Hope you all are doing well and everything is well at the churches. Sorry its been a while since I made contact. Wanted to give you an update of what's been happening here in Cambodia for you to share with the church. We have been language learning for the past 6 months and are very close if not at the level we need to be in order to relocate and begin learning our second language. We are planning on continuing learning Khmae until at least end of August and then will probably relocate to a Cham area.

A few weeks ago we made a trip to Kampong Cham Province which is the heart of the Cham community here in Cambodia. Kampong Cham is in central Cambodia with the Mekong river running through its heart. We had several detailed maps from a previous afm missionary (Emmanual Lefever) who had done some pretty in depth research of the Cham community in Cambodia. We spent two days driving along the banks of the Mekong where there are many Cham villages. This was quite an adventure since the rainy season had begun and the roads were nearly impassable with our car (we actually had to turn around about 40 miles up river because of deep mud.) The area is lush with many crops (corn, tobacco, vegetables, etc.).

The Cham villages are interspersed between Khmae villages but seem to be quite separate. Each village has a mosque - some are large and some are no bigger than a house. On our journey we saw some young Cham covered from head to toe with only their eyes showing. Because the roads are unpaved (just red dirt) they would be pretty much impassable during the rainy season. We met with one of the other missionaries (not Adventist) who is planning on working with the Cham. He said there are very few foreign missionaries working with the Cham right now. He said there is only one working in Kampong Cham at the moment. From looking at the map there are probably fifty or so villages in the immediate area so there are plenty to go around. Out of all the areas we have looked at this area appealed to me (Greg) the most. Molly is a little more apprehensive because of the isolation factor but is willing to give it a shot if God opens the door. We'll keep you posted!

While language learning we met a young guy called Hong Kry. He helps around the Buddhist pagoda (Wat) in return for a room and some food. We struck up a friendship and put him in contact with a Bible Worker. He has been coming to church so we pray that God will touch his heart and he will accept Christ. Please ask the church to pray for Hong Kry. Please also pray for our language teacher Borenna. We have gotten quite close to her but not on a spiritual level.

Dear Friends and Family,

We are here in Cambodia at last! What a new world it is here! We are grateful to be living in a small Khmae village, which is ideal for learning language. Every morning we wake up to the sound of roosters crowing and the tinkle of cow bells as the cow carts go past our house to the rice fields. Every night mystical, sad music drifts through our windows and lulls us off to sleep. This dusty little village is full of friendly smiles, curious children, chickens, ducks and dogs. We have gotten to know many of the people as we walk around practicing language and as we shop at the market. Hannah and Caleb are starting to make friends with some kids. There is one little four year old girl who practically lives with us. She likes to play dolls with Hannah and ride on the kid’s bikes. She goes home to eat and then comes right back again! We hope our kids will pick up the language quickly this way.

We are staying in a house owned by the Adventist Mission. We have running water and toilets, all things we weren’t sure we would have. Electricity, however, is a four hour per evening luxury. I was worried about refrigeration but an ice chest works great!

We have many critters around our house. We don’t know which snakes are poisonous so they all get killed! The other week we came back from church to find a snake peering at us from behind our family picture on the book case. I was terrified but Greg and G-one (our neighbor) fearlessly tackled the reptile. I can’t figure it out. Greg cringes at the very thought of rats and mice - You should have heard him yell when a mouse jumped out at him from the drawer - but is fearless when it comes to even venomous snakes! We have also had a couple of little scorpion visitors. I almost stepped on one with my bare feet! Ok, enough of that, it really isn’t as scary as I thought it would be.

Language learning is coming along. Honestly it is just hard work. At times we feel our heads will explode. But we can certainly see how vital it will be to master the language especially if we want to converse with people on a spiritual level. Please pray that we acquire it quickly.

I’ll let Greg fill you in on some exciting developments we have had with the Cham.

Yes, I must confess rats and mice do make me squirm but God is helping me like Molly to adapt to Cambodian life. Let me share some exciting developments we have had with the Cham. While our main focus right now is language learning we have been making short trips to the Cham in preparation for relocating to one of their villages towards the end of the year. Already we are seeing God’s hand at work.

First, we were invited by a church planter whose father was Cham to visit his family in a nearby village. After visiting with his family we made our way to the nearby mosque. After the afternoon prayer the worshippers invited us to visit with them on the porch of the Mosque. We had a very cordial conversation on topics ranging from the need for heart religion to the Iraq war.

Our second contact was with a group of Cham who have recently been baptized. These people live on the outskirts of Phnom Penh away from the heart of the Cham community which is further north in Kampong Cham and Kampong Chnang provinces. As we visited with these people we got the impression this group were from a very loose knit community of Cham probably not representative of the tight- knit strict Cham to the north.

Our third contact was with a Cham official who is responsible for much of the development work being done among the Cham. He was very interested in our thoughts of teaching literacy among the Cham and invited us to his house for more discussions. He gave us an open invitation to come and teach the Cham and even invited us to live in his house and possibly teach in the Islamic school next to the mosque! We asked this man if he would take us around the other provinces where he works so we could get a better idea of where to relocate. He agreed and has taken us to several of his project sites. We have been received warmly and have seen a real interest in learning English. At the same time some of those we visited have made it clear they do not want us to teach religion. Please pray that God would guide our thinking and lead us to the right area when the time comes. And pray for the Cham community and for this Cham leader in particular. Perhaps God has put him in this position of responsibility for such a time as this so the gospel can make inroads into the heart of this community.

Thank you for your continued prayer and financial support! It means so much to us. We hope this letter finds you well and strong in the Lord. We know you face challenges just like we do. We want you to know you are in our thoughts and prayers as well.

For those of you who would like to keep in contact with us by email our new email address is gregandmollytimmins@msn.com  We have discovered that emails to and from Cambodia often get lost in cyberspace. If you have emailed us and don’t hear from us that is probably what has happened. It can be very frustrating!! If you prefer you can also write to us at c/o Cambodia Adventist Mission, P.O. Box 488, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. We would love to hear from you.

Many of you have asked if there is anything we need or would like from home. After scratching our heads for a bit we’ve come up with a wish list if you are so inclined: Whole Wheat Pasta (Our tummies would be eternally grateful) Dried Pinto or Chili Beans (ditto)

• Bible games
• Children’s books
• Color books
• Good sermon tapes/CDs
• National Geographic subscription

Hope this letter finds you well. Remember Jesus loves you and so do we!

Love in Christ,

Greg, Molly, Hannah, and Caleb

Greetings from Cambodia. We arrived safe and sound on Nov. 23 to some nice hot weather. People are very friendly, traffic is chaotic, and food is different. Have started khmer language classes - going well thus far despite weird sounds the tonge has to make. Kids are well but get a little hot at times.