#288 - NLF 30th Anniversary on Resurrection Day!

 Vol.# 288

I am writing this in temperatures that are soaring over the 100F mark as you can see from the photo shown! April is usually the hottest month, yet this year seems to be hotter than ever! Sweltering is the adjective that comes to mind as I sit in the tuk tuk travelling or just sitting in my room. The air conditioner is squeaking out cooler air and for that I am grateful, but I will head to the church where the air conditioner is working! 

SE ASIA HEAT MAP

A BELATED BLESSED RESURRECTION DAY to all!

We have been busy with our own 30th Anniversary that coincided with Easter/Resurrection Day, with months of pre-planning. Last week was one of putting the plan into effect. The celebration of thankfulness for His steadfastness to NLF was held at an outside venue, Aeon Mall 3. This was the closest venue to the land that was given to us for our new church building, and the visit to the land and worship service there was planned for Sunday afternoon with tents being erected on the land for the first service there!

 

PREPARING GIFT BASKETS FOR DELIVERY TO VIP GUESTS' HOTELS

As I sat making gift baskets for the VIP guests that were due to fly in, I thought of my former team at RAC where we prepared for the big Easter breakfast and Friday night dinner not so long ago! Here I was part of a particular team and not part of the leadership team that was overseeing the whole event as I was at RAC, so the stress level was minimal. I got to enjoy meeting and getting to know new members of the church. Oun Sreylin pulled us together (she is the pregnant one to the left of the pic, with her husband). Even though the youngest, she was the most organized and gentle of souls and we had laughter and fun in the midst of transforming an empty ordinary room into a VIP room worthy of Jesus Himself! 

MY 30TH ANNIVERSARY TEAM. CAN YOU FIND ME?

Thank you for your prayers over this event. The actual onsite set up with the stage and lights began on Thursday, and we were not allowed to put on the air-conditioner because the room was so big and the doors had to be opened for the equipment and furniture to come in, so the sweltering was ongoing! At the end however, to see the Cross up on a stage in the mall brought me to my knees. Here was a symbol of the most sacred of holy days, representing Jesus choosing to die for us so horrendously, a gift that was of NO COST to us yet the most expensive cost because of His death, and then the RESURRECTION! The red and white cloths draped over the Cross represented His death and blood, and the white represented His rising from the grave. It was erected at a mall that represents so many ‘gods’ of expensive things that are of great costs to us! 

THE CROSS AT THE MALL ON RESURRECTION SUNDAY

It was wonderful to proclaim Jesus as GOD over what the mall represents with over 1000 people who came from the different provinces in Cambodia as well as overseas, from Australia, Brazil, USA, Singapore and Thailand! The reason for such a celebration was that Pastor Dooley and his wife Jennifer obeyed the first call to come to Cambodia to establish His church (they have since gone on to establish other churches in Asia). What a humble couple and it was a privilege to hear their story of being part of the foundation of New Life Church Cambodia!

NLF FOUNDING PASTORS, ERIC & JENNIFER DOOLEY AND CURRENT PASTORS, LOKRU SAMDY AND NAVY

Prayer requests:

 

-   It has been a whirlwind of activities and now this week there is the debriefing and inventory meetings. Pray for us as we try to coherently and honestly give the strengths and weaknesses of the event without any blame casting.

-       
We will be celebrating Khmer New Year from the 13-16th of April. Many will go to their hometowns to pray and give money to the Buddhist priests for their ancestors as well as to celebrate the New Year. Pray for safety as they travel and for Christians as they balance showing respect for their heritage with their values and beliefs in Jesus the Christ.

-       
Please pray for a place within the city to relax. With the extreme heat comes power outages, so the best place to be is a hotel over the holidays since they have generators and, yes, swimming pools! 

Thank you for ALL for your continued prayers for me here. Please send in your prayer requests as we do this life journey together, albeit at a distance!

HE IS RISEN INDEED! 

 

 

Love, His Warrior and Disciple, 

Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia, 

Your sister, Vedya 

#287 - Answers to Prayer Requests!

Vol.# 287

Thank you ALL for your messages via social media (email, WhatsApp, FB) and your phone calls to wish me Happy Birthday! I am overwhelmed that so many would take the time and I am honored and truly blessed by all of you! 

I took many pics and tried to put them in order to give you a sense of my trip to the village! It was a lovely trip in an air-conditioned van about 4 hours to the village. However, when we got there it was very hot and dusty BUT the Lord gave us a breeze to cool down the temperatures! Some of you asked if it was a team that was going to the village, and the team was Oun Muylen who is leading this project on behalf of BRAVE and myself! 

SCHOOL IN CHHOUK VILLAGE, KAMPOT

 

COWS BY A WELL BUILT BY BRAVE NEXT TO GROWING GARDEN

SNACK SHOP TO THE RIGHT

As soon as we got there, I just had time to drink some coconut water straight from the coconut (durian fruit and coconut are the specialties of Kampot along with pepper and sea food) brought by the pastor, Lokru Bine Ra and his wife! It was truly SWEET and refreshing! I immediately was taken to the outside classroom where a Khmer class was about to start and I met with Lokru Khek Saun, who had retired from public school teaching and was now teaching a couple of hours each day at the school in Chhouk Village church, The Good News Church. He was still excited to teach his students and it was a joy to watch it happening as the chickens and cows were making sounds in the background! 

KHMER LANGUAGE CLASS TAUGHT OUTSIDE

LOKRU KHEK SAUN, RETIRED PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER AFTER 30 YEARS, NOW WORKING 2 HRS/DAY

After about 10 minutes I switched to the English language classes. Lokru Puth Cheara taught this one for Grades 1-3/4. This time I got to participate and was invited to jump in and help out. I wanted to observe first but since time was short and we were there for only 2 days, I jumped in! I observed the JK/SK class and thought that the idea of using TV trays, computer-type trays was brilliant as they suited the little ones. They were easy to fold up and put away as the room is a multi- functional one. It is a church and a classroom and a meeting room all in one!

GRADES 1-3 WITH LOKRU PUTH CHEARA

TEACHER CHEA SOKHOM WITH JK/SK STUDENTS

JK/SK USING SLATE AND CHALK AND COMPUTER/TV TRAYS AS DESKS!

PLAYING GAME

SOME STUDENTS PLAYING IN FRONT OF CLASS DURING BREAK

COMBINED CLASS PHOTO

Teacher Chea Sokhom is the daughter-in-law of the pastor and is a mother herself and she loves teaching this age group. Then immediately when this class was finished, we had a short break for lunch and then Oun Muylen asked if I would share a word of encouragement to the older members of the church (aka the non-students). It was about 4 in the afternoon now, and your prayers of strength and listening to the Holy Spirit in order to know what to say was answered! Thank you!

I GOT A CHANCE TO SPEAK AND PRAY OVER THE CONGREGANTS

THE CONGREGANTS SURPRISED ME AND FORMED A CIRCLE TO PRAY BIRTHDAY BLESSING OVER ME!

SOME MEMBERS AT PASTOR'S HOUSE. LOKRU BINE RA IS THE PASTOR (STRIPED SHIRT) AND HIS WIFE SISTER CHEN THAN IS IN GREEN.

I told them how they were my answer to prayer and my birthday gift from Jesus and then they surprised me by asking me to join in their circle as they simultaneously prayed birthday blessings over me! Oun Muylen captured this on video but I could not send it via this update but took a still photo from it to show you! When I return in July hopefully, I can show it to you face to face! By now, sweat is pouring down my face and back, but oh so happy after meeting these beautiful souls! Truly, they are rich in His Spirit though lacking in physical resources there. They are one community joined together to spread His Word in their part of the world! I am thankful to Oun Muylen for inviting me to see the work there and for BRAVE reaching out to build the well for clean water and helping to establish the church and school to build a better life for those in Chhouk Village, Kampot!

 

OUN MUYLEN SURPRISED ME BACK AT THE HOTEL WHERE SHE HAD ARRANGED WITH THE STAFF TO PUT BIRTHDAY FLOWERS /BALLOONS

Prayer requests:

- Please pray for the pastor’s wife, Sister Chen Tha who has been sick with stomach ailments and her mental health has been affected. They both returned with us to go to the hospital in Phnom Penh. Please pray for the correct diagnosis and treatment for her. They have to go into the city at least twice a month for hospital visits.

- Please pray for the JK/SK and Grades 1-3/4 English teachers. They have the desire to teach and the love for the students, and I prayed that the observations made would be put into practice. We discussed class setup from arrangement of desks and blackboard to praying over the desks and student list before class begins; praying for His creativity to teach the lessons; class management and discipline necessary in order for education to be done.

 
- There was a young woman, who is in the picture with the church members, wearing a white shirt and holding a baby. She is 18 years old and got married at 16, which is normal in the village and has 2 kids. She says she was quite sick with the second and she considers him to be a miracle child and feels so blessed. My prayer request for her is that she would be able to get formal education to become a teacher. She has the potential and I can see the gifting in her as she looked after the kids in the class and is getting the informal experience now to be a teacher!

 
- Please pray for spiritual growth for all, to read His Word and to study and apply His teachings to everyday life.

 

Thank you for going on this trip with me! I have so many more pictures, so in the next update I will send more! Thank you! 

  

Love, His Warrior and Disciple, 

Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia, 

Your sister, Vedya  

#286 - Prayer Requests for my Birthday

 Vol.# 286

A funny thing happened on the way to making plans for my birthday on March 13th! 

 

Backstory first: 

Last year I had a conversation with Oun Muylen who works for BRAVE. I have talked about Oun Muylen before. She was the first female Khmer Director of Prison Fellowship Cambodia before going to work for my friend Mel’s NGO BRAVE ministry. They did various outreaches to the villages and prisons, bringing education and health care while preaching the gospel, tending to the physical and practical needs as well as the spiritual part of the body. Oun Muylen had asked me advice on classroom structure and on class management as well as teaching methods in communicating the lesson objectives. She had asked if I would be willing to come with her to the village to observe and lend my support. 

 

Fast forward to a couple of days ago: 

I was praying and thought randomly that for my birthday I would like to use the skills He has gifted me and which I hopefully have honed and amplified through education and experience! I thought back to the request to help in the province, and then a half hour later, I received a message from Oun Muylen asking if I was still available to help, and yes, on the 13th and 14th of March! She did not know it was my birthday and what I had asked of God in my heart, but He DID! 

So, can you please join me in prayer:

- Pray for safety as we travel to Kampot, about 4 hours in total.

- Pray for protection against the extreme heat, as it is hitting in the high 90’s now.

- Pray for favour as I meet with teachers and students, for His eyes to see and His ears to hear what He would have me do.

- Pray for a listening heart as I would be praying with Khmer leaders there.

 
- Pray for a bonding time not only with Oun Muylen but also with those He would give me to have those one-on-one conversations.

- Pray for creativity as we plan time with students, teaching through games and yes, actual teaching time!

 
- Pray for His Holy Spirit to be over us as a team, that I would truly be His servant and encourager to those I would encounter!

Thank you very much! 

 

Love, His Warrior and Disciple, 

Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia, 

Your sister, Vedya 

#285 - Salon Ministry, Global Leadership Network, Divine Encounters and a New Sofa!

 Vol. #285

As I sit here at a beginning of a very hot day, listening to the birds chirping and the traffic on the streets, I look back to a busy 3 weeks with a grateful heart to our Lord! Let me begin to share what He has been doing, not only through me, BUT also through YOU, as YOU are my sending team and dance partners here in my heart country of Cambodia!

 
Many of you know that I have been going to the same salon for the past 8 years, building heart connections towards Jesus Christ. Over the past few months, about 5 of my co-workers became pregnant and I thought, hmmm, what will be the best way to celebrate such blessings of the next generation of His children, yet at the same time being His light for those who have yet to acknowledge Jesus as their Saviour? I have been inviting the staff at the salon to come to church and have spoken to them of the many events we have had over the years, but the fact is that they are at work all of the time! The salon is open 7 days a week, and even during the holidays they are still open to accommodate those who are not working! As I prayed, I got the idea of bringing the church to the salon! Why not? I invited those who were pregnant, along with their spouses, who also just happened to be church leaders, to go to the salon. I watched their interactions with the staff, the laughter and the shared stories about ‘Bong Srey Vidya’ (!), and saw the building of another kind of ‘church’, one in which there were no physical walls, but where walls of misconception of what Christian church people are like begin to change in the eyes of the salon employees and their boss Jheri. All of those who were my guests there are Khmer brothers and sisters! Lokru Samdy and Sister Navy also went but I do not have their pics to show you. Two of the guests said they would go back on their own next time because the service given by the staff there was so good! 

SALON MINISTRY

Global Leadership February 16th Cambodia: 

I was helping Pastor Leah, the Country Director for GLN Cambodia, and her able assistant and right hand, Sister Kimlang, in being their ‘runner’ on that day, doing whatever needed to be done, so that things would go smoothly for those who came to learn more about leading more effectively and compassionately with Jesus the Christ as our mentor leader. This time we had pastors and lay leaders from the provinces also linking in to watch as well, with the English-speaking presenters being translated into Khmer. We gave out the curriculum that was presented both in English and Khmer and in total had about 125 attendees in Phnom Penh with 20 volunteers and about 85 watching from the provinces! We were happy to see that 77 of those who attended in PP were women! That number has grown over the years that we have been doing GLN here in Cambodia! 

 

GLOBAL LEADERSHIP SUMMIT: CAN YOU FIND ME?

On that morning after being there for about an hour, I felt an urge to go the main office of the International Church Assembly (ICA) that was hosting the event to say hello to their pastor, Pastor Ann who I probably meet once or twice in a year! When I entered the office, she looked up and said, I was just praying and asking God to send someone in to pray with me and there you are! Will you pray with me over this issue?  And as I knelt and prayed with this humble amazing woman of God I was in tears because only OUR LORD could orchestrate such a timely meeting! One hour later, I had to go to the office again and there was Bro. Matt sitting and chatting! Matt is a fellow Canadian who is married to a Khmer and leads the Recovery from Addictions Ministry which has an office at ICA. As I walked in Pastor Ann said, “There is Vidya she can pray for you!” Matt and I know each other well so I thought he was kidding around, but then quickly realized they were being serious. Matt was restarting the Ministry for the new year and that day was a retreat for his leaders to come in and be refreshed! So again I knelt and we all prayed together! At the end of the day, I thought, Jesus, did you bring me in today so I can see Your hand and Your glory in the way You put people and events together? His Holy Spirit again blew me away!

 
Yes, my brothers and sisters, the hammocks on the rooftop are no longer the seating option (and the floor) for those visiting! In December, Bro. Chetra and his wife Julia talked about a member of their congregation who was starting his own business in wood making, building furniture. That conversation led to the sofa seating you see in the pictures! It came with storage, and yes, also with wheels so it can be moved easily to clean! I marvel at His timing for me to get this so that Bro. Borey (who is the carpenter and builder) not only would get some business and be encouraged but also that his neighbours, who are a couple of women, would also be part of this micro business. They sewed and made the seat cushions! I still have to get cushions for the back and foot type stools, but how exciting it is! Bro. Borey’s wife is a schoolteacher and they have 2 children but they need to have additional income to support their family. Borey has started to teach Bible classes to the men in their growing church. And to think this started with Julia witnessing to Borey as he is also a tuk tuk driver so many years ago. She invited him and his wife to her church! Then Julia married Chetra and Chetra has become his mentor as well as his pastor!

NEW SOFA

 

FIRST GUESTS TO USE SOFA

BOARD GAME

And now back to the cafe at church. Again I was sitting there last Wednesday and one of the youth came to sit by me and I asked him how he was doing which led into a conversation about life, then praying together!  I never know whom God will bring to that small cafe table when He urges me to just go and sit there at a certain time!

 
Prayer: On the 30th and 31st of March we are celebrating our 30th anniversary of New Life Church at one of the biggest malls here in Phnom Penh, Aeon Mall 3. Please pray for the logistics and for the team from our church that is planning this. Already weariness is setting in. My prayer is for them to experience the preparation as an act of worship to Him as God has sustained our church in spite of the leadership changes over the past years! I am helping with setting up the VIP room for the expat and regional/local leaders who have been here from the beginning establishing His church in Cambodia. Please pray as I try to create a fun question sheet to send out to the leaders so that we can better serve them (what foods they like, allergies etc.) They have never sent out such questionnaires before but we want to do our best to acknowledge and honor them by creating the best VIP environment for the foreigner and local leaders! Thank you!

 
Please continue to send me your prayer requests and stories/pics of your life as WE do this dance of life in Him together! 

Love, His Warrior and Disciple, 

Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia, 

Your sister, Vedya 

 

#284 - A New Year's word and divine encounters!

Vol.# 284 

Belated Happy New Year! 

We had one week off from work, so I was able to rest a bit, but soon after coming back to work, I was hit with the same sickness as some of the staff in the office. I was able to go back out to work last Friday and we were back in full swing as I went to one church service on Sunday and served in the evening service here.

LOKRU SAMDY DELIVERING FRESH FRUIT

KHMER CREATIVITY: USING A CRUTCH TO PICK MANGOES!

As I sat with the Lord, the countdown began and the fireworks were bursting around me. For some strange reason, all of my neighbours must have invested in big fireworks because there was a lot of booming sounds and smell of smoke from the big crackers!. Most people went down to the riverside, the main place for the big fireworks display. I was invited by Lokru Samdy and his wife to join them, but I wanted to be in a place where I could go on my knees, thanking God for His mercies from 2023 and then asking Him about His mission for me for 2024. 

And this is what He said to me: Continue to shepherd my sheep, Vidya, with 2 staffs, Favor and Union (I was reading from Zechariah). I will give you favor with My Presence when you spend time with me; I will give you insight when you read my Word so that you can share with others; I will give you favor with those I will bring across your path; and I will give you favor to know how to pray for others. You will help to breach paths of miscommunication to bring My unity amongst others here. You are still the intercessory warrior on behalf of Me, yet you will walk in the shoes of peace wherever you go! In this culture ‘favor’ is often interpreted as finances as opposed to His wisdom and His insight! I am humbled by this because of what happened on Friday when I returned to work.

 
As I sat at the same table in the cafe area, (I wanted the fresh air and not the air-conditioning since I still have a lingering cough), I had the first of three God-ordained meetings. 

The first one was with a sister who used to work with 5Ps group of which I am a part of at the office (the Soul care, youth and children ministry group), and she felt led to come in to pray with someone and that someone was me! 

The second meeting was with Oun Chetra. He is leaving us at the end of this month to start a business. I heard his reason. He knows that in the last couple of years our church has been going through a tough financial time and he was thinking of how he could help with the sustainability of our church. With his experience in Human Resources and Administration, he knows all about the workings of the church. God had not only put into his heart but also into his wife’s heart the thought of stepping out of the church environment to go into business so that he can contribute to his church and become a partner alongside to help in financial sustainability for New Life church! I got a chance to listen, to thank him for the many ways in which he helped me in his former role, and to tell him how much I appreciated his dry sense of humor and his professionalism. I also reassured him that even though he is no longer staff, he is still a member of our church family. Actually God had laid both his name and his wife’s name on my heart to put in my prayer journal at the beginning of the year. I was not aware that he would be leaving us!

 

The third encounter was from a youth. He came by to say he missed seeing me the past week at church and wanted to know how I was doing. He told me of his plans to go to Ohio to study. He had already received two scholarships and was waiting to hear from the university about the possibility of two further scholarships so that he could have a full scholarship to be able to afford the tuition and accommodation. He has been faithfully serving with the University students and the Welcome team here, and his parents also serve as volunteers at the church. 

As I left that morning the word ‘favor’ came back to me. God showed me His favor with those encounters, HE not only allowed me to be there at the right time, but He drew them to the table and then gave me a listening ear to hear the heart stories! It was humbling to immediately see what He had revealed to me earlier on in this month!

 
I was also surprised to meet up with a former high school classmate from way back when I went to St. Joseph’s Convent, Port of Spain. Maria had written to say that she would be travelling through here with family and I was thankful we were able to spend a couple of hours together, not having seen her in over 30-plus years! Let me tell you there was a lot of laughter and reminiscing going on from back in those days!

 

As I wrap up this update, I have to say to many who do not believe, that the Bible is His living Word to us today, His instructions on how to live out His values and purpose. Well, here is what happened two weeks ago. I had offered to sponsor all those who were working in the three services on Christmas Eve coffee, tea and snacks for the day. I had given a budget to the church cafe owner and was told that we had gone over the said budget. So as I was getting my tithe for the new year, I was saying to the Lord that since we went over the budget and the money given was for a church event, I was reasoning that I would give a lesser amount and count in the ‘over-expense’ from Christmas Eve. So, with that settled in my mind, I went to do my reading and the first thing I read from Malachi 3:10 was this…Bring the FULL tithe into the storehouse…! Seriously, I cannot make this up, I looked up and put down my pen and immediately transferred the full amount of my tithe to the church! Yes, the Bible and Jesus are alive and relevant! 

I pray that this year is one in which you can walk/dance into knowing that the Lord is holding your hand, that He will not let you go. He is your Rock and your Shield. I give you Psalm 18:16-36. Thank you all for your continuing dance with me in my heart country. Please continue to send in your stories and prayer requests! 

 

 

Love, His Warrior and Disciple, 

Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia, 

Your sister, Vedya