A QUARTER OF PRAYER, LOVE, AND COURAGE

 Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong.  And do everything with love. (I Corinthians 16:13-14)

Shine's intentional discipleship ministry seeks to obey the will of the Father. Prayer and fasting are integral parts of every fiscal year. All glory to God for answering our prayers favorably as we commenced the first quarter of 2025. Prayer and Breakfast followed after the solitude. God, in His grace and mercy, blessed us to have an extended time with His Word and in prayer.

Spending time together in prayer and worship in January.

Pastor Ariel was sharing the Word.

Shine Cell Group dinner in January with Pastor Ariel & wife with friends. 

I praise God for the Self Deployment Inventory (SDI)  seminar in January at C&MA Phnom Penh. BSOP blessed the team Cambodia to join this seminar to which I found helpful, both personally and in ministry.  

The ministry started with joy, love, and courage from the Holy Spirit.  Praise the Lord for Dara’s life. She visited Battambang and joined the fellowship with her two sons. Time flies, Dara’s siblings, Daneth, Danoch, David, and Dalis, are now grown-ups. Daneth is working as a nurse and is part of our Cell Group leaders. Danoch, a Taekwondo provincial athlete, lived with Dara in Komrieng near the border of Thailand for two years. Danoch is back in Battambang and studying at a CGI culinary class. She commits herself to teaching the children in her village in Anlongvil while preparing for her match in the Provincial Taekwondo Tournament next week for the Khmer New Year’s celebration. Praise the Lord, Danoch was once a student in Sunday school and now is a teacher, teaching some of the current children whose parents were our first batch of students. So, they are the grandchildren in the ministry- all glory to God. Witnessing Danoch teaching the Bible stories to the children brought some good memories of the past when she was just a little girl listening and coloring the Bible stories. Indeed, God is at work and mighty to save.  Praise and honor to the Father for what He has accomplished in Dara’s life, her sisters’ lives, and in the community.

Danoch (left), me, Dara, son Vathana, & Daneth (right)

Dara and Danoch led the action songs with the children's ministry in Anlongvil.

Danoch was teaching the Bible story to the children. What a privilege to witness the growth of His children. 

Shine Cell Group young people with Dara and her two sons.

CGI Green Mango's graduation took place in January, and it was an honor to witness their growth emotionally and spiritually. Some got to know the Lord and had faith in Jesus. They are ready to work outside to practice the skills acquired from a year of training and have a means of living. Moreover, I am grateful to God for the life of Vannarath, the Director, as I work closely with her addressing the spiritual needs of the staff and students.

 

CGI Green Mango Staff on graduation day.

CGI Country Director Sinuon (right), from Phnom Penh, graced the graduation.

I am privileged to work closely with Vannarath, CGI Green Mango Battambang Manager. She is a small woman with a big heart for serving the Lord. 

Teaching about God’s amazing Love to different ministry places in the whole month of February was super demanding yet encouraging. This year is special as we emphasized not only knowing the real source of love but also pursuing love as the highest goal in life in following Christ (I Corinthians 14:1). WABC Youth (high school), Young Adults (working), CGI women, and Shine-discipled students were encouraged and challenged to pursue love in daily living for God’s glory.

CGI, Pursuing Love. Sharing His Word with the staff and students was another opportunity to emphasize loving God first.

Shine Cell Group was encouraged by listening to two couples (Pastor Sophin & Vannarath, Tola & Linda) through a video on their journey to finding God and the love of their life.

 

Providing the needed support to our WABC Young Adults spiritually, emotionally, and physically. 

I shared with them how to build good relationships with their colleagues at work. I baked a chocolate cake for Noch (red blouse) and Vina as they celebrated their birthday in March. 

WABC once-a-month youth fellowship. Vina & Noch are leaders in this group and asked me to share the Word of God in February, teaching about love. It was another opportunity not only to teach them the Word of God but to listen to them in our group discussion. 

A woman of courage is a woman of faith, grounded in God’s Word and walks humbly before the Lord. International Women’s Day is observed in Cambodia. March 8 is a holiday in the country in respect to women, and it is a month of opportunity to spend time with women who serve the Lord faithfully. Despite the difficulties and challenges they faced in life, they thrived.  Listening and spending time with Vannarath (NGO Director), Kanhchany (NGO Director), Leakhena (NGO Director), Selaroth (NGO Department leader), Mie Oun (Business woman), Essa (university student), Dara (Gov’t teacher), Singim (Teacher), Noch (Social worker), Vina (HR), Sreytoch (House Manager), Makara (Seamstress), and Mak Ya, Mak Chan, Mak Thi (Housemothers), encouraged me also by understanding the different seasons of life and how the Lord use each life with their respective position in efficiently impacting more people in their community. God is bringing me to places and people to share His message of hope, life, and salvation. Glory is all His.

ARM Teachers Training went great, by the grace of God. The long tasking preparations paid off. I hope and pray that the five participants will be able to apply the principles learned to their respective classroom work. Follow-up and evaluation will continue in the coming weeks and months. Jenny, our BSOP team invited me to help the teachers by conducting this training. 

A whole day training. Praise the Lord for the privilege of helping the needs of the Educational Department of ARM Cambodia. 

They willingly participated in the individual and group activities in the training. 

BSOP Shine awarded a certificate of participation to 5 teachers. I work closely with Selaroth (red blouse), the head of the department. 

Please pray for:

1. For new contact to be evangelized and disciple in 2025.

2. Dara's trasfer to the Battambang area so she can look after her two young boys.

3. Danoch’s commitment to teaching and handling the kids ministry in Anlongvil, her Taekwondo match on April 5. I will be watching her for the fight in the ring. 

4. Singim, Sreytoch, Mie Oun, Daneth, Sopheak, Sreyleak (currently at the hospital for losing her unborn 6 –months- old baby), Leakhena, Mak Ya, Mak Chan, Sophak’s spiritual growth and obedience to God.

5. Intimacy with God, good health, and protection as the whole country celebrates the Khmer New Year next week. I had a minor accident last week. A car overtook me while driving my motorcycle and hit my left side mirror and arm, but amazingly, I did not fall to the ground. I had pain in my shoulders, but I am well. God is awesome!

Please pray for Leakhena & Phirun. They recently celebrated their first wedding anniversary. Currently, they are in trying season at work. After losing their first pregnancy, Sreyleak, Leakhena's sister, is in the hospital after losing her 6-month-old baby in the womb yesterday. This picture was taken last week after the mentoring time with so many tears... 

 "Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created". Revelation 4:11

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In Christ,
Mary Jane G. Aragon
BSOP Cambodia missionary