Just as you thought the last outreach was a tuff one, then this one came up. My friends came from PP to join me as usual for fun in the mud. All went well till the poor KTM decided not to have a clutch anymore and Kimloon had to pull it with a mighty Honda AX1, yip they still exist, for all the skeptics. It was a heroic effort as we battled the mud and water. Thanks to, Katerine's boys that were there to help push, or may I say they were more in the water than ever, well they were great. We could give mosquito nets, audio bibles, and medicines to the many people that are living in the very remote part of this province. We love the people and it makes this grueling trek, worthwhile. We came out of the jungle with bikes ready to quit and bodies ready to give up but we were happy. The Lord gives us strength for the new day.
The exciting news this week is that our daughter Suzaan
is coming to visit. She will be in time for us to commemorate 1 year of Gideon
in Heaven. We believe that God is gracious to us in this time and that He
allows Suzaan to be here as well. She will arrive on Wednesday morning with her
boyfriend Pascal. Please pray for us as we are going through a really hard time processing
these events. Twans said this morning that today, last year, was the last time
she saw Gideon. We would like to honor you all who prayed with us this year
since this big event. Never would we be able to continue without your faithful
prayers.
Please pray for Cambodia as this is one of the darkest
periods we are entering. Pchum Ben is on 24-26 September.
Pchum Ben is a public holiday in
Cambodia that follows the period called “Vassa,” a kind of “Buddhist Lent,” and
has been kept with great devotion by the Khmer people for longer than anyone
can remember.
In essence, Pchum Ben is a time to
remember, venerate, and present food offerings to one’s deceased relatives.
Ancestors are honoured going back as far as seven generations, and offerings
are also brought for those without living descendants or in place of those who
could not attend the ceremonies. Celebrants rise early in the morning to cook
rice balls and other food items, which they bring to the monks at temples and
pagodas. The monks chant suttas (Buddhist scriptures) all night without
sleeping, then conduct the colourful and complex food offering ceremonies. Some
Khmer give the food to the priests, while others leave it at pagodas for their
deceased relatives to eat or cast it into a field for them to find. The first
fourteen days see many offerings made, but it is the final, fifteenth day, that
is the grand culmination of the whole period.
Pchum Ben is also the time when the
“gates of hell” are supposed to open and let out those imprisoned there to
travel to the land of the living to receive food from their relatives. Some are
let out only temporarily, while others are thought to gain permanent relief.
Offerers believe they receive merits by helping the dead and blessings from
them but curses if they fail in their familial duty.
Cambodians all over the country will
travel to their home provinces for Pchum Ben, and there are services in many
towns and villages. Most ceremonies involve processions around temples and
crowds that wait outside with lit incense in hand as the monks perform rituals
inside. There are also symbolic events where five mounds of sand or rice are
formed and decorated in an effort to point to Mount Meru, where various
Buddhist gods are thought to reside. https://publicholidays.asia/cambodia/pchum-ben/
Something to ponder about that makes a lot of
sense.
Don’t bother your head with braggarts or
wish you could succeed like the wicked. In no time they’ll shrivel like grass
clippings and wilt like cut flowers in the sun. Get insurance with GOD and do a
good deed, settle down and stick to your last. Keep company with GOD, get in on
the best. Open up before GOD, keep nothing back; he’ll do whatever needs to be
done: He’ll validate your life in the clear light of day and stamp you with
approval at high noon. Quiet down before GOD, be prayerful before him. Don’t
bother with those who climb the ladder, who elbow their way to the top. Bridle
your anger, trash your wrath, cool your pipes—it only makes things worse.
Before long the crooks will be bankrupt; GOD-investors will soon own the store.
Psalms 37:1-2-8-9 The Message
Love to you all
Rossouw-clan
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