February Celebrations, Prayer Requests, and Plans

Roberta and I dressed up for our first Khmer wedding.

Hello,

family and friends!

Just wanted to send a quick update on how life is going in Cambodia! We are so grateful for each and every one of you who are supporting us prayerfully and financially! It is because of you that we are able to do what we are doing here in Cambodia.

Celebrations:

• We have finished studying The Pentateuch! The first 5 books of the Bible(the Pentateuch) lay a foundation for the rest of the Bible! The Pentateuch has completely changed our view of the New Testament, and we believe it is so vital to the foundation of our faith.
• Roberta is loving her work at Cafe Eden, training/working with at risk youth.
• Our relationships with the Cambodian people through our studying and work in the community constantly point to the great work that God is doing here in Cambodia. One of the students of our school was previously a slave in Malaysia before God had given her freedom. She is a great woman of faith, and is studying this Bible School in order that she can go plant churches in remote villages. This is just one testimony of the great work that God is doing through the Cambodian people. God is bringing Cambodians to Christ everyday and creating disciples that will change nation!

Eating dinner with our SBS and YWAM friends in the
Yellow house.

Prayer Requests:

• Finances - We are still waiting for $800 to come in to completely cover our plane ticket home! Our flight schedule will be long, full, and expensive come our time when we leave in June. Please continue to pray and consider for this need to be met financially.
• Safety! - Please be praying for our safety during travels(roads and cars and motorcycles here are crazy!), and also in our home! Last week, a thief managed to break into the YWAM house next door. He managed to only get into one room, but still a little scary!
• Health - Roberta is just getting over a week long bug in her belly that caused her some pain and discomfort. She took antibiotics and that helped remove it, and we have taken some worm medicine as a precaution! Please continue to pray for our health!

The SBS Classroom and John's seat.

Whats to come:

• SBS - We have finished the Pentateuch so up next is the History Books (Joshua - 2 Chronicles). We are super excited to know God better and study some fun stories along the way.
• Upcoming Summer - Toward the end of June we will make our way back to the States! We plan to spend 1-2 weeks on the East Coast in New York/Pennsylvania for a dear friends Wedding and visiting YWAM NY. Then we plan to spend 1-2 Weeks in California visiting Roberta’s family and another wedding! Followed by our arrival back in Washington by early July.

Thank YOU.

Roberta and I are praying through and solidifying our plans for after our time in Cambodia. Stay tuned for some exciting updates about where God is taking us as a couple as we seek to serve him and his kingdom! We are so blessed by all of your love and support. No words can describe how incredibly grateful we are.  Thank you for all your support, love, and prayers!

Love,

Johno and Roberta

SBS Progress and Airline Ticket

John, Roberta, and SARAH in
Siem Reap, Cambodia

Greetings from Cambodia family and friends!!!

We hope that you all had a great holiday season and enjoyed making great memories. Roberta and I definitely missed the cold and warmth of the holiday season with family and friends this year, but we’re resting in God’s perfect plan for us.

As many of you may know, Roberta lost her grandmother last week. It has been a very difficult time of being away from family. Please continue to keep her and the whole family in prayer as they grieve the loss of their grandmother.

The School of Biblical Studies has been going amazing!! Never have I been so in love with the Bible as I am now. Don’t get me wrong I have always enjoyed the Bible, but now I love the Bible even more! We have completed all of the New Testament but Matthew and we are beginning the book of Leviticus this upcoming week. Roberta and I have been absolutely loving seeing who God is through the Bible. Thus far we have each put in more than 700 hours of Bible study. On top of all that Berta has been working with a local cafe owned and run by the YWAM base here, she has been helping with job training of some of the employees there. I have been mostly focusing on my Bible study along with Berta, but I have also had many opportunities to help around the Base with IT work. We have built amazing relationships the people here so far, please continue to pray for our time here that it would continue to be even more fruitful than the first half of the school.

It is with humility that we come to you and ask for your help! We are trusting God and know he will work everything out, but we are seeking out support for our tickets home after the School of Biblical Studies is finished! Our summer plans have been revised, a lot of flying is happening before we settle in back to the States! Here is our upcoming journeys...

• Cambodia -> New York
• This is our main leg of the trip and it will cost about $1,600.
• New York -> San Francisco
• After this hard time away from her family, We have made the decision in faith to go home to spend some time with her family. This will be about $600 from NY for both of our tickets.
• San Francisco -> Seattle


• The last quick leg of the trip will be hopefully less than about $400.

These are all estimates as we have been doing research. We ask that in this time of need you would prayerfully consider giving towards our ticket home.

HOW TO GIVE: A tax deductible donation is possible through the our my home church (Faith Reformed) back home, for more info please click here. In addition, you can give online to us if you click here.

AGAIN, we thank you so much for how much you have blessed us over the years. we are deeply grateful!

LOVE,

John and Roberta

A Very Cambodian Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from The Olin’s!

This year Christmas means more than it ever has, and we hope that in this season our Savior reminds you of the greatest gift that has ever been given, the gift of Jesus Christ.

This past Sunday, I (Roberta) spent time helping a friend with her ministry that she started here, and in the midst of starting this ministry she adopted two wonderful little boys. The ministry is called Jeevit’s House, “Jeevit” in Khmer means “life”. This house is focused on supporting Children-At-Risk because their families in the village have been severely affected by HIV/AIDS. Many of these children come to Jeevit’s House simply for a meal, weekly, and the home currently sponsors up to 41 children with the intention to grow to be able to sponsor even more kids!

The kids at Jeevit's House hearing the
gospel.

I, Roberta, helped at Jeevit’s House, with their annual Christmas party, and the party ended up being for about 200 kids. Games, Food, Presents(for all!) , and the Gospel message, this was Christmas for the kids. All with the intention to show the children that despite how much they had, that Christmas was about the best gift that has been given to them, the gift of Jesus Christ. As I watched some of the children, my heart couldn’t help but feel a deep sense of grief to think of the poverty, obstacles, and loss that these children will face if they have not already. But the other side of me was overjoyed knowing that the hope of Christ is a hope that is for all, and that little by little everyday these children in Cambodia were coming to know the true meaning of Christmas.

I, John, have been spending a lot of my time studying very hard in the SBS. This is not the only thing that we are currently involved in at the moment. I am also working with some of the staff to help with the IT here for the SBS department. I have also begun to play soccer with a group of staff at the local soccer fields! It is so great to get to play such a great sport with incredible people and get to be in the community with soccer.

Being far away this year during the holiday time has shown us many things, including an appreciation for family and also for the ability to eat a good meal, have health, and also what a blessing it is to not only know Christ, but to serve him. Our time here in Cambodia has reminded us to never ever grow comfortable and take our blessings for granted, because there are so many others who have close to nothing. A statistic is easy to understand in a church pew, but the face of a child whose family is living on less than $2 dollars a day changes it all. We are blessed everyday, and this especially this Christmas.

Thank you to all who support us prayerfully and financially. We would not be here without you and know that your investment in us honors the Lord.

3 John 1:8

“Therefore, we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.”

 All of you, friends and family that give and pray, you are our "fellow workers for the truth" and we are so thankful beyond words this holiday season for all of your support.

To learn more about Jeevit’s House, and all the work our friend, Laura, is doing… http://jeevitshouse.org/ 

Happy Thanksgiving from Cambodia

We are so thankful for all of you who support and stand by us!

We wanted to take a quick email to say thank YOU to all of you who have supported us in our ministry! Whether it was through financial support or encouragement to continue. We thank YOU for giving of yourself to help us work in our ministry! God is doing great things in us and through us. We are so excited for what he is doing through his word in us. Thank YOU again for all of your support. God is using your partnership to spread the gospel, through the Bible, in Cambodia. We pray constantly that God will bless you back much more than you have blessed us. Thank YOU.

Love, John and Roberta

First Month in Cambodia

Us with our SBS staff and students!

Hello friends and family,

We apologize for the delay of the update from Cambodia. Things have been in full swing for us as we approach a full two months of being here! Below is a few excerpts from different aspects of our lives for you all to be informed. We just want to take the time to again thank you for constant love, prayers, and support that you show to us. We are deeply grateful that you all have enabled us to follow the call of God on our lives.

SBS
Week after week we are diving into the Word in a whole new way. In SBS, we will go through the inductive bible study method for every book of the Bible. Three times a week we receive teaching on each book, so that we may better share the gospel and bring the kingdom of God to all the aspects of our lives. A few weeks ago, Johno calculated his time in the book of Acts there was a total of 56 hours of studying! We are blessed to take diving into the word of God to a whole new level. To see the vision of what we are doing go here - uofnbattambang.com/sbs/

Our Ministry
We are so blessed to be able to serve the people in Cambodia, and the amazing YWAM base here that is sharing the gospel and equipping Cambodian missionaries to reach their own people. If you would like an overall look at YWAM Battambang and what exactly you are apart of by partnering with us, check here - uofnbattambang.com

• Johno
  
  is being able to use his computer IT skills to help the base here in Cambodia become more knowledgable in technology and computers. During the week, he is the main person who is in charge of all the technical issues that arise, and also is serving the base and other missionaries here on campus on how to use the resources that God has given us through technology! It may look a bit unconventional, but it is really encouraging to see God use the gifts that he has given Johno in order to enhance the kingdom of God here in Cambodia.

• Roberta
     is living her dream here in Cambodia! She is volunteering at YWAM's local cafe in town called "Cafe Eden". This ministry is located right in the heart of town, and is training at-risk-youth in English, Hospitality, and Restaurant skills. The job is a platform for the underprivileged youth to have a means to support themselves and their family. Roberta with her skills from previous jobs in the states, and also the blessing of her bilingual language is working in equipping and training the youth at the cafe. The profits of the Cafe here in Cambodia alone every months supports 23 Cambodian YWAM missionaries that wouldn't otherwise be able to serve God without it. We see God working incredibly through Cafe Eden. To learn more about where Roberta serves every week, check out the link here. www.cafeedencambodia.com

Things to pray for:

• Increased revelation as we study the word of God
• Safety on the roads here in Cambodia
• Health in all aspects, protection from dehydration, stomach illness , etc
• God would continue to open up doors for relationship with Khmer people
• Increase in Roberta's khmer language & Johno to be able to learn 
• Finances that we may be able to be generous with others and able to make extra purchases for our living conditions/arrangements 

Thank you all so much for your continued support and love. We would not be able to be here without the gracious generosity of you all!

A Panorama of an area near where we live.