Dear Friends and Family,

All of us here hope all of you there and there enjoyed the summer and are looking forward to a pleasant Autumn. I'm looking out the window at a nice day here, one wouldn't know that the heavens opened last night and dropped a deluge upon us. Most folks around us were awakened during the night by a shaft of lightning that struck very close. Caleb worked hard yesterday so he didn't even stir.

We have a lot of snake holes on our property. During the rainy season the snakes seem to come out more often. Mikan, our canine chorus always makes a fuss, silly dog. What's the big deal over a little snake. After I killed this specimen, one of the ladies in our development group took it home. I don't know if she ate it or if she
sold it. They are not easy to kill. I actually like them, they are very bold.

Below we have some other visitors. These, however, had an invitation. On the far left is matt Whitehead the Superintendent of the Pacific Northwest Conference. On the right are Art and Sylvia Brown. Art is the Director of the World Missions team. Sylvia is a wonderful wife, mother and dispenser of recipe`s.

The gentlemen went to Suong village with me. At that time the husband, Wi, had been gone from home for a month. Well, we have some good news. He was back home last week and came to the service. Please pray for Wi and his wife, Ti. Sadly, on such a great day, when I left, their puppy was asleep under the car and died. I will have some explaining to do to their little boy, David, this Sunday.

Have you heard of the headless centipedes of Cambodia. I beheaded this one because I couldn't tell if it had died. Even headless it swam about in a bucket for a couple of hours. My friend found one in his bedroll when we hitchhiked across the States years ago. It was only half this size. This isn't the only varmit that snuck into the church recently. We may have some confusion about serving Baal and serving the Lord. The Buddhist temple have been celebrating a ten day festival lately. The festival is difficult to ignore. The loudspeakers begin
broadcasting at four in the morning and blare periodically throughout the day. I suspect some of our folks have gone to it. It is easy to see why the early Church tried to reinvent holidays. Tomorrow, after service, we are going to eat ansolm, a rice log with pork and lentils or soybeans inside. The idea is to have a church event during the festival season to provide people with an alternative rather than an injunction. An invitation to fellowship rather than a rebuke for idolatry. Our message will be about Ananias and Sapphira, Naaman the
Syrian, and Phinehas, a Levite in the time of Moses.

We had a couple of Japanese girls from the Osaka Christian College (Free Methodist) stay with us for a week. One is from a Christian home. They are both studying to become nursery school teachers. We had a great time with them. One of my friends came by and shared his testimony with them. This included talking about the terrors of the Pol Pot period.

On a lighter note, Pesuht, a thirteen year old, lost her sandal as I drove folks home from church last week. We went back to get it and a dog had run off with it. We all laughed, all except Pesuht, who followed the thief onto a someone's property and demanded her own. I am not familiar with the struggle that ensued, but Pesuht came back with a sandal on each foot.

Another positive note, we will finish the first Theological Education Extension book today. Five brethren in Kampong Cham and three in Suong will complete the book. Our second book will present the platform for topics relating to the Word, ie, inspiration, revelation, prophecy, and a Bible survey. All of our team members are
considering ways to develop leaders in the Church. Our own ranks have thinned somewhat. The Nelson's have gone on furlough and will not be reassigned to Cambodia. Rebecca Chung is also on furlough. She is a hard worker and is a bit fatigued. We are not sure when she will come back. Please keep these beautiful folks in your prayers.

The three of us have been sick for a week. We seem to recuperate and then have a relapse. Nothing discombobulating (can I say that?), just inconvenient. We appreciate your prayers and communications.

Love, Chris, Yuko, and Caleb

"Shout with joy to God, all the earth! Sing the glory of His name; make His praise glorious!"
Ps. 66:1