Dear Friends and Family,

The days are flying so fast! We have just celebrated Cambodian Thanksgiving, but not with turkey.  We had fruit and roasted pig! We bought two pigs for the Thanksgiving celebration at Phnom Penh Free Methodist church, but sad to say, two days before the celebration one of the pigs died.  Boo hoo. The one pig left had to shared between 60 to 70 people. We want to thank the Lord for preserving one pig.

We need to thank the Lord everyday no matter what circumstances come our way.  We need to learn how to say, "Thank you, Lord!"  Other people ask, why do Cambodians have to celebrate Thanksgiving? Even though this is a western practice, God asks us to thank Him in everything. We need to thank the Lord for His greatness and provision.  There were people who brought sugar cane, a bunch of bananas, green mangoes, dragon eyes, jackfruit, papaya, grapefruit, and young coconut to decorate the church. Wow! The church was full of fruit decorations!

On the following Sunday, Prek Thei church celebrated Thanksgiving. Members and young people brought different kinds of fruit. A lot of people enjoyed eating the fruit after the worship.

December is for Fellowship

Here comes December!  In Luke 2:14 we read, " Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to all whom God favors."

Last Sunday, we joined the Christmas celebration at Kampot Free Methodist Church. They made a Cambodian dish named " Noumban chouk" (made of white noodles and curry). It took thirty kilos of white noodles to serve everybody. This Cambodian dish is easy to prepare during festivals and special occassions.

We enjoyed joining with them to celebrate Christmas here in Cambodia. They always have the manger story, and this is also an opportunity of sharing the gospel. We had Bible quizzing after the manger story. Those who got the correct answer got a reward.

We have been the recipient of love nowadays because during Christmas celebration, members cooked "sticky rice" (made of coconut milk and sugar from the palm tree).  It's really delicious! We remember in the Philippines when we have had sticky rice during Christmas. 

God is really good because after the Christmas celebration, the rice field is ready for harvest. They harvest only once a year. They always bring and share rice with the church for Thanksgiving or for Christmas. They thanked the Lord for the rain. God is great!  For a week we enjoyed cold weather in Cambodia. We saw the university students wearing their jackets and caps. The breeze was cold

Christmas Choir

Grace organized a youth chior and taught them Christmas songs. We will do a presentation at every church that invites us to come. We will sing Christmas songs with narration. Grace plays the ukelele and sings with the Choir too.  Our first presentation was at Kampot Church.

In the month of December, it is a privilege to share the gospel with the Cambodians. This season is sharing God's love to other people and showing them the story of JESUS. We have been blessed in Phnom Penh by having the Hagar orphanage boys join the choir and be faithful to practice, (Hagar is a local NGO with a number of ministries, including an orphanage.) Our month of December is full of visiting churches, preaching, evangelizing, and eating too.  It is full of opportunities to share the gospel.

A few weeks ago, we celebrated the university students' Parents Day at Phnom Penh church. There were 26 mothers and 4 fathers who came from different Free Methodist churches.  Each student prepared a gift for his or her parents. Some students cried when they gave their testimonies of how thankful they are because God gave them the chance to go to college with the help of brothers and sisters outside the country. They recognized God's greatness and provision.

LOVE is....

Thank you for all your prayers and the LOVE you pass on to us. We always have been the recipients of that love and those blessings in so many ways from each of you through your faithful prayers and sacrificial support. May the love of God continue to flow to each and every one of us. We are very happy that friends arround the world pray for us and the ministry in Cambodia. That's what LOVE is......   how you have learned to give to missions:

• because of love you learned how to sponsor our students to send them to college
• because of love you learned how to support children in our three centers.
• because of love you learned how to pray for your missionaries across the miles.

Isn't that great and wonderful?

Because of love our daughter passed the nursing board exam because you prayed for her.

Home Assignment

Next year, as part of our home assignment, we will visit friends in California and Washington who have really prayed for the ministry in Cambodia. They are our partners in the ministry. God's time is the best time. We didn't think of getting a multiple entry visa. Our prayer was to pass the interview, not to get a multiple entry visa. They didn't even ask about property we owned or for the invitations from the churches! God is almighty.  Thanks to the Nelsons, who gave effort to send and instruct us how to do it, the US Embassy didn't give us a hard time applying. Hopefully, with God's provision we can stay in the US for five weeks and after that we will go to the Philippines for two months of our deputation. PTL!

This is our prayer for all of us this month of celebrating the birth of Jesus.....that the GLORY OF GOD will shine upon us and that we will all truly focus on adoring HIM this blessed season.

We will always remember your love, and treasure it also, for you are all PRECIOUS PARTNERS in the LORD!

GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST! PEACE ON EARTH TOWARDS MEN!

Pray for:

• God's protection over the Christmas celebrations in all different churches
• A place for the Wilkins family to live after they return on January 5
• The missionary team's unity.
• Spiritual growth and God's direction for the university students and parents
• Bible studies every Tuesday and Thursday
• Saturday Pastor's training
• Members at Kampot Free Methodist church and the Kampong Cham ministry.
• The young professionals' Bible study and fellowship once a month
• English worship for the students twice a month
• That Isaac can find a job within Phnom Penh
• Samuel Sar, who has been hospitalized twice already this month with severe vomiting.
• Dec 15 - pastors' training, and young professional fellowship in the evening
• Dec 16 - Takmhao Free Methodist church Christmas celebration
• Dec. 22 - Universty students join with the ladies.
• Dec. 23 - Treuyslaa FMC Christmas celebration
• Dec 25 - Kampong Cham Christmas celebration
• Dec.29 - Pastors' and leaders' Christmas celebration with the families.
• Dec. 29 - all evangelical churches invited the VIPs from the government to join a celebration.
• Dec. 30 - Prek Thei, Phnom Penh, and Kaoh Ksachtunlea East Christmas celebration.

Love and prayers,
Joel and Grace