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September 2008 "Lake Drive"I was on my way to the Bible College this morning and it became all too clear that we are still in the rainy season. I managed through the first 2 or 3 lakes, but was forced to turn back by more lakes before me. These "puddles" are up to 3 feet deep in places. Two years ago, this road was brand new and a wonderful throughway. July 2008 Read Jerry's BlogFor a day 2 day description of Jerry's summer mission trip and adventures in Cambodia. http://harvestirvine.net/tp40/page.asp?ID=153524 April 2008 Stubby the ParrotOne day without thinking, Mai brought home a baby parrot. At the time, we didn't even know what kind. We estimate that he was about 4 weeks old.
Here Stubby looks more like a parrot. Turns out he's a Mustached Parakeet. He'll get much larger than he is here. He's very affectionate, but Mai is clearly the mama bird. The BossDavid Jahnke, the BGC Asia Regional Director, aka the boss, was in the neighborhood and stopped by for a visit this week. It's been quite some time since we've had an opportunity to talk through plans for ministry in Cambodia. Nothing was resolved per se, but we came away with a great sense of things to come. God is indeed stirring. He is expecting to come again this fall. December 2007 Staying With Paul's DadWe've been staying with Paul's dad and step mom in Florida. They moved here a couple of years ago from Maryland. It's been a good visit. We've been able to bless them by doing some projects around the house that are too big for them these days. Paul built some cabinets and dug out the sprinkler heads that were buried in the grass. Mai and the kids have been working to clean out the garage so they can park the cars there. It's a significant witness for Jesus because Paul's step brothers will be visiting soon and they both have made it very clear they aren't going to do any work. Shame on them. Last week we went to Universal Studios together. It was mostly for the kids so we pushed ourselves too much and are still feeling it in the feet. Tip: rent a wheel chair and you get to the front of all the lines. Noah lost his glasses on a roller coaster and Paul spent his birthday getting him new ones. It was a good father and son day. This Thursday we have tickets to see a shuttle launch. I'm hoping that it's not postponed. Look for Noah and Sonya on their first roller coaster ride. They were scared. July 2007 BGC Annual MeetingIt was great fun to reconnect with colleagues we haven't seen in many years at the BGC missionary retreat and annual meeting. The first week we were a smallish group of 50 or so home assignment m's, new appointees and staff. We had some great times to visit with old friends we seem to run into every 4 years or more. It was also great to run into and chat with many pastors and their wives from our supporting churches. We were able to spend some time with some of them. The plenary sessions of the annual meeting were very inspiring. An interesting fact that we learned was the results of a study done by the Southern Baptists. Of all the major Christian groups in the USA, the BGC is the fastest growing and has the highest success rate of new churches started. Praise God that we are part of such an exciting movement. One special thing that happened was that a close friend of Paul's from seminary, who now lives in Japan, happened to show up. They were able to have some time catching up and Paul was able to introduce him to some BGC people. Happy Birthday MaiToday is Mai's 40th birthday. Praise God for her life and the wonderful blessing she is to so many people and her family. June 2007 Friendly PeopleAmong our first impressions back in America is how friendly everyone is. Everywhere we go we are greeted with smiles and kind words. People seem very service oriented; treat us politely and with respect, even when we stop and stare, like a deer in headlights, at unfamiliar menus and such. It is a very welcome and unexpected surprise; quite refreshing indeed. May 2007 Double Bummer!It has come to my attention that I'm not just going to miss one Hillsong concert here, I'm going to miss two. There is one Hillsong worship team coming from the UK in July and another one from the mother church in Sydney in August. It's the first time that a worship team from Hillsong has come to Cambodia. I'm bummed that I will have to miss both of them. It's quite ironic since I am one who works to bring their music to the Cambodian people through the worship CD's we make. Oh well. God be praised. May 2007 Hillsong Coming to CambodiaI kind of bummed that Hillsong Church in Australia is sending a worship team here in August. For those who don't know, I worked with Hillsong on our worship CD project. All the songs are Hillsong songs. They were very helpful in many ways and even sent me some free sheet music. They have approved all of our translations. Then why am I bummed? I'm bummed because I'm going to miss it! April 2007 We Welcome CommentsThere's a new Guest book feature if you wish to leave a comment regarding something we wrote or a picture you are most welcome. The interactive feature of the blog is most intriguing. I sometimes feel that the blog would be much more interesting if others were to take part by leaving some feedback. I think the only catch is that you need some kind of account with Microsoft to get permission to do so. Since, I'm not sure how it works, if someone wants to figure it out and leave a message letting us know how to do it that would be much appreciated. Role of the Church in SocietyYesterday I preached on the role of the church in society at our local church. It was a doctrinal message. I want to thank the many of you who prayed for my preparation. I preached in English with an excellent translator. After about 20 hours over the week working on it, Sunday morning came and I felt it was fairly well organized, but still sort of rough - not quite finished. Nonetheless, time was out and God honored my work and blessed the message to the congregation. Mai found it so interesting she forgot to take a picture. I thought of including the outline below, but it's pretty long. It was a privilege to serve our church this way. April 2007 Today We Have A TeenagerToday is Noah's 13th birthday. By ancient tradition he's old enough to be a man. By modern standards - we can't see it. May he grow in wisdom and stature and in grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, in whom all things come together in truth. May these teenage years be filled with peace and free from excessive strife. May God grant his parents great wisdom in guiding him into complete maturity. Amen. This made me feel older than on my own birthday. December 2006 Team FilipinoI had a great time hosting some BGC and BTC colleagues from the Philippines as they were here in Cambodia on a fact finding mission as they prepare a team to come here and serve God. They were able to explore several different ministry options, but so many more are available. They saw the language school and priced how much it would cost to live here. It wound up being more than they have thought. So far, the team is 3, a couple and single. They are open to adding more. They hope to arrive in Cambodia in the second half of 2007 and are now raising support among Filipino churches. The team will be independent from me and the BGC and be directly under the Filipino sending agency, Bethlehem Star of Peace. This is a great thing. It's the first sending agency to meet the needs of the central Philippines. We also had a great visit with Pastor Barnabas. All of us mostly just sat and listened to one amazing story after another. Praise God for how he as used Pastor Barnabas. Here's What's Going OnIt's just a few days until Christmas. The weather here has finally cooled off a bit. It's a welcome change. Hopefully, it will last more than a week. We'd like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. May God meet you in every dark corner and shine his light until your blessings overflow in his grace.
December 2006 Home Assignment VideoI finally found some time to get back to working on my video for home assignment. It will highlight key ministries we've been involved with over the past four years. Most of the video I need is shot already, but going through it and edited will be a project indeed. I'm working with our production studio at the church, the same place where we recorded the music for the CD. I need to have this pretty much finished by February. My goal is to make it both informative and interesting to watch for a few minutes. December 2006 Noah's Cambodia Studies TripWow! Noah just got back from a 4 day trip to a small camp site near the Cambodia/Thai border with his school. Every year the upper grades take a small trip somewhere in Cambodia to better get to know their host country. Noah's class went to a jungle camp location and had all sorts of adventures, climbing trees and high-wire acts, free-falling from 100 feet in the air, fending off mosquitos, an out-house filled with tarantulas, frogs and other crawlies. Almost sounds like a terrorist training camp. He had a great time. November 2006 Sad DayDaet was tall for a Cambodian. He must have been nearly 6'. He was 19. He was a faithful member of the youth group at church. Every morning he would head off to school on his moto around 7 a.m. The day was Wednesday, November 1st. He was in a hurry this day and forgot his helmet. A young speedster on a moto clipped Daet as he sped by causing him to fall. Then a car hit him and killed him. It was reported the driver was a young woman. She drove away. No one in this life will be held accountable for this young man's death. I went to his funeral later the same day. It reminded me of my own motorcycle accident a few years ago in Bangkok, but I was not badly hurt. The worst of it was watching his family members up front as the church prayed for them. They were all older women, some quite elderly. I was filled with sorrow for them. They have know nothing but misery in this life as all the men have been taken from them. Now Daet was taken away from them. His mother wept bitterly. There was a small part of me also filled with joy because I knew that Daet was now with Jesus in paradise. There was no need to fear for his soul. The burden of his absence would fall upon his family. Daet is survived by his widow mother and only one older sister. (Group Photo: Daet's mother is second from the right, sitting down.) September 2006 What's Wrong With This Picture?I just had to write something. I'm sitting here watching CNN. It seems the whole world is falling apart. Bombings in Iraq. A coup in Thailand. Muslim uproar over the Pope. Riots in Turkey and Taiwan. Nuclear tensions with Iran and North Korea. Vicious rhetoric coming out of Venezuela. Rebels in Nigeria. It goes on and on. All of the sudden, Cambodia seems like a bastion of peace and tranquility. And in the USA...They are going crazy over TMX Elmo. Jesus, please come back soon. August 2006 Four Simple Steps of DiscipleshipPastor Barnabas's four simple steps of discipleship.
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