Friday, October 26  9:37 PM

The last few days have been very full. We learned that God's hand was in the Bartel's traveling with the Lao's. They were able to share more deeply their experiences and encourage one another, along with sharing the van and having native speakers to help them cross the borders. We were glad to hear that the Bartel's arrived back home safely.

Wednesday was our tourist day, but the Spirit of God is always working. We kept our eyes open for where He wanted us to share and learn. We visited the Angkor Wat temple area. Temples over 1,000 years old helped us see the long history of this nation. We had a guide with us that day, Sopan. He is a buddhist with much knowledge to share of the history of the nation, as well as Buddhist and Hindu beliefs. He did not know much about the Christian faith. We had a great day with him learning and comparing beliefs. God opened doors for us to share with him of our Lord. Buddhism is very sad. Sopan shared how hard life is since one must work hard to do good works so they will get you into a better next life. He shared that everyone goes to hell, but if you do enough good works, your time will be shorter. How wonderful to share our Jesus, who created everything and came to earth and experienced how hard it is for us to be "good". Jesus understands our struggle and took it upon Himself to make a way. Sopan seemed to crack open a little at that, but went back to "we need to work hard to be good." Our prayers are with him. We loved him and showed our gratefulness as best we could throughout the day. God has planted a seed.

Thursday was a busy day visiting local churches. We first visited the main church here in Siem Reap. It is a beautiful complex that is the center for Evangelism Explosion in the area. Our guides for the day and following days were Phearum and his assistant, Moch. We saw their ministries of outreach in the center - sewing/tailoring classes, computer classes, English classes and tradition Khmer music classes. This is a busy and fruitful church! After that we visited two house churches in the nearby rural area. One was the home of a dear older woman. It is a very small home. She has been very sick for about 10 years with a chronic stomach ailment. She ran out of the yard to hug each one of us as we got out of the van. She is so thin, there is nothing to her - yet her hugs were strong and sincere. She was so excited that we had come. Although she does not know if she will live very long, God has given her a vision of building a church on her property. She is praying that God will let her see her vision come true before she dies. Her granddaughter had been in an accident just that morning and had been taken to the hospital with a broken leg. Medical costs can devastate a family's finances in this place. We prayed with them for the church, for their health and for provision. There is much joy in that place.  Later that night, we had the opportunity to go back to the main church and help teach children English. We had so much fun! Children are sponges for learning! There was much laughter and learning. We were also treated to a birthday party in the church yard for Phearum's daughter with cake and sparklers a beautiful and happy time. That night we enjoyed taking time in the Night Market. Rich and Anna are pros at getting the best prices.

Today, Moch and some of her workers went with us to an outlying area 1.5 hrs away. The countryside is so beautiful and idyllic, yet we see the ravages of war that remain. Out in the beautiful green fields are landmines waiting to blow. We saw many victims of their destruction. The land and people are also trying to recover from a recent flood.  We were able to visit two house churches. We look forward to telling you more of their stories. They ask that we pray for their health, that their neighbors will respond to the Gospel, and for protection. One church is in the middle of a building process. They are being severely spiritually attacked. They had stayed up praying until 2 am last night, praying together against the oppression. We had a wonderful time sharing the love of God, worshiping Him together, and attesting to the fact that our God is almighty and powerful and greater than any force that will come against them.  We ended our day with a night on the town. It was a Cambodian version of a Hawaiian luau. A wonderful buffet, tradition Khmer music, dancing and storytelling through dance. Afterward, Anna, Joan and Jim took Rich up on his offer to have a fish massage. You put your feet in a big tank of fish and they eat the dead skin. Their feet are so smooth now!

Tomorrow brings change as five of us will cross the border back to Pattaya, Thailand, and Joan and Anna begin their journey home. How grateful we are for God's protecting, providing hand!