Lao prayer September 2010

Dear Friends,

You probably are wondering, “What ever happen to the Lao family?” It was a crazy summer we had, but by the grace of God, we’re still here!
Summer events:

- Some of you have already aware about Dr. Kent Copeland’s medical emergency where the whole family had to rush to the US for his immediate surgery. Now, three months later, the Copeland is back serving with us in Poipet! Amazing! If not for the massive scar on his body, we’d never believed that all these things had happened! Our God is so good!

- Justin came home on the same day that the

Copeland left for America! It was a sad and disappointed time as he was looking forward to seeing the Copeland. Despites of circumstances, however, we did have some fun times together by taking a few overnight trips to villages where we slept in hammocks (it’s the boys’ favorite thing to do, like going on camping trips, in Khmer style!), spending time at the beach, and of course playing sports and interacting with the Poipet youth. God always provides a way. Though he didn’t like it at first, but at the end of the summer, Justin showed much appreciation for the Khmer lessons he’d learned a few hours each week. And without their English speaking friends around, both boys had to speak nothing but Khmer, and they did okay. Well, more so for Justin- the social guy, than Jonathan- the quiet one. Now, Justin is back at Dalat Int. School in 9th and loving it there! He seems to have good relationship with his dorm parents and peer. Jonathan also resumed home school in 3rd grade. He is excited to have the Copeland back and is always looking forward to the after school times where he can play “pretense” and “Spy Kids” with the two younger Copeland, Kendra and Katie.

- As mentioned in our last newsletter, we did have three short term teams visiting Poipet, back to back. Between these visits, however, our missionary team had a wonderful time at our annual Field Forum (FF), in July, where a speaker and his team from Colorado Springs came to minister to each of us in a very special way. Each of us walked out of that FF feeling refreshed and revived. Both Soeuth and I thought that it was the best FF we’d ever had in a long time! Thank you, Bridgeway Alliance!

- Thanks to the help and support of a team from Christ Community Church from Rochester, MN, on July 19-21, and July 26-28, the Poipet church had their first two English camps, one after another, and over 150 students attended! It was amazing that even though we were in the midst of heavy rainy season, God held up the rains during the three-day camp- on both weeks! The theme of the camps was Creation. And as part of the afternoon activities, students from both camps were divided into small groups, where each group then, took a section of the wall and painted their own design of creation. At the end of each camp, prizes were given out to the best artistic group. The visiting guests also helped lead the worship service where some of lively worship songs were introduced to the students, and the one song in which we are still hearing over and over repeatedly is “I AM FREE!”

- In August, a team from New York City also came and left some sweet memories with the young people as well; while the team helped out with the youth rally, each member of the team took turns to share their heart felt stories of their Christian journeys, thus giving much encouragement to the new believers here. This team also painted some fun characters in the rooms downstairs as well. Well done, Grace Faith Church!

New Church Building:

The workers are still doing some finishing-up works at the church building. On Friday, Sept. 9/11, we had a full day of seminars at the new church building where 98 people attended! Constant heavy rains make the roads more difficult to travel, especially the roads to the new church building. The plan was to move the Poipet church service to the new building by August, but that has been postponed until the raining season is over. And it looks like we will need to fill up ground more to make the ground level.

Praises and Prayer requests:

- Having the doctor back in town gives hope to the poor who are sick and can’t afford to pay for medical treatments. Dr. Copeland is busy seeing patients on a regular basis having Soeuth working along side as his interpreter and spiritual adviser to the patients. Many patients often left the clinic office feeling with a sense of hope as the Gospel is often shared, and each patient is being cared and prayed for, even though it was hard sometimes, having to give out “bad news” to patients of special cases. Please pray that God would draw many into his Kingdom through the medical ministry.

- A number of children from the families are sick with dengue fever (cause by mosquito bites). Pray for healing and protection of these children’s lives.

- Some of the young people from church are being persecuted, by their own family, because of their faith in Christ. One young lady is being pressured by her parents to marry with unbeliever thinking this would stop her from coming to church. Another young lady was beaten, physically, by her own brother who had tried to stop her from coming to church on Sunday. Pray that these young people would stand firm in their faith despites of the difficulties.

- Pray for one of our key church leaders, Mr. Youn Sambo, who is undergoing some hard times with lots of family issues relating to health and finance, and on top of that, his brother-in-law recently had a major motorbike accident where he (the brother) is still unconscious in Phnom Penh hospital right now.

- We rejoice that a number of young people had successfully passed their high school exam in July! These graduates, however, are desperately looking for the next step, what to do with their lives. Although many dreamed of continuing their education in colleges or universities, because of poverty and other family issues, their options are limited. Pray for clear directions and for jobs opportunities for the students.

- Recently, a number of young ladies from church are inspired and being encouraged to go back to school in hope to finish a high school education beginning October 1st. Due to poverty and other family issues, many of these girls had to drop out of school at early age. But now, in their late teens and early twenties, there are opportunities available, and they are seriously considering these options. Please pray for the young ladies to have wisdom, courage, and a will to study and do it well.

- While most farmers appreciate rain waters for their rice fields or other plantations, too much rains destroy crops, as it happened to a number of our church families at O Sampore Village (and other villages). Many families from this village are crying out for help as, already, they are running of food supplies. Please pray for wisdom and much discernment as we find ways to help without hurting them as a result.

- Regional men conference is scheduled for Oct. 2nd at Battambang Province. About 100 men are expected to be there. Please pray that God would break through and lives will be touched and transformed as a result.

- The next youth rally for the Northwest region is set for Oct. 8th. We are expecting at least 80 youth from Poipet will attend the rally. Usually, we had about 250- 300 youth coming together from 4 provinces of the Northwest region. And we expecting about the same amount will show up this time as well being that it will be on a national holiday. Please pray for safe traveling for all, for a good outcome, and that God would touch lives as the messages and testimonies will be shared.
Thank you, once again, for you partnership in the Kingdom of God though your faithful prayers, love support, and generous giving to the GCF. We firmly believe that this is where God wants us to be and your generosity and faithful giving to the GCF that enable us to continue to be here. When opportunity allows, please come and visit us and see for yourself what God is doing. The field is ripe for the harvest!

Living the call together,

Soeuth, Syna, Justin and Jonathan Lao

June news

Dear Friends,

Greetings in the Lord Jesus! We trust you and your family are well. We’re very late with our updates, again. Please forgive our delay. Many things have been taking place since our last newsletter. Here are some updates that we hope would encourage you. Thanks for your faithful prayers.

Back in APRIL, the churches in Poipet had a joined service for Good Friday where believers took turns and shared their testimonies of what Jesus meant to them. It was good time of praises and thanksgiving and confessions. Following the testimonies, some parts of the movie, The Passion of Jesus, was shown to the group resulting that there was not a single dry eye in the room! And, despite of the extreme heat, the excitements of celebrating the Lord’s Resurrection continued throughout that weekends as church families made preparations for Easter Sunday celebration and the potluck meal following the service. Many of those who attended, this was their very first Easter Service!
The National Annual Youth Conference, April 6-10, was a big success! 70 young people from Poipet were packed in a shuttle bus and two pick-up trucks, and headed toward Kampong Cham Province to join with over 600 other young people, all were from different parts of Cambodia! During the conference, the hottest time of the year, we did have some problems with electrical power and water shortages, but everyone seemed to have such a good spirit throughout the entire conference! Amazing! There were rich times of sharing, testimonies, and a number of special songs sung and skits performed by various talented groups, and lots of sports, games, and fun activities for every one. The Poipet youth came home with First place in valley ball and Second place in soccer national tournaments where everyone is still talking about it!

We’d decided to stay home on Khmer New Year, April 14-17, to make a place available for the many youth who wished to come and hang out. (Often time during any national or religious holidays, we’d often see some new believers fall back into their old ways of life due to tremendous pressures from unbelieving family and friends; the Christians are often not welcome into the local community gathering once they declared themselves as followers of Jesus Christ). During the holidays, however, many did come and had a great time playing various traditional games, splashing water, and throwing water balloons at each other; young and old included.

MAY
We were blessed to have wonderful week, May 3-10, spent with Justin at Penang, Malaysia, where we’d simply enjoyed a good time of just rest and relaxation! We got to see few school activities where Justin was a part of: 2 basketball games (on campus), a drama rehearsal and a few other activities. At Justin’s request, Syna’d enjoyed cooking a Cambodian meal for his dorm family (24 people in all). It brought us great joy for many opportunities of talking with his dorm parents and teachers and to hear about the progress he is making at Dalat. We’d concluded the visit by attending the church service together on Mother’s Day! The separation is never easy, but we were very thankful for the opportunity to see and be part of his “away from home” life, even for just a brief moment. Thank you for keeping our family in your prayers.

Upon our arrival, a team of 4 fantastic students from Crown College came to help with the Poipet ministries, May 12-31. Their commitment and involvement with teaching English classes, youth ministry, and some hand-on- works at the constructions sites were much appreciated. Thanks, Crown!

On May 14-15, it was the first time ever that the Northwest Region youth, 40 in all, took a motorbike trip visiting 4 local house churches in the Malay areas! This exciting event created many learning experiences for every one and a great opportunity for bonding and building friendship for the young people. Everyone liked it so much that they all voted to have another trip next year!

May 29 was a big hit for another all-day youth event! More than 80 youth came. All were packed into our living room for a great time of sharing, singing praises, and studying God’s word. David, one of the visiting team, boldly opened up his heart to share about the deep dark life he used to live and about the Power of Jesus Christ that changed his life completely! His speech of openness and honesty helped broke down the barriers and had encouraged many other youngsters (with similar back groups) to come forward seeking salvation in Jesus! Many youth are beginning to realize that they are not alone any more. The visiting team led the group with some fun relay games and contests where every one was gladly and willing participated! Please continue to pray for the growing youth ministry.

In the midst of all of these busy times, we were able to spare a short moment to celebrate our 18th anniversary on May 30ht.

The month of May not only brought us many exciting events but some emotional moments as well, as we’d learned that our dear friends and team mates, Dr. Kent and Chris Copeland and their family, are leaving Poipet for a 3-6 month on medical leave. Some of you may already aware that Dr. Kent had recently discovered a growth underneath his chest and is need of immediate surgery in the US. Please pray for God’s intervention upon his health and the family transitions in the States side.

June
So far, June promises some exciting times. School is out for the boys. Justin is home for the summer!! We plan on making a few trips to Phnom Penh for passports renewal and some family fun times.

Here some up coming events that needs to be prayed for:
-Thanks to the loving and generous support of a Khmer-American lady from Philadelphia, the church at Ondong Thmar Meas now has a church building of their own! The church dedication is scheduled for June 12. We plan on inviting some local villagers including some local officials to attend the service. Rev. Young Soth, former KEC president, will deliver an evangelistic message for this day. Please for open ears and hearts for those who attend.
- The building construction at the new land is going very well. The works maybe completed at the end of June. We are still in the long process of getting the zoning deed changed. Pray that all will go well.
-June 18, an all-day event for the northwest region youth. The event will take place in Svey Sisophon. Young people from five provinces will join. Please pray for the good out come.
- July 7-11, our missionary team will have an annual Field Forum at Kampong Sorm Province.
- Between July and August three separate short term teams will be coming to Poipet.
- Aug. 8, Justin’s retuning to Dalat for his 9th grade there.

As always, we sincerely appreciate your commitment and partnership through your faithful prayers for our ministries and financial support to the GCF which enables us to continue serving God in this part of the world. We also want to be part of your life as well, to share your joys and struggles. Please let us know how we can be praying for you. Have a blessed and wonderful fun summer!

Your friends in Christ,

Soeuth, Syna, Justin and Jonathan Lao

March News

March 2010 News

Dear Family and Friends,

Happy Easter! Greetings in the Lord! We trust that all is well with you.

Many things had taken place since our last newsletter was sent out. First of all this week, March 20-28, Justin is home with us for one week of spring break!!! What joy we are having!!! We’d planned that Jonathan would be off from school as well so that the brothers could enjoy their time together. Justin got some of his other wishes done by going to noodle shop for breakfast every morning, spending time catching up with the Copeland kids and with some of his Khmer friends from the local churches. His arrival was perfect timing as he was able to enjoy some mean games of soccer with his buddies over the weekend youth activities. And Jonathan is so thrilled to be with his brother again, and he is especially happy, this week, that he is off from school. Although Jonathan will be 8 years old on April 9th, we are celebrating his birthday, this week, for Justin’s sake. Justin (8th grade) speaks highly of his school and the exciting experiences he has with friends and teachers at Dalat, and he has much love and respect for his new dorm parents, Harold and Lilian Chan. Just knowing that Justin is happy where he is brings great joy to our hearts. Jonathan on the other hands still longs for age appropriate English speaking playmates. At the same time, however, we rejoice at the progress that Jonathan is making in school (2nd grade) as he is beginning to show more interest with his works-- an extra blessing to the home school mom! This week, we hope to go to Thailand a few days early so we could enjoy family time together before Justin returns to Dalat. We appreciate you continue to pray for our family and especially for our sons’ physical, developmental, social, and spiritual needs.

We praise God that during these past few weeks, the numbers of church attendants have been increasing significantly! As result more people are signing up for new discipleship classes. Already 14 young people are anxiously waiting for a new class (that Syna will be teaching), Christian Family, to begin in April, after Khmer New Year! Please pray that the flame of passion and desire of these new believers for learning and growing in God’s word will continue to burn in their hearts. This is one of the exciting moments for the growing ministries in Poipet!

The quarterly regional youth rally (for the northwest region) on March 8th was a big success where some 240 plus youth attended! Soeuth preached about the temptation of Jesus (Mt. 4) and he challenged the young people to stand firm on their faith and to resist temptation using the weapons they already have: the Word and the Holy Spirit living within them! Thanks for praying for the youth ministry

On Sunday afternoon of Feb. 14, after few years of patiently waiting, the believers at Ang Salaa Village finally had a regular service of their own! Over 80 people showed up including some local official representatives, and about 20 adult believers from that village! We also began children Sunday School class where over 35 children attended! It was a very meaningful event for the believers there. Phally and her husband, Moul, along with other local believers joined hand in graciously receiving and serving those who came with wonderful home made meal including BBQ Rats! We all, missionaries and MKs included, had our share of tasting grilled field rats on sticks. It tastes just like chicken! Please continue to lift this house church in prayers as the believers there are struggling in their spiritual journey; many of them have to go back and forth between and Cambodia looking for ways to financially support their families. Our missionary team mate, Kandi Lay, along with some key church leaders go there every Wednesday afternoon for Bible study and Sunday afternoon church service.

On Feb. 18, a new discipleship class, Living Water, as well as a new house church also started at Srey Moum’s house where 6 adult new believers attended! The believers there are so anxious about learning and growing in the Word that many of them had completely filled out the five lessons required for this course, all in one week time! Soeuth goes there to teach on Thursdays. Please pray for this group for spiritual strength and endurance as some issues concerning money had already taking place among the believers there.

Sometimes ago, we asked you to pray for a young lady, Jenda- (18 years old now), and for some other young believing people as they had faced strong oppositions and persecution from their unbelieving parents and other relatives. The persecutions continue for some but more so for Jenda. She is being pressured by her own parents to marry with an unbeliever, a man whom she had never met before. Please pray for courage, wisdom and opportunity as she is hoping to find time to talk to her father, this week, about her concerns. (A few years ago, through the help of some friends, Jenda became a devoted believer, and right away she was enrolled in one of the discipleship classes. But half through the course, her parents forbade her to come to church. She’d never finished that course. And recently, Jenda started to come back to church and repeated the same course where she is in the middle of it now, BUT her problem also returned, only this time, it is getting worse).

Almost all Cambodian young people are fascinated about learning English and the use of computers and enter net as preparation and guarantee for future jobs. But without proper training or warning, a number of them got stumbled onto and became hooked to pornography and other similarities. Recently, a number of young people, that we minister to, have privately come forward admitting to us their sins- (the girls to Syna and the guys to Soeuth). We are thankful that they are willing to confide their trust in us and share their concerns. Many of them come from broken families and they are being exposed, daily, to violence, crimes, sex, and the many other ugly parts of life from their surroundings. And many of these young people longed to have a pure and holy Christian life but they lack the resource and the examples at home. Please pray for protection for the church people and for wisdom and discernment as we are searching for ways to help them.

Please pray also for:

-Good Friday joined service, April 2
-Easter Sunday- April 4, also a joined service for all the C&MA churches in Poipet.
-April 7-10, an Annual National Youth Conference at Kampong Cham Province, (about a day drive from Poipet). We are expecting at least 60 youth from Poipet will go. We are asked to teach a seminar about Choosing Your Future Mate. Pray for safety for al that will be traveling there, for us
adequate time and wisdom for preparing the lesson.
-Continue to pray for the church construction building. Although through some divine interventions, we got the permission to build the building, the process of having the land deed correctly change is still in a slow working progress.

Because He Lives,

Soeuth, Syna, Justin and Jonathan Lao