Imagin yourself
been born in a village, smack in the middle of a jungle and are one of the
tribal groups of Cambodia. You are perfectly normal by birth but at around 1,5
years of age, playing outside with other kids, can be challenging. One of your
small friends, throw you with a rock on your head, and from then on, things
became really hard. Mum is not doing well herself and food is not always on the
table, due to illegal logging of the forest. Staying alive becomes a daily
struggle.Found this 2
year old and his mum in the village, last week on an outreach. Such a sad story
but so real of things that happens in the village. He is now spastic and has
brain damage.
Our latest outreach took us deep into the jungle, or what is left
of it. Beautiful place with 3 big lakes around the village. Shame that all the
trees are cut down for Rubber and Pepper plantations. Lots of children had
Mumps and we could assure them that by taking only drugs for the fever will be
ok. Found a lady that can barely walk anymore. She complains about having
weakness of her bones. Not sure what is the problem but we see a few of them in
every village. Normally they need to go to the local doctor that will charge
them U$15 for meds that will not even work.
Pray with us
for some wisdom in how to handle situations like these. We need more medical
knowledge here.
Samai met a
new pastor that is running a small church with 26 families. We could talk to
him and found out that he want to build a church. He already cut the wood that
he got from the jungle but need some money for a roof. If there are any of you
interested in helping making this church, a reality, please write me and we can
help this guy. We want to try and keep these guys independent and on their own,
rather than being picked out by someone that want to make it dependable on
outside help.
Great news.
My sister Elizma is pregnant. Pray that her health will be good and that her
pregnancy will be a blessed one.
Toinette
reports that one of the students mum’s said the other day, that she did not
allow her child to be a Christian but now she allow her to be one, as she is
well behaved and not angry to her anymore. Praise God. Please pray also for the
little church especially for the little outreaches in the Health Talks and
house visitations.
Pray for the
farmers as this drought is serious. Most of the places do not have water
anymore and we hear of more and more wells that are drying up. Most of the days
are very hot and very dusty.
Our prayer
for Syria:
Psalm 36:9 “For with You is the fountain of life; in
Your light we see light.”
Thank You
Jesus that in YOU we have the fountain of life. In YOU we see light. Jesus,
thank You for Syrians who have come to know You in the previous years… months…
days! Thank You that they carry Your living water, and Your light. Jesus, I
pray that they would have the boldness to share, the boldness to give what they
have received.
In the south
of Turkey I worked with two Syrian believers, men who had come to faith 6 and 9
years ago. As muslim families heard that these men followed Jesus, they strait
away asked, “How? Why? What DO you believe?" There was no small talk
needed on these visits. The fact that these two men were Kurdish but professed
faith in Jesus was testimony enough. This led others to receiving the same Hope
that they had received.
Jesus, I
pray for boldness for these two young men, one now ministering in Syria and one
still in Turkey. Father, may they share their faith fearlessly. And may others
who have come to faith through them and through this war, may they too proclaim
their faith boldly so that more… many… millions may come to faith in You, Lord
Jesus.
We are
celebrating our 3rd New Year, Khmer New Year.
“Sus’Dei
Chnam Thmei” is a 3-day festival starting around the 13th or 14th of April
(depending on leap years) to celebrate the New Year. Everyone is out on the
streets wishing each other and their families success, peace and
happiness. Much earlier, during Angkor
times, the New Year was celebrated 4 months earlier on the 1st day of the first
lunar month. This was abandoned after Angkor, as a solar calendar was adopted
and gained popularity.
The main
reason for the change was the end of the dry season, when the peasants finished
their work in the fields and the harvest had been put away safely before the
start of the rainy season, and people had more time to celebrate. Therefore,
one of the kings decided to change the New Year festival to the month of April
and to follow a solar calendar.
The first day of the Khmer New Year
is called Moha Songkran.
On that day,
a new god or angel is appointed to protect the world for the year ahead. To
welcome him, people clean and decorate their houses and themselves, to make
sure that the New Year does not start with bad luck or unhappiness. Each home
“competes” to welcome the new god or angel individually by offering a table
full of fruits, a cake with candles, incense sticks decorated with flowers, and
flashing light chains to ensure that the house and the family are protected for
the rest of the year.
The time
around New Year is the only time when young Cambodians are allowed to meet and
engage in “mixed” plays. It is also the opportunity for young men to look for
potential brides. That’s the tradition!
The second day of the New Year is
called Wanabat.
This means
“Day of Giving”. Traditionally, on this day one gives gifts to parents,
grand-parents, and elderly people. Children receive new clothes, and poor
people are given money or clothes. In the evening, the monks in the pagodas are
asked to give a blessing.
The third day of the New Year is
called Tanai Lieang Saka and means “new beginning”.
After
seeking the blessings of the monks in the morning, a joyful farewell
celebration is held in the afternoon. In the streets and in public places,
people pour water on each other. Children and young people throw baby powder
and flour at each other. People that usually work far away from their families
in other provinces make it a point to return to their families to celebrate the
New Year together.
Cities, specially
the capital Phnom Penh, are very quiet during that time, as most people that
live and work in Phnom Penh are not born there. They come from other provinces,
such as Siem Reap, Battambang, Kampong Cham, Kompong Thom, Svay Rieng, and
others of the 24 provinces that make up the country.
At the
beginning of the festival, people usually cook food and bring it to the monks
in the pagodas. The pagodas are also a good place for Cambodians to meet other
people who are also born in their region or who went to school together, but
now live and work in other places. The pagoda thus becomes a place of reunion,
meeting old friends and exchanging news about their lives. During the festival,
many traditional plays are played, such as throwing of “Ongkunhs”, rope pulling
contests, and others. After the festival, people return to their places of work
and wait for the next festival, Pchum Ben Tag. That will be the next time when
the whole family and friends get together again.
Thank you
for praying for us all. May this be a wonderful New Year to you all as well.
Love
Rossouw-clan
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