An Encounter Retreat is a weekend retreat designed for anyone who desires a deeper relationship with God and freedom from their past life. It is a life-changing time of intensive teaching, reflection, and ministry. We believe that when you encounter God, you encounter change. Many people today struggle with issues in their past which affect their daily lives and relationship with God.

The goal of the Encounter is to teach you how to break free from your past and how to discover the joy of a new life in Christ. Jesus said, “I have come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10) Plan to attend an Encounter Retreat and experience the life of Jesus Christ in great abundance! (Visitors are welcome to attend this retreat).

Our hearts are comforted and strengthened in everything we do here in the field. It’s His grace and comfort which have kept us going!Many thanks to you all for the part you play in helping us do the Lord’s work in this wonderful land!

Life has been very good and blessed for the last several years. Both natural family and spiritual family (thechurch) have grown spiritually and in number. In case some of youdon’t knowus, Jenny and I have been marriedfor only 7 years andyetwe have almost 5 children. Elise is 9, in grade 4. She is homeschooled. Joseph is 5, in kindergarten. Abby is 3, in preschool. Hosanna is 18 months. And we have one more baby due in May, 2010. All of them have strong personalities. They are blessings and a joy to our hearts, though.

Our Daughter Elise’s Walk with God in 2009

This year has been a tough year for heryoung heart! I had read in a book about adopted children, that they often face issues of rejection and confusion and questioning when the reach the age of 8 or 9. And this has proven true for Elise.

Unknowingly, we stopped on a family trip to the north of the country in January, to visit her grandmother and father in Kompong Thom. They had been asking to see her for some time, and her father called just to see how she was doing a couple times in the last year (a first).

So we decided to stop while we were in that part of the country. It was a short visit, just a couple of hours. It is always a bit awkward as we don’t really know them well, and they don’t really know us well either. But I guess we feel that they have a right to see that Elise is fine and well cared for, etc.

Well, unknowingly, we opened up a deep wound and set off a lot of things in Elise’s heart. We did not realize for a long time, what was really happening, but slowly Elise changed before our eyes, into an angry, unhappy, frustrated and rebellious little girl. We were grasping at strings trying to figure out what was really going on in her heart, and she herself didn’t even understand completely, and was not able to tell us. This coupled with being adopted and also being the oldest child with three younger siblings who take up a lot of the attention in the family, made her very insecure and just plain unsettled. The last month and a half God has done a great work in Elise’s life, after a lot of desperate prayer and ‘research’ on our part, trying to figure out how to help her. In this, she has found a new freedom and some answers to the deep questions in her heart, about the why’s of her past. And she has found her own relationship with our heavenly father, who will never leave her or forsake her. As a result, she asked to be baptized with others from our church last month, sealing her ‘new life’ in Jesus Christ. This was a great celebration for us!

We continue to pray for God’s grace in her life, to bring her through these years and to help her to find her security and identity in Jesus as she deals with her past and learns to accept her new life. Please join us in praying for God’s grace on her life and wisdom for her parents! She is such a great blessing to our family and a very beautiful, smart, and gifted little girl! We thank God for her!!!

37 Baptized on Nov. 21st

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in athe name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20

One of our greatest joys is to see people’s lives are transformed. We believe that it’s His, too.

We moved into our holiday season as busy as ever! We started with a baptism celebration on November 21st. Thirty seven new believers were baptized in the back corner of the local water park, including our daughter Elise!

These new Christians have all come into the church in recent months, and been discipled in their faith through cell groups. Cell groups have become our most important tool for both evangelism and also caring for the members of the church. They are the real shepherds in our church! We are hoping for 15 more cell groups started within the next 12 months.

We began by first having a session to explain baptism to them clearly, and then after the baptism, they were followed up by two more sessions together just to reinforce the foundations of the Christian life.

The individual cell group leaders were the ones who performed the baptism ceremony for their own members. In this way, we could also baptize 5 or 6 at a time! After the new believers were all baptized, we celebrated by playing at the water park for a while.

Please pray for these young men and women to stay connected with the Lord and His Church.

From Dark to Light

Another great victory that we want to share with you concerns a young man by the name of Bot. Actually some of you have probably read his name in newsletters 4 or 5 years ago, when we were first involved with a few young men involved in gang activity.

At that time, Bot began to come to the church and attend some English classes and hang around a lot with the young people at the church. He came and went between the world of gangs and gang activities such as theft, drugs, and other destructive activities in the community. We were patient with him for some time, looking for some sign of a real change in his life, but after about two years, it was apparent that he was not serious about following God or about changing his life. And he was a dangerous influence to the many young people trying to turn their lives around.

At this time, Sophea met with Bot and asked him to leave the church and not come around anymore until he really had a desire to change his life and to find a relationship with God. If he had a real desire for change, Sophea told him to come and meet him again, but until then, he was no longer welcome on the church premises. For about one year, we didn’t see Bot, but still heard about his activities in the community. He was well known around the neighborhoods for being involved with gang.

Bot has a single mother and one younger brother and he caused many problems for his family. After a year’s time or so, Bot showed up at church one Sunday. Sophea walked up to him and patted him on the shoulder and told him, “Are you serious about seeking God and finding a better future now? If so, you are welcome here.” He immediately told Sophea he was ready for change, and from that time, he arrived at church early, before the service started, every Sunday. He also started to spend time at the church and study English with Sophea every evening, 5 days a week. He is a very bright young man who learns quickly.

At that time, Sophea spoke with two of our key leaders: Saylong, our youth pastor and Koy, a lay leader and elder in our church who is also the national director of Teen Challenge in Cambodia. He asked the help of both of these men of God in helping him to keep Bot accountable and helping him to attain the victory for his life he so desperately needed. And this time, the change was real! It was a slow transformation, but it was obvious to all around him.

He stayed faithfully attached to Koy’s cell group and to the Sunday worship service and also to English classes. 3 months ago, his younger brother began coming to church with him faithfully as well, and this last month, his mother came, very humble, thanking us for what we had done for her son and asking if she might also be welcome at our church. Bot is now attending the university, in his first year, with a scholarship, and is teaching the Khmer language to Chris, a foreign staff member,as well. And just this week, as the result of so many people pouring into his life and mentoring and encouraging him, he was accepted for a job at a local Christian school for international students. Bot was very happy to demonstrate his willingness to let his old life die and be buried by baptism on the 21st November.

As the Bible says,

“Yes, I’am sending you to the Gentiles to open their eyes, so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a place among God’s people, who are set apart by faith in me.’ ” Acts 26:17-18

Bot has turned to the light and is walking in the power of God!

The Addition of New Family to Our Staff, Chris and Victoria Cox

Another great blessing to us in this season has been the addition of a new family to our staff, Chris and Victoria Cox and their 3 girls from America. Chris has come on staff to help oversee our Office Skills Training School, an important branch of our church ministry.

It is also very helpful to have another native English speaker to teach English at our church!

Victoria has been involved in helping organize a Sunday school class for the church kids on Sunday morning as well. And both of them have really jumped in by helping to build friendships and reach out to the many young people at our church, giving them the opportunity to help share the gospel and train these youth in their walk with God! Chris has also begun sharing the preaching time on Wednesday nights, as this is a service that we do bilingually to attract English students. By preaching the gospel in English (with translation) we are able to draw young people into the church to hear the good news!

Chris also teaches an English class using the Bible as his text, again allowing him to mix evangelism with English teaching.

All of these are tools that God is using to bring more and more into the saving knowledge of Christ. They are not only a blessing to our church ministry but also a blessing to our family. They have become friends to us and our kids as well. They are the answer to our prayers for many years.