Today was quite a busy day! We rose early in the morning for a quick breakfast before heading off to a house church in a nearby village. The house that hosted the service was nicer than most of the others that we have encountered thus far. It was on stilts and, as with the other houses, we had to climb up a steep ladder to enter. But unlike several of the other houses, this one had four walls in addition to the typical floor and roof combination. Sitting on a hard floor for a long period of time takes getting used to and many of us have had to push through some discomfort. But any pain that we suffered was well worth it! The church members were so warm and welcoming. Rich did a gospel illusion and then gave a sermon on Jesus calming the storm after Joan shared her testimony. It has been so great to see how God has taken care of the little details on our trip. Every testimony that has been shared during this trip has fit perfectly with both the accompanying sermon and the specific church.
After attending the house church, we drove to the big church service, at Living Water Church, where we met two other missionaries who work here in Cambodia. Paul, a 27 year old missionary from England, helps install water purifiers in villages around Poipet while Kate, a missionary from Australia, does social work and is very passionate about the Poipet area. We also met a wonderful family from Portland, Oregon who were visiting relatives here in Cambodia and stopped by the Living Water Church and stayed for the service. It was such an encouragement to talk to some of our brothers and sisters in Christ. Rich preformed more gospel illusions and Dave did the sermon. We also had the privilege of hearing the testimony of one of the church leaders who talked about how blessed he was to attend the pastors and pastors' wives seminar yesterday. It is amazing how much joy there is in fellowship with other believers!
We returned to the Lao's house after lunch and said our goodbyes to not only their family, but also to Dave and Shelly as they decided to share a van to Bangkok, Thailand with the Lao's. The seven of us who now remain in Poipet went to a children's ministry center. Rich and Marla both taught a lesson about Bartimaeus and then we had some of the kids act out the story before everyone played a couple of games. They were all very energetic and bouncy but were very well behaved. All of the kids loved getting their picture taken and then seeing themselves on the camera's screen and they would all crowd around anyone who pulled out their camera. What was really a blessing to watch was how everyone on the team was able to use their individual gifts. The kids loved Jim's humor, had fun saying the English names for little animal figures that Joan brought along, were entranced by Rich's illusions, and loved playing games with Robin, Veronica, and Anna. While their energy wore us out, it was a blessing to work with the next generation of believers and the hugs that we received at the end of our time with them was a wonderful reward for our efforts.
Tomorrow we will be having a restful day as we first do a prayer walk in a village, in which the Lao's hope to plant a house church, and then prepare for the ride to Siem Reap, Cambodia on Tuesday.
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