Dear friends and family,

May finally brought some relief from the heat in the form of rain! Hurray! It’s still pretty hot, but at least we are getting some breaks from time to time. 

This month we started our Cambodian language classes. There isn’t a language school in our town, so we asked around and were delighted to discover that our pastor’s wife is a professional language teacher, and taught for many years in the capital before moving here to help pastor the church. We now meet her twice a week for classes, and it’s challenging but good. Benjamin also started his language class- it’s called preschool 😉 . He goes three mornings per week, and in the beginning he didn’t like it very much. It’s a different culture here, much louder and more chaotic than in Switzerland, but he’s finding his way and starting to enjoy it. 

On May 13th we had a meeting with CBN Cambodia (Christian Broadcasting Network).  They have a well drilling project, and we’ve been in correspondence with them for about four years but we’ve never worked together. We’re very excited about the outcome of the meeting; CBN Cambodia has agreed to do a pilot project with us! That means that we will install a water filter in partnership with them in one of their well drilling locations. This will be a trial project, but we’re very hopeful about what could develop through this relationship. 

This month we were also invited to join the inter-denomination conference for the church leaders in our region and had the opportunity to meet and network with multiple leaders and ministries. One exciting relationship that is starting as a result of this event is a friendship with the organization Stronghold Cambodia. They have a day center that provides free lunch, English classes and computer classes for low income children in the community. We had a meeting with the directory a few days ago and are exploring ways to work together in the future.

Coincidentally, we also saw an old acquaintance at the conference, a pastor we’ve known for six years. In 2017 Warm Blankets Switzerland brought a team to build a fence, dig a well and install a water filter in his church orphan home. It was a wonderful surprise to meet him again.

Lukas had to make a trip to the local hospital to get his foot x-rayed after falling off of a ladder. We’re happy to report that nothing was broken, just very bruised and swollen. We’re blessed to have a good hospital nearby, it’s a non-profit hospital started by a German doctor, and now it has a Swiss director! 

And finally, some animal stories: we had our first snake encounter! Thankfully it wasn’t a venomous snake because Benjamin ran right over it! 😬  One thing that should help with the snakes and mice and other intruders is a cat. And believe it or not, we found an abandoned kitten about a week after our snake scare. She’s super tiny right now, but so cute and funny, and Benjamin enjoys playing with her. He named her Dojo. 

Well, that’s it for the month. Thanks for taking the time to read and be a part of what God’s doing in our lives in Asia. 

Here’s the photo link  https://photos.app.goo.gl/FAkrmnEfdjmuabst6

Blessings,

Jenny, Lukas and Benjamin