Hello from Cambodia!

Life continues to move at a swift pace here on our side of the world. We are happy to say that we have completed the move to our new location. God was faithful to provide a new home since we had to vacate our previous house.

Once our family got to the new home and began the task of getting everything set up for the Children's Home, we started wondering how we were all going to fit? Just as we were starting to think we may have made a monumental mistake, the Lord led an anonymous donor to make contact and He provided the funding for the first year's rent on a second home.

The first home houses our family of 9 plus Sopheak, our translator/tutor. We have a new computer lab, a project room, and a dayroom for Samuel's needs and therapy on the first floor. We also have a meeting hall. Our family lives on the second floor. There is a lovely courtyard with a swing set and a basketball goal for recreation time. Check it out...we even have GRASS!!! After 3 years of not having it, we are thrilled.

The new second home has the girl's dorm on the second floor and the boy's dorm on the third. The roof top is fully covered and chain linked so the children have space to play. The children enjoy fun with frisbees, badminton and ball games of all types up on the roof but they are protected from the sun and rain. The bottom floor is kitchen and dining and a wheelchair accessible bedroom for Hosanna. There are two additional bedrooms that will provide us room to grow! Praise the Lord!

In fact, we recently added Peter to our children's home. That brings the total number of children with Bykota House to fourteen.

Peter is ten years old and in the third grade. After Peter's mother passed away his father sent him away to live on his own. He was taken in by a ministry to street kids but that was not a safe place for a child so young.

At this time we have eight orphans that we desire to add to Bykota House. Expanding our support is a necessity at this time.

In addition to all the work with Bykota House our ministry continues to work monthly with the provincial orphanage and we continue to work with families at risk through our Shepherd's Crook program.

*Health and Hygiene classes reinforced important lessons and for some of the children it was new information

*Staff all received very important training and guidelines on wound dressing as part of basic first aid.

*fun and games in PE classes had everyone hot and sweaty but very happy

*but the highlight of the visit was the art therapy classes. The Bykota Kids have never experienced anything like it before.

Chatreah

Mike Morgan playing soccer

In February we enjoyed a visit from America. The Bykota Kids and our family had a great time with Pastor Mike and the rest of the team. The time with them was very productive. This is just a small part of what we enjoyed:

Rhonda Lettow leading art therapy

The boys enjoy painting while waiting their turn

Kathy Banes and Anna Auch teach personal hygene and first-aid

Children enjoying coloring pages

On Sunday we took the team to visit a provincial orphanage for distribution of fruit, gifts, and vitamin fortified soy milk drinks.

The little ones of the orphanage enjoyed coloring pages and parachute games while all the children received special one-on-one attention.

We enjoyed a great time of refreshment with the team and it was very hard to say good bye but already we are looking forward to the next time we can be together.

David Lettow

entertains with some

skillful juggling!

Our updates are also times that we can say a special thank you and share specific prayer requests.

Thank you all so much!

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Pastor Paul and his church members in Singapore for their donation of the computers for our new computer lab. We would also like to thank Pastor Keith from Great Britain for his financial gift that made the purchase of the desks possible. And we want to thank Pastor Mike and Bykota Ministries for finishing the set up by covering the costs of the monitors, keyboards, mice, and headsets.

The computer lab itself was a puzzle in the making as the pieces came in from three different countries to make it a reality.

We have two very important prayer requests.
First, the plans for our family furlough have not come to pass. In lieu of that, Rhonda is coming to the States to share for part of April and May. She will be meeting with members of our home team in 5 different states. As her visit dates become finalized we will send out another short update to let you know where she will be.

We would ask that you, our friends and family, to please pray and consider additional support towards her travel expenses to the States and funds needed during her stay. At this point, we anticipate that $3,000 will be necessary to cover these costs. Your love and generosity is always so much appreciated and we pray that God will bless your giving abundantly beyond what we can even imagine.

Finally, our son, Steven, has received word that his National Guard unit is to be deployed to Iraq. The details are not final as yet but the news has come as a great surprise to us and we ask your prayers for all of us over here, family back in the States and for Steven and his new bride, Dany.

We are so thankful for each and every one of you. It is always our hope when we do an update that we will clearly show the ministry here. We understand and know very well that we are a small part of this team. Our love goes out to all of you. We miss you very much ad hope to hear from you soon.

Mark and Rhonda Benz and family
Serving in Cambodia

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