Isaiah 7:14
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel
We are now almost in week 3 of December. Preparations for various Christmas events and activities are well underway. But often, the reality of this season is not what we hope to strive for. The commercialism of Christmas sneaks in. Unexpected events occur. Year end tasks pile up. Busyness consumes us.
Distractions…they can take away from the true meaning of Christmas. Some distractions can take away from what we are doing as it eats up our time and energy. They pull us away from the message that Jesus Christ, chose to come to earth – Emmanuel – God with Us.
Recently, we’ve noticed extra random distractions creeping in such as mice living in our car and needing to clean it out; a task proving to be much more difficult than originally thought. Unexpected illnesses and the time it takes to recover and function normally. Or mundane things like broken door locks and having to find a locksmith to come fix it.
One more serious item for many, that pulls the attention away from the focus upon Jesus this Christmas is the border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia in the north and north western borders of Cambodia. While we are a safe distance away from the actual locations in conflict, (6+hrs drive away), more than 200,000 Cambodians have been displaced, having fled their homes for safety. There have also been hundreds of thousands of Thais who have been displaced. We have heard from colleagues, local brothers and sisters in Christ, and others, about their fears and uncertainty. However, we have also been reminded that the message of peace on Earth and great joy for all people has extra significance this year. There is an opportunity, no there is a need to share this message to all those who do not yet have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Praise God that 12 young people prayed to accept Jesus at a recent city-wide Vietnamese Christmas event that Dave had the opportunity to speak at.
In this season that is supposed to be about remembering the Hope that Christ brought to us over 2000 years ago, will you pray with us? Pray that even through all the distractions, the message of hope and peace of Jesus Christ will shine brightly to all. Pray that the Church will show compassion and love for all who are affected. Pray for the opportunities for the Gospel of Jesus Christ to be shared and accepted. Pray that the true meaning of Christmas is revealed even through the many distractions.
Thank you for your partnership in the work that God is doing across the world. May the Lord bless you richly for your faithfulness.
With love and gratitude,
David, Joyce, Jadon, Elisabeth and Josiah
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- Pray for a resolution of lasting peace for the border conflict.
- Pray for all the displaced families to find peace and safety.
- Pray for the Cambodian and Thai government to have wisdom in all their decision making.
- Pray for the local churches and schools as they have their Christmas outreach programs these next 2 weeks.
- Praise God that Jadon will be spending Christmas vacation with us after his semester 1 exams
Joshua Project – Vietnamese in Cambodia: https://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/12700/CB
Nguyens in Cambodia Facebook: www.facebook.com/djnguyen.ca
The Alliance Canada Global Ministries page: https://thealliancecanada.ca/global-ministries
The Alliance Canada Bio Page: https://thealliancecanada.ca/gift/david-and-joyce-nguyen
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