Dear fellow workers in Christ,
I humbly greet you with information concerning God's work in Siem Reap for the month of February. God continues to bless this work by adding to His church two more souls for this month. Not only does He add numerically, but He adds spiritually as well. I am witnessing the fruit of the Spirit bearing in our brothers and sisters in Christ here in Cambodia.
This month, the students from Siem Reap, along with church members at Takam village got together to fix the road that leads to where the church meets at Takam village. Every year, the rainy season washes away the road which makes it difficult for the villagers to travel. So we got together and dug dirt from the side of the road and transport it to fill the huge holes. It took us two weekends to complete the road. We had men, women, and children all helping to get it done for the benefit of the community.
We definitely fulfilled Matthew 5:16! The village chief there appreciates our hard work and praises the church for it, giving glory to God. Choeuy is doing a wonderful job at Takam. He is to be commended for his hard work and sacrifice. His father's death is what motivates him to continue to preach the gospel to those who have not obeyed. He is a very mature young man and a powerful preacher of God's word.
Sokchea is doing a wonderful job at Leang Dai as well. I don’t know if you all know how much Sokchea sacrifices to accept the challenge of working in Leang Dai. He had an opportunity to work in Siem Reap where it's modern and easy living, but instead chose to do "mission" work in the village. He is applying what he learned from IBISR and is immersing himself in the 'village culture' so that they can accept him. He's been a great example as God's faithful servant and doing wonderful things for the Lord there. He is planning to be engaged to his long time girlfriend Pisey this month so please keep him in your prayers.
Speaking of marriage, Darat, one of our staff will be marrying Saray next month! We are very excited. I can go on and on about each one of our leaders and the good work that they do but you just have to come witness it yourself to see what God is doing here in Cambodia. We are growing according to plan. If we continue to grow at this rate, we will have sound elders, teachers and preachers in 20 years! I can’t wait to see this happen twenty years from now.
I am so blessed to be a part of this wonderful work and I thank God and you all for your support in making this a reality. I hope and pray that we can continue our partnership for 20 plus more years. Speaking of growth, our staff will have the opportunity to grow by participating in our 2nd annual lectureship that will take place on March 26-27. This is part of the local congregation's work in edifying the body of Christ. I can’t wait to report of the outcome to you all next month!
More exciting news is that my parents from America have come to visit me and their grand daughter! I had the chance to spend about a week with them in Phnom Penh and it was truly great to see them again. God is so good to me and my family. As they will stay for about 3 months. I am back in Siem Reap now. Even though I know the work in Siem Reap will continue to operate as normal when I am not there, I still miss my family in Christ in Siem Reap. Thank you all for taking the time to read of the work here in Cambodia. I hope that you will check back next month and continue to see God's wonderful work here in this little third world country!
To read the report, complete with pictures, please visit Phanat's blog.
Phanat-