English Camp Update

Please continue to pray for the English Camp in Cambodia this summer. Here's the latest update on the English Camp in Siem Reap that SGVAC has been participating in and supporting:

*The number of students who can come to E camp is determined by the number of teachers who are coming. We like to keep a 3-1 ratio. So if you have 50 teachers coming, you are able to invite 150 students. This year there are 10 teachers coming to SR, so I told Pearom to invite 30 students, although we will end up with at least 40. The money that we receive for Ecamp goes into an account that pays for e camp and the dorm, so the more spent on e camp, the less for the dorm, but we are inviting less students this year because we don't have as many teachers. *

Following up with Eric's entry... if it's on your heart to be involved in Cambodia, you can send your support directly to the National office.
The Christian and Missionary Alliance
Office of Donor Accounting
P.O. Box 35000
Colorado Springs, CO 80935-3500
(866) 443-8262
http://www.cmalliance.org/give/

There are other ministries besides the English Camp and dorm ministries in Cambodia. Let us know if you want to know more about other ministries/missionaries!
http://www.cmalliance.org/im/mlocator/results.jsp?name=&country=cambodia

Thank you,
Em

Here's some logistical information related to the trip cancellation:
If you sent financial support to San Gabriel Valley Alliance Church for to a team member, the church should be in touch with you in the next week or so.

Currently, you'll be given two options:

• Have your check sent back to you (or a refund check issued, if your check was cashed)
  
• Have your check designated to the [East Asia] or Ensenada short-term teams from SGVAC
  

If you are interested in supporting the Cambodia field, I would also ask you to consider prayerfully sending some or all of that support directly the Cambodia mission field. Here is one pressing need that was directly impacted by our (and other) churches withdrawing from short-term commitments this summer.

Dear All
You are receiving this e-mail because you or your church have been involved in the English camp ministry at some time in the past. It is hard to believe that this year will be English camp 7, It seems like yesterday that we were hosting English camp 1( then just known as English camp) That first year we had 8 short termers and 25 students. Last year for English camp 6 we had 78 short termers and apprx 300 students. God is good.

It appears that English Camp 7 will not be quite as big. As of today we have 27 people registered for this summer.We are very thankful for these people who are coming and are trusting God for another great summer

As most of you will know, the 2 biggest disadvantages that come from lower number of Short termers is that we will not be able to invite as many students to study at the English camps as in years past, and a drop in income. For many students, English camp is the highlight of their year and so it will be with heavy hearts that we will be telling some that they will not be able to attend this year. Part of the money short termres pay to participate in English camp goes towards the budget of our dorm ministry. We currently house 15 university students in our dorm. They are provided with a place to stay as well as being trained and discipled to lead churches and small groups in the future. It costs approx $1000 per student to run the dorm. In years past we have been able to receive 50-75% of our budget from short term registrations. This year we will do well to receive 25%. In other words, we need to raise $10,000 by the end of the year.
So I send this to you to ask for your help, would you be interested in helping us meet our budget. Perhaps as an individual or a church, or hosting a fund raiser? If you attend an Alliance church in Canada or USA you can simply mark your cheque or envelope "University Ministry Cambodia" or you can send it directly to our National offices marked the same way.

The Christian and Missionary Alliance
Office of Donor Accounting
P.O. Box 35000
Colorado Springs, CO 80935-3500
(866) 443-8262

http://www.cmalliance.org/give/give.jsp

I will admit, sending this type of e-mail is not my favorite thing to do but my desire to see what God is doing here among University students continue outweighs and feelings of my own.We have a web site for the dorm ministry we are currently working on and hope to have that up in the next month. It will be a way to get to know the students and more information about the dorm ministry. Please pray that these needs will be met, for His glory

Thank you
Bill Lobbezoo

I'm excited to send the amount i had earmarked for my teammates to this ministry.

Team Update (and my thoughts)

Greetings!

First off, on behalf of the 2009 Cambodia STM team, thank you for standing with us in prayer and supporting us emotionally and financially. Because of some recent changes within the team, it has been decided with church leadership to cancel this summer's missions trip to Cambodia.

Although the trip is called off, please remember this beautiful country and its people, the missionaries and their families, and our brothers and sisters in Christ in Cambodia. Keep praying and supporting the China, Ensenada, and Mexicali teams that are going out this summer (and the missionaries who have been serving there), and continue to pray for and seek opportunities to share with the nonbelievers around us!

Heal my heart and make it clean
Open up my eyes to the things unseen
Show me how to love like You have loved me
Break my heart for what breaks Yours
Everything I am for Your Kingdom's cause
As I walk from earth into eternity

*** For those who have sent in financial contributions, Pastor Chao will contact you this week to discuss the details of reimbursement or supporting another missions team. ***

~ ~ ~
I won't deny it- I am more or less disappointed and upset with the way things have turned out this year. When the likelihood of cancelling the Cambodia trip was first brought to my attention, I allowed myself to slack off completely in all my commitments for a whole week. No doubt I took it really hard. People kept reminding me of God's sovereignty, but I was angry with how this all came about. Then we had our first meeting with church leadership that extended the deadline for people to join the team. With one or more additional member(s) on the team, it would still be possible to keep the team alive. Thankfully, emotional knots were untied that night, and I truly felt the presence of God's peace. From that night until today, I've learned to not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, to present my requests to God. Praise God for His peace that transcends all understanding (or I would not have made it through)! I've also reflected on some things and along with some conversations with a couple people, I blogged about the following on my xanga a couple days ago. Just some raw thoughts that have been floating around in my mind lately... I'd love to hear about your thoughts too!!!

~ With the possibility of calling off the missions trip to Cambodia this year and the Swine Flue in Ensenada and Mexicali, I've been starting to wonder what God is doing, particularly in SGV. Is there something He wants us to do here? Is it becoming too routine for SGV to send teams out every summer? Is there something else He wants us to see and listen to? Is it something within the church that He wants us to pay attention to? What is it that God may be pointing us to I do not know, but I'm getting very curious. A sister from another church said perhaps God wants to work in us individually this summer instead of having us do His work overseas. As I'm chatting with a friend and getting his perspective on missions work and how the churches are usually involved, he pointed out that it's dangerous for churches to over-simplify missions as "sending teams/missionaries out to a foreign country" and that the church needs to stay watchful to discern where God is working and where He may want to involve us. I'm not saying that churches shouldn't send teams/missionaries out, but churches should also listen to God's voice for what He has for them each year. ...something for me to marinate on! ~

I believe that God has something for each of us in the Cambodia team to learn. He uses each circumstance to sculpt and form us. Please pray for the team to remain open to God's comfort and voice. It's easy to say all this but feel/act another way (at least in my case). Arkoon tom tom (thank you big big)!

To my teammates- it's been quite a ride w/ y'all even though we didn't even set foot on Cambodia this year. I'm glad we experienced this together and got to know each other a little better :-)

Cheers.

-Em