Greetings from the beautiful city of Huntsville, Alabama! Spring is here, and we're enjoying our morning walks through Downtown more than ever. We also made it to Huntsville's infamous Big Spring Park several times not only for a pleasant walk but also for the wonderful young families we have been meeting. Please pray for these young families as they make decisions about faith, especially as they raise their children.
Happy Birthday!
Eleven years ago from March 24th, Chris was baptized into Christ in a stream on Mt. Elgon, in Kenya by his wonderful father. We were blessed to walk by the very spot on our trip to Kenya in 2005, and Chris still has one of its rocks on which is written 24/3/96. God's faithf
ul love has followed Chris all these years! Chris was also blessed to have a long talk on the phone with his sister, Nicole, on her 27th birthday. We are so thankful for her, and we hope to see her in early April.
Visiting, Teaching, and Learning
We have both had so many opportunities to teach this month, Chris at LifeTalks and in Sunday School and Casey during a weekly Ladies' class. We really are grateful for the training we are receiving here as the church is giving us more and more learning opportunities. We had the great opportunity to meet the mother of a member here Central who stayed in Cambodia for a few months. Mrs. Nance told us all the news from Cambodia and showed us her beautiful pictures. We were so pleased to hear news of our friends, see how the babies in the church have grown, and talk about the wonderful country of Cambodia.
Following our lunch with Mrs. Nance, we stopped at a Hindu temple where we met a young Indian priest. With his limited English, he showed us around the temple and introduced us to many gods. The University of Alabama at Huntsville, which is very near our house, has many Indians on campus. Chris has begun to play soccer with them on Fridays as suggested by a Central member who also teaches at UAH. Please pray for the Hindu community here.
We also met another member of the international community: Thy Yem, a Cambodian! Thy is happy to help us meet the 7 Cambodian families in the area, though he warns us that they are extremely busy. Please pray for Thy and his family.
The campus ministry at Central is thriving, and they have decided they would like to start a FriendSpeak ministry. We were able to attend a training seminar in Cookeville, Tennessee this month with the added benefit of seeing our dear friends, Rick and Karen Love. Please pray for wisdom for the church staff as they prayerfully begin the FriendSpeak ministry. Pray also for the Loves as they are moving to Zambia as missionaries following their stay at their supporting church.
The Thomases and the Cambodia Reception
We were so blessed to be able to spend more time with our teammates, Nathan and Laura Thomas. We have been so impressed by their faith in God, their zeal for the lost, and their amazing servant hearts. Nathan and Laura were introduced to Central's missions committee where they
shared their backgrounds and dreams for the future. Our short weekend went by quickly as Nathan and Chris were able to work out an itinerary for our survey trip, while Laura, who was a priceless help, and Casey prepared for the reception. The reception was so encouraging! Over 100 people attended and asked so many helpful questions during the Q&A session. Chris and Nathan did a wonderful job speaking, and we had a special phone call to the congregation from our Cambodian friend in Dallas, Sokhom Hun.
Upcoming Survey Trip
As many of you may now know, our missions committee has asked us to go on another survey trip to Cambodia this summer. This unexpected blessing with give our teammates and a member of the missions committee, Steve Lowery, a chance to see Cambodia and will give us and the Thomases a chance to do some serious teambuilding.
If you would like to support our survey trip or our long-term work, you can make your checks to Central Church of Christ and write “Cambodia Mission†on the memo line. Thank you so much to all who have already given. You have already brought us half-way to our financial goal for the survey!
Thank you all for your prayers and love. We would enjoy hearing from you. God bless!
