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| Worship in the Flood |
Thank you for your prayers for Cambodia. We would ask you to continue to do so as Cambodia is experiencing the worst flooding in many years. More than 200 have lost their lives and the rice harvest has been significantly impacted. In areas where the needs are the greatest, our missionary team and CAMA services have been assisting with emergency food supplies through several local churches.
Cambodia is a low-lying country and much of the country is what we would call in the West, a flood-plain. That is one of the reasons why many Cambodian homes are built on stilts. However the floods this year have been much worse than normal. The flood waters have gone higher than the stilts in many of the homes near the Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers. This particularly affects the Vietnamese minority who tend to live on these rivers.
One of the ministries of the C&MA Cambodia Mission is called "NewHope" ministries. This is a ministry focused on the million plus ethnic Vietnamese people who live in Cambodia. The number of Christians amongst the Vietnamese in Cambodia is much less than 1%. NewHope currently has 8 small churches amongst the Vietnamese living here. Two of these churches have been under water for four weeks.
In the midst of this hardship, it is encouraging to see the faith of the faithful. A few Sundays ago, one of our missionary families from Australia went out to see how the "Prek Kdam" church was doing. Even though the water had risen above the height of the stilts and the floor in the church was flooded, they found that the faithful had still come to worship. They all came in boats and tied their boats together in front of the church where they worshiped, shared in communion, listened to God's Word, and prayed. Since the church flooded four weeks ago, they have been gathering together in their boats in front of the church every Sunday.
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| Serving the Lord's Supper |
Their testimony reminds me of Jesus words in Luke 6:47-48: "I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built."
These are people, who in the midst of the personal challenges all around them from the flood have chosen to built their "house" on the solid Rock of faith in Jesus. What a great reminder and testimony to the fact that whenever the "floods" of life come, there is a Rock to which we can cling.
We are thankful for the testimony of God's people. This church was started a few years ago through the faithful witness and testimony of C&MA missionaries who continue to invest in developing new leaders, strengthening this church, and doing the same in many more places like it. Thanks for your support in prayer for the people in Cambodia who are being impacted by the flooding but even more significantly, thanks for your prayers and support for our missionary team and Cambodian believers who are helping the peoples of Cambodia to understand that there is a true Rock upon which they can cling when the inevitable floods of life come. This is the eternal need that only Christ can address.
In addition to your prayers, your support through the Great Commission Fund helps to keep us here impacting the multifaceted needs of this land. Giving can be done through your local Alliance Church or online at www.cmalliance.org/give
Thank you for helping us to be here and serve here in these times of need.
In Christ, Dave and Chris Manfred
