A new year has begun! First things first, COVID update. Case count remains low, but new testing a tracing practices means we are catching more outbreaks but we can also trace them. At the moment schools are closed and religious meetings are not meeting in person, but like the rest of the world the government struggles to find a middle road. Open, close, open, close… In better news, vaccines are arriving here, but slowly being distributed.
Here at EMI, we have seen a lot of new changes in the new year. Our office has received one new local staff, a seconded staff, a new staff family (who are currently in language school), and two new interns! We are thankful for these new faces to bring a fresh air to the office environment. I am especially excited about our interns. I am already blown away by their bravery to travel internationally during this time. They had to quarantine in a government sanctioned hotel for 14 days. Even though they traveled together, they were not even allowed to visit each other during the quarantine. I did the majority of their orientation over Zoom, so once they entered the office they were ready to get to work. We also had a lot of fun last month playing our welcome game, Mission Impossible. Anyone in the office can play, we break into teams and complete challenges around the city as a way to get to know the new people, and get to know Phnom Penh.
Sdam Update
Sdam’s new year has been busy. The church has been in-person and online, every week sees something new. Even in the uncertainty, we praise God for the faithful that have kept with us in the last year, and for even a few new faces. Sdam has been busy preparing a new teaching schedule for the year. We have a small teaching team, and we are looking for opportunities to continue to train our teaching team in sermon preparation and Bible study. More discipleship is needed, but we also need the human resources to make that discipleship happen. Both Sdam and I are currently taking a small course in servant leadership that we hope will challenge us in our various leadership positions at both work and church.
Sdam and I have had a few different chats lately about the world and the virus. Sdam keeps mentioning that we still don’t know where it came from, yes we assume China, but even then, when and were? And I tell him about how this is not the first epidemic / pandemic the world has ever seen. I’ve told him about the Black Plague, and Ebola. We were discussing together about the effects of sin and our fallen world, and how that means we will always have disease, pain, and death until Jesus returns to make the world a new. But even now, God is active and moving in our world. He has given man kind the wisdom, potential, and knowledge to invent vaccine for these kinds of viruses. It’s quite amazing. As I preached from Genesis recently, as people created in God’s image, we are creative beings. And God is in the business of partnering with his creation to bring His kingdom to Earth, now, today. We leave you with this though. Even in these uncertain times, how are you using your creativity to usher in the Kingdom of God today?
Grace and Peace,
Anna & Sdam
