Good evening
Just back from the Warren family and all the good food we had together. Like he said:” We eat now for Christmas, New Year, and all the years together.” So blessed to have good friends and like-minded friends. Praise the Lord, the Warrens are all healthy now.
Please pray for Anton as he is now sick with this bug hanging around Cambodia this time of the year. Mordegai is doing much better but still coughing.
Toinette asks to please pray for wisdom and guidance in choosing of students to be sponsored by the Acts program. Planning the new action plan and curriculum for the new school year starting on 1 December 2023. December is a very busy month, please pray for our teenagers that we can be able to build relationships and minister to them.
Please pray for our outreach on Friday to the jungle. Curtis and pastor Chua will come along and they will spend time with the people in Rom Jopon. They asked us to come and spend time with them to tell them more about Jesus. What an opportunity. Pray for open ears and hearts to listen to the sweet message of our Lord. Pray for safe journeys to all of us as we come from different directions by bike and car.
Currently, Siem Reap is overflowing with tourists from all over. All the big towns are in a festive mood as they celebrate the Water Festival or Bon Om Touk.
Bon Om Touk is a celebration of the end of the rainy season on the full moon of the Buddhist month of Kadeuk. The full moon is considered to bring good luck that can lead to an abundant harvest. On the Western calendar, Bon Om Touk falls either in October or early in November.
The heavy monsoon rains cause the Mekong River to reverse course and backflow into the very large Tonle Sap Lake far upstream. This causes the lake to overflow its normal bounds, which provides plenty of water for Bon Om Touk’s main event, the annual Pirogue longboat race. Once the Mekong and the Tonle Sap River, which connects the Mekong to Tonle Sap Lake, again start flowing toward the sea, you know it is almost time for Bon Om Touk. The receding of the waters also leaves rich sediments that aid local farmers in the year ahead. However, be aware that, in low-water years, the annual boat race may be cancelled.
For three straight days, the celebrations continue, with people from all over Cambodia thronging into Phnom Penh to take part in the festivities. During both daylight and darkness, the “party” goes on. Activities include music concerts, traditional dancing, and feasting on native foods. The regatta often includes as many as 400 racing boats, each decked out in bright colours and rowed by around 40 men, who are typically monks. There are prizes for the winners, and on-board dancers and drummers keep the rowers in good rhythm.
This boat racing tradition goes back to the year 1177 A.D., when an enemy fleet moved upstream and across Tonle Sap Lake to sack the city of Angkor. Although they did sack it, the Cambodian king Jayavarman VII chased them down with his own navy and defeated them afterwards. You can see depictions of the battle at Angkor to this day. Also, the tradition stems from the annual training exercises of the Cambodian navy on Tonle Sap Lake. https://publicholidays.asia/cambodia/bon-om-touk/
Thank you for praying together with us.
Love
Rossouw-clan
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