First day teaching at Love of Christ Church (LOCC)

Hello supporters, Lucy here to give you the latest updates on our trip. 

Monday, August 6th - It is our first day of ministry here at Love of Christ Church (Pastor Hung and Co Trang's main ministry). The team started the day with devotions at 6am and breakfast at 7am. Right after breakfast, we went straight to class to teach, which was around 8am. 

Today I clearly saw how God's strength worked in me. I started the day with a huge migraine and was worried that it will affect me and the way I'll be interacting with the kids. However, when the first session of class started and we began singing and dancing with the kids, I noticed that I was jumping and dancing along with the little ones without any problem. Praise God! My headache went away without me even noticing it. I was able to rely on God for strength and not on my own. 

The class size is much smaller compared to previous years. Co Trang told the team that many of the kids and their family had to move back to Vietnam due to the election. The other reason why the class size is smaller is because the students were on a two week break and several of them are still on vacation mode, so they're lazy to come back to the first day of class. I hope that this is the main reason why and we'll be able to see more kids the following day!! Also, prayer warriors, I ask that you'll keep these kids and their family in your prayers as it is tough to live in a community that is full of hatred and discrimination towards the Vietnamese. 

After worship we split the kids into two groups - the younger ones and the older ones. Kayla, Henry, and Daniel (Pastor Hung and Co Trang's eldest son) taught the older kids. Jeremiah, Trisha, and I taught the younger ones. Each group began teaching about the Creation to Christ story. The older group focused on the story about the creation, whereas the younger kids focused on the vocabulary terms and coloring. We ended the first session with singing and dancing. The last song that we sang was "He Knows My Name", whenever we sang the chorus, I would look around and notice several kids closing their eyes, singing and dancing their heart out. Just looking at them wholeheartedly praising God gave me so much energy and fills my heart with joy. 

After the first session, all the kids went home and the team had lunch and rested before the second session. After a restful time, we resumed with our second session. Praise God! We had more kids during the second session, many returning students and a few new students joined us \(^o^)/ Our rundown was the same as the first session! Despite the repeat of the lesson, all the kids were still very excited to learn and spend time with one another.

As the team was resting up before dinner, I had the opportunity to talk to Chi Hau (the oldest daughter) and Co Trang for about an hour and a half. During this time I saw how Co Trang became the type of person that she is. She is so full of love, endurance, and faith in the Lord. Through all the hardships that she went through, even with the highs and lows in her life, she remained faithful in the Lord. Seeing her share while shedding tears, broke my heart, but it also helped me see how faithful God is to who loves him. 

We had dinner with the family and the team had a quick debrief afterwards. Kayla, Trisha, and I, along with Pastor Hung and Co Trang's daughters ended our night in our room sharing stories and laughters with one another. 

Sorry for not posting this on time. I fell asleep mid-way into this post hehe. Well, it's time for our first session of the day. But.. before I leave, I just want to say thank you to all our supporters and for reading this post and praying for our team. We really appreciate your support and prayers. ^-^

With love,

Lucy 

Ready, Set, Start!

Greetings supporters! It's Trisha giving you the first blog of Cambodia missions 2018.

AUGUST 1ST, 2018 | Departing America |

I had a lot of mixed feelings as the departure date approached. Much of it was fear. Fear of not knowing how my first overseas mission would go and fear of my physical health in an unfamiliar country. However, the biggest fear among all of these was the difficulty I would have in not being able to communicate with the pastor's family in Vietnamese. Especially as someone who is a full Viet, there's a heaviness in my heart when I tell people I can't speak Vietnamese. I didn't know a lot things in how the mission would go for me personally, but it provided the opportunity to rely completely on God's knowledge instead of my own. This gave me peace in my heart as our departure date approached. Our prayer and send off night was extremely encouraging as well; seeing my family and friends pray fervently for me during my mission filled my heart with thankfulness for the love God has poured out into me, and my fear in the unknown turned into determinedness to go and spread this love. 

"There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made in perfect love." 1 John 4:18 (NIV) 

AUGUST 2ND, 2018 | Arriving to Phnom Penh |

Plane right was aight thanks to motion sickness pills, praise the Lord. What struck us as we landed was not finding two out of three of our supply boxes for the mission. Seeing that it was still in Incheon, Korea, we made arrangements to pick it up the next day and move on to greet Muc Su Hung and Co Trang's family outside. Outside, returning members received warm welcomes and hugs. Though I felt awkward at first, Co Trang also greeted me very warmly as she wrapped her arm around my waist and walked me to the van. From the start, I told her I didn't know much Vietnamese at all but she still laughed and smiled with me as she did her best to try to get to know me a little more. I was thankful. Muc Su Hung also reached out to talk to me on the ride to their home. Though he couldn't speak English well, he still smiled and did his best to try to make me laugh and warm me up to the family. I just came to Cambodia still carrying some insecurities about my language barrier, but Muc Su Hung and Co Trang greeted me in such a warm way I became excited to spend more time with their family. 

AUGUST 3RD, 2018 | Rest Day | 

A rest day for the long hours of traveling. The team slept in to 7am and woke up to gather for morning worship and devotion to align our hearts with God before carrying on with anything else for the day. Though our team was unable to have many meetings prior to the trip because of schedule conflict, our team chemistry was off to a good start as we engaged in God's Word together on a mattress, We shared adorations for God, confessions, thanksgivings, and supplications for the day (ACTS). Through this vulnerability we were able to spark a bond that would grow steadily throughout the trip. Most of the day consisted of eating bomb food from Co Trang and having conversations with her (having translations for myself, of course), and spending time together as a team. Kayla took some time to teach me some Vietnamese words throughout the day, and it was actually fun to learn from her because I saw the excitement in her when I pronounced a word correctly. We ended the night with playing card games with the children of Co Trang and Muc Su Hung (      ) and headed off to rest for our first day of ministry tomorrow. 

AUGUST 4TH, 2018 | Khmer School | 

It's 3am and I wake up to go use the restroom. When I came back to bed I found it difficult to fall back asleep. About two hours in, slightly haunting music begins to play outside. I thought I was going crazy at first, thinking I was only hearing it myself or a cult was right outside our window. The music became louder and continued for an hour and stopped. Then the singing began. A man singing in Khmer booms through our walls and seems to become louder. Accepting that I won't be able to fall asleep, I talked to Kayla who has also been awake with me since 3am. Lucy is awake too at this point, and all three of our converse and make jokes about what the music could be for at this unholy hour. It ended up being for a Buddhist ritual which apparently required a speaker that blasted throughout the neighborhood at five in the morning. These moments of laughing and not being able to sleep together deepened our bond because people grow closer when sharing the same pain, ya know. Though we knew our first day of ministry would be hard because of the lack of sleep, we were able to laugh it off together and pull through. 

Breakfast, Lucy going at it with her Indian accent for the 8954th time, power nap, and we're off to travel to the Khmer School where we would only be speaking English. Anh Hien and Hong An would be helping us translate God's creation of the world in 7 days to Khmer for the kids. In the car ride we see plenty of Buddhist temples along with many gorgeous lily pads and flowers on the other side of the road. The scenery was beautiful even if the car ride was like Ghost Rider (which I have never been on). We arrive at the Khmer neighborhood and the moment the Khmer kids see our van, they smile brightly and wave excitedly at us. Moments later they're chasing the back of our van still smiling and waving at us, following us all the way to the school even if they were eating dust. As we arrive and settle in the small single-room classroom, the Khmer kids start pouring into the area, running in from all sides whether it'd be on foot or by a motorbike they might've taken from their parents. As the program we prepared starts, the 40 kids (ages ~4-15) become attentive and eagerly respond when talked to. Henry reads aloud Genesis 1 with Hien translating to Khmer for the kids and we split the group into two by age, younger and older. Kayla and Henry taught the older kids, helping them learn how to say English sentences while reviewing what they just learned from God's story. Jeremiah, Lucy, and I worked with the younger kids. As they colored in the six different days of God's creation, we went around to help them and review simple English words from the lesson. 

Though I couldn't communicate with the younger kids very well, we were still able to exchange smiles and high fives as we worked together on the coloring and reviewing. Their faces lit up whenever I would make eye contact with them and smile. It made my heart light up as well, forgetting the dreadful the morning that rid me of my sleep. It was humid and there was wind with some thunder in the distance, but everyone was shining brightly as we had fellowship together even if we couldn't talk to each other well. When we gifted the kids with treats, they had their hands out and ready to receive the snack, saying thank you in either English or Khmer as it was handed to them, hands placed together like for a prayer. As they left, they left as they came: smiling and waving brilliantly. It was a blessing for sure. My prayer request in the morning was to be like Philip, approaching and helping the Eunuch understand God's Word and it was fulfilled without me being aware of it. Going around and simply teaching the kids how to say, "Sun", and helping them achieve it before moving on was God's way of using me to bless the children and I'm thankful for it, especially because it was done in such a natural way because it shows it was truly the Holy Spirit working with us to bless the children. It was a short two hours, but everyone on the team love every single moment, from the singing worship songs to teaching God's creations to them. Though Saturdays and Sundays are meant to be rest says with no teaching, this was definitely something I believe our team enjoyed to do.

We've only had one day of ministry, yet it feels like I've been here for a week. Muc Su Hung and Co Trang's family is so warm and I love spending time with them, even if I'm ashamed I can't speak Vietnamese. Our team has bonded and grown closer together despite the little meet ups and bonding we had beforehand. And our hearts are filled with so much love for the kids though we're only seeing the Khmer kids twice a week as opposed to our usual group of kids. I'm thankful how Muc Su Hung and Co Trang constantly glorify God and show HIs love through their actions. It's a constant reminder to me to see how God is working in the smallest detail of our lives and how perfectly planned everything is, even if it doesn't seem like it at the moment. Their children have huge hearts to serve and love us, which is also a blessing. Suddenly all of my previous fears are gone and my trust in God has been magnified even more. One travel day, one rest day, and one ministry day. Yet each day has been so full it seems like it adds up to seven days to me. There's more that happened that's not mentioned here, but know that God is always working in and outside of us during this trip. God we praise You for the good Father You are, and may You continued to be glorified. Amen. Pray for our safety, protection from spiritual warfare, Muc Su Hung and Co Trang's family for strength, and for the kids' hearts to be opened to God's Truth. Thank you to our prayer warriors! Stay tuned for the next blog. I shall be going to sleep to catch up on what I missed because of the 5am music and singing.     :,)   

-Trisha 

Chan Sen (Khmer Ministry)

(Drew by Kayla)

Hi prayer warriors and supporters, 

Sorry for not posting from yesterday. We got caught into plunge of conversations with the family. What a joy we've encountered God's grace and mercy with listening and hearing so many stories from Pastor Hùng and Co Trang. We've been resting a lot. 

Today's Saturday August 4th, we're getting ready to eat lunch at 11:00am with the family then prepare to travel to Chan Sen at 12:00pm , a Khmer school to teach English, worship and prayer with the children, and play sports with them at 1:00pm-4:30pm. We'll split into two groups (Henry, Kayla, and Daniel (Pastor Hùng's son) will teach basic English with the older children while younger children will be taught by Lucy, Trisha, Hong-An, and myself. The children we are interacting with can only speak Khmer so Pastor Hung's children will translate for us while we can only speak English (no speaking Vietnamese). 

Pray for 3 things 

- Pray for the 40-50 children who will attend the class to be open of hearing how God Creates the World in 7 Days. That His Spirit will allow the children to know who He is. 

- Pray for our team to interact with the children with joy and lots of energy. 

- Pray for safe travels to this new ministry as we are spending over 1 hour driving there (Approximately 20-30 km) from Love of Christ Church. 

Thank you for praying, keep in tune with us - I believe Trisha will post an update on our trip. 

His glory our reward, 

Jeremiah 

Incheon to Phnom Penh

Hi y'all. We arrive to Incheon Airport around 6:30pm. Our flight to Korean was delayed by ome hour but now we're rushing to our flight to Phnom Penh! We will arrive to Cambodia around 11:00pm-12:00am. So continue to pray for our safe flight! More updates will be posting soon! 

God calls, make disciples, flourish in the Word, and bless and serve the world with the Gospel, 

Jeremiah 

Arrival & Departure

We've arrive to LAX at 10:00am then check-in our luggages and past through the TSA line with flying colors. Now we are waiting to aboard at 12:40pm through Asiana. We'll arrive around 5:30pm in South Korea! Our second flight to Cambodia will depart at 6:30pm and we'll arrive Phnom Penh at 10:00pm. 

Thank you for the prayers, more updates will come soon! 

His glory our reward, 

Jeremiah 

Cambodia Commissioning Prayer Sendoff 2018

(Cambodia 2018 Team: Lucy, Trisha, Jeremiah, Henry, & Kayla)

Greetings friends and family,

Today on Tuesday July 31st at 7:00 pm, we have our Cambodia Commissioning Service at TLC. Come pray and encourage us to be sent for the next month of mission in Cambodia from August 1st-26th. 

Location: True Love Church

Address: 3700 W. Orange Ave Anaheim, CA 92804

Service: 7:00 pm 

Also if you want to send us out at LAX, we will be arriving at Terminal B flying through Asiana Airlines around 10 am on Wednesday August 1st as we depart at 12:40 pm! Please come and support by sending us out 

His glory our reward, 

Jeremiah Dao 

It Is Finished Cambodia 2017

Hello everyone, supporters to prayer warriors, 

Praise the Lord for our arrival at LAX safely after a long extensive departure and couple of storms from Phnom Penh yesterday (Monday 21st, 2017 at 5 pm). Right now, we are all resting and re-calibrating ourselves back into the time difference and life in the States. We are all tired, so keep us in prayer for a steadfast recovery from the mission trip. 

My heart and mind continues to reflect on the memories the Lord has allowed me to experience in Cambodia. For some reason, I'm having a Cambodia withdrawal from the children, explore the environment of the country, and spending time with Pastor Hung, Co Trang, and the family. This is one of the hardest parts of leaving Cambodia. Then again, this is what short-term mission is about - (1) having a singular purpose of glorifying the Lord in sharing the Gospel that all goes according to his will, (2) encouraging and praying for our brothers and sisters as they need strength to endure the persecution and continue to do the Lord's work diligently, and (3) developing long-term discipleship in the making to expand the kingdom. 

Anyways, keep us in prayer again for reflection and rest in the Lord these next couple of weeks and months especially when we spend time jotting and writing down out testimony for the Cambodia mission trip and adjusting to life. I know our supporters are excited to see what progress were made in the country and how we grew learning from Lord. If you are free, feel free to come to TLC to hear our team members share! 

Here are a couple of prayers: 

- Pray for the finishing of the rooftop (Pastor Hung will begin once they received the full amount, but until then, pray for other partners to support him because the rooftop lasts 10 years. The rooftop allows the children to be protected by the sun and the rain) - the goal to finished the rooftop by December 2017. 

- Pray for strength and endurance for the Pastors and their family in Cambodia. We encountered and were privileged to meet various ministries throughout our travel day to visit and understand how the Lord works. They need the strength to make an impact in the lives of the people and to continue the work faithfully. 

- Pray for next year's team. Pastor Hung discussed opportunities of expanding the Gospel to all of Cambodia in short-long-term. It's awesome! Hopefully some of us return next year to be part of this journey and expedition, God willingly!<;sa/'/

Thank you for reading this, see you next year! 

His glory our reward, 

Jeremiah 

Week 2 Final Saturday of the mission

Naked emotions?

Like when I'd envisioned the thoughts and feelings of the victims of the Choeung Ek (Killing Fields) Genocidal Center. 

You may be thinking, "Genocide? What? I thought your mission was to teach English, Justin." 

And you'd be interested to know that not only have we been teaching English these past couple weeks - what seemed to be mere hours passing, our team has been personally reaching out to the people of Cambodia on an emotional level: children, youth, and adults.Since Week 1, Day 1 we've been providing the opportunity for their spiritual needs by sharing the Gospel. Yet, through the days of laughing, crying, and sharing life together with these kids, we couldn't help but become curious about the mystery of this wonderful culture.

That's how we got to the Killing Fields of Cambodia. 

MS Hung's family became our personal tour guides as we approached the Genocide Center. Now a memorial dedicated to the victims during the Pol Pot led Communist regime, this was a place laden with massive spiritual influence.

The air hung heavy with the sighs of the tourists solemnly walking towards the museum that displayed killing methods of extermination. Bamboo trunks, often used as fences during daily farmwork, were reinstated to beat the prisoners' spines. Axles used for the carts were blunt weaponry. Knives for sugarcane harvest were for slitting throats. This was just the beginning of the tour as we were ushered into a movie theatre that explained the Khmer Rouge mass murders and its history. 

Huong, MS Hung's second eldest daughter, explained that the Khmer Rouge did not discriminate when it came to executing prisoners. Men, women, and children were all equally slaughtered.

Pol Pot, the leader of the Khmer Rouge, reasoned that intellectuals, foreigners, and/or anybody with an ounce of resistance was deserving of death. Infants were smashed into tree trunks headfirst because, as the K.R reasoned, if the babies were not killed now and allowed to love, they would grow up, wonder why they had no parents, eventually figure out the cause, and lead a rebellion. 

Finally, we left that place with heavy hearts. You can see why I said it was a place of massive spiritual influence because, as a heavily Buddhist country, Cambodian government deemed a monument be built, housing all the bones and skills of the excavated corpses. As I walked up the white steps, worn from the shoes being carefully removed before stepping on the premises in respect, the smell of incense deeper into my clothing. A familiar feeling. Recorded chants filled the air and tourists were squatting down to get a better look at the bloodied clothing, stripped from their owners decades ago. 

*Personal note* I had filmed the monument and this tour, taken pictures and such, but later tonight had deleted them all. It was too much to witness once more.*

For lunch, we'd gone to a Khmer restaurant called SWAG. Turn of events, am I right? Lunch was very tasty! The traditional foods, not sure what's it called, required us to be very immersive with our dishes and active with our tablemates! <3 Quite bougie, I may add. 

For our final day of shopping, we entered...the Aeon Mall. The place was YUGE! Takoyaki - 4 for $1? SIGN ME UP. 

Finally, we got to end our day with phở and ice cream for our sister Lucy's birthday ^-^ 

I apologise for nothing for this long blog post :D Today was a long day, not gonna lie. Blessed *sigh* to be with this family. Thank you, to Pastor Hung's family. It is finished.

Regaining our posture,

Justin H. Nguyễn

Cambodia Day 8/17 and 8/18

Hello everyone ~ Yesterday was an amazing day! The team finished sharing the Creation to Christ story (the Gospel) and had an altar call. We asked if there were any kids that would like to accept Christ into their lives to raise their hands and the team would pray for those kids. To my surprise, a lot of kids raised their hands up to accept Christ into their lives. Although majority of the kids were still very young and probably didn't understand the Gospel, the team and I were still joyful for them. We did the best that we could. We planted those seeds in their lives. We believe that there will soon come a day when they fully know who Christ is and truly accept Him as their Lord and Savior. As of now, even a hint of curiosity can spark interest. 

Today was our last full day of ministry here with the kids. We started our day with singing and dancing. It still gets me every time! The kids are so precious <3 Every single time when we sing and dance to "Great Big God", whenever we get to the part where the lyrics say:

 

"And He's known me, and He's loved me. Since before the world began. How wonderful to be a part of God's amazing plan" 

The kids would shout out those lyrics to the top of their lungs, jump and dance to their fullest! It's beautiful to see the kids proclaiming that their Heavenly Father knows them and loves each and every single one of them. After we had finished worship, MS Hung and Co Trang went up and prayed for the team. We then reviewed the terms that we taught them by playing charades with them. We had so much fun! We then had lunch, went back to class, said our farewells and passed out snack packages that the team prepared for the kids. Then that time came; it was time to say our farewells to the little ones. Although it was a very sad moment, I was happy that I will see some of them again this Sunday for church. As for the rest of the day, the team and I spent our time talking to MS Hung and Co Trang's family. We grew closer like a family. We were able to shared our burdens, worries, and joy with one another. Even though my time here in Cambodia is coming to an end, I can sincerely say that it has truly been a blessing! Through all the emotional and physical drainage as well as sickness that I underwent, I would say that it's all worth it. The joy that came out from this trip far outweighs all the struggles. God has taught me a lot of patience and love to the kids. 

Please continue to pray for the kids, MS Hung and Co Trang's family, and finally, for the team. 

His glory our reward, 

- Lucy (Thanh) ^-^

Thao / Praise Reports & Prayer Requests

I had some hesitations about returning to Cambodia this year. I wasn’t sure exactly what to teach, how to interact with the family, and how receptive the kids will be towards the teaching of the Creation to Christ story. All I knew for certain is that I was called to come back this year. There were so many last-minute unexpected changes that made my frustrations escalate. Even as I got in the plane, everything that is happening feels surreal to me. But God is faithful to provide. He answered all of my concerns and requests step by step. I’m very grateful of Pastor Hung’s ministry and to be part of the team going this year. It was tough with the sweltering heat and almost half of the team being sick even before we started our mission. But as each day I see a change, dedication, and flexibility of each member. I love how each member was able to adapt to the lessons quickly and be able make the lessons his/her own, adding his/her own flare and found creative ways to engage the kids. I see the family opening up to the team as we bond with the family through conversations, singing, and games. We were given more chores and responsibilities around the house, and we know that we are no longer considered guests but truly part of Pastor Hung and Co Trang’s family. Even though all of us are home sick and have some kind of sickness in us, we are savoring each moment that we still have with the ministry here in Cambodia. As we share the story of the gospel please pray that we will accurately share the gospel in a simple way for the kids to understand and be able to repent and turn back to Jesus Christ. May it not just be a fun day but a day filled with the power and conviction of the Holy Spirit working in each of these children’s heart to be receptive to the calling that we are to give tomorrow. Please keep us in your prayers!

- Thao

Praise Reports
 - Most members in our team is regaining health and strength.
 - Connecting with MS Hung’s family and getting involved in their daily tasks and responsibilities at home: cleaning the school, setting up table and chairs for the next day, preparing and cleaning up after each meal, opening up conversations with different members in the household (learning practical examples and application from their personal experiences), doing laundry for the family and team members, helping the family with any tasks needed to be done.
 - The majority of kids who have not heard of the gospel are receptive to the Creation to Christ story. Today, we are finished with the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Prayer Requests
- Continue to pray for our team’s health as we are finishing the last leg of this mission trip; please be in prayer for our sister Lucy to have Godspeed recovery from her stomach pain.
- Pray for the family as we spend the last couple of days here to really bond with the family and get to spend quality time with each member of the family; please be in prayer for the prayer requests of Pastor Hung and Co Trang’s ministry, the school Love of Christ Sen Sok, and for us as a team to understand the politics and the election year in Cambodia.
- Pray for the kids who are currently learning about the gospel through the Creation to Christ story that they will come to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior one day.