No pictures this week as the server would not support any uploads.

Last week, our normally quiet home was filled with the sounds of a Buddhist funeral taking place across the street. For four days, traditional music was blared from the top of a loud speaker, along with Buddhist sermons, chants, and songs. You could not ignore the fact that someone had died.

After nearly two months of deterioration, our 94 year old neighbor died (we’ll call her Great Grandma). She was Davi’s and our landlords’ grandmother and the mother, grandmother, and great grandmother of many of our neighbors. When we first moved to Oyadao, Josh had some opportunities to talk with Great Grandma about the Gospel. Her response to almost everything he said was “it’s the same as Buddhism.” We were so saddened by her blindness to the truth.

When Great Grandma first became sick, I went over with the children to visit and pray with her. We sang some of the Khmer Bible verses I’ve put tunes to and read John 14:6. I prayed aloud that Great Grandma would turn and believe in Jesus. For the past two months, I’ve gone and visited with Great Grandma on the weekends. She was less and less alert but always permitted me to pray with her. I kept praying out loud that Great Grandma would turn to Jesus.

It was hard to be with someone who rejected Christ and had such strong faith that her good works would atone for her sins. It was hard to not weep and plead with her to turn to Christ. It was hard when she died – there was no hope without Christ. She is lost and we weep at her death with a loss that is so different than when you know someone is safe with Christ. This is true death.

Davi (Great Grandma’s granddaughter) told us that many of her relatives have tied a red string around their wrists to protect them from their grandma’s ghost coming to haunt them. For us it is a symbol of their bondage to fear. How Satan must delight in their fear. Davi told us she’s not afraid because she believes in Jesus.

Please pray with us as we seek to speak the truth of Christ to our neighbors. Pray that God will use their fear to turn them to Christ.

Last Saturday Anna celebrated her 6th birthday! We had a fun day celebrating our newest 6 year old. Unfortunately, due to Covid-19, we couldn’t go on any outings (swimming), but Anna took it really well.

Anna loves pigs, so I made her a pig themed countdown calendar. For Anna’s birthday we spent the morning playing Dutch Blitz. Anna wanted hotdogs, mac & cheese, and beans for her birthday meal. She also wanted carrot soup, which we had the day before with breadsticks.

Anna designed her cake and I was thankful it didn’t require too many colors. As part of her party we had our Easter Egg hunt (see last weeks’ blog).

This year Anna is learning to read. It’s been really neat to see her grow in this area. She’s also taken to practicing her math addition facts and I’m very pleased with how fast she’s caught on.

One thing Anna has always enjoyed is writing. I remember when she would fill every block of her notebook with lines. Now that she can read, she’s figured out how to spell words too. Just recently, she’s beginning to write her own books with original illustrations.

The week of Anna’s birthday, Clara began riding a bike without training wheels. It was amazing how fast Clara caught on – she just seemed to do it. But then I remembered that Anna has spent hours with Clara on Anna’s bike, running alongside of her, helping her learn to ride a bike. This is a testimony to Anna’s kindness and patience – even when her sister wasn’t so kind.

We’re so thankful that God blessed us with Anna. She brings great joy to our home.

We started Passion Week with decorating our Resurrection Tree, Palm Sunday weekend. The tree is a branch Josh found outside and most of our ornaments are homemade. Every evening we read Piper’s Lenten Lights. This is the first year we were able to use the special candle holder Josh gave me two Christmases ago.

Monday night we did a play of Jesus overturning the money changers’ tables in the temple. Clara took her part seriously and was an especially angry money changer.

Thursday night we reenacted the Last Supper with crackers and grape juice and feet washing.

Saturday night we had an Easter egg hunt. Josh had the idea to put paper tokens in the eggs that could be redeemed at a store afterwards (we’re overloaded with candy). We hid the eggs twice since the kids have so much fun finding them. Then the kids collected their winnings and we set up the store. The kids loved “buying” things with their egg money after the hunt was over.

Sunday we had our Easter Service at home, exchanged gifts, and had a roast for dinner. We did a few other crafts during the week to celebrate.

Last week Josh celebrated his 39th birthday. We celebrated on Saturday with grilled chicken, grilled pork patties, mashed potatoes, tomatoes, and rolls (of the pork patties). Afterwards we had strawberry cake.

This year I made Josh a birthday countdown calendar.

So glad we have this man as daddy and husband in our home. We are blessed.

Like the rest of you, we’re waiting to see how the coronavirus situation turns out. The Cambodian government has drafted a “state of emergency” law which is waiting to be approved. It will be interesting to see what this means for all of us.

A few weeks ago, Josh went to our local health clinic to see if they wanted copies of a health information sheet the CMA had produced. They were delighted and requested many copies. Josh also dropped off a Khmer children’s comic book that includes the Gospel interspersed with heath lessons.

Last week, Josh was able to deliver soap, masks, and the health information sheet to two Kachok villages.

We’re doing a lot more singing here and waiting as we miss our Jarai church and look forward to being able to worship with them again. We’re thankful that so far Cambodia has been spared from the spread of coronavirus. So far, there have only been 110 cases confirmed and 34 of those are recovered.