This very day in King David's hometown a Savior was born for you.  He is Christ the Lord - Luke 2:11

Warm Christmas greetings in the name of our Lord Christ Jesus.  May God's peace be with you all, and His strength for you unto the new year.

There are no public holidays for Christmas in Cambodia.  However, I can see lots of decorations around the city, especially inside the malls and hotels.  Most Cambodians think that it is one of the festivals when they can have fun, without knowing the exact meaning of Christmas.  On the other hand, there are many foreigners working here who will take a good break to return to their homeland for Christmas.

Festivals help to gather people for celebration.  Our churches also grasp this opportunity to reach out to our neighbors and friends.  Even though the Takhmau FMC is a small church (only about 20+ regular attendants), the young members are very excited to organize everything in order to convey the Good News in that area.  I thank God that they cooperated with each other and were very creative to prepare and carry out the program. Moreover, I praise the Lord that I can also share the meaning of Christmas, especially to the newcomers, even though my Khmer is so inadequate.  I can see how God blessed their efforts in the following ways:

The number of attendants

There were more than 80 people (maybe around 100) that came to our Christmas 'party'. They were very attentive to various parts of the program, with joy and excitement.  Many of them were young people and they got along well with our members, especially at the time of playing games like blowing the powder, chewing lemons and the like.  Even during my part of preaching, they did not leave their seats or talk to others (locals usually react like this if they are not interested). 

5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes

When we estimated the budget for the program, we only used $20 from the church funds for the food, and each of us also contributed $0.50 to support the expenses.  God was gracious because we had enough for the food (for 80 people), gifts, decorations, photocopies and everything.  God's provision is much more than what we expected.

The encouragement

Some young members from the Phnom Penh church also participated and presented some Christmas songs for the congregation.  I saw a beautiful picture of mutual support and caring between the churches.  One thing they have in common is to fulfill the calling of God and proclaim His love to the world.  May God continue to bless our churches in Cambodia to unite together in fulfilling the Great Commission of our Lord Christ Jesus.

Festivals are the means to bridge the distance between people.  Christmas is also a bridge to let the world know our Savior's love and sacrifice.

Prayer points

• Thank the Lord that we have the freedom to celebrate Christmas in Cambodia.  May God use us as a tool to proclaim His peace to our neighborhoods.
• Pray for safe travel for the Spring Arbor University students coming to visit Hong Kong and Cambodia
• The piglet scheme at Coconut village now has only 7 piglets left (5 more died), out of an original total of 27.  Please pray for the local committee for their faith and perseverance
• Thank the Lord that I have a new Khmer teacher who is very serious about my pronunciation
• Pray for my strength to attend lots of meetings and prepare sermons in Khmer