Hope…

Luke 2:10 – 12
“But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

It’s hard to believe that Christmas is in under 3 weeks.  We are right in the midst of the Advent Season. We celebrate the Hope, Peace, Joy and Love that is found with the birth of Jesus Christ. Last week, we had the opportunity to share about hope with those that we minister amongst.  Hope is a very interesting and difficult topic to talk about these days.  Many are feeling hopeless as we approach the end of 2020. While Cambodia as a whole has not been as affected by COVID to the degree of many other nations, Siem Reap, the city that we live in, has been affected in many ways. Many businesses, including hotels and restaurants, have closed, many closing for good.  Once the tourist capital of Cambodia, Siem Reap’s tourist areas are now bare and quiet.  The trickle-down effect of the lack of tourism effects everyone here, including most of those that we work with.  They are finding it much harder to earn a living and for many, they are truly living day to day.  But what surprises me is that when we ask what they have to be thankful for, they will still say, “good health and that they have enough for each day.”

So, this Christmas season we have the opportunity to share the message of Hope: hope in Jesus Christ, hope in a God who loves us so much that He gave us His only begotten Son. We continue to share this message of hope, asking for people to trust upon God as their hope and not the economy or their own abilities to provide for their families.  It’s definitely a difficult message to share and bring during this time but it is a much-needed message. 

Despite all that has happened, we still have much hope and God continues to give us little glimmers of His grace that increases our hope.  Last month, we were able to celebrate with two groups who were able to finish book 1 of our Bible studies series called “Firm Foundations”.  While this study took us much much longer than expected to get through, it was a fun time of marking off some victories achieved for us and for those in the group.

This past week, unfortunately, brought with it more disappointing COVID news but we pray that the message of Hope, Peace, Joy and Love found in Jesus Christ will reach the hearts of many here in Cambodia this Christmas Season. Please pray for our team that God gives us wisdom as we look for ways to share about the birth of Christ despite not being able to have our big Christmas programs like past years.

We are grateful for the many who have reached out to us as the year ends to wish us a Merry Christmas.  Your support continues to lift our souls.  We are thankful that over the last two months we were able to connect with 8 different groups in Canada to share about our ministry.  It was a busy very time, but it refreshed us to be able to be a part of many of your churches back in Canada.  We thank you for your partnership with us in raising up leaders for the Vietnamese Church in Cambodia.  Please continue to pray with us:

• Pray for us as we share the message of Hope, Peace, Joy and Love found in Jesus Christ this Christmas season
• Pray some of our leaders who have become discouraged over the last few months.
• Pray for the children in the community as the public schools have been closed for the year. Pray that they will not fall too far behind due to the amount of school they have missed out on.
• Pray for the families that we have engaged with in our new social aid program. Pray that they will clearly understand what we want to achieve together with them
• Pray for those who we believe are close to receiving Christ as their personal savior. Pray against anything that is holding them back. Pray that the Holy Spirit will move in them to take the step of faith.
• Pray for our children as they are back to learning online at home with the recent school closures last week.

Thank you for continuing to journey with us in our ministry! 
Blessings, 
          
Dave, Joyce, Jadon, Elisabeth and Josiah.

Hooray, visas are renewed so we are good to stay in Cambodia for another year.