Groth Report October 2007

From the Word

Always let him lead you, and he will clear the road for you to follow. Proverbs 3:6 CEV

The roads in Cambodia are an interesting topic. We have a very good paved road from Phnom Penh to our new home in Sihanoukville. Some call it the “American Road” because we are told it was made through an American partnership. We have a moderately good road from Phnom Penh to Battambang where we work with the local Lutheran Church. We have a terrible, rutty road where bridges are often rained out and the need for repair is constant in the road from Battambang to Siem Reap. The reason this is the topic of this newsletter is that this month we have been constantly on the road. The road conditions are important to our travel plans. The road itself often needs clearing from goats, dogs, and people on motorcycles, tuktuks, overloaded lories, bicycles, people on foot, and the general hubbub that is a part of traffic in a developing country.

What is the condition of your road? Really, I don’t want a report on the ruts in your neighborhood or the latest improvements on I-75. What I want to share with you is the condition of the path your life is taking. Proverbs clearly reminds us that if we allow our Savior to lead us he will clear the road for us!!! When we ask Him to guide us He will remove the obstacles and bumps that could lead us away from Him and from our path to heaven. Need directions??? Look at His Word!! Stuck in a rut??? Ask for His guidance. Jesus is the WAY and He will surely lead us to our heavenly home.

Current Events

In September I, Jeanette, spent several days in Bangkok. Our Asia Lutheran Education Team met there to formulate the best ways to coordinate our work in Asia. Our theme was the Body of Christ, and it was interesting to see as the meeting progressed that God had put together four leaders with different gifts and talents, and yet we shared the one goal of bring education, life, and salvation to our part of the world. In Asia we hope to grow Christian leaders in every level of society to guide and lead many to saving faith in Jesus. We now have a better vision of where our God is leading us.

My next travel took me to Vietnam. Here we are doing education in Hanoi and Phu To. I was privileged to observe all the teachers there except one and saw a great level of preparation and dedication. On Sunday I got to be the Sunday School teacher for the international congregation and remembered how much fun it is to share God’s Word with “little people.”  It was fun to get to know all the volunteers a bit better and to hear about where God is leading them. It was wonderful to spend some family time with Vicar and Aimee Cima and Celeste. God has surely led these people in His way.

Chuck and I have both been involved in orienting our new volunteers, Al and Eileen Turner. How wonderful that God has cleared the path to bring them here to ministry in Cambodia. Eileen will be working with our new Health Education program and Al will be working to clear the way for better agriculture here. Since they are veterans of God’s service in Africa they have wonderful experience to share with us here in another developing part of the world. We try to tell them daily that we are so glad that God has sent them here. It is great to have someone to share the way with - especially when the going gets tough.

We were happy to have Debbie Feenstra from the LCMS World Missions office in St. Louis spend time with us. Hopefully our travels together have given her an understanding of work and challenges in Cambodia. Surely this will enable her to share more about God’s mission here with potential donors.

Sometimes getting out of the way is important here in Cambodia. We were excited to get a new puppy two weeks ago. Our granddaughter Kahlan helped us by naming her Dora. While we were gone our groundskeeper heard a yelp. He ran and found that Dora had been bitten by a cobra and died immediately. We were told that there were two snakes in the shed. Some friends of ours brought a “snake charmer,” but no snakes were found. The groundskeeper said that the sour fruit he put out chased them away. Needless to say we walk around our yard a bit more carefully these days.

 Somehow Chuck has seen his “way” to preaching almost every Sunday in some place. As his wife, I’m always glad when God has led him to share His Word with us. We who are feeding others here have definite needs to hear God’s Word in relevant ways ourselves.

 Soon our travel will lead us to Kentucky, Illinois, and Indiana, and some intensive fund-raising for God’s Work here. We’ll post our schedule below and pray that God will lead you to meet us at one of these locations to hear a bit more about God’s Mission in Cambodia. Perhaps He will even help clear the way so you can come as a volunteer missionary and be part of His work here!

Led by Him,

Chuck and Jeanette Groth

 

Thanks to God for Prayers Answered:

Continue to Pray for:

 

Contact Us - We’d love to hear from you!

Our Travel Schedule for November

  • 11/4     Trinity Lutheran, Henderson KY

  • 11/5     Trinity Lutheran, Springfield IL

  • 11/11   Immanuel Lutheran, Seymour IN

  • 11/14   Immanuel Lutheran, Richton Park IL

  • 11/15-18  St. Matthews Lutheran, Hawthorn Woods IL

 

 

Main Street 100 yards from our house

Debbie Feenstra with village children

Local fisherman off the shore of Cambodia