It’s
been a busy few months since last I wrote. Mostly striving along in my
language studies and taking care of the many problems that come up
living beyond the “last homely home”.
Dr. Len Pine stopped by the beginning of May for a working visit on his way through Asia. You can read his travel blog here
and learn all about our time together. It’s always a special treat
when such a good friend stops by and makes you take a few days to
relax, see the sights and debrief. While I won’t duplicate his
excellent blogs (not even the one I helped tweak... ;-) I would like to
ask you to pray for a few special things.
With the Government reminding the world that this is officially a Buddhist country (95%) and that public postalizing is illegal
a number of Christian ministries have had to be curtailed and some
Christians are suffering harassment or outright persecution, often from
their own families. Many have been prepared by scripture to undergo this
but it is still causing much sorrow. Please be in prayer for them and
their witness, especially to their families.
I
have been teaching an English language Bible study to Cambodians at a
local Korean church for a couple months. It’s been a real blessing to
me and, with the Lords help, I hope a blessing to the students. I’d
like to be doing it at my place but it is not really suitable for that
kind of work. (I live in a 4th floor
western style apartment with good security.) As a result I am looking
for a place suitable to long term mission work. Either a House with a
yard (walled compound) or a “flat” which is the Cambodian version of a
townhouse. Please pray that, if it be the Lord’s will, that I find an
affordable, suitable place. Pray also that God would bless and
students will come to my Bible study and eventual Church services at my
place.
Security is
one of the big reasons I didn’t do that last year. My apartment has 24
hour security. (a man who lives in the car park and opens the gate)
In my own place I would have periodic issues with thieves scaling the
building to check all the doors and windows. Another missionary I know
got robbed twice in the year he lived in Phnom Penh in the kind of
place I’m looking for. Pray that I find a place with better security.
(I’ll “blog” it with photo’s when I find one.)
Many
people have sold fields in the countryside to investors and land
speculators and used the money to come to the city. As a result prices
on moto’s. cars and houses, including rentals, have skyrocketed in the
last six months. The Prime Minister has tried to discourage this
behavior but I suspect a bust may follow the current boom when people
have spent their money on good living.
Pray
also that I won’t have any difficulties with the police or the Ministry
of Cults. I’m told I won’t need to register my church work until I
have 30 “members”. I’m also told “they” will come by looking for
“fees” on a regular basis. That could be a real issue for me as I’m
uncomfortable with the concept.
The
“End of Warrantee” detector went off within a month of the warrantee's
end and my new laptop failed no longer boots. I had backups but it
still cost me a lot of time. The local witch doctors say it is the
motherboard/cpu and must be sent away for repair. Could cost a fortune
and be very difficult to do from here. (Shipping alone would be $150
or so each way!) As a result I went to “The Dark Side” and bought a
little MacBook from one of the two local dealers who claim to be
“Authorized” resellers even though they don’t show up on the Apple
site. The price was about what I’d pay in the US so I can’t complain.
It has set me back a bit in time and productivity wise but should be
worth it in the end.
Pray
also for me in the heat. The heart is willing but the flesh is week.
In all my running around on my moto looking to fix my old pc, buy a new
pc and replace a broken printer in the last couple weeks I spent
too much time in the sun. (Even ran out of water on one occasion) I had to
cancel class one day due to a heat/sun related migraine. This has
happened only rarely since I am so careful but it does happen.
Praise God for His many (undeserved) mercies. Both to me and to the Christians here. Pray that we would have strength to “Fight the good fight” and “Run the race” set before us.
