Dear Friends and Family,

It's been a wonderful month. We hope you are enjoying the summer in spite of threats of violence and people who feel it is God's will that they kill their neighbor. Maranatha!

NEWS

The rains have finally come, but they are less than usual for the season. The elections went off without a lot of violence, but as no party received a majority, a coalition is necessary. The two smaller parties of the three major groups do not want to participate in a coalition with the present prime minister. Hun Sein, the P.M. says he will not step down. August 8th is a big day as there are expected to be demonstrations. Please keep this in your prayers. I met an interesting fellow at Psa Toul Tompong, our local market, today. He has a crocodile farm--5,000 of the little darlings. I received an invitation, and may take a group out there in the future. Yuko and I attend a Khmer Bible study every week at a nearby coffee shop. We also share the message once a month. Another Japanese missionary attends so it is nice fellowship for Yuko. We also attend a Japanese Fellowship twice a month at the homes of various Japanese in Cambodia.

PHNOM PENH CHURCH

Our meetings continue at the Mission Center. Some of our young boys are not coming recently, a combination of school tests, the rainy season, and and in one case, the phone thefts of last month(please pray for Titus to admit his wrongdoing). Every three months the ladies of all the churches gather for fellowship and a seminar. This past weekend they assembled at one of the Ksachtunlea churches, where the House of Joy Childcare Center is. Yuko and I both drove a van of our folks out there, about an hour each way. The two of us enjoy doing things together. This day we shared another experience, as both vans got a flat tire! It was a great trip because it was the first time the Phnom Penh Church ladies participated. We had several new folks go who don't usually attend services. On a sadder note, one of our members had a death in her family. Actually, two of our Cambodian Church members had their husband die of AIDS this past month. Several children are left fatherless as a result. One of the lads who comes faithfully, San, shared the news that his parents divorced this past month. He lovingly spoke without any bitterness of the situation and asked for prayer that they all stay friends in spite of the breakup. Due to some miscommunication, we stopped the stipend for Tun, one of our workers, thinking he was working in the villages. His parents, new Christians, were very upset about this as it was not the case. Tun spoke about it at our church board meeting. Please pray that the explanation and apologies be understood and accepted. Tun is a good worker and loves the Lord. He has some hurt feelings, as do his folks.

KAMPONG CHAM

This is the outreach at Sarah's home. She is our office secretary at Phnom Penh. I receive requests from members all the time. They ask if it would be okay to participate in our outreaches. I have to turn folks down on occasion because the van gets too filled up. Sopeah came to our last meeting. Her parents are Mormon and against her coming. Thank you for your prayers for her. Sarah's father, however, has not attended the last several meetings. We continue to have a dozen youngsters for the children's class, and twenty teens and adults for the English lesson and Bible study. Sureymon, Sarah's sister, does not have the money at present to continue classes at school. She has requested prayer. We usually have a fruit snack for everyone after the meeting. Last month we had an extra blessing--bullfrog!

KOMPOT

We have had little rain during our trips on the bad roads to Kompot. That is a real blessing, but we almost tore the bumper off the van when we got stuck in a hole last week. The water was almost up to my thighs. Sopea is our contact for this village. He watches over the property by the Phnom Penh Airport where the school and mission center will be built. He asked us to evangelize his uncle's village. Last week he brought his four children and then on the way back brought his uncle and nephew back to Phnom Penh. We had eleven people in the van. I need to speak to him about setting limits. Last month we broke a shock absorber because of all the weight. The meetings are going very well. The village, until three weeks ago, had no water in the fields. The first week after the rains began, the meeting had less than twenty in attendance as folks were working. Last week, however, we had over thirty folks. Every time I bring more chairs we get more people. Hmmmmh.We had a half dozen young men come for the first time. We gave an invitation and many of the people prayed a prayer of dedication to Christ, aloud. Poul, the woman who was interested in God keeping our tears in a bottle (Psalms 56:8), gave her life to the Lord more than a year ago. She was present last week, too. The group is gradually learning a repertoire of songs. Between the mistakes, bashfulness, and the antics of our song leader, Soklin, song time is always a lot of fun. The children's group is usually about seventy. Daht (Jonathan) has been playing guitar at the meetings and with the children. The mission provided him with the instrument to use. He plays while we travel and gets us all in a spirit of worship. By the way, if a chick and a duckling of equal size, duke it out, or rather, bill it out, which would you pick for the victor? In two attempts, the duckling ended up doing the nik nik waddle waddle to hide in the protective feathers of his mama.

TAKHMAU

I'm am presently teaching a rotation of three classes. I do one group each week and return to the same group three weeks later. This way I have three times as many children to share with. We are doing half an hour of English and then half an hour of English Bible comic. We are covering Jesus life between his twelfth birthday and Passion Week. I've had good responses so far. Every week I spend a little time talking with the son of the owner. He loves the comics more than the kids!

ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES

Our team leader, Pol Guazon, has returned from General Conference and Hong Kong. Her condition is not improving so we don't know how long she'll remain with us in Cambodia. Please pray for her. Miu Ling, a sister from Hong Kong is returning there in September or October. She is praying about her future service. Please pray with her as she takes her next step. She is considering a return trip to Cambodia to continue work here. Her gift is in the area of counseling. Davis, a brother from the Hong Kong Conference will be arriving in September and staying in our apartment for four months. Why our apartment? Because we won't be here. We are returning to the USA for three months of deputation, and two or three weeks in Japan for the same. We will leave in late September and arrive back in Cambodia in late January. We're really looking forward to seeing you.

Love, Chris and Yuko

Ps. Our personal mailing address is P.O. Box 602 , Phnom Penh , Cambodia .

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Please designate your gift for "Wilkins." Thank you.