No eye has seen, no ear hear has heard...

(my July newsletter)

The school year at Battrang Middle School finished at the end of June, and we had a small party with all the students and teachers to finish the agriculture class. This first year was challenging, yet fun, and my teammates and I are prayerfully evaluating how to best continue our partnership with this community.

My CAMA services team is undergoing changes this summer as my team leader and his family will be moving to Chiang Mai, Thailand, in mid-July so he can fill the position of Regional Consultant. The other family unit on my team will move to Indonesia in mid-August to join the work there. Though these decisions were sudden and recent, the need is evident and so is God’s blessing. I will stay until next June 2011, as originally planned, and help with the transition of the moringa business. Sharon, the nurse on my team who has served for 14 years in Cambodia, also plans to stay another year to complete the transition of the AIDS homecare ministry so that it is fully run by Cambodians.

My teammates began introducing the benefits of the moringa tree to churches and communities in Cambodia about six years ago. Moringa grows in Cambodia, but most people don't know that moringa leaves are high in vitamins A, B and C, protein, iron, calcium, and magnesium. Not only that, the leaves contain all the essential amino acids. Making moringa leaf powder condenses this already high nutrient content and the powder can be eaten with food or drank as a warm tea.

After this initial teaching, Cambodians who made and consumed the moringa leaf powder noticed significant results. People reported fewer headaches, more energy, greater immune response, more stable blood pressure and blood sugar levels, and skin healing benefits. We have witnessed many miracles from the inclusion of moringa powder in the diet. Moringa is an extremely nutritious food, not a medicine, and so it is most helpful to those in need of extra nutrition.

In 2005, people from the city began asking to buy moringa leaf powder because they didn’t have the time or land to produce it. This created a market for the moringa powder and also created job opportunities for Cambodians in the church. Thus, “Moringa for Health” was born, and it has slowly grown over the past three years to include the processing of moringa leaf powder, bottling of moringa leaf powder in capsules, and processing and bottling of moringa seed oil (used topically for arthritis and skin problems). Sombok, a young Cambodian Christian man, is now the manager, and he has two staff working with him. They are learning how to make a quality product, run a business, and minister to and pray for people they come into contact with as a result of this work. Moringa powder is also a vital part of the AIDS homecare ministry as it improves the health, immune response and energy of the patients.

Praise God that we recently found a place for the moringa business to operate out of, both for production of the leaf powder and seed oil as well as a place to sell products and provide information. Please pray for our three Christian Khmer staff as their responsibilities increase with the departure of my teammates; pray that they will work with integrity and honesty and, most importantly, that they will stay close to the Lord. I look forward to helping the Khmer staff with general oversight, research and bookkeeping.

I appreciate and ask for your prayers in the course of the next year for God's wisdom, presence, protection and peace through all the transitions. Please also pray especially for me to find additional community and friends here in Battambang. The enemy wants to steal and kill and destroy, but God gives us abundant life through Jesus Christ! Thank you for traveling on this journey with me, for your prayers and support through the hills and valleys.

"Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him."—Isaiah 64:4

Blessings,
Holly

Praises
• Praise God for our moringa business office and for our three great staff members
• Praise God that I can use my gifts to help with the moringa business
• Praise God for this past year of teaching agriculture at Battrang Middle School and for the
students and teachers

Prayers
• For my teammates as they leave this “home” and plant new roots
• For the Moringa for Health business and staff
• For spiritual strength and for additional community for me in Battambang
• For wisdom concerning continued work in Battrang village

Tidbits from my summer thus far...

The past month and a half has flown by mostly because of all the activity going on. We finished out the school year at Battrang Middle School where my teammate Chris and I and two Khmer staff have been teaching about agriculture. It was a fun last couple weeks and the students really enjoyed the jeopardy game we made up to review. The last day of our class we had a small party with the students and staff and they got to try some "American" cookies and cakes. We met with the teachers and adminstative staff last week to talk about what next year might look like and what they want for this course. Thank you for your continued prayers as we decide what to do.

Some of the Battrang school staff

Me and my team

In my upcoming newsletter there is much more news, but I wanted to connect with people here so no one thinks I fell off the face of the earth! =) I am very much here, just busy.

I was able to visit the rice field co-op project that my teammates help start several years ago. It is now fully run by Cambodians and provides land for the poor to farm rice on. The area where the land is located is near the Tonle Sap Lake, which grows in size throughout the rainy season and floods the surrounding area. The rice in this area grows about 2 meters tall because of the deep flooding and it is called "floating rice". This time of year it isn't too wet yet, but during the next couple months it will only be accessible by small boats. We went to pray in the four corners of the land and ask God's blessing on the rice crop and ask for rain and protection from insects and rodents. Praise God for this land that is helping to feed many families!

At the end of June I went on a consulting trip to Som Pouv Loon village with some friends from my church in Phnom Penh. Their organization helped start a community center and church there and they wanted some agriculture advice for their land. They have around 20 goats, so as one of the main focuses is become self-sustaining, they want to increase their forage sources. We came up with a plan to plant some grass, legumes and annuals that will help feed the herd. It was a really fun experience for me and I got to help with milking one of the mother goats whose babies couldn't nurse, got to go on a prayer walk through a nearby community and got to attend the Sunday worship service. I heard many amazing testimonies of what God is doing in the lives of the people there. Especially amazing since 3 years ago there were no churches or Christians in that area. One testimony was from a solider who spent thousands of dollars on idols trying to find the right god. One night he had a vision of Jesus where Jesus was saying He is the one true God, so this man found a Bible and started reading. Now he and almost all his family are Christians!

At the community center they also teach poor women how to quilt and they make amazing, beautiful quilts out of scraps of fabric. Som Pouv Loon is near the border of Thailand and it has a bit of different scenery than Battambang. We saw seasame plants bundled and drying in the sun, lots of tractors, corn and cassava fields, some hills, and some very bumpy roads. =)

Seasame

One of the quilts

A container garden we saw in the community

Things are going well with the moringa business, though sales are slower this time of year. We just moved into a new office on the main drag in Battambang (it's a fairly small town) so we praise God for his provision!

Thank you for your prayers and support!! I couldn't be here without you.