Financial Matters!!

Somethings that I rarely talk about in my emails/blogs ect., are things like; - personal issues, struggles, and.... money!!!
Today I choose to give you a brief update on the later!

On average I recieve 1,350 CDN dollars a month for the ministry and personal expenses in Poipet.
All of my money goes through 'A and D World Missions' and all donors recieve a tax deductible receipt.

My expenses include - tithe, food, lodging, travel, accomodating teams/guests, motorbike repairs/gas, church expenses, paying workers, Thai Visa's, personal items ect.

In the next few weeks we are hoping to purchase some land on the outskirts of Poipet for a church. A 20metre by 8metre piece of land is around 1,500 US dollars. We are hoping to buy a few sections to accomodate a church of at least 100 plus people.

We are also looking at renting a building on the main road of Poipet for a church as well. The cost of renting a building on the main road is around 300 US dollars a month.

Next week when I return to Poipet we are going to purchase a 'Gong by' which is a Cambodian version of a taxi. Its an old-school motorbike hooked up to a sidecart that has little benches to sit on and usually a sketchy roof.
We will be using this to transport beleivers to and from meetings, and to provide a job for a church member.
A 'Gong by' costs 1500 US dollars.

Boosapaul, a 55 year old Khmer man with a wife and 3 children, works with me full time. He translates for me on a daily basis, preaches in church, visits the Aids patients with me and runs things when I am away. Pretty much whatever I am doing in Poipet, Boosapaul is usually right beside smiling and loving those who we minister to! He is a gem and I really can't imagine serving in Poipet without him. He has became one of my best friends.
I pay Boosapaul a monthly salary of 120 CDN dollars ( A fair wage in Cambodia. My first year in Cambodia I never paid him and he was as faithful then as he is now!)

Other major expenses are going on ministry trips( Ex. Nepal, Phillipines ect.) These trips are usually quite costly as we often have to fly and pay for lodging and food once we arrive.

I tell you all of this so that you as supporters, know where your money is going, and what the major expenses are in the ministry.

Bless you and thanks again for your prayers and constant encouragement!

JR#33

The Khmer man in the pictures are Dr. Boosapaul!

Soo ah sah day!!!

The Classic Missionary move, saying "Hello" in the native tongue!!! Good times!!

I pray you are all doing well! How is life on the homefront? For real, I love to hear from you guys so please don't be afraid to let me know how you are!!!
Well it's been an interesting last month serving the Lord in Poipet!!

Henry and Erica Schmidt and their Supernatural Training School team were in Poipet for a week in early April. They were a tremendous blessing! While I was still teaching at VBCI they went to Angkor Wat and did some spiritual warfare there, so cool!
Once back in Poipet different team members preached at our churches, we visited the slums, did an impromptu concert outside my house, played with a lot of kids, did crafts and yeah pretty much had a Holy Ghost Party wherever we went! ( Henry you're a wild man, its awesome!!)
I believe over 10 people came to the Lord while the team was in Poipet. Praise God!!

2 weeks ago I was woken up by the sound of someone banging on my front door, ( happens quite often actually!) So I went and opened up the door half a sleep and there are two middle aged ladies with a couple kids. They said they wanted to know Jesus!!!! I was like, "Sweet!"
So I invited them in and in my best Khmer try to explain to them who Jesus is and what He did for them. Then I prayed for them and gave them some Bibles and Khmer tracts! It was so random but so God!
The Next day I got the whole story through my translator friend! They were from a village far away and had come to Poipet that day looking for a church and someone told them to come to my house!
So I had my friend lead them in a prayer to accept the Lord and they were both just beaming!!!
Were looking into starting a Church in the their village! I love how God does things!

A hi-lite this last month was burning my leg big time on my Motorbike!! Mercy!!! Its raining a lot now in Poipet so all the roads are becoming total mud pits! I was going to one of our churches and my bike got stuck in the mud and I bit it!
Classic muffler burn on my left leg! I was fine for 2 days and then infection set in and i could hardly walk for 4 days!
Thank God for my main man Boosapaul who is a self trained Doctor! He looked after me pretty good!
My neighbor Lady saw the puss oozing out of my leg one day, goes and gets some weed, puts it in her mouth and chews it, takes it out of her mouth and puts it on my leg!!!! Khmer Style baby, you gotta love it!

Last Sunday 3 new people came to our homechurch and accepted the Lord, it was great! We will most likely have another Baptism in the near future.

As well we are currently looking at buying some land in a new village being developed in Poipet. This village already has 200 homes built but has no church anywhere in sight. Please be praying that God provides the finances for this project and gives me wisdom in how to go about everything.

Please be praying that God sends people to Poipet to help with the harvest!! There is so much need at times its overwhelming! We can do pretty much anything there as long as we have the manpower to do it!
Bless you and thanks so much for you support!
JR#33