End of June 2025 Update

Do you remember the Fram oil filter commercial with the grim warning, “You can pay me now, or pay me later?”  It emphasized that a little early maintenance would prevent engine failure later…and that’s exactly what we’ve been doing since landing back in the States!

As this kind of “tune-up” is not available in Cambodia, we decided to come home, opting to take the trip in stages. We first landed in Tokyo (with its 37 million city inhabitants), an incredible culture shock to our third-world-acclimatized personas! We’d rented an (expensive) postage-stamp sized hotel room on the upper floor of one of a thousand high-rises, which, unbelievably, featured a massage chair (free) wedged between the wall and the bed platform, a totally glass-walled bathroom (really? It’s a good thing I like my roommate!), and more buttons for operating the toilet than in the movie Why Him? In comparison to Asian squatty potties, it was heaven! And the courtesy to pedestrians…oh, my! After the chaos of Phnom Penh’s traffic, Japanese drivers were SO cautious and SO deferential, Peter was convinced they’d get the death penalty if they hit someone! There were vending machines everywhere for everything imaginable, eye-popping black/gray fashions and geometric haircuts, ABSOLUTE adherence to rules (pedestrians kept to one side of the sidewalks and DID NOT use their phones!!!), uniformed primary school children walked home unaccompanied on the main streets; there were no trash cans and no litter…and the eggs had impossibly blood-red yolks! We were fascinated by the famous Shibuya Scramble Crossing, where, at peak times, up to 3,000 pedestrians crossed at once, even diagonally, with organized, silent precision, while the 360-degree digital billboards above the crowds flashed continually. Mind-bobbling!

From there, we headed to Los Angeles to visit Jason and Katie and their fur-babies, staying at the posh and historic Los Angeles Athletic Club (courtesy of a gazillion travel points from Katie). The hotel was close to their downtown loft, so we suffered a different type of culture shock walking to their place; driverless WayMoOne taxis top-loaded with cameras, sidewalk Coco robot delivery systems, lawless gothic skateboarders surfing the roads, and the ubiquitous homeless curled up in the entrances to upscale buildings and businesses. There’s a whole lot of room for the LORD in LA! It was a joy to spend time with Katie and Jason (who both looked well and mercifully had a break in their work schedules), to meet their newest fur-family members, and eat some amazing home-cooked meals.

From there, we flew to Dallas, where Peter and Patty rolled out the red carpet for us (so very sweet! Their hospitality knows no bounds.) They, incidentally, had JUST moved to Fort Worth some three weeks earlier…nothing like having the looming arrival of parents to speed your unpacking! We’re relearning the truth that Texas is BIG and it’s a LONG WAY from Fort Worth to all of the doctors with whom we’ve established relationships. Peter and Patty insisted on driving us from pillar to post…for which we were deeply grateful, as the Dallas MixMaster is intimidating after years in Asia in tuk-tuks.

Before completing our rounds of “medical maintenance”, we were privileged to minister at Faith Family Church in Nevada, reuniting with dear colleagues from my teaching days in Garland, Renee Robertson and Wanda Marks, and developing precious new relationships with Renee’s clan, the Faith Church members, and Pastor David Brown and family. What a Texas blessing!

The main impetus for our return at this time (besides longing to see our kids and the thrilling news of Liz and Aaron’s pregnancy) was Peter’s recurrent bouts of a racing heart, which exhausted him and made training desperately hard. While we had excellent care in Cambodia, it IS a third-world country; ablations, the gold standard treatment for AFib, are not available. Thankfully, we were “walked through” medical stopgaps by our USA cardiologists via email, and, once here, were seen immediately by an electrophysiologist. We’re deeply grateful that Peter’s surgery is done and dusted, all went swimmingly, and except for the mandatory 90 days of recovery, he’s good to go for a few miles yet, God willing. My pressing concern, persistent and pervasive jaw and ear aches that we’d attributed to an abscessing tooth, turned out to be TMJ caused by whiplash, and a treatment plan has been designed. Praise the LORD for His protection and provision!

Meanwhile, reports from the Cambodian teams are overwhelmingly good. Pastor Soeuy Lak, with AMGC, sent staggering numbers accomplished by the leaders under his supervision in June: 16 homes visited, 66 people ministered to, 29 salvations…all through caring, being present, helping in tangible ways with Bible classes, ladies' ministry, mobile barber shops, and children’s ministries. Pastor Rin Yame from Mercy Village Church is taking his trained team on a mission trip, leaving yet another capable young team in charge of ministering in Mercy Village and nearby Bamboo Village in their absence. Pastor Sun Sokha and wife Nam Soon are completing their newest six-week Disciple Making Training in remote provinces, the dormitory ministers (Theo and Rekem of Alpha Ministries) report growing belief among their students, and Joe and Ima of Hope Ministries labor on with an impossibly demanding schedule (they have 4 children!) which includes tentmaking work during the week for support and lengthy (often by motorcycle) weekend trips to children’s ministry locations.

Excitingly, in the midst of the chaos and tragedy in M_________, there is uplifting spiritual news! It’s hard to adequately describe the discouraging conditions under which these faithful leaders labor: restrictions of and on everything, including travel; the risk of being conscripted; real and present danger from bombs dropping; the misery of monsoon rains and disease-bearing insects; trying to help shifting groups of internally displaced people (IDPs) who’ve been driven from their villages and are seeking food, shelter, and water; injustice and evil reigning unchecked; everywhere staggering needs that are humanly impossible to meet. And yet, and yet, and yet…the leader of a major home church network in M_________  (our water filter and purifier guy) was almost incoherent joyfully describing the massive spiritual fruit which against all odds has suddenly ripened after months/years of heavy unprofitable slogging! He spoke in awe of 90 baptisms IN ONE DAY! Only God! Thank you to all who help us resource these teams whose work for the Kingdom is being rewarded.

In the Dominican Republic, Pastor Jaime has also been traveling, developing relationships through 516 ministries in other countries to bring back mission teams to minister to the Dominicans and Haitians. He and his wife Jackie are focusing heavily on training pastors in all aspects of leading, including teaching congregations of their responsibility for disciple making wherever they go, work, and live. The Manna Pack ministry (distribution of nutritionally dense prepackaged food packages) continues to be a compassionate and effective way to bring frightened people together to hear the message of Hope.

And now, God willing, having had our hearts, knees, teeth, and sundry other parts “vetted,” we are good to go to Hawaii…if I can work my way through this administrative pile accumulated over the past 18 months! How deeply grateful we are for God's protection all those months that prevented serious harm to Peter's heart. Thank you, as always, for your concern, love, prayers, support, and amazing response in times of great need. We only wish you could see what your partnership is doing for the Kingdom.

Much love…  

until we meet again (Texan)

Ke Akua pū (God be with you, in Hawaiian),

                                                         “And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.”
— 2 Timothy 2:2