Greetings brethren!
It's been a fruitful two months serving the Lord here in Cambodia and I'm very excited to share with you about the work of Jesus these past two months. Right after brother Wayne Burger finished his awesome short course at IBISR, I had my very own seminar to teach in Phnom Penh. My topic was titled "The Successful Steward: God's View on Money for His servants." It was held at the University church of Christ, also known as the BEST center. We had about 100 people show up for it and received some positive feedback.
I was also able to Skype with the youth at the Dripping Springs congregation and shared with them a little about what a missionary does and answered some of their questions. They do this thing called the "Missionary March Madness" where they Skype missionaries around the time of the March Madness NCAA tournament and just try to encourage them and ask questions about their ministry. I’m so honored to be able to share a little bit about the work in Siem Reap, Cambodia.
"We were privileged tonight to be able to Skype with Phanat Ouch who is diligently working for the Lord in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Brother Phanat's personal story about his life, and his labors in the mission field were so up-lifting. I was so happy that many of your youth could be there to hear about the great things the Lord is doing through him, his family, and the dedicated Christians in that part of the world. We admire him so very much, and tonight our hearts were refreshed by his words, and our appreciation for missionaries tremendously increased. We are so blessed to know someone like Phanat Ouch. God bless you brother. The congregation in Dripping Springs is praying for you and your family." -John W. Moore
March 17th was my 7 years anniversary with my wife, Chakriya. We had a family dinner at a new place that just opened up near the riverside. I am thankful for a wonderful helpmeet that God sent my way. Please continue to pray for us to grow in our faith and love for one another.
In April, our long time coordinator Wes Autrey came to teach a short course on "Teaching Methods" and did a wonderful job. His unique teaching style and "yellow" personality always gets our students interested in learning about God's Word. I appreciate his sacrifice and effort in preparing the lessons to teach our students and staff to become better teachers of God's word.
After Wes left back to America, Cambodia started its New Year celebration so our students got 1 week off for the holidays. They all went home to be with family and for our students it was their first time going back after half a year of study in the bible school. This is a very crucial time for them as they will face much persecution and temptations. Most of our students come back stronger in their faith when they see how much they've changed to their family and friends. This is the time where the staff and older Christians help encourage them and tell them that everybody goes through it. We've all been called a traitor to our culture, but we still remain faithful to our Lord. I pray that you continue to remain faithful to our Lord regardless of the hardships that you face in your part of the world. God bless and keep supporting this wonderful work!
Phanat
To see Phanat’s report with pictures, please click here.