Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
and prosper for us the work of our hands—
O prosper the work of our hands! Psalm 90:17
June has been hectic with many transitions and farewells in the expat community. Our small team also experienced 3 big moves in the past few weeks. First, we started renting a warehouse building in preparation to launch a welding vocational training program. Then, we moved into a new rental home, it suits our family’s needs better, but it was not without some “structural” challenges. Lastly, our teammates David & Joyce Nguyen have moved back to Phnom Penh where they will start a new chapter serving alongside the New Hope Vietnamese Churches. Our family will miss seeing the Nguyen family regularly and sharing meals with them. Marcus is especially sad to say goodbye to a close friend who has been by his side for the last 3 years since both families started this journey serving in Cambodia together.
We would like to highlight the new welding vocational training program that we are starting in the city. To respond to the growing economic needs in Siem Reap, we discerned a need to help the materially poor find a new source of income. This is a joint partnership with “Work of Your Hand Canada” and a few other mission organizations. A similar program was started in a small village over a year ago by our partners and has been successful in giving a group of unchurched garbage pickers more dignified work and exposure to the gospel through daily devotions. With this new venture launching in the city, we hope to give young impoverished Vietnamese and Khmer men on-the-job training in welding and fabrication work, and also incorporate intentional discipleship. We recently hired an experienced Christian Khmer Welder to be a technical trainer and Christian mentor for the young men. At this site, we also plan to offer other types of training to the staff and community such as communication skills, teamwork, and financial stewardship. With all these exciting new opportunities, we pray that God will be leading us, that He will show favor to us and help our work prosper. Can you pray these things for us?!
Praise God for…
- Providing us with a new home and a warehouse for training
- Providing a Christian Khmer Welder to be the trainer/mentor
- Opening doors for new ministry opportunities
Please pray for…
- Our team to find committed welding students who are willing to learn, have a good work ethic and open to hearing the gospel.
- God to be leading our team, that He will show favor to us and help our work prosper.
Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established. Proverbs 16:3