November Updates

 

Dear Friends,

Thanks so much for praying for the flood situation in Poipet.  After three full days of heavy rains, and while most parts of the Poipet town were covered with flood, we left Poipet to vist Justin for a week, knowing full well that the damage would be very severe once we'd come back.  When we got back from Malaysia, a week later, the roads in Poipet were still muddy and filled with puddles.  And as predicted, all vegetations and thousands of hectares of rice fields (in the northwest regions) were destroyed!  Normally, the rice farmers started to prepare fields for transplanting at the beginning of the rainy season (June to August); once the fields are prepared and the rice is transplanted, the farmers would wait, with much anticipation, hoping and praying for the good crops at the harvest time (November and December).  But this year, however, the recent flood had brought nothing but devastating and despair. 

In some areas, in respond to the needs, rice donations from local Red Cross have been (supposedly equally) distributed to the villagers affected by the flood.  But because of a corrupted system, already, some village leaders and local town officials are fearful for their lives.  (This requires some explanations).  Often, in respond emergency needs, local NGOs (non-government organizations) or local Red Cross would send out donations (mostly rice) to the affected victims.  There should be a set amount of rations to be given out, equally, to each needy family, according with the numbers of family members.  Yet, in reality, this method only appears in paper/ record.  Local community leaders are supposed to sent list of family names and request for certain amount of donation.  Once this request is agreed, donors would send out truck loads of rice bags to designated areas.  But, as we've seen and heard of repeatedly, however, that once the trucks left the towns or villages, those same bags of rice are immediately sold in local markets.  To get the much needed rice, the poor will still have to buy it, at a cheaper price (than regular price for rice), from the market!  This unjust practice took place so often enough, especially at remote villages, that the angry villagers are driven to take laws into their own hands!  And if the donation is actually given out at all, it often took place at the local Buddhist temples or at the villager leaders' houses where Christians are often neglected or not included at all. 

This past Sunday, we had a privilege to visit the Ang Salaa house church where the church families came together for a joyous celebration with a potluck meal following the church service.  During the service there were many opportunities for people to offer their prayer requests and praises.  One lady was very thankful to God, that last week flood, during the time of need when she and her family had no money left to buys food for the next meal, God allowed her son to find a few extra fat frogs so she could prepare a tasty meal for her hungry family! 

Immediately following the service, while the ladies we busy getting the meal ready, we were invited to lead a couple, Ang and Chin, to Thmai Kloun - (give their lives to Jesus).  This couple had heard about Jesus through beleivers in Ang Salaa (like Pholly and Moul- owners of the house where the church meets) and had been wanted to come to Christ for a long time, but were hesitant due to fear.  Finally, on Sunday (Oct. 31-- Halloween’s Day) they'd decided to give their lives completely to Jesus allowing Him to be their Lord and Savior!  With their permission, we cut off two spirit strings from around their waists, helped the couple removed fetishes, shrines, and other worship articles from high places, and had those worshipped articles were burned to the ground-- in front of their friends and neighbors!  It was a joyous moment for the couple, as the wife, Naat, had stated in her own words that, "I feel like a huge burden has been lifted off my shoulders!"  Please pray for this couple as they would soon face persecutions (because of the decision), no doubts, from their unbelieving relatives and neighbors.

Back at the house church, everyone was busy spreading plastic tarps and mats on the ground and putting food on dishes.  A number of families had brought many different kinds of desserts and dishes of simple yet very delicious home cooked food including curry stuffing grilled frogs!   It is a great and humble experience for us to dine with local villagers, a great reminder for us to appreciate and be thankful for the many blessings that God has generously given us, daily.  The true is, we were sad by the devastating results of the recent flood.  Without warning, the flood came and did much damage, but our home was spared!  And yet, hundreds of families out there did not share the same blessing as we.  This is a very hard and testing time for all of us, and we may not have all the answers, but we can only trust in the ONE who knows the plans He has for us...  As you are celebrating Thanksgiving at the end of this month, please take a moment to count many blessing He has done in you life.  What are you thankful for this year?

As mentioned earlier, we did go and visit Justin for a week (Oct. 18-25) at Dalat School where Justin had a 4-day break from school.  We had a good time catching up with Justin, had opportunities to talk with some of his teachers, and heard good reports about him which made our hearts glad.  As there were some flu bugs were spreading around the campus before we got there, during our visit, Jonathan got really sick with high fever for a few days where he had to stay in bed during that time.  And even when we got back to Poipet, a week after, all three of us got the flu bugs as well, one after another.  While at Penang, we had the chance to join the dorm family overnight trip to Highland Genting.  It was good experience for us to get to know each dorm family, watching how dorm kids and dorm parents interacted with one another.  Our observations only increases the need to pray, even more, for each of these gifted, devoted, and committed dorm parents, who willingly answered the call to serve God in caring for and loving each of the dorm children, and our son- Justin is included.  As you think of our family in prayers, will you also say a prayer for Lilian and Harold Chan as well along with their two small sons, Elim and Reuben?  Thanks.

Please pray also for the house churches along the roads to Malay areas.  Due to bad road conditions, the regular discipleship classes that meet there weekly had been postponed, one week after another.  Though the flood water is no more, the damages to most roads are great.  Pray that the new believers there would remain firm in their faith.

As always, we appreciate your prayers and support, and you partnering with us in bringing the Gospel to this part of the world.  Your faithful giving to the GCF allows us to continue serving here in Poipet.  Please share with us what God is doing in your life.

Serving Him together,

Soeuth, Syna, Justin and Jonathan Loa

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