Mission Kampuchea 2021

One Sunday morning, the visiting pastor at the Khmer service we attend called anyone who wanted special prayer or healing to come forward. A few people went forward, then more. First the older ones, then the younger. In the end, it seemed that more went forward than stayed in their seats. Those in their seats may have wanted to go forward too. To us, it was a simple picture of the desire of Khmer people for the presence and healing of Christ. God is moving in Cambodia. People are longing for the shalom that only comes from Christ.


One way that the church is responding in faith and obedience is through MK 2021. This movement aims to have a cell group/church in every village by the year 2021. Many church denominations and mission organizations in Cambodia have joined the movement. A survey of existing churches and programs is being undertaken with a view to determining areas of need and places that may have been overlooked or under-served. Based on the survey, more specific strategies will be developed and churches and missions will share the work.

We are very excited about MK2021 because the church is united in this effort. The movement is for evangelism, but not only for evangelism. The dream is for transformed people and a vibrant church to witness to the whole nation through Christian faithfulness. Though the church is small, the vision is big: for a great awakening in this great country.

We are also excited that the Evangelical Fellowship of Cambodia (EFC) is the backbone of the initiative. This blanket organization is coordinating and facilitating MK2021 alongside of its other work. One of our mandates is to support the Evangelical Fellowship of Cambodia in its ministry. Even while we are studying the language, we have set up an office at EFC. We have been invited to work with the staff at the central office in spiritual formation. We will also be consultants to some of its programs and agencies.


We are very thankful for the welcome that EFC has extended to us and the opportunities it is offering for us to support and empower its work in Cambodia.

Enjoying Diversity/Learning Khmer

In Joyce’s Khmer class of 11, there are 2 Chinese, 2 Filipinos, 3 Koreans, 1 Cambodian American, 1 Chilean, and 2 North Americans. Not all are missionaries. But this small demographic shows the face of mission in Cambodia. The Church of Jesus Christ is reaching out in diverse ways through an amazing array of people. We were delighted to learn that there are even some Nigerian missionaries to Cambodia! God is working through all of his people for all of his people. In the words of a song that our tutor taught us: no knong Preah Cris, yeung jiya crewasah dai muy—in Christ, we are one family!


How is the language learning going? Some days are very frustrating. We feel like we’re in kindergarten, mixing up our d’s and b’s—actually, the Khmer alphabet equivalents (of which there are many). As we try to speak, sounds come out wrong, the vocabulary which we should know, almost know, thought we knew … eludes us. Other days we manage to communicate something in some small way which excites us and gives us hope. It’s hard to believe that there could be joy in this humbling, stretching experience, but there is. We are thankful that we can laugh at times with classmates at the university and with our tutor, Borey.


As we have talked with people we realize that it is very difficult to stay on task and follow through with Khmer lessons. Many people fall away at some stage—mostly because they become occupied with something else. The course is intensive and it is difficult to keep apace. The basic program is a one year course with four levels.



Please pray for us to be able to stay focused and keep working hard. Also pray that Christ will enable us to absorb the language and become fluent.

Receiving Hospitality at Eden Farm

Over the last few days we have smelled incense, heard firecrackers and seen chickens sacrificed to ancestors in honor of Chinese New Year. There is a significant population of people of Chinese descent living in Cambodia. The shrines were a very vivid reminder that few people here love Jesus and call him Lord..

Last weekend, we made an overnight trip to the countryside. We wanted to see and learn more about a project being started by Ly Chhay and his wife Navy Chan—Eden Farm and Eden School of Agriculture.


Navy worked for many years with CRWRC, the development branch of our denomination and it was she who laid the groundwork for our coming to Cambodia. They are starting a farm with the hopes of building it up into a self-sustaining training center—to teach farming and the business of farming.

We didn't realize that a lot of the wonderful produce and fruit that we eat is actually imported from neighboring countries. Over 80% of the population are farmers. Still, there is a need to teach farmers here to grow and sell produce in a commercially viable way.


The project is in its early stages and there are several facets to the dream, including a primary school as well as vocational school. We were given a tour as Ly shared his vision (Navy is currently studying in the Philippines). We realize that this kind of dream needs a lot of prayer on top of all the hard work that Ly and others are contributing.

Ly also took us to some nearby villages where we were able to greet a number of families. The closest village does not have any Christians. There are clearly many spiritual needs as well.



We left with many thoughts and impressions. The deepest impression was of Ly's passion to help the rural people. Also, we were so blessed by the gentle hospitality that Ly offered our family. The trip left us with a deeper desire to be able to communicate well in Khmer and of course to pray for this venture to flourish.

Suhs "New"s

It has been about 2 weeks since we arrived in Phnom Penh. As expected we are adjusting to a "new normal." David, Isaac and Mary are busy at their new school (Logos). There are different routines, different teaching methods and some different subject matter in their classes. There are new faces, new names, new activities. But we feel that the transition so far has been positive. They checked out a Saturday morning soccer league this morning and may make that part of the new normal. Logos School is holding a jog-a-thon for its new facility and it would be a great encouragement to our kids if they received some support from our friends in Canada and the States. Please consider making a modest donation via online giving: www.asianhope.com The deadline is January 16.



For Gil and Joyce, we are settling into a routine of studying Khmer. Unfortunately, we are not in class together as the time conflicts with the kids' schedule. Someone told Gil that Khmer is in the Guiness book of World Records as the most difficult language in the world (not sure he was joking or serious). There are many more consonants and vowels than in English. Also, the sounds are affected by the surrounding letters—the same letter makes different sounds in combination with different letters. It would take a mathematician to figure out just how many different sound and letter combinations we have to memorize. Did we mention that the script is Sanskrit? The good news: once you know the letters, you can read anything because it is phonetic. Of course, there is still vocabulary, syntax, idiom, oral comprehension and actual speaking to be mastered. We are hoping to find a good tutor to supplement our formal classes at the University and request prayers for us to find the right person to help us.

Ministry opportunities are already coming at us and we can see how we could be easily drawn away from our focus on learning Khmer. At the same time we realize that involvements could strengthen our Khmer as well as forge solid relationships. We are planning to begin office hours at the Evangelical Fellowship of Cambodia next week and begin learning about its commissions and ministries. We also hope to go back to the villages that we visited in August shortly to let the pastors know that we are back. Other things that are passing before us are serving an international church on an interim basis and teaching advanced English. We will observe some leadership training modules (Timothy Leadership Training) in early February. We request prayers for discerning what to do and not do and just how involved to be at this early stage.



Next Saturday we will move into our temporary housing/sublet. That will give us more stability but there are still many logistics to look after. Pray for that transition as well.

Please know that throughout our time, we have been assured of God's provision for us. He has already been letting us feel at a deeper level the burdens and struggles of the Cambodian people and shown his heart for them. At the same time we have been held in the palm of his hand and continue to trust in his guidance and care. ~ Joyce

Arriving in Cambodia

What does EVA stand for? A few days ago, we stepped onto an EVA
airplane in San Francisco. We flew over 13 hours to Taipei and 3 ¼
more to Phnom Penh. Everything seemed to go without a hitch and we
can honestly say that it seemed like less time. Very efficient
airline?



An immigration worker was waiting in PP to hand us our visa documents. Two CRWRC staff, Ruth and Pastor Paulerk, were waiting in the luggage area. We picked up all 12 of our suitcases and boxes and were taken to the guesthouse where we are staying for the first few weeks. We had a nice meal and slept a good 8 to 9 hours.

Yesterday we walked to a local market to pick up some flip flops, not
realizing that we would walk past the kids' school. Although the
school is not in session, we met the facility manager who just
happened to be stopping by. He showed us around. Unexpectedly
David's and Isaac's teacher were preparing for the next session, so we
were able to talk with them briefly and see their classrooms.

We are obviously thankful for all of that. The kids have landed in
good spirits and have been interested and engaged in their
surroundings. They had their first tuk-tuk ride. (here is a clip)



We are starting to get settled, but realize that we need to be patient
since we need a little advice on some of the things we need to do
(banking, cell phones etc.) and CRWRC is closed for the week. Most
Christians are on break and even away for the week..

Gil and Joyce are hoping to start Khmer language at the Royal Phnom
Penh University on January 5 when the kids also start school. We will
meet with the people we will sublet from this week and see the house
we will move into January 17.

Well, feeling good—well, feeling a little hot—but manageable. EVA:
Ever Vigilant Ally--That is Jesus.

With gratitude to Jesus and our friends,

Our Journey So far...

Our family is a testimony to unity in diversity. Gil is from South Korea. He immigrated to the Los Angeles area when he was 17. As well as holding various jobs to help support his family, he went to community college to learn English. He started attending church at that time and gave his life to Christ. He felt a call to ministry and continued his education in Biblical Studies at Biola. Joyce grew up in Stirling, Ontario, Canada. Her parents were Dutch immigrants and she grew up in the Christian Reformed church. She eventually went to law school and practiced family law for a short time before listening to the call to ministry.

We met at Calvin Seminary, Grand Rapids MI in our very first class. Who knew that romance would flourish while parsing Hebrew words? Actually it took several years of taking classes together and the encouragement of others for the relationship to become more serious. We were married prior to our last academic quarter and immediately left for Smith Bible College, Baissa, Nigeria where we both completed seminary internships. We worked at Smith for 1 ½ years and came back to graduate, May 1999. Gil was ordained.

In the meantime our first child David was born (April 11, 1999). If all had gone according to plan he would have been born after coming back to the US. Instead he was born six weeks early, the day we were supposed to leave Nigeria. David has never forgotten his bush beginnings and continues to be interested in outdoor pursuits. Had we stayed in Nigeria, he would probably be an expert tracker and hunter by now. We hope that he will be able to channel that energy into gardening in Cambodia. We hope that he will be able to exercise his tender heart and people personality well in Cambodia.

Gil served as interim pastor in a Korean congregation in Toledo, Ohio, as we discerned our next step. An opportunity arose to continue leadership training in Nigeria at Veenstra Seminary, Donga. We felt that there was still much needed work to do in support of the Christian Reformed Church of Nigeria. We returned to Nigeria on David’s first birthday.

Isaac was born exactly on his due date (August 22, 2000). His name, meaning “laughter” came from Gil’s spontaneous eruption of joy when he found out that he would be having a second child. Isaac is a very self-motivated learner and we hope that he will find many things to challenge him and new things to learn in Cambodia. We also hope that he will continue with his drawing and illustrating. If there are any spelling bees in Phnom Penh, Isaac will be an eager participant. Undoubtedly, his “techie” skills will also grow. He is anxious for e-mail buddies.

Although Mary was born (July 29, 2002) in Grand Rapids MI during home service, her name has African connections. The day that we found out that we were going to have another child was the day that the tribal conflict in Donga led us to facilitate the evacuation of all of our Tiv students and their families. It was a grim day, but out of bitterness (mara) came something sweet. Mary loves to color and draw and create things. She thrives at school and is an excellent reader. She holds her own against her big brothers with a passionate personality and strong sense of justice. We hope that she can feel helpful in Cambodia and also that she finds some good friends.

As we were finishing our second term in Nigeria, tribal and religious conflicts as well as banditry enveloped our area. We felt like we were constantly running the gauntlet with our three small children. During those two terms, we helped shepherd Veenstra seminary through a leadership transition and saw the blossoming of next generation leaders in the church as a whole. We felt that it was a fitting time to let go, though it was difficult to leave our many friends and students as well as the way of life to which we had become accustomed.

God led us to San Jose New Hope CRC where Gil was the pastor of the English ministry. This ministry was a challenge that enabled Gil to grow in areas that were not fully utilized in Nigeria. Joyce was blessed to work with Christian Reformed Home Missions part-time as a coordinator for campus ministry. She also took great joy in a short time as interim pastor of the youth ministry at SJ New Hope. The desire to complete what she had started over 10 years earlier was activated and she started the candidacy process.

When we came back from Nigeria 4 ½ years ago, we were presented with the opportunity to start a new mission field for CRWM in Cambodia. At that time, given the intensity of our final year in Nigeria, we felt unable to make that decision. However, as restlessness grew in our hearts over the beginning months of 2008, we sought the Lord’s guidance. One morning Gil opened the CRWM website and noticed that the Cambodia ministry which had never been taken up had just been reopened. We knew almost immediately that this was a second chance. There was a convergence of experience, training and interests as well as burden for the people and country of Cambodia.

We are looking forward to moving to Phnom Penh (December 28, 2008). Our first year will be devoted to Khmer language and culture learning and relationship building. Our mandate is church leadership development and ministry coordination. Within that mandate, we have some flexibility. We ask for prayers for discernment, especially through our first mission term (January 2008-June 2011), to discover which particular projects, ministries and relationships we ought to pursue for the sake of the gospel in Cambodia. We are thankful that the way has been prepared by the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee, so that we have avenues before us. We are also thankful for the welcome extended by the Evangelical Fellowship of Cambodia.

We feel blessed that so many friends and churches have come alongside of us with support, encouragement and prayers. It takes a village to raise a child; it takes a community to send out a missionary. To all of you we say mungode, akun, kamsahapnida, thank you!

*This was an insert to our commissioning service bulletin on December 7, 2008

The Wood Between the Worlds

In C.S. Lewis’s "The Magician’s Nephew", there is a place that the book’s characters discern as “not a world at all—an in-between place.”The Suh family seems to be in just such a place now. We are not yet in Cambodia; we aren’t fully in San Jose anymore either. Our hearts and minds belong partly to both places, partly to some no-man’s land in between. It is an uncomfortable place to be at times. We feel torn between so many things and people and drained by balancing it all. I was almost feeling sorry for myself. Then yesterday I chatted with an acquaintance who had seen the “for rent” sign in our yard. I told him that we were moving to Cambodia to do mission work. I had thought he was Vietnamese, but he shared that he spent the first 14 years of his life in Cambodia—third generation ethnic Chinese living as Vietnamese in Cambodia. His family was warned to flee their village before the Khmer Rouge came into their area in the early seventies. So they immediately left their home, and lived in Vietnam for a time. Then he, as a young single man, he had the opportunity to take a boat to Malaysia. His relative was a mechanic and helped him get on a “good boat” that actually reached its destination without major hardship. From there, he came as a refugee to Denver and eventually moved to San Jose. He considers himself to be one of the “lucky ones”—but every single step was difficult. Of course, that put things into perspective for me. Our transition has the luxuries of time and resources, preparation and closure. How do we live “between worlds”? One day at a time; one step at a time. With thanks in our hearts. We are not alone, after all: the“Wood between the Worlds” is Christ’s country too. - Joyce

*We have set our departure date: December 27. David, Isaac and Mary’s school in Phnom Penh begins on January 5.

First Impressions

We had the opportunity to go to Cambodia in August, for the purpose of meeting church leaders and potential partners for our ministry. We feel happy about ministry prospects and feel that the problem won't be finding ministry, but discerning what to do among all the possible ways in which we could serve. We will share as that discernment process happens. It was the first time in Cambodia for both of us. What was our first impression? It is difficult to sort all the sights and sounds and smells of a new country. Let me describe some of the smells. There were cooking spices and herbs (our hotel was called "anise")—obviously we won't suffer for food. There were streets in Phnom Penh that smelled bad—there is a large open waste water canal. It took a few days for me to figure out that behind everything was the smell of incense. Shrines are so ubiquitous that incense suffuses the air even of a burgeoning city like Phnom Penh. We did not go out in the streets once without seeing the saffron robes of the monks. The most striking and ornate buildings are the temples and pagodas. These are every where too. People come from all over the world to see them. Interestingly, of the few Khmer words that we learned, two of them might be translated sacred or holy. The sense of the sacred seems to suffuse the language. What is sacred? Mostly it seems to be places. We took our shoes off a lot. Juxtaposed to these impressions, my most difficult moment was at Choeung Ek, the Killing field that we visited a short distance outside of the city. Over 8,000 bodies have been excavated from mass graves at that particular site: including children and young people, women and men (there are more that haven't been excavated). It's hard to gather one's thoughts in such a place. There is a shrine of skulls. What got to me the most though was that, as we walked among the open pits, we were stepping on clothes that were coming up from the ground. I felt like it was such an indignity for those who had been buried there, a violation on top of all the dehumanizing that had happened to them. When it comes to the sacred, it's everywhere, but people don't seem to be included. The regime of the Khmer Rouge was intent on eradicating every vestige of human dignity. As I learn more about the history of Cambodia, I wonder whether the culture ever gave people the sense that they are in the image of God and therefore imbued with basic dignity and worth. Could the average person, working in his field, ever feel the holiness of his calling, think of himself as a temple of the Living God? Of course, these are first impressions. People and places are always more complex than they first seem. We do hope, however, that as we bring the gospel, people may find dignity in that they are made in the image of God, rejoice that God considers them worthy of giving his Son for their salvation, and live their lives as vessels of Christ. - Joyce (see the related photo on the side bar)

Do you hear the Wind?

Some months ago, the Wind blew and stirred up an unnamed restlessness in the Suh family. We began to consider whether God might be calling us in a new direction.

One morning, Gil casually scanned the Christian Reformed World Missions website. A new ministry position in Cambodia had been posted: ministry coordinator/leadership trainer. We had considered ministry there when we came back from Nigeria, but we couldn’t make such a big change at that time. No one had ever stepped forward in the meantime.

Was God giving us a second chance? We felt that we’ve been able to process our experiences in Nigeria and been better equipped to work at leadership development. We’ve felt anew the urgent call to bring Good News to the nations. We’ve remembered our roots and commitments as a couple and our first love of cross-cultural mission.

At the same time, and more importantly, the Wind has been blowing in Cambodia. God is on the move. “Now is the time,” we’ve been told by a new Cambodian friend, “the door is open.” We want to follow after Christ’s love for this still largely un-reached nation. Christ is calling followers--which means that there is a need for leadership development and training for the church. We accepted the call with the great excitement and joy. We believe that Cambodia can become a beacon of faith and hope in Southeast Asia. We will be working out of San Jose until December when we hope to go to Phnom Penh to begin our ministry there.

Is the wind blowing your way? Will you consider whether God is calling you to join our ministry through financial, prayer or family support? If you want to receive our ministry updates, newsletters, and prayer requests, please let us know joycesuh@sbcglobal.net or gilsuh@sbcglobal.net
We are hoping for engaged and committed partners—in whatever capacity you are able. Do you feel the Wind?

“You hear it rustling through the trees…. That’s the way it is with everyone ‘born from above’ by the wind of God, the Spirit of God.” (John 3, The Message)