Dear Ministry Partners, Friends and Family,
The past few weeks have been truly eventful. Despite the usual busyness of ministry over the Christmas holiday - it is the most important Christian holiday in Cambodia - we have faced some extraordinary situations. We have been amazed and bewildered, shocked and elated over the various events that have affected our lives of late. The joy of harvesting fruit, the disappointment of closed doors, the hopefulness of new opportunities and the sadness of loss all characterizes our roller-coaster lives. But having come through this time we can truly say with the hymnist, "It is well with my soul!"
Harvesting Fruit
The housechurch in Sihanoukville continues to grow! We are especially amazed at God's faithfulness to us in our labor with Him. There are two new members of our body there with whom we shared Christ many years ago but who have just recently come to the Lord!
One incredible thing the Lord has done is in the lives of our former landlords in Sihanoukville. We had three landlords during our first term there, and of the three, two have accepted the Lord, and one of them is now part of our housechurch!
Cathleen taught English to a group of adult Cambodians from 1992 to 1996, offering her class for free. She openly shared the gospel many times with her students. One student recently placed her faith in Jesus and is now a member of our housechurch as well!
A Door Closes
We are saddened to see the door close to a ministry of teaching here in Phnom Penh. For a period of two months Dale spent three days per week teaching a group of students from various provinces in Cambodia. It was a great pleasure to see the students growing in faith and in the knowlege of God! However, what started out as a ministry of our Phnom Penh housechurch, was increasingly affected by another church in town. Eventually, that church simply took over . It is difficult to fully explain the situation but we feel confident that the loss of this opportunity is in the Lord's hands, despite the sadness we feel about it. We feel assured that the Word of the Lord will not return to us "void of fruit" and that God will finish the work he started in each of the students.
New Doors Open
Since October, Dale has been involved in meeting monthly with a group of Cambodian pastors who gather regularly for fellowship, prayer and networking. This group of ministers is called the United Pastors Fellowship (UPF) and is comprised mostly of pastors of independent or non-denominational churches. God has granted Dale great favor in building relationships with these men and in opportunities to speak into their lives and ministries. Recently, he was invited to give them the Word of the Lord - the heart of God for unity in the Body of Christ. The response was tremendous! Many of these Christian leaders feel disconnected from the Church and desire to find a way to be unified and be a part of what God is doing. Some are hoping for a direct apostolic connection with us, wanting to be effective in ministry. A number of these pastors have asked Dale to come and speak at their churches. We praise God for these new relationships!
A Loss
On New Year's Day our car was stolen! Even in a chaotic place like Cambodia, this was a first for us. Reporting the incident to the police proved to be useless. Not sure what to do, we decided to simply adapt to living without a car. Our last hope of recourse was to make a claim with our insurance company.
When we received an initial letter from our insurance company we were shocked to hear that they were intending to deny the claim! We quickly requested to meet with their Claims Department Manager and finally, the president of the company. While meeting with the president, he was cold and very business-like at first. He began to make his defense of why his company would not pay the claim and then, all of a sudden, his attitude towards us softened, and he told us that they would cover the claim! I've never seen someone do such a radical about-face! We believe God intervened and gave us favor with him.
The claim will not be paid until March 1st. For now, another missionary has offered to loan us a car during part of the week, at other times we are getting around without one. The settlement paid will not be enough to purchase a replacement car immediately, but we are hoping to buy a minivan when we return from furlough in August. MUP has set up a car fund for us. If you feel led to give to this need, please designate "Car Fund for Dale and Cathleen Jones" on your check, and send it to MUP.
Health Issues
Since Christmas our whole family has been struggling with various illnesses. From chicken pox, to colds and flu, it seems we've had it all! Please pray for our last three months of this term to be free of all sickness, so that we can do all that needs to be done.
Your partners in God's work,
Dale, Cathleen and family
