February Update from the Filbrun Family 2020

Hello friends and family from Battambang Cambodia. We hope this finds everyone doing well. We have had another busy month and we are excited to share with you everything that we have been doing.

The rice fields are currently so beautiful! 

We had the great honor to have our dear friends from Phnom Penh visit us for a few days. Makara was our manager at our apartment we lived at when we lived in Phnom Penh. Our family became quite close with him and we are thankful for the relationship we have together. He does not currently follow Jesus, but we have shared with him about the Living God and we will continue to pray for his salvation.

They joined Britton and I in Svey Kong one morning. We went out to a house church and shared the gospel and sang together. On our way home Makara and his girlfriend wanted to stop and take a picture at the famous Battambang idol. Please pray with us for all of our relationships here in Cambodia, that we will be bold in sharing the truth about the living God.

Here is our little monkey neighbor. His name is KahKoh. He enjoys taking bike rides.

We were so excited to have a team from YWAM Hawaii join us for a couple weeks. They did so many amazing things for the churches we work with. We were so excited to have some fellow foreigners helping us for awhile. Here they are in the above picture with the two guitars and the box drum they donated to the Svey Kong church. They also passed out close to 1,000 Bibles over Battambang and many bags of rice and bread to the church members.

They spent many days at the Antioch Church cleaning and preparing for this new volleyball court. We were able to get in on the action many days. Finally these children have a nice place to play. They are thrilled to have a place to play volleyball now!

One night they took a big group of pastors and their families out to eat. They spent time singing songs over us and praying for us. 

For two nights the ladies taught a few teenage girls from Antioch about inner and outer beauty. They spent time washing their feet and painting their nails. One lady played her violin for them. Its so special when anyone gives extra love and attention.

Here we all are in Svey Kong at the Monday house church. The YWAM group performed some songs and skits. They passed out rice and gave candy to the children and shared their testimonies as well.

Another day passing out rice and toothbrushes. 

Britton enjoyed getting to know one man John who is from Colorado. We are so thankful for these new friends from YWAM that we got to know. They really blessed and encouraged us this past month.  

Here Britton is trimming the trees at the Svey Kong Church. He enjoys taking care of the church grounds .

Seems like we are really getting to know the children now. When they hear our motos they come running out of their homes and chase us as long as they can.

One day we visited several new homes in Svey Kong with the YWAM group. We prayed over people and invited them to join church with us on Sunday. Behind us is a young Korean man from Brazil named Adrian. In my hand I have fruit given to me by a dear church member.

Britton is holding a handmade gun that they use to kill the field rats. Rats in Svey Kong are hunted at night and eaten by the villagers. This is a different culture than you might be used to, but finding food is scarce in the jungle.

And with hot days comes exhaustion. Falling asleep while waiting on our food is a true sign that our days are long and the nights short. We thank God often for giving us the physical strength to keep serving. He continues to provide opportunities to rest and be refreshed. 

We made a quick trip to Phnom Penh to sign some legal papers. Of course we had to meet our friend David. We enjoyed spending a few hours with him. Watching him grow in Jesus is so exciting.

Britton and Pastor Saran cleared out some land across from the church and put up a little building to use for overflow.

The little children here are just so precious. It takes them awhile to warm up to us but when they do its extra sweet.

We enjoy time at the YWAM base exercising with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. This is a great way to get "rest" and spend time getting all the stress out! 

Thursday house church is looking extra cute! 

Every morning we take Savanna to the YWAM school which is about a 15 min drive from  our home. She is enjoying going to school at YWAM this year. 

Here we are eating Khmer soup with a new friend from England. We are helping celebrate Coach Watts birthday. He is our trainer at the gym.

Gracie celebrated her 15th birthday the end of January.

Gracie and Tashayla went to Phnom Penh for Gracies birthday. They enjoyed eating pizza and spending time together. 

Savanna and Gracie continue to be good friends. Having a sister is a gift from God.

Here we are celebrating Gracies birthday. 

The boys enjoy going out to Svey Kong when they can.

Carter is enjoying a yummy meal at the Battambang Resort. Thankyou to a sweet Aunt and Uncle for this yummy treat! 

Carter is getting a violin lesson from a team member of the YWAM group. We are so thankful for all the new experiences and opportunities we have here.

Carter had a big infection in his arm. They ended up lancing the infection and putting stitches in several days later. 

And Brysen fell off some metal stairs which gave him around 7 stitches.

Both boys are finishing up their antibiotics and we are going daily to the ER to have their wounds cleaned. Because the germs and bacteria are so bad here, any cut or bite is instantly prone to infection. Thankyou to a few specific friends who prayed for us during that time.

Brysen enjoys playing with this little boy named Phouy. 

Eating burgers is always a highlight 

Coach Watt took the boys out for lunch and then bubble tea afterwards. It is amazing the kindness our family receives here. We came here to serve but so many people end up serving us here. 

Here is Coach Watt with the boys. He made the comment that he doesn't want the boys to feel alone here in Cambodia. The boys have had many young adult men step up and include them in various different activities. 

And last but not least. Savanna is growing right up. Here she is enjoying a ice cream cone outside a local bread shop.

Here she is with her best friend, Myra and a young lady from YWAM.  Shenae has been taking her out to eat every Tuesday. 

Here she is with her little friend Samalie from Svey Kong. We brought Samalie to our home because she had a serious foot infection. We took her to the Catholic Hospital and they treated her injury for free and gave her medicine to take back to her home. The smile above was rare over the time she was in our home because her pain was so great. Thanks be to God her foot is now healed. 

Here is Tashayla playing with some of the girls from Svey Kong. Tashayla will be moving home to America in early Spring. Our family will miss having her around! 

Shenae and Watt are helping teach soccer to the young boys from Antioch. They have did very well at training these boys. Shenae played soccer in the states her whole childhood so she is quite familiar with the rules of the game. And Watt helps by translating to Khmer

Watching the soccer game in the 103 degrees heat! 

The Antioch team is playing another team from YWAM. They didn't win but they are playing better and better each game! 

Here are our dear friends and brother and sister in Christ. 

We enjoyed getting to join their wedding a few weeks ago. 

Us girls enjoyed dressing up in typical Khmer fashion for their big day. 

Such a special day for our whole family. We were honored to be invited. 

Happy Valentines Day clear over here in Cambodia 

Sunday school in Svey Kong. 

As we say in every blog we continue to be so grateful for all of your support while we serve Jesus in Cambodia. We are grateful for all the emails and messages, specific prayers, stand by prayer warriors, financial support, and all the love we receive often! We could not be here and do what we do without the various kinds of support we receive.

Please continue to keep praying for our health and safety here in Cambodia.

Please feel free to email us anytime at KristyFilbrun@yahoo.com or OutdoorAccents@yahoo.com We love to hear from anyone anytime!

Britton and the boys are heading back to the States in March for 5 weeks. Please keep our family in your prayers as we are apart during that time.


Love and Blessings to all in the name of Jesus