Fishers of Men in Phnom Penh

Good morning! (Or should I say good evening for everyone back in the US!) I’ve (Chad typing here) got a three part update for you this morning. This past weekend (Aug. 4th & 5th), Hannah, Connie, Stephanie, and I went to Siem Reap, the city where Angkor Wat and many other ancient temples are located, while Milah and Kayla stayed back and spent time adventuring in Phnom Penh with some of the staff here and a few of our readers. I was also thinking that we haven’t explained what we are actually doing besides exploring and having parties, so there is also a quick refresher on our work. I know that this is a long update, so feel free to read whatever parts you would like. Part 1: What Are We Even Doing? We are here in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, through an organization called Let’s Start Talking (website here: www.lst.org). The purpose of this ministry is to use English classes to share the Gospel with people in other countries. Each site for LST is partnered with a local ministry. Here i...

When It Rains, It Pours   “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that-and shudder.” James 2:19 Even Satan knows there is only one true God. He knows the truth, maybe better than we do? Bold statement, but there it is. Satan believes that God is in fact, the Most High God. He knows God’s servants are ministers of the gospel. He knows Jesus is the Son of God, the Holy One, the Messiah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So what? How does this apply to me? Answer: there are many ways this can apply to you. More ways than my small understanding can think of or understand; however, here is one way that this truth displayed itself in my life. Here in Cambodia, we get rain. Rain is rain. It’s not different here than it is in the United States, but what is different is the duration. One minute it could be sunny, the next, monsoon like rains rush down and you really didn’t even blink during the drastic transition. Curiously, you can blink again, and the...

The Savior who Bridged the Gap “While we were sinners and lost You walked among us While we were too weak to stand You bore our cross And now your vic’try songs raised It’s echoing age to age That through darkness There came a light” There Came a Light by Chris Renzema I love this song because it’s so true! God is so good! He is so generous! He is so kind! He is our rescuer! He BROKE the chasm that laid between us and God! He has broken every chain! He has set us FREE! While we were sinners and walking in darkness, He LOVED us a tremendously large amount that He sent a Savior to pay the debt for our sins. He has FREELY given us the gift of forgiveness and eternal life with Him. Jesus bridged the gap between us and God. Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Romans 8:1-4 “Therefore, there is now NO CONDEMNATION for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of ...

Today was crazy good. Like, pineapple dole whip good. Splashing in the pool on a hot day good. A sunset on the horizon kinda good. It was refreshing and full of pure joy. God showed up in huge ways. First, we were blessed yet again by Korean Grandpa’s joyful presence. We’re sad because he’s leaving real soon. Second, we found the laundry place fairly quickly after the persistence of going one more block. Next, we hosted our first LST party for our readers with ‘Christmas in July’ as our theme. We had one party in the morning and one in the afternoon. We entertained them with musical chairs, crafting paper snowflakes, a skit based on the birth of Jesus which we asked readers to be volunteers for, pin the carrot on the snowman, and telephone, all the while playing Christmas tunes in the background. I cherish these moments when their faces light up with laughter and not a care in the world is had. And I found that I was truly enjoying myself, as others were enjoying themselves, and ...

Let me tell you about a God moment. Or rather someone sent by God to remind us that He is with us. Not only are we reminded of the comfort Jesus brings, but the joy we have in him. Our first day in Cambodia started with breakfast in our hotel. The hotel serves a continental breakfast every morning. After breakfast we waited outside of our hotel for someone from the Learn2Work center to come meet us and show us around the city. As we stood waiting for Odam, this elderly man came up to us. He was wearing a smile that stretched across his face. He asked us where we were from. He told us he was from Korea. He told us he teaches at a near by university. We told him we were here because we are teaching English. He teaches Korean at the university. He spends a month in Cambodia and a month in Korea. He was so happy to see us, he asked if we could take a selfie. We couldn’t say no to such a kind man. Little did we know that this would only be one of the many encounters we would have with “Kore...

                                             Under Construction “For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God” Acts 3:4. It is Friday morning as I write this post. Though we are still getting used to the new culture that we are living in, we are beginning to know our way in the streets nearest our hotel. As we’ll probably tell you many times, the streets are crazy. Imagine dozens of motorcycles and a few tuk tuk coming toward you and  swerving around as you quickly cross, holding up your hand to make sure they see you (as if it would actually stop one coming 35mph at you). In the words of Connie, “We have now beaten level 7 of Frogger.”  Besides the traffic, the other thing I’ve noticed about Phnom Penh is that there is a lot of construction. Our hotel is right next to a store that sells metal roofing, gutters, a...