Weyel World

Brother Lyle with 14 of the children at Pure Religion Orphanage, Stoung, Cambodia

We are so thankful to have had the blessing of a visit from Brother Lyle Tomlinson of Cincinnati Primitive Baptist Church. Brother Lyle was in the region (Southeast Asia) conducting business meetings and was kind enough to schedule a few days for us. With some advance notice we were able to provide a list of needs and even schedule some items to be delivered to the Tomlinson’s for Lyle to bring with him when he came. These items will be a great help to us in our continued efforts at gluten free cooking as well as in ministering to the saints here.

Most of all, we are thankful for Brother Lyle’s interest in our effort here and desire to be a part of what we are attempting to do.

During his time with us, Brother Lyle was able to witness a youth soccer game, visit the local market and grocery stores, visit the orphanage for worship on Sunday morning and the facility at Varin on Monday morning. We also were blessed to be a part of the 3rd anniversary celebration of the Christian Fellowship of Siem Reap where we were able to introduce Brother Lyle to some of our new friends among the Christian community here in our town.

We are encouraged whenever our friends and loved ones are able to come and visit us here in Cambodia and hope that many more will be able to experience first hand the blessing of serving the needs of Christ’s people in this land as well as to witness the specific efforts that we are engaged in.

We want to express our deep thanks and appreciation to Brother Lyle and Sister Leanna Tomlinson as well as Elders Bradley, Huffman and all of the members of Cincinnati Church for their encouragment and prayerful support for our family in this time of our lives.

In Christ,

Joseph and Rachel Weyel

Elder Jamey Tucker and I were first introduced to Chuob Sopheap in November 2007 at our conference in Phnom Penh. We both remembered him as very intent on the lessons that we taught, and he seemed to have a good deal of understanding of the Bible and the message of Sovereign Grace.

Home and Meeting House for Brother Sopheap

We again met him during our teaching in October 2008 at the training session near Siem Reap. At that time, Brother Sopheap, along with 13 other church leaders, expressed his belief in Primitive Baptist doctrine and his desire to reset his ministry and church experience based upon his new understanding. He was baptized in the West Baray near Siem Reap on October 1, 2008.

Pailin Conference Attendees

Rachel and I were blessed to finally visit Pailin City in January 2009, and met in Sopheap’s home at that time. We were with the ministers and members for only one day and a half, but in that time, they each became very special to us and I have looked forward to resuming ministry in their community.

After our return from Bangkok and release from quarantine, Dara and I were finally able to schedule a visit to Pailin on August 12-14. The scheduled services began on Thursday morning and concluded on Friday at 12 noon.

My text for Thursday morning’s introductory message was John 5:39“Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eteranl life; and they are they which testify of me” coupled with Luke 24:25-27 “Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.” I attempted to show how Jesus Christ is the subject of the entire Bible, both Old and New Testaments. It is important for us as Christians, and particularly as ministers of the word, to search the Old Testament scripture as well as the New, in order to have a full understanding of all that God has revealed to us of himself.

In subsequent messages I attempted to present the Old Testament types, figures, promises and prophecy of Christ as found in the accounts of Adam and Eve, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22.

Friday morning, I preached for more than 2 hours on the qualifications and responsibilities of the Pastor and Teacher. The congregation remained very alert and attentive, and seemed to express genuine conviction and understanding of the gravity of the responsibilities being addressed.

The final message was an overview of Old Testament prophecy, eschatology and prophetic interpretation (sorry, the digital recorder malfunctioned so this message is lost to posterity).

Brother Sopheap with his new motorbike.

We were also blessed with the ability to purchase a used Suzuki motorbike for Brother Sopheap to enable him to better travel and preach the gospel in his area.

Please pray for God’s blessings on the 14 congregations that were represented at this meeting and for their leaders as they study God’s word and continue to grow in knowledge and understanding.

In love,

Joseph Weyel

Elder Shafer visits with the children after worship.

Elder Shafer with the Children of PRM Orphanage

During the week that he spent with us in Siem Reap, Elder Shafer was unable to be out of the house much at all due to the extreme back pain that he suffers from. I am thankful for his willingness to travel this far to be with us during our trial with Beth and for the opportunity to introduce him to our ministry and some of the people whom God has made so dear to our hearts. Please pray for Elder Shafer as he continues to deal with the many challenges that his disability presents in his life.

In love,

Joseph Weyel

Prior to our departure from San Antonio, the H1N1 flu, then known as “Swine Flu” was a major concern and topic of local interest. Many South Texas school districts had closed early because of fears of possible pandemic and the numbers of people being infected were confused and exagerated. It seemed to us that in many ways, the media was overreacting to the new strain of influenza, and we joked about “fleeing the country to escape the swine flu.”

That joke didn’t seem nearly as funny after we were in Bangkok for Beth’s treatment and noticed signs on the hospital walls warning of cases of H1N1 being treated in their facility. However, we took all precautions that we thought necessary to avoid exposure and after Beth was released from the hospital we returned here to Siem Reap. Two days after our return, Rachel began to experience an extremely high fever and body aches which was followed shortly by a sick stomach. In typical SuperMommy fashion, she didn’t complain and continued caring for everyone else in our home including our four children, Joseph and Elder Dwayne Shafer (who stayed with us for about a week after our return). By Sunday afternoon it was clear that Rachel was not getting better, and Emily and Beth were also beginning to experience symptoms.

After Brother Dwayne’s departure on Monday morning, we began to seriously discuss another trip to the hospital. Joseph had already scheduled a visit from Brother Dara and two other ministers and thier wives for Wednesday, and they were planning on arriving in Siem Reap on Tuesday evening, so we decided to move Rachel and the children to a hotel room with air conditioning for the night.

By Wednesday afternoon, Dr. Mom (Rachel) had determined that the symptoms all pointed to a very serious case of influenza and had called the Royal Angkor Hospital to prepare them for an evening admission. Joseph arranged for our company to return home and he joined the family at the hospital on Wednesday night. After considerable poking prodding and culturing, Rachel, Beth, Emily, and William were all diagnosed with a Type A strain of the flu. The samples were dispatched to Phnom Penh for confirmation of the suspected H1N1 strain. Jeremiah and Joseph were both immediately given a course of Tamiflu. Rachel had developed pneumonia in both lungs by this time and was in for a long recovery period.

Our entire family remained hospitalized for a total of 5 days after which we were remanded to a home quarantine for another 4 days. During this time, we were especially thankful for the kind assistance of the staff at Royal Angkor Hospital, the Doctors of the Cambodia Ministry of Health (in cooperation with the World Health Organization) and the staff at the United States Embassy in Phnom Penh.

We are also ever thankful to each of our friends and loved ones in the USA who have devoted their time to praying for our health and efforts over here. We are thankful to report that since our recovery almost 9 weeks ago we have been spared any significant or lastng illnesses which has finally opened the door for us to begin actively ministering to others.

In love,

Joseph and Rachel Weyel

Siem Reap, Cambodia

To begin, I want to apologize for our failure to post any blog updates for the past two months. We have been very busy and consequently much has happened that we need to update all of our prayer partners on. This will be the first of several blog updates in the next few days. I am going to attempt to organize the updates both chronologically and by area of labor.

We have been blessed beyond measure as God has allowed one difficulty after another to be cleared up and we have gradually been allowed to adapt to our new surroundings. The issues with electrical power, internet connectivity, and non-functioning appliances have been resolved to a limited degree, and we have also been blessed with a new used vehicle with which we are able travel about the country.

As far as the overall work has gone, we have continued to pursue our plan to make occassional trips to area churches and ministers meetings to introduce and build upon the foundation of God’s sovereignty in salvation and the sole sufficiency of the scriptures for both faith and practice. In the meantime, we have continued to work to make friends and establish opportunities for ministry here in Siem Reap as we grow more familiar with the community, the culture, and the language.

We were recently blessed to enjoy a visit from Joseph’s mother and father from Texas which served to lift all of our spirits and encourage us on our way. In the subsequent posts we will attempt to provide some insight into each of the areas of our labor and some of the individuals with whom we have been worshipping and working.

In love,

Joseph and Rachel Weyel