. How do you want us to help?" All at once, they began to cry with tears of joy falling freely down their cheeks. As their leader, Dy went on to explain, “For the past two years, all of us here have been faithfully praying to God, begging Him to send us teachers who would teach us His words. Now, you are here! Thank you for answering the Call. Jesus heard our prayers and sent you to us!” 

Both Soeuth and I count it as a privilege to be able to work alongside such a Godly leader and ministry partner such as Pastor Dy. When we first met Dy, in addition to the already existing Srae Nouy Alliance Church, there were four other small house churches scattering over the northern part of Cambodia. These small groups were very young in their faith—about 4 months old Christians at that time. During the next four years of ministry, through the efforts of discipleship and leadership training, the groups grew from 5 into 21 village house churches! We were grateful that God allowed us to join Him at work in the Anlong Veng and in the Srae Nouy regions, at just the right time, to see Him moving and stirring hearts toward His kingdom.

Pastor Dy preparing his Sunday message

In mid-October, by faith, we mailed out a bunch fundraising letters to some of you concerning the Srae Nouy Church Building Project that we hope to raise funds for especially while we are still on home assignment this year. And many of you have generously responded! At this writing, we received about 95% of the total funds needed for this particular project! THANK YOU, LORD JESUS! And thanks to you, our dear supporters.

Greetings from the Srae Nouy Church families

In addition to the Srae Nouy project, we also have other additional Approved Special Projects: "Anlong Veng Ministry Center", “Northern Church Plant",  and “Soeuth & Syna Lao’s Vehicle Project” that we hope to raise funds for while we are still on home assignment. Would you prayerfully consider going a step further by supporting any of these Approve Special projects?

Concerning our immediate family, this Thanksgiving week was a bitter-sweet time for us. We welcome our children and grandchildren—all seven members of us were under one roof for a whole week! BUT this was also our last time together as a family, at least in a long while, because both Justin and Katie and their two children will soon depart for the Middle East early January 2022, Lord willing. They will serve as Alliance International Workers in that region for the next four years. We will be sad sending our precious loved ones away for a long period of time, but we are so PROUD that they say “YES” to the Call. Please consider extending your love and support and prayers to this dear young family as well.  Pray for their adjustment to the new culture and learning the new language and so on...

Some of you have been praying ever so faithfully for our youngest son, Jonathan. Thank you! He is doing well and thriving in a trade school located about 3 miles drive from our current home. He is half way through the HVAC-R one-year training program! Lord willing, Jonathan will complete his training by June 6. Meanwhile, we are looking and praying for a place with a family of mature Christians in the New Jersey areas, where Jonathan would be welcomed to live with, at least for the first year or two. We also pray for an HVAC-R related job for him to work after we both return to Cambodia in early July 2022. Although things look uncertain now, our God has always been very faithful to us and to our family in the past. We are trusting that HE is not going to fail us now, especially with the requests for the upcoming future concerning our children. We appreciate you joining us in these prayer requests…

Additional praises and prayer requests…

1. It has been a challenge effort trying to get any appointment with a local New Jersey Department of Motor Vehicle, because everything is still closed due to Covid restrictions! A few times already, we tried online registrations for an appointment. We even had to do it after a midnight hour! Even at these attempts, the earliest appointment we could get for a written driving test for Jon is not until January 3! By this rate, Jonathan may earn his HVAC-R degree before he can get a New Jersey driver license! Frustrated? Yes! But God knows what He is doing. Next prayer request is to look for a reliable but affordable vehicle for Jonathan to drive before July 2022. When we are not home to give him a ride, Jon walks 45 minutes to and from school!
2. It has been a very full, busy, but enjoyable fall mission tour. We have two more weeks of speaking after Thanksgiving. The spring tour is also a full schedule. It will begin on January 7. So far, we had opportunities to share with Alliance and with partner non-Alliance churches about what our God is doing in Cambodia. Thank you for your support and responses to the mission fields in Cambodia and around the World. 
3. Through frequent communications with some key church leaders, we learned that, as of today,  all 21 house churches in the Srae Nouy and in the Anlong Veng regions are still going strong! Pastor Dy recently shared that since we left, about 60+ new people had prayed to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior! The small group leaders are busy preparing for the next baptismal service around Christmas time. It is encouraging to hear that new believers are looking up to God and relying on Him for all their needs instead of looking to their human-spiritual leaders for any help.
4. As of early November, the country of Cambodia loosened their restrictions. People are now free to travel across the country and with church activities are now back to “normal” again.

“Give thanks to the LORD for He is good. His love endures forever…” 

Do you have reasons to be thankful for this year? We are thankful for you! We appreciate your partnership in the Cambodian growing ministries. Some of you have been very faithful with your financial support giving to the Alliance Mission. Thank you! 

For some of you who have not been able to so do but are considering, please visit the CMA website, click “A Worker You Love” and type our names to give. Or you can also choose “A Project You Love" then type the name of the project and give. 

Your sacrificial donation to the Alliance Mission enables us to keep on serving God in Cambodia sharing the message of Hope in Jesus to Lost people in this part of the world. Thank you for your partnering with us in the Cambodian ministries.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Soeuth & Syna

September Update 2021

 Dear Friend and Family,

Autumn greetings! Although it is still quite early in the season, we hope you will get to enjoy the changes of the majestic and glorious colors of fall this year. While serving in Cambodia, what we missed most in America was Fall. Now that we are on the same side of the ocean as you, and while we travel around visiting churches and sharing with you about what God is doing in Cambodia, our heart is longing for and missing our dear friends in Cambodia. As we reminiscing the memories of our friends back in Anlong Veng, one story popped into my mind…

“Convenience Store…”  

It was a routinely practice for me to always bring along bags of supplies every time Soeuth and I traveled to do weekly village ministries in Cambodia. Village people who live in remote places had no ways to get necessary supplies which were normally sold in the city locations or in central markets. So, every week after classes, church people gave me a list of requested items where I was to bring the supplies to the village during our next visit. The most commonly requested items (in addition to Bibles, hymnal books, MP3 radio of audio bibles and other Christian literatures or supplies) were highlighters, notebooks, different colors of pens or pencil to mark their Bibles, reading glasses, bible bags, some off-the-counter medicines, and among other requested items. During a break or a “shopping” time, crowds of people immediately surrounded me in an attempt to “buy” their supplies. Thanks to the generous financial support that some of YOU gave toward our Ministry Fund, we were able to purchase abundant supplies of the requested items and to distribute them among church families. To avoid unnecessary potential jealousy from the local people and to promote and encourage ownership and partnership from the recipients, we asked that each person contribute a small fraction of the total cost for each of the items. Surprisingly, the village people were more than willing to participate in the suggested plan and were excite to “buy” their supplies from my “convenience store”. During a “shopping time”, people would line up eagerly waiting for their turns to buys their supplies. It was during one of these “shopping” events that we learned about Chea’s miraculous story of deliverance…

Supplies commonly requested by villagers

MP3 radio with audio Bible

“The Pond Is Clear Now…”

At the line where people waited to get a pair of reading glasses, I often started with a few questions while I searched for an appropriate pair of glasses for a person in front of me. When it was Chea’s turn, I asked, “How old are you?” After he gave me his age, I went on to show him a piece of written literature then asked, “Can you read this?” At my question, Chea looking down then reluctantly replied, “Well, I used to go to school before I was sick, up to a third grade; then I got sick”. As Chea hesitantly answered my questions, those who were standing in line waiting for their turn began to watch us. They, unashamed and openly eavesdropping to our conversation, began to call out some unusual phrases and strange remarks like, “Oh yeah, the pond is clear now. We can use the water!” Or “The pond water is clear now!” Then another echoed in similar wordings, “The people can finally come and draw the water now. The water is clear”, and “We can use the pond water”. All around me, people were grinning from ear-to-ear as they were looking at Chea then at me while blurting out these strange comments.  I thought to myself, “That's was odd. What does ‘The pond is clear now’ have anything to do with me giving Chea a pair of reading glasses?” This went on for quite a while. Finally, I shouted, “Would somebody PLEASE tell me what is going on?” Then, Pastor Dy, our Cambodian National ministry partner from Srae Nouy village, with his usual loud, booming laughter, stood up, stretched his hands as in motions to quite the crowd, then began to explain Chea’s story of deliverance… 

Chea’s Deliverance Journey…

Pastor standing between Chea and Chea's father

Since his early teen years, Chea was plagued with and was severely tormented very frequently by evil spirits which often drove him madly, uncontrollably, and physically violent causing him to throw things at people. When this happened, he would shout viciously and profanely at any one that come near him. Sometimes, the voices that came out of his lips were incomprehensible screams. And then, many times during the day or night, whenever he was controlled by evil spirits, he would jump into a family pond nearby then would swim and swim for hours without stop, until he was exhausted. Then he would come up onto the dry ground and begin to warm himself by a bon fire which Chea, in his right mind, had started and he always kept the fire going continuously. To keep him from potentially harming other family members or any unsuspected visitors, his father and some neighbors built barbed wire fences surround their property where Chea was continually locked up inside the fence. When I asked how often did these strange behaviors happened, Chea’s father who was with him at that time said, “Oh, about 2-3 times every week! Sometimes my son would calm down a bit and it happened again and again, at least 10 times every month!” At least one family member, and it must be an adult, had to be at home with Chea all the time. Then, Pastor Dy went on to tell that these demonic spirits had tormented Chea for the past 23 years! In desperation, his family, especially Chea’s father, had sold many precious livestock animals and other costly family heirlooms and used all the money they had to find help from many local “Kru Khmer” also known as witch doctors, but no one and nothing could help Chea. 

In late December of 2020, some church people from Chea’s village suggested to his family, “You should take your son to our church. Our God, Pre- yea-sue, is much stronger than all the evil spirits. You should give Jesus a try”. At their persistent suggestions, the father reluctantly took his firstborn son, Chea, to find help at Srae Nouy Alliance church. When Pastor Dy learned about Chea’s conditions, he quickly organized a prayer meeting of deliverance ministry for Chea. The church people, both young and old, came willingly to fast and pray. Initially, as people surrounded Chea in prayers, Chea began to throw fits at every direction. Some strong men from the church had to aggressively wrestle and put tight grips to hold him down. “It was a vigilant prayer that lasted two whole days. And then, he was free!” added Pastor Dy.  Amazed by what was told, I could not find a word to reply but kept staring at the man standing tall in front of me who appeared to be in his right mind and could very well carry a conversation with me…

Chea in a white standing next a church leader and his father in front of Srae Nouy church

My first encounter with Chea took place in early February this year, at Srae Nouy, during one of our Tuesday classes. Since this meeting, Soeuth and I continue to teach every week at the same village until the day we left Anlong Veng in early June. Often time, Chea came by, sat through, and participated in a class discussion that I was teaching. Although we did not see any activity personally, local believers reported about the couple times that Chea had a few minor relapses since he was prayed for, “but nothing of violent or vicious behaviors as he used to have…”

The Pond Is Clear Now

Chea sitting in a hammock making baskets to trap fish

Prayer requests for you to consider…

1. Thanks to modern technology, we are able to stay in touch with, pray for, and encourage our friends who are in Cambodia. It sounded like the number of those who are infected by Covid-19 is escalating all over Cambodia, but the country does not have adequate medical supplies or abilities to accommodate the many who are sick. Because of the increased in Covid cases, government-mandate-controlled-movement restrictions between provinces are still strongly reinforced. 

2. As a result of Covid restrictions, many village churches and small gatherings are still prohibited by local government. PLEASE pray for believers to remain steadfast with their decision to follow Jesus.

3. In addition to restrictions, many rural parts of Cambodia (Anlong Veng and Srae Nouy included) are currently underwater due to heavy rains and floods. Many church families are already short on food supplies.

4. Please continue praying as we travel around every week to visit and speak at Alliance churches for missions. Pray for safe traveling and for good health on our part. As we share about what God is doing in Cambodia and around the world, pray that hearts would be touched, receptive, and responsive the Call that God has for each of them. The mission field in Cambodian and around the world) is RIPE and READY for the harvest, but we are short on the WORKERS. Pray for the Lord of the Harvest to send more workers to join His Mission Field…

Thank you so much for your prayers and support. We appreciate your partnership in the growing Cambodian ministries. Some of you have been very faithful with your financial giving Alliance Mission for the Cambodian ministries, THANK YOU!!! But for some of you who have not been able to do so but are considering, please visit https://cmalliance.org/give/ Then choose “A Worker You Love” and type our name (s) and give. Your sacrificial giving to the Alliance Mission enables to keep on serving God in Cambodia bringing the Hope of Jesus to lost people in this land and around the world. Let us know if you have any question about Cambodia.

Blessings,

Soeuth & Syna Lao

August Update 2021

Dear praying Friend and Family,

It has a been a busy summer full of traveling to re-entry seminar and visiting relatives and friends around the east and west coast areas. Our fall missionary tours began August 14, and there will be a full schedule ahead of us. Nevertheless, we were grateful for some quality times reconnecting with some old friends and family. 

Recently, during a Facetime with some friends in Cambodian, our hearts jumped with JOY to hear that many families of believers in Anlong Veng region are still going strong and steadfast with their decisions to follow Christ, and that in spite of hardship related to Covid-19 restrictions, church and weekly class attendants stayed the same if not increased as in some villages. Praise God!

Sarah’s Story…

Shortly before we left Anlong Veng, I (Syna) had meaningful opportunities to connect with a young single mother of two small kids whom I will call “Sarah." At just 24 years of age, Sarah had already endured much difficulties in life. The closer I got to know Sarah, the more I learned about the heart-wrenching circumstances she had experienced. She was just 16 years old when Sarah met and thought she fell deeply in love with the “right one." She soon realized that her marriage turned out to be a long, horrible, nightmare. Because of poverty and an abusive life at home from the hands of a chronic alcoholic father (for detailed information related to Sarah’s father and other family member, please refer to “Tell Us More About Jesus”), Sarah’s family of five children had been uprooted many times throughout her childhood and were constantly moving from one location to another, with each new place getting worse than the one before. 

As a result, Sarah only attended school up to second grade and could hardly read or write. Trying to be free from her dysfunctional family, she grabbed the first opportunity she could to “marry” and then move in with her husband’s family. But her escape into “freedom” quickly turned into modern-day slavery where she was severely and constantly abused, physically and verbally. She had endured harsh forced labor at the cruel hands her in-laws. To fit into her role as a married woman, Sarah had to do chores like cooking, cleaning, and hand-washing laundry for 11 family members of her in-laws everyday! She never had any free time to herself. On top of the heavy chores, her parent-in-laws were constantly abusive, verbally and physically. In all of these, Sarah was forbidden to make any contact with her family! The heavy workloads and constant abuse continued even when she was late into her third trimester of pregnancy with both of her daughters! After a short few days of rest followed by each delivery, the forced labor quickly resumed. While all of this took place, her husband did not do anything to defend her. The situations became worse when Sarah’s two daughters were just 2 & 4 years old. Sarah and her children got kicked out of the in-law’s house! Having no other place to go and no money in her hands, Sarah reluctantly returned home. 

Mentally, Sarah had prepared ahead of time that she would receive harsh treatment and complains from her own family. But shortly after retuned home and to her amazement, Sarah noticed tremendous changes in her father’s behaviors! Instead of being constantly drunk and verbally and physically abusing his wife and other family members as he had done in the past, her father was gentle and kind and helping her mother with household works! Instead of always drinking with his buddies, her father was actually working and bringing hard earned income to the family! “And he was praying to a strange God named Pre-yea-sue (the Lord Jesus) and he always reading a strange book which he called the Bible!” 

Sarah also took notice that each evening, her father gathered the family to sing and worship to this “strange God."  Initially, she repeatedly refused any invitation to join the daily family worship time. “But, the more I saw how changed and happy my father was, the more I became intrigued about his God." After a moment of reflection, Sarah looked up and faced me, then continued, “You don’t know my father. He was a very bad man. But now, I saw with my own eyes that he was a different person! How can this be?” 

Shortly after Sarah left home, her father, then her mother, were introduced, one after another, to Jesus by a close friend named Mr. Kong (Please see the ‘Out of the Ashes’ video of Mr. Kong). Since meeting Jesus, there were significant changes that took place at home and in the lives of her parents. The amazing transformation in her father astonished Sarah so much that she wanted to know Jesus as well. As she began to join the family night devotion, God slowly removed the walls of bitterness from her heart. And, instead of holding grudges against her husband and his side of the family, Sarah began to pray for them. She started to attend church services with her parents. 

Seeing her interest in knowing God, I invited Sarah to sit in a weekly discipleship class that I was teaching in her village. That was November 2020. Since then, Sarah has grown so much, spiritually and emotionally, that it was visibly evident in her overall demeanors! Instead of always looking gloomy and depressed as she used to be, she was now smiling, cheerful, and singing praise to Jesus! When asked why she was so happy all the time, Sarah simply answered, “God puts a new spirit in me. I love Jesus so much that I cannot help myself but singing praises to Him, everyday!” 

Sarah and her daughters, aged 4 and 6 years old

When I asked if she ever thought of seeing herself getting married again, she was quiet for a long time. After a long silent, she took a deep breath, paused, then whispered softly these shocking words, “I don’t want to see my little girls getting hurt by a stepfather. I will wait and see. I am praying for my husband everyday. If it is in God’s will, one day, after he (referring to her husband) has come to his senses, then I will reunite with him, and then, we can be a family all over again."  I assured Sarah then that I would be praying for her and her husband as well.

Sarah was among the 10 people who got baptized on January 31 at Toul Prich village. Recently, while connecting with church leaders from Anlong Veng areas, we received some good news that Sarah’s estranged husband had been coming to join the church services twice already! Sarah’s story is still unfinished, but she is hanging on to her favorite Bible verse found in Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for you," declared the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Praises & prayer request for you to consider…

1. Praise God that our home in New Jersey was spared from Ida hurricane storm that ravaged many parts in the Tri-states regions. Many homes and lives were lost and severely damaged as the result. Pray for peace and comfort on those who were severely affected by Ida hurricane.

 

2. Based on a recently ministry report shared by our National Cambodian ministry partners, the 21 house Alliance churches around Anlong Veng and the Srae Nouy regions are still going strong in attendance both in weekly church services and in weekly discipleship classes. According to Pastor Dy from Srae Nouy, 48 new people prayed to receive Jesus shortly after we left Anlong Veng! Church leaders are preparing for the next baptismal event, hopefully around Christmas time.

3. July 25th - Aug 2 was a very special week when we got to spend with Justin and Katie Lao with their two precious children in Minneapolis, MN! Words cannot describe the immense JOY in our hearts upon meeting our grandchildren. Sadly, because of conflict in schedule, we had to cut our visit short. At this writing, Justin and his family are attending a one-month Pre-Field Orientation required for all new Alliance International Workers. God willing, the family join a mission field in one of the countries in the Middle East by early January of 2022.

Justin, Katie, Jesse (2 and 1/2 years) and Maya, 8 months old.

4. August 17 - Sept 2: while visiting and speaking at Cambodian churches in the west coast areas, we had opportunities to spend with Syna’s side of the family who lives in Tacoma, Washington. It was sad to see some tragic changes that took place in the family during these past few years. In spite of it all, we also saw the hand of God was working in each of the family members. While in Tacoma, the family came together for early celebration of Syna’s elderly mother who turned 90 on Sept 5th. Please pray for physical and emotional healings to take place among family members.

Syna's mother in front row in white a sweatshirt

5. In July while searching for a trade school for Jonathan, God led us to one school at just a walking distant from our house! Immediately, we enrolled him in a one-year program there where the first day of school starts on Sept 24. Please pray for clear directions and wisdom as we help Jonathan to adjust to life in America. 

6. As mentioned above, our fall missionary tour schedule is full and busy. Pray for safe traveling by roads and or by plane. As we share with church families about Cambodian ministries that people will be receptive and responsive what God is doing in Cambodia and around the globe. 

Thank you so much for your ongoing prayers and financial support for the Cambodian ministries. Your sacrificial donation toward Alliance Mission enables us to continue serving in Cambodia to bring the message of Hope in Jesus to lost people in that part of the world. 

Alliance has a new platform for giving. For those of you who are giving through your local churches, nothing has changed. If you are mailing in donation or have a recurring donation set up, nothing has changed. However, if you normally give online, you’ll see the page has changed a bit. To support us, please visit: https://cmalliance.org/give/

Under Gift Type, choose Give to the Alliance or to a worker you love. Under the latter, type “Soeuth & Syna Lao” and then select the fund (s) of your choice. Then enter the amount you want to give and scroll down to continue with your information.

While we are in the States this year, if you have any question concerning Cambodian ministries, please email us at jjsblaos@gmail.com or contact us at 646-573-1158. Also, please share with us what God is doing in your life. 

Blessings,

Soeuth & Syna Lao

July Update 2021

Dear Praying Friend and Family,

Greetings from South Jersey! It feels good to be on the same continent as many of you! Having arrived to the States three weeks ago, we wanted to update you about what took place recently…

The past few weeks had been a season of “close-calls” & unexpected blessings… 

Close-calls

After numerous, frantic phone calls back and forth from Anlong Veng Cambodia to a travel agent from Chicago, Illinois, we were able to get Jon a new flight from Kuala Lumpur (KLIA), Malaysia, to New York City, JFK airport. Early June, just a few hours shortly after Jon boarded the plane from KLIA, many parts of Malaysia went into complete and immediate lockdown which resulted in many flight cancellations! Jon was able to get onto a flight just in time… 

Shortly after we arrived into Phnom Penh on June 11, significant outbreaks of Covid cases took place in many provincial areas where Anlong Veng was among the restricted locations that underwent immediate shutdown! Similar situations happened again shortly after we left Phnom Penh on June 18… Though we were very grateful to God for our safe arrival into the United States and being able to reunite with our Jonathan, our hearts ached for our friends and teammates whom we left behind in Cambodia. As the number of Covid cases are increasing, more restrictions are being reinforced daily. Prolonged restrictions mean no jobs, no income, and no basic food supplies for the needy and hungry families. May God have mercy on the people of Cambodia.

Unexpected Blessings

In the midst of busyness while transferring ministries and juggling other transitions from Anlong Veng, we made casual contacts with some friends in the US to prepare for our arrival, but we had never imagined they would go the extra mile for us. Immediately after arrival on June 5th, Jon was warmly welcomed, loved, and cared for by a lovely family who took him as one of their owns until we arrived. The same token of kindness had been also graciously extended to us three weeks later by the same family! After nearly a year of separation, it was a welcoming sight to see our Jonathan again—who had grown a lot taller. Then our home district, the Metro District, provided us a beautiful car to drive for a year! 

After nearly a year of separation, we finally reunited with Jonathan at JFK airport!

A district car for us to drive this year

And our home church, the Living Christ Church of Nyack, also provided us a van (with a driver and his lovely assistant—his daughter-- included) to help us transport our things from the storage place to our new home in South Jersey, a distance of about 2.5 hours of driving each way. When we finally arrived into our new place at Cedar Lane Missionary Homes, our jaws literally dropped! We have a beautiful home!

Our new place for this year

Moving our stuff from storage place to our new home

They gave us the whole house (completely furnished and full of household supplies and stock-up food goods) with three bedrooms, a beautiful spacious kitchen and a living room, and private spacious yard to ourselves! In all our 26 years of missionary services, this was the first time we had ever lived in a private home during a furlough/home assignment year! Because it is a completely new location to us, we are still learning our ways around town. There are many fun things to do and places to see for rest and relaxation, but our most favorite activities of all (so far) is to sit in white plastic chairs, outside in the back porch of our new home, underneath a giant oak tree, during a cool & late evening time, watching fire fires fluttering by. Compared to the roller-coaster and busy life we had in Anlong Veng these past four years, living in Cedar Lane is like going to a retreat place, surrounded by quietness and peaceful environment, a very relaxing place for our souls. We are enjoying some rest and down time now before hit the road for the upcoming fall missionary tours…

Praises & Prayer Requests…

1. With the Pre-Field Orientation (PFO-- for Justin and Katie) and then HAMS (re-entry) conferences that we have to attend in July, although we are in the same country, we are not near enough to visit our son and his family in Minnesota-- until July 26! We look forward with much anticipation to meet our grandchildren…

Our grandchildren we long to meet: Jesse & Maya

2. Jonathan is taking a 6 month-gap year and will be staying home with us for a season while waiting for clear directions about his future. To remind us that God is still working in Jonathan— upon arrival to this beautiful place, we met a lovely matured couple who currently serve as director (and wife) at the Cedar Lane Missionary Homes, Inc.; they had previously served as dorm parents at Faith Academy in the Philippines! Upon learning about Jonathan’s situation, they immediately offered him as part-time summer job doing ground keeping works around Cedar Lane compound! Please continue praying for clear directions as Jon is still processing about life in America and what he will do…

Jonathan, hard at work

3. At this writing, Justin and Katie and their two little ones are participating in a PFO conference in Colorado Springs, CO, July 12-17. Pray for safe and smooth traveling and that they would learn well as in preparation for the going out to the mission field, at the end of the year…

4. We will have a very full schedule missionary tour this fall. Many of the places where we will be speaking involved at least 2.5 to 4 or 5 hours of driving each way. Pray for protection on road trips and that we will be good ambassadors of Christ as we share about what God is doing in Cambodia.

5. Pray for safely and protection for the Cambodians and for our teammate who are struggling with Covid restrictions. Many places including church gathering had been closed or under complete lockdown due to the most recent outbreaks. In the midst of fear and uncertainty, pray that they would keep their focuses only on Jesus.

Thank you for partnering with us in the Cambodian ministries through your financial giving and though your on-going prayers. We appreciate you.  If you happen to be passing through New Jersey Turnpike, feel free to drop by for a visit.  We are just off on exit 3 from the turnpike. We have LOTS of rooms and plenty of food for you!   Please share with us what God is doing in your life.

Blessings,

Syna & Soeuth & Jonathan

June Update 2021

Dear Praying Friends and Family,

This note was written while we waited for our trip to America—June 18.  Having extra hours and extra days with nothing to do, I thought to update you with what took place during the last few weeks in Anlong Veng…

Goodbyes Turned to A New Church Planted! 

Beginning May 24th, we had been making short trips to visit remote villages where local Alliance house churches exist to say our goodbyes and introduce key church leaders to local believers. These church leaders would be the main designated spiritual leaders for each of the village churches around Anlong Veng and Srae Nouy regions. It was an emotional time for all of us. Some young and new believers wrongly misunderstood that we were abandoning them saying, “I just came to join the family of God, and now you are leaving me!” Repeatedly, we assured them of God’s protection over their lives. As we met and fellowshipped with local believers of each village, their relatives and friends also came to join the worship services. At the end of each meeting, at least 3-5 new people willingly prayed to receive Jesus! After visiting only 4 villages, 37 people prayer to received Jesus in one week! Then, on May 28 while visiting Rohaal village where 7 new people were added to the list, we were invited: “Please go and share this wonderful news to my family. They live in another village. Please go. It is not too far (it was still another 27 kilometers on bumpy roads away). You came all this way here to visit us, so why not go just a little farther?” We did. Upon arrival at the new village, about 50+ people were already waiting for us! 

Church families at Rohaal village

Responding to the needs, Soeuth shared an evangelism message to a very receptive audience. At the end of the service, 23 adults & teens and 17 children prayed to receive Jesus! Thus marked the birth of another house church. Thmal Dach village (little translation means ‘Broken Road’ village) became the 10th house church that was planted since the beginning of the Covid19 pandemic! Our God surely has a way of making something good out of the mess of this world as proven in Romans 8:28. And even while we are waiting for our flight here in Phnom Penh, church leaders like Pastor Dy, Mr. Kong, and Mrs. Rate, and Hout So Heng and some other leaders have been calling us daily to report that more people have been willingly prayed to receive Jesus. At this writing, a total of 68 people had invited Jesus into their hearts in the last few weeks!

A goodbye visit turned to a new house church planted...

Personal Challenges in the Midst of Ministry Opportunities

While God was moving and stirring hearts for His kingdom, the Enemy was busy at work disturbing inner peace and trying to rob joy from our hearts. On the same day, May 28, while we joyfully celebrated the birth of a new church plant, we also received a shocking news concerning our youngest son, Jonathan who was under lockdown in Penang, Malaysia. An email came saying that due to increased Covid cases in Malaysia, his June 3rd flight to the US was cancelled! Panicked, we had to make immediate multiple long distant phone calls to a travel agent who was based in America while dealing with a 13- hour time-zone difference and the holiday weekends (Memorial holiday weekends in the US)! After a very intensely stressful week and with A LOT OF PRAYERS, we were able to secure a new ticket for Jon to depart on June 4, a day after an original ticket. The amazing part was that, just hours after his plane left Kuala Lumpur, many parts of Malaysia had gone into a complete lockdown! It was a very close call. Jonathan is now safe and sound, vaccinated against Covid, and staying with friends in New York. For the first time since September 22 of 2020 (the day he left Cambodia to return to Dalat school) Jon can actually “roaming around FREELY." THANKS to many of you who have been praying fervently for our son. God heard your prayers and saw to every details of Jon’s needs… AND in case you are wondering, Jon had graduated from high school!!! Due to increased Covid cases and the constant changes of Covid restriction rules, Dalat School had to reschedule the graduation event many times before they finally settled to May 22nd where only graduating students and some staff were allowed. We were able to view the recorded ceremony, a week after. Better late than never…

Jon's graduation: Class of 2021

While we were anxiously concerned about Jonathan’s traveling from Malaysia to the US, a very special event took place in the lives of our oldest son, Justin, and his family on June 3 at Nashville, Tennessee. There, the young couple were prayed for and commissioned to join the greater Alliance Family as new International Workers in a country in the Middle East region. Much thanks to kind and very considerate friends who had captured and sent us beautiful pictures of the special event, we were able to view the photos, repeatedly, with our hearts bursting with pride knowing that they had answered the Call into missionary service. After we arrive into the US, soon-- Lord willing, we will have a very short time to visit and getting to know our grand children before the young family takes off into 4 years of overseas ministry services…

Justin and Katie were prayed for and commissioned as new IWs

Last Days in Anlong Veng…

Early in May, while frequently surrounded by needy families from a local community (these families were desperately searching for ways to earn income to support their hungry families), we decided to hire some local villagers in the fence building project for the Anlong Veng Ministry Center (AVMC). 

Soeuth with fence workers at the church land

Initially, we started with just three guys, then the working crew increased to 11 local men who were willing to do hard laborious works. Under Nee’s (please refer to Nee’s story in May update) careful and watchful eyes, the project is about 90% completed—the remaining 10% should be completed by mid June.  As mentioned in May’s update while Soeuth was overseeing the men with the fence building project, Syna was busy organizing local youth and some other villagers in the tree (flowering plants, fruit trees, and some trees for shades) planting project. As of last week, the local people took great pride in planting nearly 250 trees! With the wired-net fence securely built onto sturdy logged posts, the villagers can rest knowing their new planted trees will eventually take roots and grow well. There were no worries about having strayed animal messing up or upsetting the young plants. Although we could not help every family in need of jobs, these log fence-building and tree-planting projects alleviated some financial stresses of 27 families from the community. In the few weeks of working together, people had a meaningful opportunity to connect with one another and the believing villagers had opportunity to share the gospel. As a result, two families prayed to receive Jesus while a few other showed interested about hearing the gospel. At this present time, we do not know the true intention for some of these families for coming to Jesus, but we know that the seeds of the gospel had been planted. In God's timing, we prayed that more families would eventually choose Jesus as their Lord and Savior…

Church attendance increased as fence building workers joined service

Workers at the church land prayed to receive Jesus.

Syna with Moum (Heng's wife) and their three daughters

At the last day in Anlong Veng, this unsuspected "visitor" showed where Syna almost stepped on it...

Last visit with some Poipet friends

Other prayer request for you to consider…

1. Pray for the new believers to remain faithful with their decision to follow Christ. Pray for protection against the Enemy’s lies as these new babies are learning to walk in their Christian faith.

2. Pray for the key church leaders who are overseeing, as of May 28. There are now a total of 21 house churches scattered all over the Anlong Veng and Srae Nouy regions. The work load can be overwhelming for these leaders. Pray for protection as the leaders travel once or twice weekly to visit each church sites. Pray for the leaders’ families. 

3. Pray for our coming trip to the US that things would go well. Pray also for a fruitful home assignment year. Pray for sweet and meaningful time with our family.

4. While we look forward to spend some quality time with Syna’s side of the family in the US, we are leaving behind Soeuth’s side of the family, many of whom are not-yet believers. Soeuth’s 82-year old mother is the only believer in the family. Pray for her health and for a steady faith in Jesus.

Thank you so much for your on-going prayers and support for the Anlong Veng ministries. We appreciate your partnership. Lord willing, we hope to see some of you again soon.  Please share with what God is doing in your life.

Blessings,

Soeuth & Syna

May Update 2021

Dear Praying Friends and Family,

Happy belated Mother’s Day to all the moms! Trust you had a blessed weekend full of love and joy surrounded by family members. Before preaching a Mother’s Day message at Toul Prich Firm Foundation Alliance and recognizing the present holiday, Soeuth asked all the mothers to stand up while the church families took turns to give their words of appreciation to the honoring moms. As the words of appreciation poured out one after another, one mother cried her tears of joys saying, “All these years of raising five children (4 teens and a toddler), this was the time I had ever felt appreciated. And I am so touched by your loving gestures."

Covid Updates…

As one of IWs teammates were saying, “It took a while for Covid to move around to our part of the world and it finally came to Cambodia, but it came like a storm!” Last year with mild strain, there wasn’t much concern and there were zero deaths. This new strain that started around early February has left the local Cambodian government a little shaky about how to weather this storm. Based on local reports, since February 2021, there have been 110 deaths. And hundreds of new cases are being discovered since then. As a result, the local government has been imposing restrictions of several kinds: curfews, travel bans, and lockdowns especially in many locations of the major city areas. During the lockdown, people were not even allowed to leave their home premises! It was especially more challenging for families with small children who needed to buy baby supplies and other basic needs…

The on-going problems also took place in Malaysia where our youngest son, Jonathan, is attending school. With less than threes weeks to the end of school year and during final exams weeks with SAT tests and all, (effective May 10-23) the Malaysian government ordered a mandatory complete lockdown of all International, public, and private schools! Because the increasing Covid challenges, as a last minute change decision, we made a quick change with regard to our family’s traveling plans this summer: Jonathan will fly out from Penang directly to New York City JFK airport, on June 3, where some kind friends from NYC will meet him at the airport and will keep him with them until we arrive, on June 18. This will be Jonathan’s first time traveling long distant alone and while this on-going Covid pandemic is still in effect. We appreciate your prayers for smooth transitions…

Food Distributions and Other Provisions…

As prolonged restrictions and travel bans continue, people whose livelihood depend entirely on daily income (which under normal circumstances were earned from labor works) were desperately crying out for help! Many families had run out of food! In partnership with some local church leaders and using the money our Work Fund account (which some of you had generously donated) we organized two rounds of food distributions for 145 hungry families (85 families from remote villages in the Srae Nouy region and 60 families from the floating villages), with each family receiving 25 kilograms of rice and bag full of cooking ingredients and dry food items. 

In addition to the food distributions and upon the urgent requests from some trusted local key church leaders, we used our Work Fund to pay for the cost of tin roofing supplies in the repairing and rebuilding of the house-for-the poor construction projects for two widowed families. Before the help came, these families with small children were living under leaky grass roofs with see-through walls. But now, thanks to your generous support, they have a dry and safe shelter for their families. One elderly widow from Andong Chan village, who was also raising and caring for two orphan grandchildren, tearfully expressed her gratitude, “Thank you for giving me and my grandchildren this beautiful roof! From now on, my grandkids do not worry about putting buckets under the leaky roofs any more! This rainy season, we finally have a dry home to stay in. Thank you Jesus for giving us a new roof!”

Two widowed families received new roofing supplies

Thanks also to a very generous donating church from Hong Kong. Now Mrs. Rate from Andong Chan village has a new mechanical cow! The gift arrived at a perfect time as the rainy season was upon us. This is also a season where farmers begin to plow and prepare their fields for rice planting…

Mrs. Rate's new mechanical cow

On behalf of the 145 desperately needy families who received rice and food supplies, the two poor widowed families who received new roofs, and Mrs. Rate who has a brand new mechanical cow--- we want to express our deepest gratitude to you, our dearly kind, generous, and faithful supporters! Your sacrificial giving, partnership in the growing Anlong Veng ministries through prayers and financial support, and on-going partnership with the overall Cambodian ministries-- give new meanings to the poor and needy of what it's like being the heart, hands, and the feet of Jesus to those who were lost and without hope. Because of your involvement, these people have opportunities to meet and receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Thank You!

145 families recently received rice and dry food goods

Sharing Jesus At Work…

In early May, with approval from our field leader, we began the fence building project around the Anlong Veng Ministry Center’s property. Due to limited budget and availability of funding at hand, instead of hiring expensive, professional construction workers for the building of sturdy cement fencing (how it was typically done in another church building projects) this time we chose to build logged-metal-netted fencing. The decision came about with two-fold benefits in mind. The first benefit is that at the end of the project, the fence construction would not appear to be extravagantly or highly above the poor communities of the locations. At the same times, this logged fence is safe enough to keep away potential thieves and/or any unwanted stray animals from destroying plants or young trees growing inside the property area. The second benefit is that many local village people (who currently are in desperate need of hired labor works) receive opportunities to earn small incomes to support their families. 

Soeuth and some local men putting up the logged fence

At the end of the working week, the workers received equal payment by the number of holes in the ground they each had had dug and the number of logs they raised up. But to run this project effectively and smoothly, hiring a trustworthy Christian foreman was crucial. After much prayers, God gave us Nee, who became an overseer for the overall construction of this logged fence project. Nee (age 48) was a former Khmer Rogue soldier who after watching his wife faithfully live her Christian life for two years, decided to be a follower of Jesus in the fall of 2020. 

Nee and Soeuth at the January baptism

He was one of the ten people who got baptized on January 31 at Toul Prich. With his excellent background as a handyman and a wooden house builder, in addition to his dry and infectious humors, Nee keeps the work place fun and enjoyable. Nee often keeps a stack of Christian tracts available for anyone who wants to read. Although many of the workers are not yet believers, they have had opportunities to hear about Jesus from Nee. The workers also heard the gospel from Nee’s favorite’s portable MPS bible radio which he would always carry around with him everywhere. 

Last week, while Soeuth joined the men in the logged fence building project, the discussion topic at that moment was, “The power of healing done by Jesus, was it real?” Seeing the opportune moment, Soeuth shared about the miraculous healing biblical stories found in Scriptures. After intensely listening to the Bible stories, Poy, one of the workers agreed, “Yea, I can see that what you are sharing is true. Anyone who lives in Toul Prich can testified that Noun and Kane were sick, especially Noun. But now, after she believes in Jesus, her sickness is no more!” After this, Soeuth invited Poy to come to church and told him “Why not give Jesus a try." Though interested in the bible stories, Poy politely declined. Please pray for receptive hearts of the workers as Soeuth and Nee look for opportunities to share Jesus with them…

Coincidence or Devine Provision?

While the men work hard digging the holes and raising up logged fence, Syna also had her “working crew."  For some earning fees, local youth came to help planting small trees and flower plants in the church’s property. Like the men receiving payment from the digging holes in the ground and raise up logs, the youth dug holes and planted plants. Everyone received equal share of payment by the number of holes dug and plants planted. All flower plants were lovingly grafted and carefully nursed and cared for by Syna—all of the flower plants came directly from Lao’s yards! Taking advantage of the early rainy season, so far, we planted about 100 young trees and flower plants! But as we were planting, the growing concern was where to get large water jugs to store enough water to be reserved for days when there would be no rain. As we all were wondering out loud, there was suddenly a big truck passing by carrying 12 large water jugs! The driver drove around from province to province selling water jugs wherever there were potential buyers. In all four years that we lived in Anlong Veng, this was the first and only time we had even seen a truck full of water jugs! Bopha one of the youth shouted, “Naak (teacher)! You just said where would we get the water jugs? Now look! God heard your prayer!” At this opportune moment, Syna asked, “Was it a coincidence that the water-jug truck came by so quickly? Or was it God who sent us the water jugs? Does God care for every small detail of our requests too?” At that time, all the youth agreed that it was God who sent the truck to our way…

At a time when we needed them the most, God sent us a truck full of large water jugs

Other prayer requests needing your prayers…

1. Pray for a smooth transition of ministry responsibilities for the local church leaders to carry on while we will be on home assignment. We are grateful to God for giving us many godly church leaders like that of Pastor Dy, Mr. Kong, Po, and Heng, and Aide Rose, and so many other leaders to help oversee the growing church ministries in Anlong Veng and the Srae Nouy regions. The work loads are overwhelming. Pray for God protection for the leaders against the evil schemes. Pray for the believers to remain faithful with their decision to follow Jesus no matter what…
2. Pray for safety and protection as we move heavy boxes and crates into a storage place. Pray against pest and extreme heat that might destroy or damage the stored goods.
3. The logged fence building project will carry on, after we leave in mid June, under the watchful eyes of Nee the overseer, Heng, and Aide Rose who will oversee the financial aspects. Pray for integrity of the workers to be good steward of God’s money.
4. Pray for our coming trip to America in the midst of this crazy on-going Covid pandemic. 
5. Despite switching back to remote learning, pray that Jonathan would finish well and finish strong.  Pray also for him as he will be taking at least a 6 month gap year to think and process what took place this past year. Pray for divine guidance and clear direction of what he should do after for continue education…
6. Justin and Katie have been accepted and are preparing to join the Alliance Mission serving in the Middle East at the end of the year or early 2022. Pray for a sweet family reunion in early July and a chance for us to meet the new grandchildren… 
7. We had hoped that some sufficient funds would come through so the church leaders could begin the foundation works of the Srae Nouy church building project. God knows all the details. Pray that as the people come together in large groups to meet under plastic sheets as a place for worship during heavy rainy season, that they would see only Jesus and not be looking for the physical building…
8. With all that is going, this may be the last prayer from us from Cambodia. Lord willing by early July if not sooner, we hope to send you another update after we arrive in America. Pray for a fruitful home assignment year…
9. As we prepare to depart Cambodia, our hearts are sad from missing our dear friends who we were privileged to know these four years. PLEASE PRAY for spiritual protection of God’s tender sheep against the schemes of the Enemy.
10. At this writing, some parts of Cambodia are in the RED Zone with Covid restrictions. This month, four family units of Alliance International Workers will depart Cambodia for home assignment in North America. With restriction and Covid regulation getting tighter by the day, pray that all IWs traveling including our MKs children’s traveling will go smoothly…

It has been a wonderful privilege for us to serve God in Anlong Veng during these past four amazing and fruitful years. We are grateful to God for YOU, our ministry partners, prayer warriors, and financial supporters for your commitment for the sake of the Kingdom’s course. We value your partnership for the sharing of the Good News of Jesus to lost people in this part of the world. Because of your involvement, many people had opportunities to hear about Jesus, called on Him, and have been saved. But many are still lost and without Hope. Please continue joining us in the effort of bringing Lost People back to Jesus through your prayers and financial support…

Lord willing, we hope to see some of you at the Stateside during this coming year. Please kindly share with us what God is doing at your end…

Blessings,

Soeuth & Syna