Dear Friends,

Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and future."

Every time we are about to leave for our home assignment it seems like there is always bad news that another of our loved ones has passed away. Death to Christians is victory. Even though in March I missed seeing my older sister again, who had a good journey with the Lord, God strengthened us and gave us comfort and courage when we had this time of sorrow. God is really faithful though there are sorrows in our lives. We want to praise the Lord for giving us hope to see her again someday.

For nearly four months we stayed in the Philippines with relatives, friends, church members and co-pastors, and we were so happy to share with them the work and victories that we have had in Cambodia. We were able to visit the small churches and promote missions. Maybe you have read the news of the possible impeachment of the president of the Philippines, but we want to pray to God for more wisdom for her to tackle the allegations against her. When we got back to Cambodia we read in the prayer requests about praying for the President in the Philippines.

After being back in Cambodia for two weeks, we've noticed a lot of changes! We saw a lot of traffic lights installed and beautiful houses being built and the roads were being repaired . We've heard talk about the economy going down because of fuel prices going up so fast in Cambodia, and prices of all the different commodities are so high as well. Then there are bombings everywhere. When we think of all these things, we ask ourselves if these are the last days! Because of all these happenings, it's easy for us to preach to the Cambodians about how to prepare themselves.

Last Sunday, we went to Kaoh Ksachtunlea West and attended the worship service. There were a number of problems, all different from each other. Some are sick, and the pastor, Sophat, has been very ill for almost a month. He said he went to the doctor, but they cannot find the reason why he is swelling. When he urinates, there is always blood, and he suffers from a backache. The problem here in Cambodia is that when people get sick, they just buy herbal medicine (which is more affordable). They don't even think of going to the doctor since they have nothing to pay the doctor. We have a lot of members who are praying for God's healing. We hope you would include them in your prayers too.

Vacation Bible School for the children is fast approaching and we need you to pray for the children who will be crossing the Bassac river by boat. We have 56 teachers being trained to teach in four different places. So, we really need your prayers. August 5 and 6 is the final preparation workshop together with Snohomish team and two Chinese from Hong Kong who are coming to help the ministry. At the same time, Teen Missions International Boot Camp training will be going on and then they will go out to work and evangelize.

This coming Saturday July 16 ,2005 we will have a Pastors and leaders fellowship along with a Continuing education seminar for 6 hours. They are going to study about Hinduism and Islam, and Brother Nop Sokha will teach on that day. Please pray for wisdom for him.

Please pray for the transition period of the missionaries in Cambodia since the Nelsons are leaving on Sept. 1 and Rebecca is having her three months home assignment starting August 6, plus another new VISA missionary is coming to replace the Nelsons. Her name is Michele Hagen.

We are going to open the House of Peace in Sept., and we are going to start the building for it this week. So, we really need more people to pray for the ministry in Cambodia. We really need the strength and wisdom from the Lord to carry on this task. We hope and are reassured of your prayers since we really need that everyday.

Kampot is still going on and alive. We are going there every Saturday and come back to Phnom Penh in the afternoon. Pray for a leader in that place. Right now, we aren't focusing our ministry in Takhmau since Barnabas can do it without us now. However, pray for wisdom as he leads the young people so that more souls would be brought to Jesus by using the music lessons and English classes. Now that it is vacation time they want to study guitar and music and reading musical notation.

Please pray for compassion and patience to do the tasks day by day. There are a lot of meetings and a lot to accomplish in the field, with problems in different churches.

Prayer requests:

• More souls to bring to Christ this year
• Church growth among the different churches
• Zeal and compassion among the leaders to share the gospel
• Poverty - which sometimes can hinder in serving the Lord
• Sincerity and unity in being a part of the family of God
• Wisdom for a new job description for us
• Our daughter - that she can pass the exam for her nursing license next year
• Children to come for VBS, and protection
• Wisdom for the teachers to teach, and good health
• Good weather next month for VBS
• Wisdom for the VBS directors in four places - Prek Thei, Kaoh Ksachtunlea East, Phnom Penh, and Kampong Cham

Warmest Blessings,
Joel and Grace Margin