Dear Friends and Family,

Greetings from Yufuin, Japan. Yufuin is several hundred kilometers from Nagasaki on the island of Kyushyu.

USA

Yuko and I have one more service to attend on deputation before returning home to Cambodia. In the USA we had the opportunity to share at just over twenty churches. We also had the chance to speak at a Toastmasters group and a Japanese fellowship group. Two of the invitations we received had us sharing at three-day local mission conferences. Three prayer breakfasts each week were also a great time of growth in spirit and in girth. We spent Thanksgiving with Mom Wilkins, and an assortment of siblings. Christmas was spent at the West Virginia Wilkins, and New Years day was spent with a niece and nephews, plus their mother, Elaine, and other friends and relatives. We had four glorious months of good food and great fellowship during which we saw family, old friends, and made many new acquaintances. Doug and Joan Steward enlivened our stay by giving catnip to our felines. Doug, a collector, entertained us with a blinking tie and a hat that danced. I found in him a kindred spirit. Our friends, the Heeks, took us to view the Autumn leaves which was a big thrill for Yuko. They also supplied the aforementioned felines, and feed us often. We had many positive experiences. Our first church visit on deputation took us to the first established Free Methodist Church, in Albion, New York. One of our last services in New York had us

traveling on the expressway during a snowstorm. It was the day Sadaam Hussein was captured. During our travels several folks were interested in becoming Childcare sponsors, and we were able to hook them up with sponsor children. One couple, an international marriage of an American and a Thai, want to sponsor a child in Cambodia.

JAPAN

While in Japan we were able to deliver a present from a Cambodian mother to her son who is living in Japan and is married to a Japanese woman. We visited the Free Methodist churches in Tamagawa Gakuen Mae

and Kusanagi, which I worked at eleven and twelve years ago, respectively. We visited one of my students, Chie, who was in the fourth grade then, she is now almost finished college. Masahiro is a Japanese man I met in Mongolia with whom I've kept in touch over the years. We'd not rendezvoused for more than five years so it was great to see him again, too. We also stayed with Yuko's parents who live in a mountainous region in northern Kyushyu.

All the above is just a sampling of our many blessings. We were blessed and encouraged by the Lord and the brethren. One super piece of news was hearing that the group in a village near Kompot we were working with had over ninety baptisms in December.

CAMBODIA

Well, we are back in Cambodia. Within an hour of our being here I managed to steal someone's suitcase (I returned it), and find a dead mouse in the house. In our first three days here we rented a house in Kampong Cham, and bought a truck. Not all the funds are in yet, but we put up the money until it does. Let me say she is a beauty--a 1997 Toyota Tacoma that sits high, has four-wheel drive, good paint, air conditioning and a small price tag--$4.000.00. It will be our multi-purpose vehicle.

KAMPONG CHAM

The house has a first and second floor. The first floor has a room large enough to use for a sanctuary, a kitchen, and three offices, or bedrooms when work/mission teams visit. There are also three outdoor toilets. Upstairs is another kitchen (which means it is a room with a water spigot), two bedrooms and a large living room. I already have a puppy picked out (it was the only one left) from Ti's litter, the dog at Saraa's house. We'll continue to use Saraa's house for services because it is a Khmai family home and doesn't have the feel of a foreign institution. We'll use our place for language classes, special events, and services during the rainy season.

I met one of Saraa's neighbors yesterday. He has only one hand. He has a small horse, likes soccer and his name is Naim (pronounced "name"). Also, one of the fellows at the gas stand is Sari. One of the girls working there asked who we were when we drove in so I told her we were a "Church on the Mekong." It had a good sound to it, don't you think.

We had a great service yesterday in Kampong Cham. The folks are increasing in number and more are remembering the songs. A bunch of young people hung around after the service to fellowship and talk about faith related problems. It is as if a new baby were born to the Kingdom.

CLOSING

Cambodia still has a host of social, health, economic and political problems. Please keep it in your prayers. We plan on moving this Friday, February 6th. We could use prayer for the move and all it entails. We also need to tackle language study again and need grace in that area.

Yuko and I want to thank you for making so much possible with your prayers, encouragement and gifts. We've been sick since we got here, caught something in Japan, but we're gaining on it every day. We appreciate you.

Love, Chris and Yuko

Ps. One of the districts of Genesee Conference of the Free Methodist Church is considering a trip to Cambodia for November or December. They hope to have an evangelistic Christmas program for villages. This will have to be coordinated and approved by the team here and the Asian Pacific Free Methodist Mission Association, first, but regardless of the outcome it is great to see another conference wanting to get involved in Cambodia.

One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in his Temple. Psalm 27:4