August/September 2023

“‘the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8

We are very thankful for our recent time spent in the US and UK. We started our journey to the US first, beginning with our nephew’s wedding. He and his new bride graduated from a military medical school, got married, bought a new house and started life together. What a summer for them!! In addition to their wedding, we were able to attend three high school graduations of our nephews and nieces. It was a blessed time. Having the chance to be part of life with everyone in our US family.

We then went to the UK, where we were blessed to be able to speak at three churches. We shared about what’s going on in Cambodia, our work and our lives here. Between speaking engagements, we were able to visit Wendy’s dad three separate times. We also were able to visit Wendy’s brothers in Spain for a few days. We are thankful for these times with our family after many months or sometimes years since we have seen them.

Just before returning to Cambodia we attended a conference for mission partners connected with our London church and their church network- known as iNet. This was an encouraging time together for fellowship and to share with each other looking back on what God’s been doing in different parts of the globe and looking forward to our next season of living and serving.

Wendy’s dad has some age-related health challenges and has had 2 recent hospital admissions. Please pray for him and that we can support him well even though we are so far away.

All the travel and change, with many different beds and sofas, was both tiring and also a big blessing, because God provided for us through this. We were able to spend time with many people we love and share words to encourage and build up our family of believers. There were many beloved people we were not able to visit and see. If you are one of them, please forgive us, and consider coming to visit us in Cambodia! When we landed back in Cambodia we enjoyed a visit with Yong’s brother Ty and his family!

Our nephew and his new wife at their college graduation. We were so glad to be able to join so many family celebrations during our US visit.

MMC update

August has seen the implementation of a new electronic medical records system (EMR) at the hospital, after several weeks of preparation and practice by all the staff. This has started well, and we hope it will become easier. Please pray we can adjust our MMC processes and that the host server of this EMR software will be responsive to make changes as we give feedback to make this more user friendly and helpful. For our nurses particularly, please pray we as leaders can support them with using this programme and that they gain confidence and competency with English and digital skills.

We plan to start the next year of the PG course in September, but before that we will be celebrating a graduation of 4 nurses who completed the 1 year post graduate (PG) course and for 2 senior nurses who have completed leadership training. Pray this will be a joyful celebration, encouraging and inspiring for our team.

While Wendy has been away, we have recruited 1 new nurse- praise God for him.

In case you missed this, here’s a link to the 2022 annual report of MMC- exciting reading of what God is doing through our small hospital and faithful staff:

Mercy Medical Center Cambodia annual report 2022

We recently celebrated our latest graduate doctors at MMCC who have completed the Family Medicine residency training programme and one who completed the Women’s Health Residency.

Motorbike things…

Coming up we will again be officials at a motorbike race. Please pray we can keep building friendships and can take opportunities to share Jesus. During the races, please pray for safety for the riders, stewards and for the crowds who want to get near the action.

Cambodia changes

Recent elections passed peacefully and the Prime Minister announced succession planning that his son will become the new prime minister later this month. Please pray for the leaders of Cambodia to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly- may they come to know the Lord as God.

Upcoming dates/events:

• August 19 graduation celebration for 4 nurses completing our in-house postgraduate nurse course and 2 nurses completing their in-house leadership training.
• August 26-27 Enduro bike race, Kampot
• September (possibly second or third week) restarting the PG course
• September 22-23 MMC retreat for missionary women

Ty and family, visiting Cambodia when we landed back from UK. We ate together one night at a local market. It was too short of a visit.

Thanksgiving and prayers:

• We are thankful for all the time we could spend with family, friends and our church families over the last 3 months in the US and UK. We are thankful also to be home again safely!
• Thanksgiving that Wendy completed and submitted her dissertation for Masters. We pray this research will be used for God’s kingdom purposes and His glory.
• Pray for the new Prime Minister of Cambodia and for politicians and leaders here to serve the people well.
• Pray for the upcoming Enduro motorbike race in late August, pray for opportunities to bear witness to Jesus with people we meet there as we are officials at the race.
• Pray for the new EMR (electronic medical record) system being implemented at MMC and for all the staff to become able and comfortable to use the system. Pray for problem solving to adapt previous processes to work within the new framework.
• We ask for prayer for a family we know who have been deeply hit by the death of their son. Please pray for their comfort and healing.