An incredible new letter I got from Cambodia.

Happy New Year! We hope you had a fun night celebrating the end of '08 and welcoming in '09. We sure did! A couple of hundred people turned up and we danced the night away around a campfire on the Heartland Farm. As midnight drew near, we began to pray and thank God for the incredible things He's done throughout the year and dedicated '09 to Him. We started the countdown, 10, 9, 8… At midnight us Aussies shouted HAPPY NEW YEAR!! and the Khmer all looked surprised! Then they explained that the words 'New Year' in the Khmer language mean 'Long Wrinkle', so they were wondering why we were all yelling, "HAPPY LONG WRINKLE!!!". So funny! I think it might catch on and at future New Year's Eve parties we'll be yelling "Happy Long Wrinkle!!

Well, like everyone else, we've had a hectic few weeks (sorry that you haven't heard from me much in the last month or so!) and as you'll see in the following testimonies, God's been busy too! We've got heaps of incredible testimonies to share, so I'll keep each one brief:

• To celebrate Christmas, Heartland threw a party on Sunday the 21st. A huge crowd turned up (mostly kids) and the Gospel message was shared. Five adults (new comers) gave their hearts to the Lord and get this…. 217 children gave their hearts to the Lord!!!!
• Pastor Andrew was here in Cambodia at the time, and God gave him a word of knowledge for a young woman who had pain in her upper back. I knew who it was instantly. A young woman we help (and whose baby is sponsored with formula) had blood in her lungs and was suffering a lot of pain in her upper back. How cool is it that God had chosen her out of a crowd to heal her. She came forward for prayer and was instantly healed. All pain gone and it hasn't returned!
• The next day at the Freedom Village, Pastor Andrew had two women with poor eyesight ask for prayer. He showed them a shop sign about 50m away and asked if they could read it. Neither could. He prayed for them to receive healing, and afterwards they got all excited and said they could see clearly! He asked them to read the same sign and now they both could. One could even read the small print which most of us ‘youngies’ would have had trouble reading!
• Then, in my English class on Christmas Eve, I shared the story of Jesus and around 20 students gave their hearts to the Lord!
• On Christmas Day, Pastor Channa went to Stung Trong (a small town two hours north or here where Cain, one of our young bible college graduates has planted a church. It's only a few months old, and before Christmas he already had 40 members). Pastor Channa shared the gospel and over 50 people gave their hearts to the Lord!
• The day of New Year's Eve, Ben was teaching our discipleship class at the Freedom Village (the Slum has a new name as a result of the Freedom they've found in Jesus!). He was teaching on Baptism and ten people hadn't yet been baptized and wanted to be. So right there in the Mekong River, Ben and Channa baptized them!
• On New Year's Eve, as you know we had a great party, and the gospel was shared again and five young people (new comers) gave their hearts to the Lord!
• Steph (one of our visiting Aussies) and some of the Heartland team prayed for three guys at the trauma ward (a new area we’ve just started outreaching into). One guy had just lost three fingers and was in incredible pain. They prayed and the pain just left. He was so surprised he was just looking at his hand and wriggling the remaining finger and thumb. “Ot Chu” He said in a surprised voice, which means “No Pain”. Steph’s now believing the finger’s will grow back and we’ll let you know when that happens. The next guy they prayed for had only just then broken his leg (the femur) and was in agony. Again, as soon as they prayed the pain left and now they’re waiting for x-rays to see if it’s completely healed. The third guy had received atrocious burns to most of his body in a house fire, and his face was particularly bad. They prayed for his face, and went back a week later and his face is completely healed and whole. Not a single scar or mark – you would never know he had ever been burned! He then told them that they had to pray for the rest of his body!!
• Jit and I went into the AIDS ward just a couple of days ago, gave out food and visited with the patients. There was one new family there - five family members visiting their Dad who was sick. We shared the gospel with them and had the privilege of leading all six to the Lord. I since went back and gave them all bibles to begin their discipleship journey, and as long as they are there we’ll continue to disciple them.
• Lastly, during worship at church, Pastor Elliah shared that he had injured his leg and at first he didn’t think he’d be able to make it through worship (as he was leading up the front). But then he had decided to believe for complete healing by the time worship ended, and by the time it ended he was completely healed. At the same time I was having stabbing stomach pains and feeling sick, and thinking “oh great! – I’ve eaten something bad and now I’ll probably be sick for a day or so. I really don’t have time for this!”. When I heard Pastor Elliah’s testimony I thought, “No Way! I’m not having this! I’ll have healing instead.” And do you know what? I was healed instantly. Praise God! Isn’t it crazy how we know God can do the big stuff, but when it comes to a little tummy bug we just accept it?! So I’ve learnt a new Khmer phrase, “Kamien Plough Dey!” which means “No Way!”.

So, how incredible are those testimonies?! GOD ROCKS!! Thank you so much for all the prayers and seeds sown. Your seed is reaping a great harvest!!

Well, It’s getting late and I’ve got to get back before dark, so I’d better go. Huge blessings, big hugs. From Benny, Cherie and Kai