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.

Another Snake At Church

Snakes continue to show up around the church, but this is Cambodia, so what do we expect? Not sure what kind of snake it was, but my best guess is that it's a dog-faced water snake. They're mildly venomous, but not aggressive. At least that's what the snake "experts" online say. Well, without further ado, here's my daughter Kayla along with some of the orphans actually handling a live snake!

Labour of Love

Pastor Mark Carter and members of Capitol City Baptist Church, Des Moines, Iowa, gather with us to dedicate the property in Ampov Prey. Their partnership with us in planting this new church is truly a labour of love! Joining in the ribbon-cutting ceremony from left to right: Pastor Mark Carter, Ben Nissen, Kevin Prendergast, myself, and Suong Seyhar.

It was a great blessing to have Manna Worldwide, under the leadership of Rev. Bruce O'Neal, lead this team to Cambodia. Pastor Carter and CCBC, Des Moines, have been partnering with us since 2003. They are supporting our Manna orphanage, Manna feeding center, and our church planting mission work. It's always a blessing to have guests and this was no exception! During the time they were with us, we had a Vacation Bible School and Youth Meeting. One of the highlights of their visit was the trip to Ampov Prey, where James Suong and his wife Srey Ny are starting a new church. The sacrifices of God's people in Des Moines led to the purchase of this land and construction of a church building.

This work began out of Capitol City Baptist Church in Phnom Penh. Four missions have already been started out of our Phnom Penh church, with more new churches being started soon. We are planning three new churches now: one more in Prey Veng province, one more in Kandal province, and a new church in the western suburbs of Phnom Penh. Pictured here are just a portion of the souls that have been saved by the grace of God in the last four years.


There is so much work to do here! Making God's name great among the Gentiles brings glory to His name! Please pray for us and partner with us in declaring God's glory among the people of Southeast Asia!