A Blessed Weekend

[This is posted a little late - I was waiting for the picture.] This has been a really nice weekend. Yesterday, I played tennis with some friends at 7:00 in the morning and then Skyped with my dear friend, Madge. It was such a great blessing to see her - even if only on a computer screen. Then I went to the gym for a nice workout followed by a refreshing swim; and then went to Neth and Ata's house for a thank you dinner for those who helped with their recent wedding. They served my favorite Khmer food to date: a delicious chicken with Khmer noodles and Khmer curry (prepared by Neth's father). Today at church we had the most amazing worship time. I wanted to take a video of it because the energy in the room was so high with people literally jumping and holding hands all throughout the congregation. I really felt yielded to God's Holy Spirit. But I didn't take any pictures. There are some things meant to be remembered only in our minds and not to be photographed. At the end of the service when the call for people in the congregation who wanted to newly commit their lives to follow Jesus was made about 50 people came forward. My heart feels so incredibly blessed to be here and see the Holy Spirit so alive and God's church growing so fast and strong here. After church I went to the hospital to visit a dear brother, Deth, who is recovering from his second surgery within a month. He looked good and strong though in the past month he has lost 14 pounds from the surgeries. He was telling me about his ministry work and he said something that really stuck in my mind, "the Word of God is rare". This led us to talk about the Word of God also being truth, and light, and a might sword. As he lay on his side I read to him that rare truth from Romans 12. The words cut to my heart and seemed to be just perfect for the moment we shared together. Then, to round out the day, I went to the Inter-Continental Hotel to meet some friends for a Christmas Fair followed with dinner at the Khmer-Thai restaurant. Most of us who went are people who by virtue of our decision to live as foreigners in Cambodia will not be home with family for Christmas. For me, this will be only the second time that I will not be with my brother to celebrate Christmas. It was a wonderful evening - filled with laughter, great fellowship, and delicious food. I was so encouraged by the people around me: Grace, a young attorney from Ireland (a new Employment Services Cambodia client); Mollie, a young medical doctor from England who has a beautiful spirit of joy and a deep love for God and for Cambodia; Ryan, a young man from Kansas who has already served missions in Napal and Cambodia at an age where many people do not even have their first job yet; and Yvonne, a young woman from the United States who is not only serving as a leader with a great ministry, but is also writing a book about the history of the church in Cambodia - such a fascinating topic and so timely. And we were also joined by other expats (Timmy, Steph, and Steve - Mollie's husband and a deep man of God) and by Neth, Ata, and their friend, Aron (sp?) who always make one's heart happy to be with. It was a really nice Christmas celebration before Thanksgiving. I also learned that a lot of people from different countries celebrate Thanksgiving! (Because of the late posting, I am able to also share a picture of the group from IRIS who kindly invited me to share Thanksgiving dinner with them tonight. Such an incredible feast and even more meaningful was the great fellowship we shared.)

Khmer-Thai Restaurant - Christmas dinner before Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Dinner with IRIS team