River of Life Fellowship had their Khmer New Year party yesterday. It was a very special morning and we would like to share a bit about it. Members had to bring food and Mordegai was asked to BBQ 20kg of pork belly. We started the fire at 7am and were finished at 10am ! The students, who have given their lives to Jesus and have been attending church faithfully, were asked to invite their parents to the party as well. None of the students’ parents are believers. Quite a few of the parents came. The Holy Spirit moved in their hearts. One mother started crying when the church members sang “In Jesus Christ we are one family “. The students and church members also washed their parents ‘feet near the end of the program. It was a very special time, hearts were touched. Parents and children were crying and hugging each other. Wow, seeing it all was a goose bump moment. We thank God for this church, all the members and staff, working hard and faithfully seeking God to further His kingdom.
Please pray for our church, CFSR, Christian Fellowship Siem Reap, as we said goodbye to our beloved pastor Ivor and his wife Carol Greer. They let the church for 7 years and it was a real pleasure to listen to him and know him as a friend. Pray for our Leadership team that needs to take up the slack and continue being church, without a pastor, for now. Our church is not big but has a great family feeling amongst all the people. I love this church as they are out to work under the unreached foreigners here in Siem Reap.
Some news from my friend in Ratanakiri,.
The Lord has been leading us into new locations and new fields of engagement. He impressed us from Abrahams example (in Genesis 23:7-18) to approach the community elders in humility and listen to them. They have many concerns that hardly existed 3-4 years ago. Now Indigenous communities are being seriously impacted by drug abuse, and indebtedness. Credit institutions, charging crippling interest (3-30% per MONTH!) have proliferated. Many community members have ended up having to sell land (their livelihood) in order to pay off debts. Please pray that the Lord will impart wisdom and strategies to strengthen local communities as we engage the leaders. It’s time for the Josephs to arise in the land! Pray that there will be openings for the gospel as we engage these communities. The Lord is impressing that it is important to restore and strengthen the link of the tribal communities to their land.- Gordon Patterson
This was really talking to me this week:
You Are Called to Serve Others, Not Yourself
At the end of your life on Earth, you will stand before God, and he is going to evaluate how well you served others with your life. The Bible says, “Each of us will give a personal account to God” (Romans 14:12 NLT, second edition).
Think about the implications of that. One day God will compare how much time and energy we spent on ourselves compared with what we invested in serving others.
At that point, all our excuses for self-centeredness will sound hollow: “I was too busy” or “I had my own goals” or “I was preoccupied with working, having fun, or preparing for retirement.” To all excuses God will respond, “Sorry, wrong answer. I created, saved, and called you and commanded you to live a life of service. What part did you not understand?”
The Bible warns unbelievers, “He will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves,” but for Christians it will mean a loss of eternal rewards (Romans 2:8a).
We are only fully alive when we’re helping others. Jesus said, “If you insist on saving your life, you will lose it. Only those who throw away their lives for my sake and for the sake of the Good News will ever know what it means to really live” (Mark 8:35 TLB; see also Matthew 10:39, 16:25; Luke 9:24, 17:33).
This truth is so important that it is repeated five times in the gospels. If you are not serving, you are just existing, because life is meant for ministry. God wants you to learn to love and serve others unselfishly.
Love you all
Rossouw-clan
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