Dear Friends,
           "We wait in hope for the Lord; He is our help and shield.  In Him our hearts rejoice
                 For we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord,
              Even as we put our hope in you."                                     Psalm 33:20-22
 
After our 3 months of home assignment, the question that came to our minds was, "What is there in Cambodia that makes us want to go back again?"  Here are our answers to that question:  the joy of serving people for the Lord; the fellowship with the Cambodians; the compassion that God puts in people's hearts in order to serve in cross cultural ministry; and finally, because we need to spread the good news to the Cambodian people in order for them to be saved.

We wait with our hope in the Lord

Part of our home assignment was in the U.S.  It was our joy to get to know Margaret Nelson's father and to be with Jim & Margaret during our time in the US.  We were very blest by their lives showing how to lead a simple life on this earth. Their lives became a blessing to us as newer missionaries on the field.

We desired a single entry to visit the place that we'd dreamed of, but God gave us the big hope of getting a multiple entry U.S visa. We were very happy since God prepared everything for our entry - it's because we put our hope in the Lord, and not in people.

We visited the Golden Gate Bridge with the Nelsons.  I had seen only a picture before this, on a notebook that my mom gave when I was a child.  I really treasured sooo much in my life that I was able to see the real Golden Gate in California. We saw it!  Also, we had not anticipated visiting the famous Disneyland because of the high price of entrance, but God provided everything for a one day visit.  We enjoyed so much the rides, the live show of Aladdin, and the parades. We took a lot of pictures! The rides were soo scary but fun. We thought that Disneyland is only for children to enjoy, but we were wrong! We enjoyed every place that we visited. So in Him our hearts rejoice!!!! We thank the people who contributed financial support for our trip in the U.S.

God is our helper and our shield

When we arrived in Cambodia on July 8, it was just three weeks until the election for Prime Minister. We were advised by the Philippine Embassy not to stay out late, and to be extra careful because of so many robbers and thieves in the city.  Another thing was to be prepared for what might happen during the election.  There was also a disagreement between Cambodian and Thailand over the ancient temple at Preah Vihear.   Many Cambodian soldiers were sent to the border area, but God answered our prayers for peace.  All the Christians drew near to God and asked for peace and reconciliation. God is our helper and  our shield.

We trust in his holy name

Now that we are  back in Cambodia, everything has increased, even the rent of our apartment. All commodities, gasoline,  and materials are high.  But it's not only in Cambodia, but the entire world that is suffering the price hikes. All we have to do is to cling to God's presence and appreciate what God does for us every time we really need Him.

During our first two weeks' stay in Cambodia. we encountered difficulty in processing our building permit because of the election. The Canadian team was supposed to build a building on our land in Phnom Penh Thmei, but unfortunately the permit papers were not ready so they could build.  So, instead, the team painted the walls of the House of Love and they paved the pathway there.. We want to thank Jim Snider from Canada, who led the team to come to Cambodia. Until now the permit for the building is still in process; we are waiting and hoping that it will be released the 1st week of Sept. We trust God for all these things. The price of materials has doubled and also the price of the land.

Takhmau ministry-

The new owner of the house that we have been renting was going to sell the house, but they told us that if we wanted to continue renting the house, the owner would increase the rent by 35% of the current price. We thought of moving out and finding a place for the 3rd time, but Barnabas could not find a cheaper place.  Everything is very expensive. But we praise God that the owner of the house was not able to sell it, and gave us a chance to stay again for another year.  The missionary team is praying for a place or a piece of land to buy within this year, depending on God's provision and His  will.  That's why we need your prayers to continue the ministry.

Kampot Church

The team was anxious about the condition of Kampot church, as no people were coming to the church for worship any more. We visited the church right away  after we arrived, and stayed there for two days and slept in the church. We did house to house visitation, and that Sunday we had 16 people who came. The next Sunday we went again to Kampot and visited the members, and we praise the Lord because 40 people came on that Sunday for worship.  Somnang, our Bible student from the Wesleyan school, helped with us in the Kampot ministry. We have prayer meeting every Saturday evening, and Sunday morning we have our visitation, while in the afternoon is our worship. We joined them in planting rice. The 1st week of July the fields were dry.  They requested us to pray for rain. and on that Sunday we prayed for the rain.   Praise the Lord because God gave us rain, and we were able to plant rice!. We are very happy that the members know how to trust and ask God for the rain.  Every year they ask God to bring rain for them when it is time to plant rice in the field. You can hear the frogs are happy during evenings.  We saw a lot of children catching frogs and fish for food in the rice fields.

We thank God for answering prayers for His children. When we went to visit the members, they were very happy to receive us in their houses, and on that day we were able to eat fried chicken twice [lunch and supper]. We saw it being caught during the day, which was really hard but they were happy to serve it to us. The next time of visitation that we had was abundantly supplied with guava and coconut. People in Kampot have big hearts to give.  We are very happy to see a life change because of God.  We miss the fellowship in Kampot church.

For two  months we've been back here in Cambodia, and we were able so far to visit Gideon, Joseph, Jairus, Kung Ty and Barnabas. We were able to sit down with some of them and pray about the different ministries that they have, and also the struggles that they have. When you listen to them, it really breaks your heart. We all have to trust in God and more time to pray to Him in times of difficulty.

Upcoming Events

In September we will have teachers' training for all ages from different churches, and we are expecting 60 people to join.  Right now, Grace is the one who prepared the lessons for translation.  The Christian Education Committee planned for this and Grace is the chairman.

Every Saturday afternoon of September, the Evangelism Committee will have training and at the end of September they are going to Coconut village to practice. They need to do evangelism in that place.

The Bible school students are being trained to help ministry in the local churches:  Somnang in Kampot, Thy Venn in Kampong Cham, Srey Mom in Kampot (to work with the children), Silar in Prek Thei, and Sophany in Takhmau, as well as during week days teaching music in Koh Ksachtunlea East.

Sept. 1-2,  the university students will go to Kampot FMC for a retreat. They are going to sleep in the church.

Prayer Requests:

1. Pastor's training in Oct. with Dan Sheffield, at Kampong Chnang
2. Evangelism training every Saturday in September
3. Sept. 1-2 university students' retreat at Kampot church
4. Our Churches and pastors - for protection
5. For Samuel Sar's strength, and provision to pay back the operation expenses that they borrowed
6. Protection to travel everyday while using the motorcycle
7. Protection from different diseases - typhoid, malaria and dengue are rampant in the villages and city
8. Strength for all the pastors and missionaries
9. Our daughter in the Phils. who has applied for a job in the UK
10. For our churches and members to have good health and provision for needs.
11. For the university students' spiritual growth
12. Plans for Men and Women's Camp next year
13. Teacher's training for all ages Sept. 24-26, 2008 [Facilitators]

Your missionaries on the field,
Joel and Grace Margin