Journey to Cambodia--2013

After nearly 40 hours of journey I am back in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. I had a 15 hour layover in Singapore. The Singapore airport is one of the most beautiful airport I have ever seen. It looks like a mall rather than an airport. I took a tour of the city and looked at shops and ate to pass my time. I got to Cambodia about 5:30 PM local time on August 1. My friends came and picked me up from the airport. The next day I got to meet some missionaries from Philippines and a khmer couple from a bible study.I also met some good friends I made last time I was here. Saturday I went to watch my friend practice Kendo and later we went to do a railroad ministry. People lives on the railway track. Me and my friend and a person who speaks khmer did a bible study with two young people who are believers. I had a great time in the bible study. Sunday I went to church, where most people in the church are missionaries/teachers from Philippines. I am extremely glad God brought me here. I was reading one of the post I wrote two years ago from Hayley's House. I wrote that, " I will gladly  give away everything I have and move back here and be with the kids if it's God's will." It is amazing that God gave that desire in my heart and He fulfilled it in His time. I do not have words to describe His goodness in my life. 

My prayer is that whatever I will do, say, it will be for the glory of Him. Before I sign out, Please pray that I will learn the language here, I can't effectively show God's love without knowing the language. 

Until next time, 

Justin Joshuva

 Some pictures from Singapore, Orchid Gaden, and world of Cholates

Bible Study group

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Railway Ministry

Countdown

Countdown to Cambodia journey

Letter

Dear Family & friends:
            As many of you know, the last couple of years have been a big change in my life. God allowed me to be more close to Him than ever possible. I have been blessed immensely in my spiritual life and academic life.  God has been teaching a lot about Him and His love for the world. In Mark 16:15, Jesus tells his disciples, "Go into the entire world and preach the good news to all creation.” God’s plan is much bigger and greater than me and His grace allows us to join Him in this incredible plan. Since my last trip to Cambodia in the summer 2011, God put in my heart  to back there and serve people through teaching.
            You may be wondering, “why Cambodia?” and most importantly “where is Cambodia?” Cambodia is a small country in Southeast Asia. Cambodia is bordered by Vietnam, Laos and Thailand. Cambodia is a country that is open & friendly, but at the same time it is full of spiritual darkness. There is only about 2% of Christians in the entire country, and there is a very heavy Buddhist influence and many who do not practice any religion. In many places in Cambodia people live on only a couple dollars a day, because it is a developing country that deals with poverty, child malnutrition and human trafficking. God has been and will continue to do His work in Cambodia because of His amazing grace and love for all people.
I will be a teaching at an international school and I will be teaching Math and Science , also helping with information technology.  I would also working with an orphanage in Phnom Penh named Haley's House. I would also be working with a group there to prevent human/sex trafficking and education of the kids in the neighborhood. This also allows me to connect and build relationships with people I teach and live around. This will open up doors to share the Gospel with people and show Jesus’ love to them.
I am inviting you to consider supporting me in two different ways. The first, and most important, is prayer. Prayer is vital because Cambodia is a whole new culture and language for me to dive into. Also praying for God to speak to the hearts of the Cambodian people and work in their lives. I also ask you to consider supporting me financially to be able to do God’s work in Cambodia. Please think about giving a onetime gift. Could you join me by committing to give $25, $50, $75, or $100 or any amount you can?  I would love to hear from you and I am grateful for the ways you are willing to join me in this adventure.

                     In Christ’s Love,

Justin K Joshuva
1316 Timber Crest Ln
Chattanooga, TN 37421
justin4884k@gmail.com
423-503-7590

http://www.youcaring.com/mission-trip-fundraiser/Khmai-Journey/41855

In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Mathew 5:16.

Cambodia Pictures

Some pictures from Cambodia

Team Cambodia

. These 5 and half weeks has been a experience that I will never forget. I met some great people who impacted my life. God brought them to my life so I can serve him better. The people who I spent most my time is with my team mates. While it was hard being the only guy in a group of eight people, we became a family. Mandy, Carin, Katelyn, Jen, Beki, Maddie and Janelle all became my sisters. There were times they would cause me to lose my temper or get frustrated or become upset at them, but we will have a team meeting and talk things over and we will be back to working together. Each of us brought something special to our team.

Mandy is our Team Administrator and probably the one I talked to the most, I jokingly  call her  “mom’ of the group because she make sure that everyone is happy and make sure conflicts are resolved in the group. She is one of the sweetest and caring people I know. The heart and love she have for all the students and other people we met inspired me and shown me how I am suppose to show God’s love to others.

Maddy or Mandeline is a really interesting person to get to know. It was really great to hear about the amazing and interesting things she has done in her life and things she experienced. She is one of the most energetic people I know and have a great passion and enthusiasm for whatever she does. The enthusiasm she has is so contagious that even if you don’t want to do something, you will end up doing it.

Janelle Is one girl who is similar to me, but at the same time so different from me. She was used to Asian culture just like me. She has more energy than me and is very active. One thing I learned from Janelle, she can make you laugh even when you are having a bad day. When we were in Siem Reap, something happened to me and she made a song about that and it made me laugh.

Jen is the Pre School teacher of our group; she never ceases to surprise me in five weeks while we were there. The passion she had for preschool kids was really amazing, I know I can’t do what she did with them.

Beki is the youngest member our team. I sometimes call her the baby of the group. Her passion for God is great sight to see. I seen her reading the bible and meditating when I was just listening to music or watching YouTube videos. Me and Beki teamed up to teach at one school and it was really good to see the way she interacted with kids and kept their attention.

Carin is the second “mom” of our group. She is so caring about everyone. While we were there we had the chance to celebrate her birthday. She cares about everyone so much and loves everyone. One thing special about Carin is when she sings songs you can feel the love she has for songs and praising God. She would play the piano and sing when she is at the house and it’s really wonderful to hear the praises coming from her.

The last person who came with me to Cambodia from US is Katelyn. She is a very interesting person because she completely changed all my expectations of her. She is a very energetic and funniest person I know. She became a very special person to me.

I had a very fun time with these 7 special people. God brought us together and He specifically chose each of us to go to Cambodia. I know God spoke to each of us while we were there and He blessed abundantly.

Loving kids from Hayley's House

Being in Cambodia feels so good and right. The people in here are so loving and caring and at the same time kids are starving of love. We went to visit an orphanage called Hayley's house on July 19, 2011. We seen the kids from the place in church on Sundays. The first Sunday we were at church, two girls named Sreynayt & Mary came and was holding on to my hand, while I was talking to all the kids or just holding them, these girls always stood with me and kept on holding my hand. When we visited the orphanage we pulled in and these girls ran to me and just held me. They never let me go during the whole visit. I am so moved by the love they have shown me and I would love to adopt these two sweet kids. Every time I go to the orphanage they always come and stay with me. I dont know what they see in me, but all I want to share God's love to them and love them with everything I have. I will gladly give away everything I have and move back here and be with the kids if it's God's will. Being with those kids made me understand that we as human beings need love to survive. If we genuinely love each other this world will be a better place and there would not be any orphans anywhere. I put on my Facebook that I want to adopt the kids and one of the pastors I know commented on that with bible verse from James 1:27, which says; "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." That really touched my heart because as Christians we are suppose to care for orphans and widows, but most of would not do it. We are afraid of what our culture will say, what our family and friends will say. I know I came to love these kids, and if its God's will I would love to adopt them and show them the love of Christ.
       I thank God everyday that He gave me the grace to sent me here so I can experience this. I know without being here I would not have experienced this at all.

Update

Hey everyone, I know I have not sent a update at all, just getting things done and being busy with it.  I got her e safe and sound by God’s grace. We are staying at yearlong teacher’s houses and short distance to the school work. Being here reminds me a lot of God’s love for all of us because every single person I met here are so helpful and so nice whether they speak English or not. For the first week we just observed the classrooms and helped out the Canadian team that was here already. I helped out in the bible class and it was a wonderful experience. The joy the students have was really wonderful to see. The Canadian team started an outreach program for the neighborhood kids to teach them conversational English. The first time we were helping them there were over 90 kids from the neighborhood kids to learn English and to swim in the swimming pool. These kids don’t know English at all but they are such a joy to teach, even though sometimes I felt I am not doing anything worthwhile, a smile from a kid I was teaching make it worthwhile. The second week the team I came with and the Canadian Team shared the classes. I thought Math on Tuesday and Thursdays and two people from the other team thought science on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. We are visiting other ministries in the area and helping out if we can. Last week we went to another school and thought about 3 classes. I met two high school kids named Petra and John and I got to pray with them because they are learning about God and want to be Christians. I ask you guys to keep them in your prayer. This week I am teaching Math and Computers. I ask you guys to keep me and the team  in your prayer as we head to the last couple of weeks here. I will send out another letter/email in about 2 weeks as we leave from here.

In Christ’s Name

Justin  K Joshuva
justin4884k@gmail.com