Prek Dta Cong Mui
God is already hard at work in Cambodia

We are so excited about what we see God doing here! We were very re-energized and ready to get back to work after our furlough in the States. What we found here, however, made us even more excited! Tyrith – whom we have mentioned in previous newsletters and reports – had been teaching kids Bible stories in a nearby, more rural, community. When I went to visit Tyrith and his family shortly after arriving in Cambodia, I was so encouraged to hear of this and that some of the adults in this place were growing in toward the Faith! So, I asked him if I could go with him the next time he went (which happened to be the very next day).

We arrived at this community (Prek Dta Cong Mui – which means “Grandfather Cong’s Creek 1″) and there were no children around. After sitting and chatting for a while, I got out my Bible, and Tyrith asked if I wanted to say something. We began to read the Bible to the two men and the several women present. We discussed various things, and, Tyrith himself needing (and seeking) growth in so many ways, asked me a question his own daughter had asked him: “If Jesus is so powerful, why did He allow Himself to be killed on the cross?” Oh boy! From here, we started to talk about how Jesus, from a human perspective, really didn’t want to die, but He knew God’s plan and purpose and chose to give His life for us. It was such a joy to share the Gospel – my faith – with these people.

We have gone a couple of times since then (the last time 9 were present including Tyrith’s family) and have plans to go twice every weekend to continue teaching. Please pray for this community, the family in (or under) whose house we meet (the man’s name is Saom), and for the other believers nearby. Pray that they will truly believe and that God will drastically change their lives. Many of these people and most Cambodians that you meet in Phnom Penh know at least something of Christianity, though many misunderstand truths or have not made a decision to believe.

Please pray that, in Cambodian terms, the truths of the Gospel will not roll like water off the leaves of the lotus blossom but will cling firmly, altering the bearers forever into true disciples of Jesus Christ.

We’ve been back in Cambodia for almost three weeks now. It is so good to be home, but a lot that has changed in the past few months. Most obvious, and probably most altering, is our son, Marcus. It has been a real joy but an adjustment nonetheless bringing him into our family.

God gave us the blessing of a family to live in our house for the three months while we were gone. While this was helpful, it gave us a lot of extra work to do when we first got here. We had put away many of our things that now needed to be reorganized and furniture that needed to be moved, etc. We are still in the process of getting things where we want them.

Please pray for Casey and me as our roles are changing pretty drastically. Casey has decided to reduce her missionary role significantly in order to better care for the kids, and I am taking a much larger missionary role. We each have a lot of growing to do, and we ask for and covet your prayers.

We are excited to share the news that Jonathan and Elizabeth Trotter now have a fourth child. All is well, and the mother and baby are both healthy. Please pray for their adjustment and for their continued plans to move their growing family across the ocean to join us in Cambodia.

Click here to see a photo album on Facebook.

I am so glad to be back home! I am learning lots of Khmer – and I’m gonna learn even more when I get my own teacher who will play with me and teach me in Khmer. I’m so excited! I really like having my friends over to play – especially Ing. Last time she came over, she rode my bike with me on the back. One of my favorite things to do, though, is to pretend that I’m Diego and that Melanie is my sister Alecia. We swing through the jungle and save lots of animals. See ya! I gotta go!

Melanie Joy

I’m a big girl! I love to watch Maggie and do everything that she does. Maggie is so good at saying our memory verse at family devo and I love to say it just like she does! My little dog Ch-kai is still my favorite toy but I like lots of toys. I like to pretend that I’m a doctor and help all my animal friends get better. I had a big ouchie on my thumb that Mommy and Daddy had to fix. It really hurt and made me sad, but I got a Hello Kitty band aid that made me feel a lot better. Bye!

Marcus Christopher

I love to look at new things! Sometimes I see big faces come close to me and they make funny noises. These big people are so weird sometimes. Mommy takes good care of me – when I’m hungry she feeds me some really yummy white stuff, but it’s really hard to not make it come out of my mouth. One of my favorite things to do is take a bath, especially when my big sisters help mommy do it. Oh, I’m tired. I think I might need a na……zzzzzzzzz.

Meet Marcus Allison
Our Third Child – a Son!

We are excited to introduce you to our new baby boy, Marcus. He was born at the Crestwood hospital in Huntsville, Alabama at 4:29pm on July the 8th. He weighed 8 pounds and 3 ounces. Casey delivered him naturally and did a fantastic job of it! She and Marcus are both doing very well.

We can’t quite figure out yet who Marcus looks like. At the moment, we think he looks more like an Allison than a Hanson, but you never know what will happen when kids get older. Here are some pictures of him – you can judge for yourself.

Click here to see more pictures on Facebook.

We have been in the states for about 2 1/2 months now, which in some ways is far too long. We are all very ready to be back in Cambodia in our own home, sleeping in our beds, driving our car, eating our food, and doing the things we feel God has called us to do. Our plane is scheduled to leave Alabama on the afternoon of August the 10th, after which we’ll fly through Dallas, San Francisco, Hong Kong, and finally Phnom Penh.

Please pray for us over the next few weeks as we travel a little more (mostly showing off our new son), try to get Marcus’ passport, and pack up our things to go back. All of this traveling and change has been the hardest on our 2 girls, Maggie and Melanie. Please especially pray for them as they make yet another adjustment traveling to and living in Cambodia again.

Finally, please pray, as always, for Cambodians. Please pray over the coming months and years that God will lead us to those whom He has already been working on to soften their hearts. We are learning more and more how little we really do and how much God does. Pray that He will move powerfully in the lives of Cambodians. Thank you.

I like America, but I LOVE Cambodia. It is fun to visit all my cousins and Grandma and Grandpa and Nana and Pawpaw and all these other strangers, but like I told Mama yesterday:  “I wanna go to MY home and sleep in MY bed in MY Cambodia!” I have been to the zoo which was so cool and to PV where these big ‘kids’ took me to Chuck ‘E’ Cheese’s and some other people gave me pizza. People keep telling me they miss me and remember when I was so small even though now I’m so big but I don’t remember them at all. Mama says they aren’t strangers, but I think they are. I really love going to Sunday school and I’ll be sad when we go home because we don’t have Sunday school with other kids who speak English but maybe when the Trotters come live with us (they’re our teammates, you know) we’ll have Sunday school. We’ll have SEVEN kids because I have a new brother Marcus and the Trotters are gonna have another one soon! Yay!

Melanie Joy

Well, I talk really good now now cuz I have so many people to talk to and we all understand each other. Yeah. I like to say words that Maggie and other kids say like “cool” and “goober.” I had a good birthday when I turned two and had a cake that was one big cookie with my favorite color yewo (yellow) on it in sweet gooey stuffy Mommy calls icing. I really like how America has grass that is soft but I still fell in a place that didn’t have grass and had to get stitches. It matched my other scar from Cambodia exactly but was just on the other side of my head. I now have a favorite shirt that says “I love Cambodia” … and I Do!!! I’m ready to get on that airplane!

Marcus Christopher

Hi! I’m new. My name is Marcus Christopher (I heard Mommy insist on the Christopher part even though Daddy thinks it is arrogant to name a baby after yourself). Daddy has already been talking to me about how we’re going to wrestle and kick soccer balls one day. I had an exciting day recently when my biggest sister filled my carseat with dinosaurs then my other sister picked me up, carried me to another room, then left me on the floor. Mommy turned white when Daddy told her where he had found me. I thought it was a lot of fun.

Meet the Trotters
Our New Teammates

We recently had the wonderful privilege of spending 5 days with our new teammates, Jonathan and Elizabeth Trotter and their 3 (soon to be 4) children. It was a very good time of getting to know the Trotters as well as forming a vision for our future together in Cambodia.

We are so excited and feel so blessed to be on a team with this wonderful family. Though we have many friends and co-workers in Cambodia now, it will be so encouraging to have teammates with children around the same age as ours.

Another exciting thing about our new team is how well our families seem to fit together. We strongly believe that God has put our two families together on purpose for His purpose. We were very encouraged to find that we have almost identical visions for the work in Cambodia as well as how that work is to be carried out. Also, our family values and spiritual gifts complement each other very well.

Please keep our team in your prayers over the coming months as the Trotters transition from the states, raise funds, and otherwise prepare to move to Cambodia in about 18 months. Also, once they arrive, there will be a lot of transitioning for both them and us as we get used to being a team and working together in Cambodia. Thank you for all your prayers.

We have already completed most of our travel for this furlough. We arrived in the U.S. in mid-May and have since visited supporters, friends, and family from Alabama to New Mexico and back. It is has been very good to see many of you and share our lives with you. Thank you for hosting us in your homes and churches and for blessing us so richly.

The coming months for us include the birth of our third child, Marcus Christopher (a boy this time), acquiring all the necessary paperwork and to get him legal and back to Cambodia with us. Please pray for a smooth process through all of this. Once Marcus is born, we plan to visit a few more people (mostly family) and then return back to our home in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.