Monday night prayers 11 November 2019

Sorry for the lack of communication these days, but let me tell you, we had a lot of things going on. God blessed us beyond measures. Friends of mine from Down Under (Australia) planned a trip to Cambodia and as usual they stopped in Phnom Pehn to shoot some guns at the shooting range as part of their tour. I wanted to get rid of my little Tico-car for a long time now and offered it to them, just to be blown away by an Rpg 7 rocket. They bought my little car and I drove it all the way down to PP. Never thought it will make it. Not even stopped by police and without any hiccups, I was there, just to see what destruction that little rocket can do,hahaha.

https://animoto.com/play/lVtU0VWhXyM3PfLcAy7uqA

They offered me a free 4-day bike tour as one guy could not make it and I said yes without any hesitation. This trip was out into the jungles on rough roads and crossing paths with many ancient temples and beautiful landscape, which pictures cannot give justice too. Just what I needed, a perfect time for clearing my head and with great fellowship with real guys, set myself focused again for the last bid of the year. It was nice to share our experiences as missionaries to the guys that I did not know and it was nice to sit and listen to my good friend Steve telling me about the “real life”, out there. We get so focused on the herein Cambodia that we forget there is a world outside with the same problems. It is good to listen to people living in other countries and what they experience in their daily lives. Sometimes I am glad about staying here…..

Some of you may think this is just another way of having a holiday for me but let me tell you, this was a really good break for me to see another side of Cambodia that we never see. Talking to these guys, I just realize that we need to pray more and be more serious about telling people about the Lord. Time is precious and few. So many locals are lost and do not know the living God but it opens my eyes also to pray more for our friends in the West that are lost. Pray with us that all of us here in Cambodia will get more serious about our work to further His Kingdom. We praise God for all the extra support we got from our friends and can really say that God is looking after us.

I am gearing myself up for my best friend Grahame to come, tomorrow. We will go bush off course for a week and enjoy being together and do what we do best and that is to serve the people that we love so much. Pray for safe travels and open hearts as we will go and do some medical outreaches in the remote. A lot of bike riding to see people in very remote parts of the jungle and just having great fellowship with the people.

Please pray for the following people:

Anti Pami Gregorio just finished her 4^th radiation and need to do 26 more. It is her 69^th birthday today. Please pray for strength at this time.

Please pray for small Ratana ( 8 years) On Sunday, Anton was playing with the kids at church and he fell on a boy and he broke his leg. Twans got him into the hospital and he is currently at home in plaster. Pray for good healing. It was an accident that could happen to anyone. The parents were very understanding and we helped with all the finances.

Continue to pray for Annerina. She will continue her chemo in Namibia as they will stay in Swakopmund for a while.

It is Water festival at the moment:

Bon Om Touk, also known as the Cambodian Water Festival, is a three-day festival celebrated on the full moon in October or November.

History of the Cambodian Water Festival

The festival marks a reversal of the flow between the Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers. Due to the amount of water deposited during the rainy season, the Tonle Sap river becomes so swollen with water that it reverses the direction of its flow and flows upstream to Tonle Sap lake.

The festival marks the switching of the flow back to its normal direction, signifying the end of the rainy season. Essentially, the festival is a time to give thanks to the rivers as they provide the region with fertile farming land and plenty of fish.

The festival is focused on boat races and concerts. The roots of the boat races can be traced back to the times of the Angkorian kings who would train and evaluate the fighting skills of their water-based warriors by holding competitions on the river. These trials in turn honored the naval victories of the Khmer empire under the leadership of Jayavarman VII in the twelfth century.

How is the Cambodian Water Festival celebrated?

The festival is one of the largest and most popular in Cambodia. Almost every town and village across Cambodia takes part in the festival, but by far, the most popular place to be is Sisowath Quay in Phnom Pen, the capital of Cambodia, where up to four million tourists, locals, and foreigners will converge to watch the boat races.

The celebrations carry on night and day for the three days of the festival, with the river illuminated by fireworks and numerous brightly-lit boats under the full moon.

Ork Ambok

A traditional Khmer delicacy popular during Bon Om Touk is Ork Ambok​, a rice dish where rice is fried in the husk, then crushed and mixed with banana and coconut and banana.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bon_Om_Touk

Thank you very much for all your special prayers. We need them more and more these days. For the past 2 days, we had a funeral next door and believe me, the music is really demonic, to say the least. We could feel the spiritual attacks as Twans became really sick and now that it’s over, she is well again. Pray with us against the evil that is out there.

Love

Rossouw-clan

Monday night prayers 28 October 2019

I guess a slow week makes up for all the guests you get to entertain. Toinette had to go to Malaysia for a visa run and that left us boys here alone at home…….. Of course, we invited a lot of friends and had a huge Braai, hahaha. My friend Manoj also came over to stay here for a few days. Great to had him here with us. It’s always good having other missionaries here that speak the same language than us. We can talk about everything that bothers us as we experience the same issues. Took us a while to clean the house up before Toinette arrived again….

She had a ball of a time with our good friends from FGC Johor Bahru. They are like family already as we know them for so many years now. It was a good time for Toinette to relax and also catch some air again. I will go down this week again to work on the last piece of the visa-puzzle. Hopefully, we will have her visa soon. Pray for speedy visa approval.

Big rain is falling and I am sure the farmers are happy. Everything started late this year and the flooding was not big enough and the water to the Tonle Sap Lake was not enough, bad illegal fishing and dams are to blame for that. I was reading an article about food shortages for the rest of the year as they have lots of water but no fish anymore. “

“”PHNOM PENH - For centuries, Cambodians have looked to Tonle Sap, both a river and a lake, for dinner. But a repast of grilled river fish, sprinkled with salt and stuffed with lemongrass, may soon be a very special event. Today, “there is only water but no fish,” said Nan Sok, 60, gazing at Tonle Sap Lake from his house on the outskirts of the capital city of Phnom Penh.

A Cambodian Muslim fisherman, he recalled that in 1979 he could “catch the fish just by dipping my hand in the water there were so many. … But now even if I use a big net for a whole day, there would be nothing.” Read the full article by clicking the link below.

https://www.voanews.com/east-asia-pacific/cambodia-faces-possible-food-crisis-water-no-fish?fbclid=IwAR1fywibSRplWoXmOyQlvLzK_4XEnxSc92nUVIQWP5Uq0cwEa7tfsIMK2II

Let me introduce you to one of the men I am looking up to for being extremely faithful in difficult circumstances. Mam Choeun is the pastor from Srahlao Sroung Church in Kabal Domreay, Tom Rieng, Sandan District, Kampong Tom. Together with his wife and granddaughter, they manage this little church for more than 10 years now. Only a handful of people attend but they are there every Sunday and have Bible study together every week. Faithful is the key to success here in the province. In Kabal Domrey as in many other small places in Cambodia, life is not easy. As a pastor, you need to work very hard outside the church to provide for your family, which includes farming and carpentry for this pastor. Nobody has money so you cannot rely on tithes to sustain your lifestyle. In bigger towns, it will be different but out here in the boendoes, everyone needs to work for only food on the table. This handful of members is a real light in the spiritual darkness in this place. People are not interested in church as they say:”” we have work and we are very busy.”” Pray for this church and its members. This is the church where a normally stay when I go to the jungle. Talking about real family!!

Praise God that Uncle Jan Mostert could go to a good doctor in Windhoek and they could do an operation there to save his leg. We are so grateful that they could use their medical fund to pay for this. God is good.

Sonja Botha is asking for prayer. She is struggling with the passing of her husband and it is difficult at this time.

Thank you for praying for us all. I leave you with this to ponder on. Get this book and read it, it is talking about the stuff we are struggling with today. I will not say it’s a good book for nothing, I do not read a lot but this book is good to read again.

The only way to live a godly life in an ungodly culture is by remembering that your days are numbered, your life will be weighed, and your heart will be distracted and divided. Putting God first enables you to make the most of your time here on earth, to keep your life balanced by your divine purpose, and to protect your whole heart. Don’t wait until you have a breakdown. Do it now. The Daniel Dilemma: How to Stand Firm and Love Well in a Culture of Compromise by Chris Hodges, Lysa TerKeurst

Love

Rossouw clan

Monday night prayers 20 October 2019

Uncle Derrick and David came with me to Stung Treng and we met up with Samai to do an outreach in the jungle. It was really nice to see familiar faces again. We gave them meds, mozzie nets as well as glasses. People really struggle to get water and Samai already drilled 3 dry holes near the church. They only have water near the main road and everybody needs to go there. Fighting broke out and after discussion they resolved the problem. Priority needs to be given by people from far and close people can come easier. After 2 years of praying they also now will build a small school/meeting place. The parents and church members came together and they funded the whole project. They also fixed the road to the church with their own money from all the people living in the jungle. Great to see people do things by themselves rather than wait for government promises that does not happen.

We went from there to Ratanakiri and visited my fav Leper anti. She ignored me at first as she did not want me to clean the wound which by the way was terrible. The smell and rotting flesh was just overwhelming for Uncle Derrick and David. They shared that they are grateful for good medical insurance back in their countries. Anti, loosen up later and even shared a smile. We saw her the next morning again and her spirit was lifted. So nice to see some hope on someone’s face.

Toinette is leaving tomorrow for Malaysia and will be back on the 24^th. She need to leave the country in order to get her visa for the NGO. Pray for safe travels and for the boys staying behind.

Annerina is doing well and recently visited my parents in Windhoek to arrange for her to do her Chemo there in Namibia.

Please continue to pray for Quinton and Andrea for complete healing.

Uncle Jan Mostert, Toinette’s uncle needs to get his leg amputated but it cost to much money and they are looking at alternative ways to deal with it. Pray that they can get a solution for it. His blood flow to his toes is affected due to smoking.

Anti Pami Gregorio finished her last chemo and is home to recover.

I rarely use the word repent, but that’s basically what I mean. Because if we’re seeking God first, with humility and a willingness to surrender our controlling nature, then he will restore us, one by one, church by church, community by community, state by state, and nation by nation. We simply cannot change on our own. God is our only hope. The Daniel Dilemma: How to Stand Firm and Love Well in a Culture of Compromise by Chris Hodges, Lysa TerKeurst

Love you all

Rossouw-clan