October Update 2026

Dear Friends and Family,

Updates on Rains, Floods, and Dengue Fever…

Recently, we sent out an urgent prayer request to some of you concerning rains, floods, and dengue fever that affected many families living in the northwest region of Cambodia. At this writing, the rains come less frequently, but the flooding continues. Although the level of flood water decreased somewhat, there is no other place for drainage with all the ponds and lakes completely filled up. As a result, many homes are still flooded. Some of the children who were hospitalized for dengue fever have been discharged from the hospital. We praise God that despite many hardships and life challenges, no one was seriously harmed…

A church lady from Batthambang province

Hope School in Poipet was completely underwater

Pastor Chean from Poipet trying to keep things dry st Hope Church

Floods cut off Cambodian Highway #5

Ta Mok lake  in Anlong Veng at a rainy season

Village Students Visiting the Capital City…

Since early September, we have been making multiple trips (an average of about 7.5 hour drive one way) to the capital city for meetings and follow ups on medical & dental appointments. We also have been taking rural high school students to visit Bible schools, universities, and dormitories. In one of those trips upon returning home, we were delayed for a few extra hours due to heavy rain and flooding. As shared in our last news update, ongoing border conflicts (July-December'25) forced many families to flee for their lives and schools were interrupted. Despite these obstacles, nine students from Toul Prich village had successfully passed their 12th grade examination! We joyfully celebrate their success and greatly admire their resilience in never giving up their dedication/devotion to study and their perseverance to move forward despite countless obstacles. Despite their success, these kids dare not dream of going beyond 12th grade due to ongoing poverty, lack of means, and no outside help. Seeing their needs, we made efforts to connect village students with various schools in the big city, making arrangement for them to tour around the campuses, as well as giving opportunities for these village students to have an overnight stay experience at the Bible schools. During their overnight stays, the village students had opportunities to shadow other university students for a brief experience campus life. From these experiences, three students were able to enroll in Phnom Penh Bible school, while two other students enrolled in the Phnom Penh International University. All five students received scholarships including some expenses for their dormitory stays. Learning about this opportunity, students from the Srae Nouy church are requesting the same opportunity to visit schools and colleges in the capital as well. Next week, Soeuth and another KEC pastor will accompany about 12 students (grades 7, 11, and 12) from the Srae Nouy region to visit school in the city...

Church families prayed for two students who go yo school in the big city

Dropping off two village students at the dorm in the capital city

Dropping students at Phnom Penh Bible school for their overnight stay

Summer School Classes & the Firm Foundation Library…

Taking advantages of the long summer break, we planned a few youth events throughout the breaks. In addition, we added an English class in Toul Prich village, two English classes at a local elementary school, and a beginner guitar class at the Firm Foundation Library. Having an Envision couple serving alongside us for two months helps ease the burden of teaching responsibilities. As part of the ongoing after school program, we also have two basic computer classes taught by Pastor Heng at the FF Library.  With frequent field trips, monthly youth & children fellowships, including various fun activities being implemented during the summer break, we are seeing an increased number of church attendance among the children and youth. Every Sunday on our way to church, we had to make a few stops along the way in order to pick up excited children who “We want to go to church, too!” 

We are seeing more youth attending church during this long summer break

Firm Foundation church youth sane their special son on Sunday service

106 youth participated in a youth event at Koakspean village

With the library open Tuesdays to Saturdays, we are seeing more children and students enjoy hanging out on the church grounds by reading books at the library. At the teachers’ recommendations, we ordered more books to stock up the library. Your generous donations toward Lao’s Strategic Need and toward the North Cambodia Church Planting accounts enable us to use these funds to purchase necessary supplies…

Children singing praises to Jesus at a recently Sunday service

English at Toul Prich

Students learning basic computer class at the Firm Foundation Library

Pchum Ben Festival Holiday…

Based on a brief overview definition from Wikipedia: Pchum Ben is a Cambodian 15-day religious festival, culminating in celebrations on the 15th day of the tenth month in the Khmer calendar, at the end of the Buddhist Lent, Vassa. The day is a time when Cambodians pay their respects to deceased relative up to seven generations. Although this year the holiday of Pchum Ben falls on October 10-12th, people already started preparations for the holidays. For believers in Jesus Christ, this is one of the most testing times of their faith due to pressure from family members for them to bring food and offering to the Buddhist temples. Because it is a religious holiday where Khmer people actually celebrate evil spirits, this is often a significant time for believers who endure spiritual warfare. Tracing back to any major sicknesses, accidents, team or personal conflicts we ever had in the past, most of these incidents took place during this holiday… Pray for spiritual protection for the new believers. Pray for safety for all, especially when family families will be traveling to their hometowns for the holiday…

Other Dates & Events needing your prayers…

1. Please continue to pray for the flood victims. Although the water levels reduce gradually, the damages of home and properties from these floods will leave significant impact on their financial burdens, not to mention other diseases resulted from contaminated waters and dengue fever…

2. Pray for students who will resume school after Pchum Ben holidays. Pray also for those college and Bible school students who are studying in the capital city. Pray for their safety and protection as they find their ways among the crowded and congested city; it is a night and day contrast compare to their rural live in the village.

3. Please continue to pray for Little Sarah (9 years old) and for Seng (51, female), both of them are suffering with severe chronic heart diseases. Unless God step in and does a miracle in their lives, their conditions are dire and hopeless…

4. Every other Thursday, the Cambodian mission field holds a Field Strategy Team (FST) meeting of seven members, Syna is one of the members, to discuss plans and strategies related to the overall mission field needs and activities. Pray for unity as we come together to seek God’s guidance for the building of His Kingdom in Cambodia. The next FST meeting is Oct. 8.

5. Oct 10: A number of churches from northern Cambodia will hold a joint baptismal service at Srae Nouy. We are anticipating about 25 will get baptize. 

6.  Oct 11: We anticipating at least 30 KEC men from Poipet will spend a night at our place in Anlong Veng. The men are encouraged and expected to bring their personal hammocks, tents, and other sleeping gears. Our responsibility is to prepare enough food to feed these hungry men both dinner and breakfast, on the next day. They are our dear friends from Poipet who have been wanting to visit us since early July, but with all the traveling and busy schedules we had, we kept postponed their visit until now. Pray for safe traveling and for a fun and good fellowship at our place. 

7. Oct 12: The northwest regional KEC church will hold an all- day men seminar at Srae Nouy. We anticipate at least 80 men will participate.

8. Nov 2-3: The northwest regional church leaders will hold a two-day conference at Svey Sisophon. 

Thank you so much for your prayers and support. Thank you for your partnership in the growing Cambodian ministries. Your support toward the Alliance Great Commission Funds enables us to remain serving in northern Cambodian sharing the message of hope in Jesus to the lost people who are without hope.

With a grateful heart,

Soeuth & Syna

A typical mode of transportation for a rural villager

Inside the Firm Foundation Library

Students learning basic computer class at the Firm Foundation Library

A young girl enjoys reading books at the library

September Update 2026

Dear praying friends and family,

We trust you are doing well by the grace of God. The rainy season in Cambodia continues at full speed, making everything wet and muddy. It also brings refreshment, cooling the heat and lowering the humidity, and making everything green and lush… A lot has happened since we last sent you a newsletter. Below are some of the events that took place because of your prayers…

Roads to Hope in Cambodia…

August 26-Sept 4, we had the privilege of hosting a trauma counseling team called Roads to Hope (RTH) from Hawaii, who came to Anlong Veng for the fourth time to minister with us among the church families in the northwest region. Using their trauma-counseling expertise, we planned workshops for children and adults in various regions. We had multiple workshops for children and students, helping them to deal with fear, nightmares, and other traumas caused by the recent war. The workshops included role-plays, skits, and fun, relatable activities designed to help children understand what happened and support their overall physical and emotional well-being. With permission from school teachers, we addressed the root causes of their situations and pointed them to God for ultimate solutions. In Poipet, at Hope School, sponsored by a local Christian NGO and staffed mostly by Christ followers, students learned Bible verses and could recite the Lord’s Prayer! Overall, we had opportunities to conduct five different workshops for children, where a total of 390 kids participated…

Students at Hope school find creative ways for entertainment as their playground as covered by rain water

Soeuth guided students in fun activities during workshops at Hope school

Children received animal shaped balloons after workshops

Students lined up to welcome the Roads to Hope team

Workshops for Adults and Families…

Leveraging their specialties, we also held three different workshops for church leaders and school teachers. For church families, the team focused on the two requested topics (“The House of Marriage” and “Biblical Parenting”) in Popel village for 140 people, and discussed the same topics at Living Water Alliance church in Poipet, where 84 people participated. During an afternoon workshop in Popel village, a heavy rainstorm abruptly interrupted us. Overall, despite the interruptions, everyone seemed to enjoy the fellowship. These workshops were the first large gatherings for many of our church families since the December 2025’s war. Because of the constant fear related to last year's wars, many large gatherings among the church families were either canceled or postponed. These recent workshops offered opportunities for people to step out of their routine farming life and meet other believers with similar life circumstances.

140 people participated in Family workshop at Popel village

Workshop for School Teachers…

Although most of the Along Veng’s school teachers are not yet believers in Jesus, they were quite interested in participating in the workshop, which was held at the Firm Foundation Alliance church. The RTH team conducted a half-day workshop for 35 teachers, helping them understand the differences between boys and girls and identify effective methods to teach and nurture each child. All teachers who participated in the workshop expressed deep appreciation for the Roads to Hope team for helping them better understand their students. They even invited the RTH team, “Please come back again soon.”

Visiting the Floating Village…

On Sept 3, we took the Road to Hope team to Kampong Khlang Floating Village, their first time visiting a floating village. Over the past year, while we were away on home assignment, the families in this church suffered much of their own. Being isolated from other church groups and having endured many hardships, they felt discouraged and abandoned. Our timely visit encouraged the few faithful families who chose to remain loyal to God and steadfast in their faith journey…

Visiting the floating village

Boat ride to the floating village

Envision Team Ministries…

On the same day we dropped off the Roads to Hope team at Siem Reap International Airport, we also picked up an Envision couple, Shaun and Richard Standford, who came from upstate New York to join us for two months. With a willing heart to serve and a genuine love for children, the Standfords seemed to fit in well with the established ministries in Anlong Veng. Every day, while Shaun rides her bicycle to teach two English classes at a local school, an English class at Toul Prich village, and a beginning guitar lesson at the Firm Foundation Library, Dick also rides his bicycle to work on the church grounds, doing various odd jobs at the library. We are so grateful for their YES in answering the Call to serve whatever and however God allows them to do…

English class at Toul Prich

Dates & Events needing your prayers…

1. Last month, we asked you to pray for the youth rally scheduled for Sept. 5 at Siem Reap church. The event went well. 98 participants from seven different locations came together for a half-day fellowship. Because many young people suffered from low self-esteem and a lack of confidence, Soeuth shared an encouraging message on “Identity in Christ,” based on Jeremiah 29:11, and challenged them to seek approval from God. 

   

   98 youths participated in a rally in Siem Reap church
   
   
   

   

   Young people visited Angkor Wat after youth rally in Siem Reap
   
   

2. Many of you have been asking about and faithfully praying for Syna’s family, who live on the West Coast. On Sept. 5^th, Syna’s mother celebrated her 95^th birthday with family and friends. Recently, Mom went through a few scary episodes where she was rushed to the Emergency Room repeatedly for heart-related issues. By God's grace, Mom remains steady and strong at her age. Happy Birthday, Mom! 

   

   Syna's mother celebrating her 95th birthday
   
   

3. Praise God that all nine young people from Toul Prich Village successfully passed their 12th-grade exam! On our way to the youth rally in Siem Reap, one girl shared, “During the exam, I was so scared, but I remembered what Teacher Syna told me: the many positive characteristics that God sees in me; so, I just repeated to myself these words: I’m smart. I’m beautiful, I’m a child of God. I can.’” September 16-17, we took four girls form Anlong Veng to visit colleges and Bible schools at the capital city.
4. Sept. 12, we had a work day for school-aged kids at the Firm Foundation church grounds. Because it was a volunteer effort, we didn't think many would show up on a Saturday during their summer break. But on the appointed day, 35 people- kids and adults came. 

   

   
   Young people participated in a working day at FF church
   
   

5. Taking advantage of a long school break, we tried to plan fun opportunities for kids to enjoy one another. Many of the children came from very dysfunctional families who hardly had the opportunities to enjoy themselves as children. We hoped these fun moments would give them a chance to enjoy their childhood and let them know they are loved, cared for, and cherished by us and by God.
6. Sunday afternoon of September 13: We scheduled a cooking contest day for kids ages 11 and up. The kids were divided into two groups and received a small budget for purchasing food supplies and preparing a two-course meal for their team. While Soeuth took them to the wet market for shopping, Syna gathered supplies and ingredients including pots and pans and charcoal ovens. After two hours of shopping, intense preparing, and cooking, the two groups presented a fest of four-course meal (two dishes of soup and two dishes of stirred fry) to share with everyone. Everyone had a great time and asked if we could do this event more often. We desire to help the children learn responsibilities in meal planning, budgeting, and have fun while doing it. Overall, it was a successful first attempt… 

   

   140 people participated in family workshop at Popel
   
   

   

   FF Church kids learning to budget and prepare meals
   
   

7. September 19 is another youth rally event at Koakspean village when young people from three different locations come together for an all-day fun and fellowship. We are anticipating about 100 participants. So far, about 25 youth have already signed up to go from Anlong Veng church.
8. Please continue to pray for the TEE workshop in Svey Sisophon.
9. Sept 26: the National KEC Youth Committees will have a Zoom meeting to plan and set up goals and activities related to the overall KEC National youth ministry.

As always, thank you so much for your prayers and support. Your generous financial support toward the Alliance Mission Great Commission Funds enables us to remain serving in this part of the world sharing the message of hope in Jesus to people who are without hope.

With a grateful heart,

Soeuth & Syna

Rains brough beauty to plants