Praise and Prayer for January 10, 2011

We returned from our two weeks in Cambodia just before the New Year got under way. Tired and jetlagged, we were dragging by the time we pulled into the parking lot behind our apartment building. But no matter how tired our bodies were our hearts were full of praise and gratitude to the One whose care and protection had taken us safely to and from Koh Kong, Cambodia. He had given us many blessings along the way. Some of God’s greatest blessings from our trip are the memories that we brought back with us of the special time with Grandma and Grandpa Broeckert and the people that we met in Cambodia. God truly blessed our time there, and while we tried to adjust to the great increase in temperature and climate from what we were accustomed to in France, we soon found that the warmth in the hearts of the Cambodians was even more evident than the warmth in the air.

After returning, one of the projects that we worked on as a family was putting together a scrapbook of the trip for the kids to take to share with their friends and teachers at school. The scrapbook continues to be shared with friends and neighbors, telling of our visit to grandparents living in far off Cambodia to tell of the Savior who came.

On Thursday of this past week our electricity and heat were out for much of the day after a loud boom sounded from behind our building at 6:30 a.m. Several large transformers around our neighborhood had blown and had to be replaced. We had to postpone the English Encounter for that evening until this Thursday. However some participants do have previous engagements this Thursday. On Friday we were shocked when an upstairs neighbor shared with us that her husband had died that night in the hospital after a brief hospitalization. Last year, after two and a half years of friendly contact, we had shared a plate of goodies with them along with a Scripture calendar and Christmas tract. They made it clear that Mr. D. was an atheist and that they were not interested in our “beliefs”. It took many months for the cold shoulder to give way to a bit of neighborly kindness once again. We were saddened to hear of Mr. D.’s passing and pray that Mrs. D.’s heart will be softened toward the Gospel.

Praise for:
- God’s help for Jonathan as he preached Sunday in the French and Sango services.
- the special time with Cherith’s parents in Cambodia over the Christmas holiday.
- God’s blessing as Jonathan preached and Cherith shared with the Ladies’ Sunday School class on our first Sunday in Cambodia.
- the healing that the Lord has given to our children after bouts with sickness both in Cambodia and back home in Reims.

Pray for:
- Mrs. D. and for other neighbors who need Christ and for opportunities to witness.
- the English Encounter outreach Thursday evening.
- good health as this region of France is currently a red zone for occurrences of the stomach flu.
- good progress on reports and correspondence this week.
- the church counsel meeting Saturday evening and the annual business meeting of our church coming up on January 30.
- direction for our future as the Lord guides us step by step.