Hey friends and family. As always we hope this finds you doing well. Another busy month for us in Cambodia. The days and the weeks continue to fly by.
Above is a banana tree located on the other side of our fence but since the fruit is on our side I guess they are ours to eat. Our Khmer friends cut down the flower and took it home to add to their dinner. We are waiting a few weeks more to eat the bananas.
Our kitty, Rosie, had her babies recently. Our children are enjoying watching each new stage as they grow.
One afternoon we went with some church family to a nearby field that was flooded because of the rain. Some of the young men were hunting for fish and rats. And some of us went to swim and enjoy the views.
Enjoying some swimming and some grilled corn together.
Beautiful evening sunsets over a flooded rice field.
One weekend we went to Siem Reap to say goodbye to some of our most beloved friends. We don't have many pictures together for the sake of different beliefs but these friends were quite special. Our children were sad to see their Miller friends leave Cambodia.
While we were in Siem Reap we met up with another missionary family. We enjoyed the day together with our new friends, the Barbosa family from Brazil.
The Barbosa family has two adopted girls around the same age as Gracie.
We really enjoy meeting fellow likeminded missionary families.
They also have a daughter around the same age as Savanna.
A few family photos before leaving back for Sisapon.
We enjoyed an early morning zoom call with our CTEN pastoral care couple. We appreciate these moments of encouragement.
Our local coffee shop has a giant metal man? outside. We enjoy spending some mornings doing school at the coffee shop.
Quiet afternoons are for little soccer games at the church.
Our children enjoy taking music classes almost every weekday. The lessons are taught by a Christian organization who has taken in these young boys and mentor them in the ways of Jesus. The boys are taught music until they are able to give lessons. Our children really enjoy playing music together. Brysen enjoys playing the piano.
Gracie is learning the bass guitar.
Carter is loving to continue learning the drums.
And Savanna is learning how to play the guitar.
We think music with instruments is a wonderful way to worship our Heavenly Father. Many times (100 at least) in the Bible it is mentioned that we are to sing and make music for our Heavenly Father. The gift of music and learning instruments is so important to our family. We are thankful for the many music teachers who have taught our children week after week in the over three years we have lived here.
It is cold season here in Cambodia. The coldest this year has been right around 70 degrees which is quite chilly for us that live in such a hot climate. School mornings seem better, at least for the teacher, with a hot cup of coffee.
Christmas is almost here which means the planning and organizing for Christmas parties have begun. Our family will be apart of a Christmas play here in Sisapon. Britton is King Herod, the boys are soldiers and Savanna is a sheep with all her little friends. Most evenings are spent practicing at church. For some of the children in the play it is their first time to know the story of Jesus.
We were finally refunded our ticket money from our cancelled flights during covid in 2020. Britton went to Phnom Penh to pick up the money from a specific bank in person. He enjoyed spending time with David as well as the YWAM team from Poipet who just so happened to be staying at the hotel he was staying at.
Kristy and the children enjoyed a few days alone at home. We rarely travel without our family so when one member is gone it seems extra sad.
Evening at the local park ...
Found some drinks to cool off...
Tickets on the night bus are around $8 a person so it makes it easy to travel around here.
The last box from Grandma Kay was also brought back from Phnom Penh. !!!
Happy hugs for the missing family member
Thankyou Grandma Kay for all the lovely gifts and treasures you sent to us!
A evening building relationships in a mechanic shop.
Savanna had her birthday on the 20th of this month. She has looked forward to this day for quite some time.
She wanted to decorate a cake and so we found some very random candy at the local Khmer shop. She took the decorating very seriously and ended up with a beautiful candy cake!
Because of the Khmer holiday called The Water Festival, our good friend and brother David, came from Phnom Penh to be with us for the weekend.
David is a great Uncle figure to our children.
Happy 8th birthday Savanna Rahel, you are loved very much!
We drove to Kamping Puoy one afternoon to watch one of the church members compete in a boxing rink.
Sunday mornings in Svey Kong with Soak Na are the best.
Peanut butter blossom cookies made with Hershey Kisses we found in Siem Reap. A very rare treat.
The holidays are quite a lonely time for most missionaries. Spending hours in the kitchen alone really makes you appreciate family more. Life without family is sad. We sure miss all of our beloved family back in America.
First time baking butter horn rolls. They passed the Filbrun boys taste testing.
Our Thanksgiving plans were on Saturday so on Thanksgiving day we enjoyed decorating for Christmas and eating some familiar Thanksgiving foods.
This will be our fourth Christmas to celebrate in Cambodia. We really can't believe how fast time has gone!
Of course we always enjoy hanging our Ohio State ornament.
Our children made little paper snowmen and snowflakes
Enjoying some pie and some hot apple cider
To celebrate Thanksgiving we were invited to some of our other new friends house Pastor Eddie and Shelly who live in Siem Reap.
The food tasted so yummy.
Thankful to spend the day with several other American friends as well. We all had the same accent and understood our culture which is always a rare find here in Cambodia with so many foreigners.
Sunday morning in Sisapon with Ming. This is Pastor Bunthans wife but we use Ming as a title of respect here in Cambodia.
Savanna and all her little friends from the English school.
Britton continues to go out to the village house churches every weekday morning he can. One morning the villagers were spreading rice out to dry. Britton and Pastor Bunthan were able to help them before they led devotions.
Meetings in Svey Kong with Pastor Saran and Mose
If you know anything about Khmer culture you would know that they have little spirit houses in every home. Every morning they offer food, flowers, water, fake money to appease the spirits. The above picture shows a broken spirit house in the trash. No longer needed because of JESUS! We praise God for every little step in seeing souls saved here in Cambodia. The Holy Spirit is truly alive and working. We are blessed to be a very small part in Gods kingdom over the seas in Cambodia. Thank you friends and family and supporters in all you do to encourage and support our family while we do Gods work.
Theres a story we recently came across that touched our hearts and we thought we would share it here...
William Borden, a top graduate of Yale and a millionaire, received more business offers than he knew what to do with. But he gave away his inheritance (worth $50 million at the time) and launched out in faith to reach the Kansu people of northern China. Though he and his mother had prayed that God would use William for His purposes, his impending departure was painful for both of them.
In the middle of December in 1912, the night before young William Borden boarded a ship and said goodbye to his widowed, heartbroken mother, she pondered: Is it worthwhile?
Only four months into his missionary career, he contracted spinal meningitis and went to be with the Lord. Under his pillow in the hospital he left a note saying, "No reserves. No retreats. No regrets."
The following morning, Mary Borden awoke to a still, small voice speaking in her heart to answer that question.
For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son. -John 3:16
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It is easy for us to imagine Borden and his Mother Mary as we do Gods work here in Cambodia. It is easy to question Gods plan. Is it, after all, worthwhile?
Gods love still compels our family to obey without question and murmuring. Our flesh yearns to enjoy friends and family in our home country. But to go back is not His call for our family at this time. To press on in this part of the world is what He has asked us to do, and it is an unspeakable privilege to be on this journey with Him.
Please pray that our lives and our lips speak of this privilege. We need grace and stamina for the journey ahead. We must depend on Jesus alone. We want to glorify Him in every conversation, teaching and decision. May He give us what it takes to endure until the end.
Hebrews 10:39 "But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved."
