Day 1…

“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, His Love endures forever” Psalm 136:1

And it begins!!!! Today was our first official day of ministry in Siem Reap and a full, busy and great day it was.  We started the day attending Phsar Leu Church of the KEC in the morning.  The KEC, or Khmer Evangelical Church, is the name of the C&MA national church here in Cambodia. So in the future when you see KEC, you can just think of C&MA Cambodia national church if that makes it easier.  Phsar Leu Church is an important ministry partner for our C&MA team here in Cambodia.  Their leadership has especially been a great blessing in supporting the ministry at Samaki Church.  As you pray for us and Samaki church, please also remember to pray for Pastor Phearum and Phsar Leu Church.

After church we tagged along for coffee and lunch with a short-term team from Deer Park Church in Red Deer, Alberta.  They are here helping out with 2 of the Language Exchange camps that will take place over the next 2 weeks.  Our kids, especially our daughter Elisabeth, are over the moon thrilled to be able to hang out with them later this week.  They said that Jadon and Elisabeth can be “helpers” this week so they feel pretty special now. Thanks Deer Park for helping to put some extra smiles on our kids’ faces.

Finally, after lunch we made our way to Samaki Church. We arrived 1 hour before the start of service and there were already about 20 children playing in the small front yard.  They were happily playing Uno, jump rope or just chasing each other around. At one point, one little boy fruitlessly tried complaining to Joyce that another child had hit him but little did he know that she did not speak Vietnamese. 

Our role this week is really to be observers. All we wanted to do was introduce ourselves and begin learning from those at Samaki who have been leading the ministry up to this point. There is still so much for us to learn and we feel like we are back to being students again. We need to learn everything from more of the Khmer and Vietnamese languages to the different bible study materials that are being used.  On top of that, we are trying to learn names and the individual personal stories of those who we will be serving and serving alongside. 

Please pray for us especially over the next few weeks as we we juggle ministry at Samaki Church as well as visiting short-term teams from C&MA Canada churches. 

Please continue to prayer for us in the coming weeks:

• Praise God for a tiring but refreshing first day of ministry.
• Pray for Pastor Phearum and Mike Schmidt who are leading the Language Exchange Camps these next 2 weeks.
• Pray for the 3 short-term teams coming from Canada to help with the Language Exchange Camps.
• Pray for Meng and the other leaders at Samaki Vietnamese Church as we begin to partner with them. Pray for clear communication and understand amidst the language barriers. 
• Pray for our children as they tag along with us in our ministry these next few weeks.  
• Pray for physical and spiritual health for our team.

Thanks again for journeying with us!

Dave, Joyce, Jadon, Elisabeth, & Josiah.