November’s 09 News
Dear Friends and Family,
It is hard to believe that 2009 is coming to an end soon.. Time sure flies! We wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday, this week, as you take a moment to reflect upon the many blessings God has given you…
Lots of things took place since the last time we wrote you...
In Oct, we were blessed to have a wonderful week vacation time as a family in Penang, Malaysia. It was good week of rest and relaxation. Justin got quite tall. At 13 years old, he is already a few inches taller than Soeuth! We were also able to meet with his new dorm parents, Lillian and Herald Chan, a wonderful godly couple with their two school age boys. Please pray for the Chans as they are still getting used to their new roles as dorm parents overseeing 15 other dorm kids (including our Justin) along with two of their own. We look forward to Dec. 18 the time when Justin will come home for 5 weeks school break!!!!
Throughout the weeks in October to early November, Khmer people who reside along the border had been living in fear because of the border conflicts and other disagreements between the Thai and Khmer people. Praise God, things are beginning to calm down a bit. For a while the town of Poipet and some areas at local markets were quiet as people fled the areas for safety reason. Now, those with businesses at the Thai market are resuming their activities again.
We also have been witnessing many blessings during these hard times as, each week, at least a few people came forward to give their lives to Christ. Srey Moum, the believer lady that mentioned in our Sept. newsletter, has been on fire for the Lord as she is passionately witnessing Christ to many of her friends. Although we hold regular church service in addition to two discipleship classes on Thursdays at her areas, Srey Moum still insists on coming to join us on Sundays at the Poipet church! Before, she was just traveling, alone, in taxi to Poipt; now, she actually rents the entire taxi, each week, bringing some of her relatives and close friends to Poipet church as well. As the result, three of her daughters, some grandchildren, a few of her close friends, had already accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior!
We rejoice that two more discipleship classes began earlier in October and this as more new believers are interested in studying the Word. GOD is so good!
We also appreciate our medical team mates who commit to set aside at least one day a week to see and treat the many church families who very poor and with on-going sicknesses.
We are getting ready for a second round of baptism on Saturday, November 28, 2009. Please pray for the great outcome. So far we are expecting at least 25 new believers will get baptize. Pray that those who have been trained and studied for this event will boldly come forward on this appointed time.
All eight C&MA churches and small groups in the Poipet and Malay areas are waiting with great anticipation for the special event as we plan to hold a joined Christmas service on the evening of December 24th. The leaders are expecting at least 400 church people will join the service. This will be the first time ever that the believers in Poipet will have Christmas program at night, thus adding to all the excitements. PLEAS pray for a wonderful outcome, for a good weather, and that pray we won’t have any problem with the city power (electricity)!
As for the building project, we praise God for answering prayers as we now met up with most of other necessary documents and permissions. And on this Tuesday morning, November 24, Soeuth will be meeting with the contractor and will possibly sign the contact in order to commence the building project. PLEASE PRAY. This is a HUGE thing for us as we knowing almost nothing about building contractions AND we are dealing with the corrupted system. Pray for wisdom and discernment throughout the plan. The project is expected to finish by May or June of 2010, if all goes well.
With all these excitements, we are fully aware that the Enemy is at work as well.
The SNAKES are back! This past Friday evening, we killed another poisonous snake by our front porch! It was the biggest poisonous one we’d ever got so far. Last week, some of the youth went fishing in the rice fields behind our house, and in less than 15 minutes time they were there, they saw at least 20 or more snakes swam by them! We think there must be many snake nests hiding somewhere out there. We’ve been noticing that snakes often come to higher grounds (to our yards) when there is more rain water in the fields. Please continue pray for safety and protection from snakes.
Pray for many of the church youth who are back in school and are facing on-going temptations at school and at home. And our ambulance team has been busy picking up traffic accident patients and transferring them to the nearest referral hospital. Traffic accident continues to escalate on the one smooth paved road in Poipet as people don’t always obey the traffic rules.
We appreciate hearing from you and we want to be prayer partners to you as well. Please share with us what God is doing in your life. As always, THANK YOU for your faithful prayers and financial support to the GCF which enables us to continue serving here in Poipet. May the Lord Jesus richly bless you and keep you safe.
In Him,
Soeuth, Syna, Justin, and Jonathan Lao
23 November 2009
06 October 2009
October prayer letter 2009
Dear Friends and Family,
We’ve asked you to pray for the baptismal service and the youth rally, here’s how God answered it. Despite of being right in the middle of a rainy season, there were two beautiful cool, clear days with lots of sunshine! It was Bun Pjum Ben, the time when Khmer people of the entire Cambodia celebrated and honored the death, BUT God’s chosen people celebrated His glory!
As expected, very early morning of Friday, Sept. 18, more than 120 church people showed up in front of our house! All was very anxious for the special event. At the appointed time, everyone came and cramped into the living room where a short service was held. A number of those to be baptized courageously took turns standing in front of the group sharing about their Christian journeys and testimonies of their decisions to follow Christ. It was a very heartfelt and meaningful moment for all. We’d invited Pastor Nhan, president of the Regional Church Committee of the Khmer Evangelical Church (KEC), from Siem Reap Province, to join this joyous occasion. He preached a very powerful and encouraging message to this group of new believers. After the service the excited group hurriedly walked to a nearby pond singing and praising Jesus as they passed by the local Karaoke and brothel places. A number of curious onlookers followed a long to watch. A good time for swimming was immediately followed for the many strongly interested. Back at the house, to celebrate the special occasion, many helping hands had been busy preparing and serving the entire group with yummy rice noodle and green curry followed by delicious banana and cocoanut pudding for dessert! Some people left the party by the early afternoon, but many young people were still hanging around until late evening. Although many had been studied and prepared for this event, only 39 showed up and were soon baptized. We are anticipating another baptismal service soon as many of those who had missed wish for a second chance. (See attached).
What was so amazing about all of this is that, 11 years ago, in 1998, when we’d began our second
missionary term in Siem Reap Province, Pastor Nhan, (see attached) a former Khmer Rogue soldier, then, was a just new believer along with his wife, Chanreth, and their 9 small children. Through the amazing grace of God, the entire family received and believed Jesus as their Lord. The parents and some older children were soon enrolled in the process of thoroughly training in the Word, baptized, mentored, and eventually, one by one, they all became significant key leaders in their local church groups. His wife, Chanreth is among the three top leaders for women ministry of the KEC; Phearum, their eldest son, is married with two children, is a national counter part for Evangelism Explosion (EE) for the KEC in Cambodia; Haen, their second child and oldest daughter, also married, is one of the key leaders responsible for all the children ministry of the KEC; and four other younger children are currently involving in either music, children and/or youth ministries in their local church community. This family’s love for Jesus is contagious to their neighbors and friends. It made our heart soared to see the faithfulness of our great God for choosing and effectively using this family (and others alike) to advance His kingdom for Cambodia.
Very early on Saturday morning of the next day, we packed 82 people from Poipet into three pickup trucks and headed toward the Thmar Koul Youth Center, a 2 ½ hour drive, to join the most anticipated event for the youth in the northwest region. Another truck with 20 plus youth from Malay areas was later meeting up with us half way through the trip. Again, it was another beautiful day. Over all there were over 250 young people came to an all day youth event filled with games, fellowship, fun activities, laughter and sharing. Everyone is still talking about the fun time they had and the messaged they heard!
Requests:
Please continue to pray for the new believers as many of them are facing daily persecutions and temptations from their family, friends, and peer at works or schools. A number of church youth had asked for ongoing prayer requests as public school will resume on October 1st. The Christian students are often the most common targets for mockery by their by peer and even by some of their own teachers! Almost all of the church youth here are the only believers within their family or community. With the growing populations, numerous casinos, karaoke, cheap brothels, gangsters, crimes and violence, just to name a few, POIPET is still THE MOST challenged place to live for all, but more so, especially, for the new believers.
The plan to begin the construction building is still set for some time in October or when ever the rains stop. We’ve been meeting up with contractors, negotiating prices, getting permissions, making other preparations needed for the work ahead. Pray for wisdom and discernment.
Daily heavy rains make it extremely difficult for us to keep up with classes in far away villages. A few times already we had to call off and cancelled classes or being risked getting stuck in the middle of nowhere as we had recently and numerously experienced. Pray for clear path to travel, and pray for the believers to continue fellowshipping together and studying the Word even when classes are being postponed.
In Him,
Soeuth, Syna, Justin and Jonathan Lao
We’ve asked you to pray for the baptismal service and the youth rally, here’s how God answered it. Despite of being right in the middle of a rainy season, there were two beautiful cool, clear days with lots of sunshine! It was Bun Pjum Ben, the time when Khmer people of the entire Cambodia celebrated and honored the death, BUT God’s chosen people celebrated His glory!As expected, very early morning of Friday, Sept. 18, more than 120 church people showed up in front of our house! All was very anxious for the special event. At the appointed time, everyone came and cramped into the living room where a short service was held. A number of those to be baptized courageously took turns standing in front of the group sharing about their Christian journeys and testimonies of their decisions to follow Christ. It was a very heartfelt and meaningful moment for all. We’d invited Pastor Nhan, president of the Regional Church Committee of the Khmer Evangelical Church (KEC), from Siem Reap Province, to join this joyous occasion. He preached a very powerful and encouraging message to this group of new believers. After the service the excited group hurriedly walked to a nearby pond singing and praising Jesus as they passed by the local Karaoke and brothel places. A number of curious onlookers followed a long to watch. A good time for swimming was immediately followed for the many strongly interested. Back at the house, to celebrate the special occasion, many helping hands had been busy preparing and serving the entire group with yummy rice noodle and green curry followed by delicious banana and cocoanut pudding for dessert! Some people left the party by the early afternoon, but many young people were still hanging around until late evening. Although many had been studied and prepared for this event, only 39 showed up and were soon baptized. We are anticipating another baptismal service soon as many of those who had missed wish for a second chance. (See attached).
What was so amazing about all of this is that, 11 years ago, in 1998, when we’d began our second
missionary term in Siem Reap Province, Pastor Nhan, (see attached) a former Khmer Rogue soldier, then, was a just new believer along with his wife, Chanreth, and their 9 small children. Through the amazing grace of God, the entire family received and believed Jesus as their Lord. The parents and some older children were soon enrolled in the process of thoroughly training in the Word, baptized, mentored, and eventually, one by one, they all became significant key leaders in their local church groups. His wife, Chanreth is among the three top leaders for women ministry of the KEC; Phearum, their eldest son, is married with two children, is a national counter part for Evangelism Explosion (EE) for the KEC in Cambodia; Haen, their second child and oldest daughter, also married, is one of the key leaders responsible for all the children ministry of the KEC; and four other younger children are currently involving in either music, children and/or youth ministries in their local church community. This family’s love for Jesus is contagious to their neighbors and friends. It made our heart soared to see the faithfulness of our great God for choosing and effectively using this family (and others alike) to advance His kingdom for Cambodia.
Very early on Saturday morning of the next day, we packed 82 people from Poipet into three pickup trucks and headed toward the Thmar Koul Youth Center, a 2 ½ hour drive, to join the most anticipated event for the youth in the northwest region. Another truck with 20 plus youth from Malay areas was later meeting up with us half way through the trip. Again, it was another beautiful day. Over all there were over 250 young people came to an all day youth event filled with games, fellowship, fun activities, laughter and sharing. Everyone is still talking about the fun time they had and the messaged they heard!Requests:
Please continue to pray for the new believers as many of them are facing daily persecutions and temptations from their family, friends, and peer at works or schools. A number of church youth had asked for ongoing prayer requests as public school will resume on October 1st. The Christian students are often the most common targets for mockery by their by peer and even by some of their own teachers! Almost all of the church youth here are the only believers within their family or community. With the growing populations, numerous casinos, karaoke, cheap brothels, gangsters, crimes and violence, just to name a few, POIPET is still THE MOST challenged place to live for all, but more so, especially, for the new believers.
The plan to begin the construction building is still set for some time in October or when ever the rains stop. We’ve been meeting up with contractors, negotiating prices, getting permissions, making other preparations needed for the work ahead. Pray for wisdom and discernment.
Daily heavy rains make it extremely difficult for us to keep up with classes in far away villages. A few times already we had to call off and cancelled classes or being risked getting stuck in the middle of nowhere as we had recently and numerously experienced. Pray for clear path to travel, and pray for the believers to continue fellowshipping together and studying the Word even when classes are being postponed.
In Him,
Soeuth, Syna, Justin and Jonathan Lao
28 August 2009
Dear Friends, Many things had taken place since we last communicated with you.First of all, we had thoroughly enjoyed the summer break that Justinspent with us. Over all, he had a good year at Dalat and is lookingforward to another good semester there this fall. Despite of manytransitions, we’d managed to take family vacation times, visitingother sites within Cambodia and some missionary team mates. Andsecondly, we are so thrill to finally have our Poipet missionary teammates back! Both the Copeland family and Kandi Lay are all moved inand settled down into their new places. We’re not only having ourteam back, but it is an extra blessing to have the Copeland as ournext door neighbors! There were lots of things to be done, but God inHis merciful way, had sent us helps and resources along the way inorder to make things possible for their moving. And in spite of heavyrains, our missionary team also enjoyed a good week of Field Forum atthe beach. Last weekends, we took Justin to Bangkok Int. airport where he flewback to Penang, Malaysia, with our MKs, to start his second year thereas an eighth grader. He started school on Tuesday, the 11th ofAugust. Since then, we spoke with him a couple times on the phonechecking on his moving in and adjustment there. He sounded happy andis glad to be back in school. Now that he knows the routines and theexpectations from school and dorm life, this year’s adjustment doesnot seem as hard as it was the beginning of last year. And we are sothankful about this. His three roommates are boys of 13 years old,missionary kids also. One of them is new to the school, but the othertwo are his roommates from the previous year. Justin has new dormparents this year and we have yet to meet them. They are ChineseCanadians with two small school age kids. The parents’names are Lillyand Herald Chan. We appreciate you praying for them with theiradjustment and new roles as dorm parents to our son and to many otherchildren. And pray for Justin to have a good semester at Dalat. Lordwilling, we are planning to visit Justin in October... Our seven- year old son, second grader, Jonathan is quieter withouthis big brother around. Most of the time, he seems content playingsolo with his robot or Lego toys. Home school was resumed last week. So far, things are going okay... We appreciate you praying for wisdom and discernment as we are in theprocess of transferring ministry responsibilities among our team. Praythat we will be wiser in balancing times well with ministry and familyand personal times. This October, we hope to begin the building project at the new land.The fence is completely built. Please pray for “green lights”, aswe’ll need to make many more contacts and government requestsconcerning the building plans. Pray that we’ll find contracts andtheir workers who are with good and honest integrities. And pray forgood weathers as well. All construction goods will need to betransported to the working sites. Bad weathers can delay the workingprocess… Recently, one of our missionary team mates, is sick and was recentlysent to Bangkok for medical evaluation. There have been many peoplein church are sick with flu or cold like symptoms. Please pray forhealing for all… With heavy rainy season, the snake population seems to be increasinglately. Last Wednesday evening, I (Syna) killed a cobra right by ourback yard, underneath the swing where Jonathan usually goes out toplay… It was 41 inches long and it was heading toward the back doorof our house! It was just about a few feet away from the back door!Normally, as soon as he finished eating meal, Jonathan would hurriedlyexcuse himself and would head straight toward the swing. But thistime he seemed unusually delayed. While he was still washing hishands, I heard a dog barking nonstop. Thinking that we might havevisitor, I went to check it out, only to be faced with a live cobra!It was hissing at our dog! Normally I would run and yell for help;but at this very evening, there were only me and the boys home, asSoeuth and everyone else was not around, and so I had to do it.Fortunately we always kept a stick nearby the door, and with just onestrike, I killed it right one the head! And, just a few days early also in our yards, on a Sunday afternoon,one of the youth almost got bitten by a green poisonous snake! It washidden in the plant and her fingers were just a few inches away fromthe snake! I killed that one as well. Lately people have been teasingme as being a “snake killer”! Personally, I don’t likesnakes. And we treat any snake that we see as it was a poisonous one,thinking that if you don’t get it, it will bite one of us or someoneelse, later… And this morning, our guard also killed another snake,not poisonous, but it was 54 inches long! And so, of today, the snakecount is up to # 35 since we got here, a year ago… This number isonly for the ones we killed, by our house, many snakes had gotten awaysince then, and we don’t include many of those that other people hadhad killed nearby us… Please pray for safety and protection fromsnakes and other dangers… The Copeland family, live just next door tous, are beginning their collections of snakes as well… Lately manyvillagers have been bitten by snakes… We sincerely appreciate your prayer ministry to us. If nothing elsecan get through, it was your prayer! We know that many a time when weor the church people had come so close to contact with all kinds ofdangers, but somehow we were miraculously protected, and it wasbecause someone somewhere out there is praying for us... Thank you! The next monthly Poipet youth event is scheduled for August 29th atour house. Since this is summer break for public school students, weare expecting much a larger group, (normally we had about 80 to 100youth each time). A team from New York City is coming to Poipet, Aug.23- 31. They will be helping us with the youth and some otherministries as well. Please pray for a good outcome and for safetraveling and protection for all. Lastly but not least, we are so grateful for your partnership in theministries in reaching the lost souls for God’s Kingdom. We areaware that the economic crises have been severely affecting everyoneat home as well at overseas. And yet, you keep on giving to the Great Commission Fund! Your faithful supporting to the GCF allows us tokeep on serving here. Please share with us what God is doing with your life. Thank you.
In Him,
Soeuth, Syna, Justin and Jonathan Lao
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