Merry Christmas - Kids' Korner Style

Christmas is right around the corner and we want to wish you all a very, Merry Christmas.This is Caleb, Justus and Emma here once again and we also want to tell you some of the adventures that we have been up to.

Emma - "I've been real busy going here and there with my Mom and Dad and brothers these past few weeks. Most of the time, during the day, we get to stay at home and mostly just relax. But in the evenings, we have been going out to many different people's houses. Mom and Dad talk about Cambodia a lot. I know that they are happy to be here, but it seems like they miss Cambodia and I think that they are looking forward to going back there.
It's been fun getting to meet new people. Lots of times the people that we are visiting have kids too, so I get to make new friends while we're here. I'm pretty comfortable wherever we go, but it's always nice to know that Mom and Dad are close by.
The other day, Mommy called Cambodia to talk to one of my Cambodian aunties named Chanthy. While they were talking to each other in Khmer, I was able to understand some of the things that they were saying. Mommy said that I did really good!"

Justus - "Last weekend, Papa and Grammy took us up to the mountains to play in the snow. It was a lot of fun, but it was really cold. We made a snowman and Papa and Daddy made a snow fort for Caleb and I, so we hid in that and threw snowballs at Papa and Daddy.
We've also had a little bit of snow in the city. We haven't gotten very much, and it hasn't stuck around for long, but it is really pretty to see it falling down from the sky. Daddy always likes to go outside and watch it come down. Daddy thinks that we might get some more in the next couple of days or two, but we'll just have to wait and see. Maybe we'll have a white Christmas!"

Caleb - "We've been having lots of fun with Papa and Grammy, but I've still been doing my school work. I get to take a break for a couple of days for Christmas though, so I'm looking forward to that.
One of the things that is fun is that Papa and Grammy have lots of fun games to play. One of the ones that I'm really good at is Battleship. I've played many times with Grammy and Daddy too. I've won some and lost some, but Daddy has taught me some good strategies, so I can almost beat anyone I play.
Since I've been doing so good at that game, Daddy has now started teaching me another game called Risk. We haven't played that one lots and lots, but I'm starting to understand that and I invite anyone who passes by to sit down and play a game with me. It's lots of fun."

"Christmas is just a few days away now and we want to make sure that we thank all of you for all of your love and hospitality while we've been here in North America. Our family is greatly blessed by all of you and it's so fun to spend time with all of you. We hope that you all have a great Christmas and that God's richest blessings are on you all as we remember our Saviour this Christmas."

Merry Christmas!

Caleb, Justus and Emma (and Mommy and Daddy too!)

Relationship

Character is vital to a person's growth and development, but if character is pursued without relationship, it quickly descends into legalism. But if it is tied to relationship, it has life.

The first key to understanding this is to know that God is a relational God. To say that he is relational means that he interacts with us, he is with us, he lives life with us. Hebrews 4:12 says that, "the Word of God is alive and active." Since God cannot lie or be separated from his Word, and since the Word became flesh, we can say that God is 'alive and active.' God is a live God who not only has good character, but also has life.

In Genesis chapter 3, God is seen walking in the garden in the cool of the evening. The Bible makes it seem as though this was a normal occurrence. Although Adam and Eve hid themselves because of their sin, they didn't seem shocked that God was there in the garden. When Jesus was on the earth, he not only taught what was right, but he also had relationships with people. He went to weddings and celebrations, he talked with people, he ate, he drank. For me personally, one of the greatest depictions of Jesus, and one that says 'relationship' to me is the depictions that show him laughing. He is full of the joy of the Lord and he expressed that through his life.

Since we are the creation of God, and we are created in his likeness, we are also created for relationship. We are created for relationship with Him, and we are created for relationship with others.

As disciples of God and disciplers of others, we should always be trying to make our relationship with God deeper. The ways that we do that are through spending time with God, loving him, reading his Word, praying and worshiping him. But it is very important that these things don't become duties, but they should become habits that we do out of love. These things (praying, reading the Word, etc.) are all ways that God has given us to be able to spend time with him, they are expressions of love. But the moment that these things become duties, then they lose their purpose. They will start to suck our life instead of give it.

Also, God created us for relationship with others. As children, it is so easy to make friends. Many times, if you put two kids together in the same room with a bunch of toys, they'll inevitably start to play together and interact. I remember as a teenager, I became best friends with another guy in my church simply because we lived close together. Simple proximity drew us closer. As we get older though, circumstances change and we start to lose our close friends and because of various circumstances, it becomes harder to make new friends. I think that especially men need to guard against isolation. I have seen examples in many other men's lives, and I see in my own life, that when men get by themselves, they start to get 'weird.' They start to do things that they normally wouldn't do, or live a different lifestyle, or begin to compromise. But relationships are like the ropes that tie us to the anchor (Jesus Christ), they keep us from drifting. God meant for us to fight the good fight and to live this Christian life with others.

Therefore, we must pursue relationships - relationship with God and relationship with others. It is what we are created to do. And, it is what brings us life.

Mourning in Phnom Penh

Close to the riverside in Phnom Penh

Thursday, November 25 will be set aside as a national day of mourning in Cambodia.

On Monday night around 10pm, thousands of people were celebrating the annual Water Festival on a small island just south of the main riverfront area. Joining the island to the mainland is a small bridge. As hundreds of people were on the bridge, something sparked a panic and a stampede began. Some people fell off of the bridge into the water while others were crushed. In all, over 300 people died and several hundred more were injured and rushed to the hospital.

Thankfully, none of our church members perished, but I did here that one of our church members was injured. However, some people in our church had friends or relatives who died or were hurt and surely everyone in our church and city was affected by this tragedy.

During the Water Festival, many people from all over Cambodia come to Phnom Penh to participate in the festivities. The main attraction is the boat races on the river. Teams come from every part of the country to compete. The estimate is that the population of Phnom Penh (just under two million) doubles for the days of this festival. Therefore, it is very likely that many people from all around the country have been affected by this tragedy. Prime Minister Hun Sen said that it is the biggest tragedy to take place in Cambodia since the Khmer Rouge.

Please join us in praying for Cambodia. Please pray for physical healing for those who have been injured, pray for emotional healing for those who lost family members and the pray for the blessing of God to be on the Christians who are comforting friends and loved ones at this time.

Character

In continuing on about discipleship, I wanted to share some ideas that I had on the 4 components of discipleship (character, relationship, authority and reproduction/discipleship). Specifically, in this post, I want to talk about character.

God says in the Bible, "be holy as I am holy." There is no question about God's standards for character. In God's original intent, when God created Adam and Eve, He created them without sin and He expected them to stay that way, but they sinned and didn't stay that way. But God's initial plan for Adam and Eve is that He wanted them to be representatives of His character on the earth. This also, is God's plan for Christians and the place that we want to lead our disciples to as we teach them and live life with them.

Another interesting thing about character is that God seems more concerned about the heart then about the outward actions. It's about heart motivation and not necessarily about behavior. In Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, he talks about how the law says, "Don't do this, don't do that", but he told his disciples that what's more important is what's in the heart - and that is equivalent to sin. Jesus introduced a higher standard of holiness, inner holiness, not just outward obedience to the law. Jesus also taught that the greatest commandment is to love God and to love others - motivations that start in the heart. Even when Jesus confronted someone's behavior, he did it to expose what was in their heart. Take for example, the rich young ruler. The reason that Jesus said that it would be difficult for him to enter into the kingdom of Heaven was not because of the amount of money that he had, but because his money was where his treasure was. The fruit of Spirit are also inner issues of the heart.

So, as we disciple people in the area of character, I think that it's important that we do not concern ourselves so much with the outer actions, but we need to be led by the Holy Spirit as we develop relationships with others and help to lead them in discovering their own heart motivations. This is where we really get to know people, we discover what is in them, and we get to share in what God is doing in their hearts.

And as we disciple/mentor people with a love for their hearts, God opens up our hearts and fills us with compassion. We will see past all of the outward things like actions, behaviors, dress, etc. and see people's hearts the way that God sees them.

Kids' Korner - October 25, 2010

This Justus here everyone, and we are having lots of fun here in Canada. It wasn’t a real long trip here from Portland, but we had fun in the airports and on the airplanes. Then, a couple of days after we got here was Thanksgiving. We had lots and lots of food and fun with our cousins and relatives. It was a little cool on that day, but we got outside and played in the leaves and ran around outside. Daddy says that it’s really beautiful with all of the fall colors.
Another cool thing that we get to do here is to play at lots of different playgrounds. They’re everywhere! There is one that is close enough that we can walk there from Grandpa and Grandma’s house. We go there at least two or three times a week. Daddy and Grandpa took us to a different one today. We had lots of fun.

This is Caleb here, and I had my first sleepover at my cousins house while we’ve been here. It’s so much fun being with my cousins. We have lots of fun with Jason, Renae and Cameron. They have Legos and even a Wii! So much fun.
We also went over to a friend’s house for dinner one day and they have a house close to a woods. Before dinner, we went for a walk in the woods and we saw lots of pinecones and even a beaver’s dam! It was my first time that I have ever saw one before, and it’s really cool because I just learned about beavers in my school last week. It was neat to see it in real life.

This is Emma checking in. Right now, Mommy and I are in New York City visiting a good friend of Mommy’s. We took the train here from Hamilton a couple of days ago. We are having lots of fun seeing things and being with Mommy’s friends. There are even some kids close to my age here, so I am getting to make new friends too. In a couple of days, Daddy and the boys are coming to New York to meet us here before we go down to Baltimore and visit our other cousins. Charlotte and Gideon are looking forward to playing with all of us.
Overall, we are all having lots of fun. Even though Caleb still has to do school every day, we are all very, very happy and we are enjoying our time in Canada very much. Thank you so much for your prayers for all of us. God is with us and is blessing us all along the way.

Have an awesome day!
 
Caleb, Justus and Emma

4 Components of Discipleship

In my last post about discipleship, I talked about the numbers of discipleship. And it is a very real fact that we can reach the world in our generation. It is a long-term commitment, but with the help of the Holy Spirit it can be done.

The question that arises after thinking about the numbers is this, “What does discipleship mean?” and “What does discipleship look like?”

In continuing to look at the example of Jesus, we see that discipleship to him was definitely more relational than it was institutional. He never taught in a classroom, though he did teach in the synagogue. He also taught as different situations arose. He taught his disciples as needs came, as he healed people, as people opposed him and as people asked him questions. Mostly, Jesus taught in a way that was relatable to His disciples, and he taught as they lived life together. For us, that means that in whatever place we are, in whatever we are doing, we can disciple others. Whether we are working in a steel mill, an office complex or a school, there are people around us that God wants us to disciple, and we disciple as we live life with those around us.

 However, the fact that Jesus’ discipleship was relational, doesn’t mean that it wasn’t intentional. He definitely had a purpose in everything that He did. He didn’t do anything by accident. He had a plan for his disciples.

In the book of Genesis, we see that when God created Adam and Eve, He created them for a plan or a purpose. Genesis 1:26-28 and Genesis 3:8 show us four reasons that God created man. These four reasons are 1) to have the character of God, 2) to have a relationship with God 3) to exercise the authority of God on the earth and 4) to reproduce and fill the earth.

As we look at Jesus’ training of his disciples, we can see that Jesus taught in these four areas as well. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught about character. As he taught about prayer, he was teaching them about how to have a relationship with God. He was also an incredible example in his relationship with God through prayer. In his healings and miracles, he was an example of how to use the authority that He had been given from His Father. He also sent out his disciples to exercise their authority in healings and casting out demons. Finally, in his last words to his disciples before he ascended into heaven, he told them to reproduce and fill the world with disciples.

These are four vital areas – character, relationship, authority and reproduction – are the areas where we are to be grow every day, but the are four areas in which we are to disciple those around us.

Let’s be examples in these four areas in our lives and also disciple and train at least one other person this next year. Together we can start changing the world and we will see a huge difference in the next thirty years!

Sharing at Living Hope

Well, our family is back in Hamilton after an awesome trip to Baltimore. We visited Angie's brother and sister-in-law, Ben and Rebecca Malmin. We had a great time with them and we made lots of fun memories with them and their kids.

I wanted to take a quick minute to let you know about something that is coming up next week. For all of you who are in the Hamilton area, we are going to be having a time of sharing about Cambodia on Wednesday. Pastor Bob Leach has invited us to tell about some of the things that God has been doing in Cambodia, how the church has been growing, the lives that are being touched and how we have been involved. We will be at Living Hope Christian Assembly (1045 Garth Street in Hamilton - the corner of Garth Street and Limeridge Road) on Wednesday, November 10th at 7:00pm. If you need directions or any further information, please let us know and we'd be happy to help you out

We can't wait to see you there!

Discipleship can Change the World - literally!

New Life Fellowship, our church in Phnom Penh, Cambodia has been built over the years through discipleship, it's something that I've learned, can literally change the world.

Think about two people, the first person makes it their goal to disciple 3,000 people per day, every day for 30 years. The person who does this will reach a total of 32 million people. That is a huge number and very commendable, but it is certainly not something that is sustainable for 30 years. Just the idea of finding 3,000 different people every day is staggering.

Now, think about doing it a different way. The second person makes it their goal to disciple only one person per year. They spend an entire year with just this one person. Then, in the second year, they spend it discipling a different person, while the person from the first year also begins to disciple another person too. Then, in the third year, everyone disciples one more different person. If this is done and sustained for 30 years, over one billion - one billion! - people can be reached, all through multiplication. And if only 6 Christians started this today, we could change the entire world in our generation.

This type of discipleship is all about relationships. Jesus is our model, and his example was living life with his disciples and teaching them in the every day situations that they met. Sometimes he taught them, sometimes he showed them, sometimes they did things together, and sometimes he sent them out. But in everything that he did, he did it for the purpose of investing into these 12 to change the world for the Kingdom of God. It's amazing to think that He had faith in God and faith in these 12 to change the world. However, as Disciples of God, He has this same faith in us.

Technology Today

Many centuries ago, when missionaries would leave their home countries and travel to the mission field, they would do so with a heart of dedication and commitment. They would board steamer ships and sail weeks or even months to get to their destination. Popular stories tell of missionaries who would board these ships with all of their belongings packed in caskets because they didn't expect that they would be coming back. This was due to medical conditions and the cost of travel. But in spite of all this, they  left with an unwavering spirit and a heart of commitment to their Savior and Lord.

It is said that the Church in Africa and other countries around the world was literally built on the bones of countless missionaries and martyrs."

Also, in demonstrating his commitment to the work of the Gospel, C.T. Studd said, "If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for him."

We are deeply indebted to these missionaries who have paved the way for missionaries today and it is their example that inspires us in our ministry in Cambodia.

Today, however, technology has changed the method of missions. Through things like radio, television and cell phones, the Good News can be communicated across restrictive government lines. E-mail and internet makes communication next to instantaneous. And vehicles such as airliners speed up the travel from one continent to another so much so that now the trip can be made in a matter of hours rather than weeks or months.

One technology that we have used recently has been an internet-based computer program called Skype. Skype is a program in which we can view live video and audio of each other through the internet. This is great for communication, but since we've been here, we've been able to maintain our relationships with our friends back in Cambodia. We have even set up times where we can study together with our interns. Once, we had a devotional time together, and another time, we studied a lesson together - with them using their computer in Cambodia and us using our computer in Canada.

The devotional time was amazing, we prayed together, spent time studying Psalm 24 and sharing each other's prayer needs all through the computers! The second time we studied, I had a terrible headache and I figured that it was going to be difficult to teach. So, at the beginning, I asked all of the interns to pray for me. Obviously, they couldn't put their hands on me, but I really felt God touch my body while they prayed. After they prayed for me, I felt dramatically better and I was able to teach for the rest of the time with very little pain!

This time is a great time to be a missionary and we are blessed to be able to take advantage of all of the advances in technology that we have in this day and age.

Portland to Hamilton

Well, we had a great first week in North America and the kids are doing great. Our first week was in Portland (where Angie's parents are). On Sunday of last week, we had a great connection night. It was a time where we could share with the church about what we have been up to in Cambodia and how God is working in people's lives. It was so exciting for us to tell about how God is growing his kingdom in Cambodia.

Also, during the first week, we were able to attend the MFI conference. It was a great time to receive from some great men and women of God, be challenged spiritually and meet up with some great friends.

After the conference, we flew to Hamilton to visit Jason's parents. One of the things that really refreshes us spiritually is visiting our home churches. City Bible Church and Living Hope Christian Assembly are places where we always receive through the worship, the word and the friendships that we have here. It always reminds us of our church in Cambodia since the worship is so anointed and is so filled with the Holy Spirit.

It is also a joy to spend time with family. Today in Hamilton was such a beautiful autumn day. We took all the kids to the local park where they played and played. Then, we topped it off with a trip to Tim Horton's. Now, tonight, Caleb is spending the night at his cousins house, so I sure hope that they are having fun and getting some sleep. :) We are so thankful for this time that we can spend time with family and make new memories.

Tomorrow is going to be another great day too. It's Thanksgiving here in Canada, so we are going to have some more family time, as well as some delicious food including turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes.

Have a blessed Thanksgiving!

Jason & Angie

From Phnom Penh to Portland

Well, we arrived in Portland safe and sound yesterday afternoon. Our travels took us from Phnom Penh to Seoul, South Korea to Tokyo, Japan (an unexpected stop for us, but fortunately not unexpected for the pilot). From Tokyo, we flew to Los Angeles, CA and then up to Portland. Including the stops and layovers, it was a total of about 28 hours worth of travel.

The kids did pretty good considering the duration of the trip, but Caleb did get sick a couple of times on the flights. And he's doing better now. Now, we just have to get adjusted to the time difference. As I sit writing this, it's 5:30 in the morning and Emma and Caleb have been up for a while now. Thankfully Justus is still sleeping, so he may be the most quickly adjusted.

We don't have a lot planned for these first couple of days, so it will likely just consist of getting adjusted and rested. Then, we'll start into things this weekend.

We're so excited that we're here now and we're so excited that we'll be seeing you all in this next little while.

God bless you!

Jason

In just a few short hours . . .

Well, all the kids are in bed taking their afternoon naps and the house is quiet. In just about 10 hours, we will be at the airport getting on the plane for our first of three flights that will take us back to the USA. It's only a visit, but we're really looking forward to being back and seeing all of you there.

Since today's a Wednesday, the last thing that we get to do before we leave Cambodia is to go to church. I'm pretty happy about that, it's a good way to say 'good-bye' to all of our friends here. Our Wednesday evening service ends at 7, so after that, we will have dinner and head to the airport around 9. Then, our flight leaves at 11pm. That's the reason why the kids are all taking naps now.

So, for the next three months in the USA and Canada, we will be trading palm trees for pine trees and our shorts for sweaters. Although, I've heard it might be pretty hot when we get to the airport in LA! Anyways, I'm sure it will be a fantastic time.

Please pray for grace for all of the children, and for Angie and I as we travel. We don't want this time to be stressful for any of us, but our hope is that we can make it into an adventure and have fun with the kids. Please pray that all of our belongings make the trip safe and sound with us as well.
Please also pray for the people and the work that we are leaving behind here in Cambodia. We really want to see these people continue to grow, and it would be our pleasure to see these young men and women stronger and firmer in their faith when we return back here.

Finally, we want to remind you about our 'Taste of Cambodia' night that is happening this Sunday. We will be hosting it at 5:00pm in the City Bible Church Rocky Butte Campus lobby. We would love to see all of you who can make it.

And for all of our friends in Hamilton, we'll be there on the weekend before Thanksgiving! Maybe we can get together for a cup of coffee and some Timbits at Timmy's!

See you all then!

Jason & Angie

The Countdown

In just four short days, we will all board a plane bound for the US. At around 11pm on Wednesday night, our whole family will take off for Portland, Oregon for a 3-month trip to the US and Canada.

It's really quite bitter-sweet because we have really felt like these past few months have been some of the best and most effective in all the time that we have spent here. With the relationships that we have built and the friends that we have, Cambodia is feeling more and more like home.

With that said, we are also really looking forward to being back in North America. It is always a joy to be with our family and friends and in our home churches. We are also looking forward to sub-20 degree weather!

Here is what our schedule looks like for the next couple of months starting this Wednesday:

September 29 - leave Phnom Penh, Cambodia
September 30 - arrive in Portland, OR via Seoul, Korea and LAX
October 9 - fly to Hamilton, Ontario
October 27 - take the train to Baltimore, MD to visit Angie's brother
November 4 - back to Hamilton
November 14 - leave Hamilton and fly back to Portland, OR
January 5 - fly back to Phnom Penh from Portland, OR

3 children and 3 months worth of travel. Should be quite an adventure! Please think about us and pray for us during this time. Pray for grace on each of the kids and on us as well. Also, if you would like to plan some time together with us, we would really love to see you.

These are some pictures of a motorcylce trip that we took back in April. We took national road to Koh Kong, then the Cardamom trail through the mountains to Pailin. Then from Pailin to Battambang and then back to Phnom Penh. 4 days and lots of fun!

Here's another test log, testing about uploading photos. This picture was taken awhile back as sort of a 'photo shoot' for our Christmas cards this year. You'll see more or these pictures as we get closer to Christmas. Thought they turned out alright.

The Countdown

Well, we're about six days away from flying back to Portland, OR. The kids are in bed and I'm setting up my first blog.