Merry Christmas from the Phifers in Cambodia! It’s been unseasonably cool here for this time of year. We have been enjoying the low 70 degree mornings and mid 80 degree days. John’s parents were here last month and we enjoyed spending about 2 weeks with them. Ashley’s parents will be in town for Christmas so we are excited for them to come as well. John just recently finished a 6 month project to outfit a new kickboxing gym in Svay Pak for Agape International Missions. Ashley is preparing her class to lead this coming Wednesday for the 3rd through 5th grade chapel, while also preparing for Carnival and Jog-a-thon at the beginning of 2020. Luke participated in a soccer tournament this weekend and although his team was eliminated, he scored a goal and also made some great saves while playing goalie.

If you decide to make any year end donations, please consider us. We are currently fundraising for our furlough tickets as we plan to be in the States next summer for a couple of months. You can make tax deductible donations through a 501(c)3 called International Outreach Ministries using the following link on their website.

anticipation (n.) – the action of anticipating something; expectation or prediction

For the next four months, 4 different groups of people are coming to Cambodia – one missions team from our home church, friends from our financial organization and family members from both sides. As we make sure everything is set up for each group, we are anticipating our time together!

Please pray for safe travels and health for these 4 groups as they travel to Cambodia and while they are here. Pray our time together to be encouraging and God-honoring.

Waiting in anticipation…
The Phifer Trio

5 years in review…

“The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy”

Since landing in Cambodia on July 1, 2014, things have definitely changed. In these 5 years, we have seen God open and close doors to different ministries, we’ve seen some amazing friendships form, Luke accepted Jesus as Ruler of his life, leadership roles were given, close friends returned back to their home countries, Luke grew like a weed, swam with elephants, cried when gotten into arguments, learned how to drive a motorcycle (John), visited new countries (Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia), operated Cambodia’s first wakeboard park, played at Kid’s City and a local waterpark, a student accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior, saw some new movies at IMAX in the new mall, learned the basis to a new language and many more things!

We are thankful for your partnership throughout these last 5 years. We don’t know when the Lord will call us back to the United States but we know we are happy to serving Him here in Cambodia!

“He gives and takes away,

He gives and takes away,

my heart will choose to say,

Lord blessed be your name”

Family trip to Kampot, Cambodia 2015

Kam-Air 2015

John and Luke swimming with the elephants in 2016

John and Luke visiting a waterfall and the beach in Koh Kong, Cambodia 2017

Good afternoon from Cambodia! I know many of you have been praying for the water situation in our borey (neighborhood) for several weeks now.

UPDATE: John came home on Sunday from the States and asked for our landlord to come over on Monday to talk about the water situation. The landlord came over and said he would pay to put in a water pump and a tank. His worker starting working and got everything installed and working in one day. Praise the Lord, we have water!!

Thank you for your prayers and messages!

~Ashley

John has been in the States for 2 weeks now visiting with our church team, talking with various groups, spending time with both sets of our parents, and seeing many friends. While Luke and I have been “holding down the fort” in Cambodia, we have had lots of macaroni and cheese for dinner (Luke’s request) and managing ok since John’s been gone. But this week I caught some type of stomach bug along with all the symptoms… fever, vomiting and diarrhea, on and off for 3 days.

Today, I am feeling much better. I wouldn’t say ALL my energy is back but better. Looking back on the last 4 days, I am very grateful for our community here in Cambodia. From friends who took Luke to school in the mornings and others who brought him back home in the afternoons, to people who went to the store for us and others who offered, to my wonderful colleague, and friend, who covered my class on Thursday and Friday (my 2 busiest days of the week)… and not to mention all the people who texted to check on Luke and me.

Last week in class, I was teaching the students about what it means to be the body of Christ and to serve others. I saw the body of Christ clearly working together this week. Having the extra help this week reminded me to reach out to people, just a simple message or an act of kindness means the world 😉

So from the bottom of my heart, thank you! Many of you were also praying in the States. Thank you for praying for a fast recovery! Our Father knows just what we need!

~Ashley

Would you consider giving a special year-end giving gift to support our family and the ministry in Cambodia this Christmas? Each month we rely on the gifts of God’s people, especially as the year comes to a close. Thank you for your consideration and partnership in the Gospel!

In the US, the weather is getting cooler, the leaves are turning colors and shops and homes are being decorated for Christmas.  As a Christian, we understand the reason for the season and although not all people that own the shops and homes are Christians, they might have heard the gospel at sometime in their life.

Contrast this with Cambodia; the weather is the same as usual, the leaves are the same as usual, but shops and homes are being decorated for Christmas.  What I truly find interesting is seeing businesses such as KTV’s (karaoke bars and fronts for prostitution) with Christmas trees and Christmas lights all over them.  People seem to enjoy decorating for Christmas and even wearing a Santa costume, but they don’t truly under the reason for the season.  Please join us this Christmas season in praying for the Cambodian people to hear and understand the real reason to celebrate Christmas.

Regarding our family, Ashley recently returned from a professional conference in Malaysia.  Luke is learning long division and keeping his mother on her toes in the classroom.  I am two weeks into my new job with Agape International Missions.  My title is Special Projects Coordinator, but really it’s a catch all for big ideas or jobs that don’t seem to fit in any category.  I think of the role like a baseball utility player.  The team from 121 recently returned back to Texas after about two weeks in country.  It was great to meet new people from the team and some veterans.

On a more personal note, many of you like to make end of the year contributions and give “Christmas donations” to charity… would you consider making a donation to us through our financial organization IOM? The donations are tax-deductible and can be made online or through a check in the mail using the address on their website.

The Phifer Trio (John)

Looking back over the last 9 1/2 weeks, we have a lot to be thankful for. We are thankful for God’s provision of our garage sale at the beginning of the summer, thankful for family and friends we were able to spend time with, and all the fun activities we did!

The plane trip back was a little rough… we only slept about an hour on the first leg, a little less than an hour at the Seoul airport and about an hour on the last leg. I ended up throwing up (due to lack of sleep and motion sickness) on the airplane at the end of each landing. When we found our bags in baggage claim, the zipper on one of our travel totes had broke (see image below) and the bag was all taped up. Nothing is missing that we know of, they did a good job taping it up.

After getting settled in our house for the night, I think it was around 11:30pm or so, John and I slept decently but Luke had a hard time getting to sleep. He went back to sleep and I had to wake him up at 12:15pm on Friday. Crazy! Gotta love jetlag/time change….

We are excited to get started with our ministries. I start training at the school this Monday, August 6th and the kids come back on Monday, August 13th. John will start back full-time when Luke goes back to school. Luke will be in 4th grade this year and I will be his teacher (please say a prayer for us!). He is excited to see his classmates after the summer break.

Just a little update from Cambodia. Thank you for your prayers and thoughts! Love you guys!

Ashley

Thanks to your generous end-of-the-year donations and monthly pledges, we had enough money to buy plane tickets home to Texas this coming summer. We will leave the last day of school, May 25th, and be home for about 9+ weeks. We are thankful for a “longer break than normal” to refresh, reconnect and refuel for the upcoming 2018-2019 year.

We would like to meet up with you this summer. We will be alternating between my parents house in Hurst and John’s parents house in Arlington. Please let us know if you would like to go out to eat, hang out at your house or go somewhere special.

We have been gone for 4 years, so we are excited about visiting with you guys and share what the Lord is doing in our different ministries.

Please email us if you want to meet up.  We are still looking for a vehicle to use this summer while we are in Texas. Please us know if you have a lead!

Ashley – ashley.phifer@yahoo.com

John – john.phifer@yahoo.com

Look forward to hearing from you!

Ashley

Happy New Year Friends and Family!

If you are looking for an end-of-the-year giving or donation opportunity, please consider us. We are currently saving for airline tickets to come home this coming summer for a 10 week visit. We are needing about $2,500 more to purchase these tickets.

Simply go to our homepage and click on the donate button.