An Urgent Update
Dear Friends and Family:
We wanted to update you all on how we are doing here in Cambodia. The virus is here but is not causing quite the chaos that it is there. Currently we have 107 confirmed cases since early January. Most of the cases are imported–meaning they were brought here by someone who had been traveling outside of Cambodia and returned with the virus. We don’t seem to be seeing a huge amount of community spread as of now and we are praying for that to continue. Many Cambodians are already in a great deal of financial distress from the lack of tourism in what should have been the “high season” here. Many people are out of work and starting to feel the desperation of the loss of income. Most Cambodians only make enough to support themselves for one day. Most have no refrigeration to store food and no financial resources to store up food. The schools here have been closed since a week before they started closing in the US. The government ordered a ban on all religious gatherings as well as the closure of all museums, theaters, and bars about a month ago. The government and many organizations have been trying to spread the word about handwashing and social distancing. However, this is hard in a developing country. We are currently in the midst of the dry season, which has been exceptionally dry this year. We have had no rain at all since November. Many rural areas are starting to run out of fresh water. Also, most families live together in small, one room houses. Working in our favor, however, are the hot temperatures (It is in the high 90s here every day) and the outside living lifestyle here. Please pray for the people of Cambodia. Pray for the church, that it can be bold in sharing the Gospel and for the government leaders to make wise decisions to protect the people during this pandemic.
For us, we have been in “self-isolation” for about two weeks now. For the most part, we only go out when necessary to buy fruits and vegetables or go to the market. We are so thankful for a car to give us the ability to take a drive into the countryside every now and then. Several mornings a week, we take a walk around our neighborhood to go to the market and greet our neighbors on the way. We have been watching church services from home and have had the blessing of being able to stream many of your services here! What a blessing that is! We feel like we get to “go home” every Sunday when we fellowship with many of you online. Zoe continues to homeschool and is currently on “spring break.” Her birthday is April 1 and that is followed by Khmer New Year, so we decided this was a good time for a break. We also continue to study Khmer online with our teacher each day.
Below is a picture of Zoe’s virtual 16th birthday party with the family:
We feel confident that God brought us here for such a time as this. We are sure you are probably already aware that Adventures in Missions called all their participants home at the start of the outbreak. Many countries were starting to close their borders and the leadership felt it was important to get them all home as soon as possible. They were able to coordinate bringing nearly 550 team members and leaders home from around the world in about the span of a week! What a huge task that was! We are so proud of the leadership at Adventures and their wisdom in getting everyone home. We have been praying for Him to open our eyes to the needs around us and show us how we can be His hands and feet here in Cambodia. Shannon felt compelled to help feed some of the most impacted by the lack of tourism. Yesterday, he and Zoe went to the market and bought 100 kg of rice and three cases of soy sauce. We bagged the rice into 3 kg bags and they took them to distribute to the Tuk-Tuk (Cambodian uber) drivers in the tourist area. A friend of ours, Ryan (an IMB missionary here) went along to help speak Khmer and share the Gospel to everyone who received a bag of rice. (He is a bit farther on his language skills than we are. He has been studying for over 4 years) Each person they talked to was so appreciative and so eager to share their story. One man had his young daughter with him. She said she loves to read so Shannon and Zoe took her some Christian children’s books to read. Here are some pictures from the rice distribution today. The lady in the pictures was so thankful! She said this would feed her family for at least three days. (You can see one of her daughters reading the tracts that we gave them!) We hope to continue the food distribution and also help in any other ways the Lord leads.
At the time Adventures was bringing all the teams home, they gave us the option of coming home as well. We felt and still feel strongly that God has told us to stay put. He has given us such an overwhelming peace though it all. We know that none of these events took Him by surprise and that His timing is perfect. We are here by His sovereign and perfect will and we will continue to stay until He leads otherwise.
Please pray for our kids back home. Madison is staying with Taylor and Wes. They are all studying/working from home together. Canaan is in Ohio and starts a new job at Lowe’s this week, unloading trucks (he lost his job when the schools closed.) This job will help him out until things get back to normal and he can work as a substitute teacher again. Pray for us to remain healthy and protected here. We are praying for each of you, too! I know many of you must be anxious and worried about the days to come. I want to share this verse as a comfort to you:
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:4-9
Thank you for all your encouragement, support and prayers!
Love,
The Bobb Family
THINGS WE ARE THANKFUL FOR:
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Good health and good place to stay “home”
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Good landlords and a great neighborhood
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A car
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Friends near and far
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Technology that allows for family meetings together and worshipping with church family
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A good small group and home church that “meets” weekly for prayer and encouragement
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Faithful supports
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Excellent leadership at Adventures in Missions
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Hot weather (who ever thought we would be thankful for that)
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Faith over fear and worry over worship (thanks Rick Hartley)
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A GOD WHO SEES US and OUR CIRCUMSTANCES AND IS CONTROL OF IT ALL
