“For we walk by faith, not by sight.”
2 Corinthians 5:7
Dear Friends, it continues to be an uphill battle as we try to adapt to the ongoing challenges of Covid restrictions, pursuing ministry initiatives and balancing family needs. Cambodia is bearing through a third wave of outbreaks and the delta variant is spreading. As we continue to push forward against physical and spiritual barriers, and function in a state of prolonged uncertainty, sometimes we feel like our endurance is diminishing. But then during times of prayer and worship, God reminds us to practice gratitude and reflect on how He has been faithful throughout the challenges. This month we celebrated a few milestones: Kevin’s birthday, our 15 year wedding anniversary, and our kids starting a new school year (online).
Thank you for the continued support in prayer and friendship. We also want to say a special “Thank You” to our church family at Scarborough Community Alliance Church who organized a large yard sale to fundraise for the Welding Shop last month. We feel immensely blessed and encouraged to have you all as partners in furthering the reach of the gospel.
We give thanks to God for the ways that He has been working in the ministry here. The welding shop has been running for almost a month now and we have 3 apprentices enrolled in the training program (2 Vietnamese and 1 Cambodian). Two of the apprentices come from Buddhist families and we spent time meeting with each family initially to explain that we are Christian based and we intend to teach trade skills, soft skills, as well as Christian principles from the Bible. The 3rd apprentice is a Bible school graduate that has a desire to serve God as a pastor to the Vietnamese and has been exploring options on how to become bi-vocational to make a living. These young men have been getting some hands-on experience building steel shelves and extending the warehouse roof. Kevin, the welding teacher, and other volunteers take turns leading daily devotions and facilitating soft-skills training in Khmer about topics such as integrity, responsibility and safety. Our group of staff and volunteers also have a lunch gathering once a week to help build community. We hope to create a culture of integration and collaboration in which different ethnic backgrounds can work together and appreciate one another.
In Carol’s small group, there is a Vietnamese woman named *Thuy that has a husband and 6 children. Thuy’s grandma contracted Covid and is currently receiving treatment at a government facility. Thuy volunteered to go with her grandma to provide extra care and must stay at the facility for the entire duration (she has not seen her children for almost 2 weeks now). The doctors believe grandma will not survive. We pray that grandma, who recently started opening her heart to Jesus, will come to know Him as her Saviour, and she can look forward to spending time with her heavenly Lord after this life. Thuy is a woman of faith that has the gift of evangelism. Despite the circumstances, she has been actively visiting other Cambodian patients, praying for them, and sharing about the hope of Jesus. Thuy is also currently taking the Kairos Course online (a course about cross-cultural missions). We were very encouraged to hear that she brought her Kairos book with her and continues to attend the course online in the Covid treatment facility.
Praise Items:
- Praise God for our partnership with SComm Church and how the community met the fundraising goal
- Praise God for providing 3 apprentices in the welding program
- Praise God for Thuy’s faithfulness in taking Kairos and living out her faith at the Covid facility
Prayer Requests:
- For Kevin & Carol to be discerning and dependent on God in balancing family needs and ministry work
- For Marcus (grade 5) & Mackenzie (grade 1) to persevere and excel in studying online
- For the 3 apprentices to see the love & kindness of God through the other Christians and be committed in the 1 year welding program
- For Thuy’s grandma and other Covid patients to have faith in Jesus