Sportsfest 2007

Our youth recently returned from the Rawlings Campground in the mountains between here and the coast. They had a great time of fun and fellowship with other youth. The occasion was the annual sports competition between churches. Churches are encouraged to bring unbelieving young people to this event so that they can hear the preaching of the gospel. We sent 58 youth to the event and six out of our group trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour. Praise the Lord!

Some of our youth are pictured here after their return, showing off their trophies I might add! Our church won the big trophy for "Overall Champion" for the event. They were a very excited bunch of kids!

In the past week we had six saved in the Sportsfest and four saved in the rural mission last Sunday evening. Pray for these ten new believers! Thank you and God bless you!

Village Missions Update

Seyhar and I just returned from a little "circuit-riding" to the northeastern regions of Prey Veng province. Our travels took us north from Phnom Penh and through Kampong Cham. Heading east from Kampong Cham town, we found a guesthouse in Suong. About 30-40 minutes south of Suong, we have mission works. Our young men, Bro.David and Bro.Matthew, have started village missions there. It was a blessing to meet the people and visit with them. I was able to preach the story of Adam and Eve and the fall of man. Four young men(pictured at left) made professions of faith in Christ. These young men were in their 20s. The village missions are one of my favorite parts of being a missionary in Cambodia. The people in the villages are so different from city people. It's hard to explain, but it is a blessing to work amongst them! One mission is in Kannchriech District and the other is an hour away in Kamchay Mear District. Please don't misunderstand. I enjoy working amongst both city and village people, but I am just saying they're different. The kids and teenagers in Kamchay Mear rode along with me in the Montero on Sunday afternoon. They wanted to go and teach songs to the people in Kannchriech. They have a lot of zeal for the Lord!

We are prayerfully considering a new mission on the outskirts of this rubber plantation. It's in Kampong Cham province and about an hour north of Matthew's mission in Kannchriech district, Prey Veng.
We've conducted a survey of the area and there appears to be no church or gospel witness there of any kind. Pray for us, that God would give us wisdom on this matter. There are over 2,000 people working at the plantation, not to mention of the thousands of others in the area.

Missing Girl Emerges From Cambodian Jungle After Twenty Years

In a story almost similar to Kipling's "Jungle Book," a woman missing for almost twenty years emerged from the jungles of Cambodia this past week. She is being called "half animal/half human" because of the way she moves and speaks. She moves like a monkey, hunched over and using her hands as "front legs." She only grunts and has forgotten any language she previously knew. She prefers to be naked and has several times tried to remove the clothing given to her. When she does not sit silently, she screams and cries. About eighteen or nineteen years ago, she was eight years old. She and her six year old cousin were tending water buffalo at the edge of the jungle. Her cousin was never seen again. She emerged from the jungle to steal food from some loggers last week and was caught. As you can see from the photo above, they have cut her hair (which was down to her legs) and she is beginning to walk upright already.

Of course, this event is all wrapped up in the spirit world. She is a tribal woman. The religion of animism (spirit worship) is the predominant belief system of these lost souls. They live in fear of the spirits and are continually "appeasing" the spirits. The devil is in the business of damning souls. Villagers are saying the jungle spirits used her and now they are done with her and have released her to go home.

Please pray for the people of Cambodia and especially for the tribal people. Pray for this girl. Her name is P'ngieng (sort of sounds like "ping-ing"). And pray for your missionaries here as we work to bring the light of the glorious gospel into spiritually darkened hearts! Acts 26:18, "To open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins..."

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=178568
http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3636020

Orphanage News

Praise God for a generous and loving donor who has given $15,000 towards our ongoing need for construction funds! The balance needed to finish all construction is now $31,788. It's exciting to see what the Lord is doing to help finish this labour of love! If you scroll down a few posts back, you will see the itemized list of things we are trying to pay for! The amount we needed was $46,788, but with this gift, it's now $31,788!

You can see in the photos that the structure is going up nicely. Our family is excited as we watch the place change day by day, week by week. It will be worth it all when the new place is filled with needy orphans. God has called us to reach their hearts with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

God willing, we will be in our new orphanage by April or May. Please pray for this work, and especially for the rest of the funds to come in.

Christmas Eve in Phnom Penh

Christmas victories continued on the 24th in Phnom Penh as we held our Christmas Eve services. Bible students performed the Christmas drama, "The Three Trees." It was absolutely the best Christmas play they've ever done! We had 263 people that attended our service and 58 souls received Christ as Saviour! We praise God for these blessings! Please pray for us as we follow up and encourage these new believers into discipleship.

Orphanage Update

This little guy is Vibol, a.k.a. "David." Isn't he a cute kid? Well, it is easy to love these kids and they certainly do capture our hearts!

We're in a middle of a major construction project to build a home for little guys and girls like David. Cambodia is filled with orphans who need God's love. God has called us to minister to them and bring them the hope of the gospel.


We need your prayers and financial gifts to finish raising the necessary funds to complete the construction. Here's a breakdown of the things we need help in paying for:
Bringing in fill dirt and leveling the land = $2,901
Front wall= $3,040
Side and Back walls = $7,077
Well = $1,570
Sewage System = $9,800
Electrical system installation = $4,500
Gates and entryways = $4,300
Basketball court and metal roof = $13,600
Total: $46,788

Could you help with all or a part of this need? Please contact us for instructions on how to donate to this orphanage ministry. You can email us at haas4cambodia@yahoo.com




Thank you and God bless you!

118 Souls Receive Christ at Prey Veng Christmas Service

As you can see in the photo on the left, the Cambodian brethren were out "in the highways and hedges" in advance of our Christmas program in Prey Veng this past Sunday. They walked all over Prey Veng town from the church all the the way to the banks of the Mekong River. The fruit of their labors paid off on Sunday.

We've got five missions in the large province of Prey Veng. Three of those five works combined together for a joint Christmas program this past Sunday. Folks began arriving on Saturday. Trucks and vans were rolling in one after another on Sunday morning. When all was said and done, we had 380 people in attendance. 118 souls trusted Christ as Lord and Saviour after the gospel was preached unto them.

We will begin discipleship and follow up immediately with these new believers. Please pray for me as I will be spending a good bit of time out there. One of these works is located in Kamchay Mear, only a short distance from the border with Vietnam. It is quite remote and is near the "Parrot's Beak" area which was "HOT" during the Vietnam war. This is in the heart of the "Ho Chi Minh Trail" region.

One of the things that's so exciting about working for God in Cambodia is that you get to enter villages where no foreigner has ever been. In this past year, we've seen souls saved and have started mission works in five such places.

These mission works are in need of Bibles, musical instruments, chairs, tables, and whiteboards. If you would like to help with any need like this, let us know.