The Wild Branch
Email Update
The Wild Branch is a publication of Jeff and Courtney Hogue, missionaries to the Kingdom of Cambodia, through World Team.
Our Vision: To see the people of Cambodia transformed by the Gospel into communities of believers with the spiritual influence that reaches deep into their culture and spreads across district, social, ethnic, and national boundaries.
Contact Us:
jeff.hogue@worldteam.org
www.jeffandcourtney.wordpress.com
SKYPE: jeffdhogue
FACEBOOK: facebook.com/80xray
The Hogue Family
Weston
Emma
Giataah
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Weston’s Adoption
It’s an anti-climatic ending to a three year odyssey. We received a letter from the state of Oregon giving us Oregon’s approval of our adoption in Cambodia. Weston is officially “Weston” and now has a record of his birth in our home state. We are done! Well, at least this particular battle is over. Now comes the continued everyday battles of keeping Weston from pounding his sister, Emma.
We have asked many of you to pray for us as we requested a US passport for Weston. Some of the required document to prove his adoption and citizenship were very hard for us to get. If those documents were lost in the process, replacements may be impossible to get. With much prayer, we mailed off the packet of documents and hoped for the best. Just this week, Weston’s new passport came. A few days later, all of our important documents were mailed back to us. Nothing was missing.
Our work with the US Embassy is not over, unfortunately. We are now preparing to fill out more forms and submit more documents for baby number three. This one is due in May. We are still tentatively planing on delivering the baby in Bangkok, Thailand.
Our Departure
Traveling internationally with small children is a big endeavor. Our preliminary steps in preparing for our departure is already underway. One of the new issues this time is about toys. We are wondering how we are going to slim down the kid’s toy collection they have amassed the last seven months. Negotiations have yet to begin. Mom and dad’s things will probably take second place in priority.
We tried hard not to collect much stuff to take back to Cambodia. This is hard to do in America, where stores know how to make people want stuff. If it isn’t absolutely necessary, it doesn’t go. We can take up to six foot lockers.
There is some peace of mind, I must say, when you can pack up your life in six boxes. This is an unexpected byproduct of the kind missionary life we have chosen. We don’t own much, so we don’t spend much time maintaining our stuff. I must admit, we do have our belongings in Cambodia, which is a lot by Cambodia standards. I hope to whittle some of that down this term. There is always more that can be done to keep life simple.
Our departure date is December 30. Our tickets are bought and we are looking forward to getting back home. We have Skype called with Cambodia a few times, and talked with our teammates, Sret and Daah. They are very excited to have us back as there is much to be done.
Field News
Sret reported to me about some new believer at the Bak Klong Church. The testimony of the Christians there is going out, slowly, but surely. Even more family members of church goers are coming to faith.
This is not unusual. People are watching and waiting to see if this Jesus really does make a difference in people. Is the new faith of Christians having a positive or negative effect? Is their change real? Family members of new Christians scrutinize the faith of their siblings or parents more than anyone. Once the family see the faith is the real deal, they are also likely to believe. They see the risen Jesus in the body of their family member and they fall in love with Him.
It is encouraging to us to see people come to faith without us. It might seem strange for you to read this, but think about it. We share the Gospel and some Cambodians have believed in it. Those Cambodian are transformed and their lives and voices declare the same message to others. These other examine their testimony and, they too, believe. This again validates our original ministry. We are seeing the power of God’ Spirit working through changed lives. This shows it is not about us, but about Him.
Our teammates recently went into a village where previously our team had spiritual conversations months ago. In talking with some people, they found a woman who had seen our video, “My Country, My Faith.” She had been excited by the video, and had been waiting for us to return to learn more about Jesus. We call women like this “seekers,” meaning, people who have heard the Gospel in part, and are wanting to know more. Who knows how many more seekers are out there, like this woman, who are waiting for more. This gives us more excitement as we think about returning to Cambodia. Could a new house church plant be on the horizon? That is our hope.
Sret and Daah
Having Cambodian teammates is exciting. They see things we westerners do not, and they have an insight into the culture we only dream of having. We learn so much from them. They are a big reason why we are seeing such exciting ministry. Part of our vision is to see Cambodians with spiritual influence to have an effect deep within their culture. In many ways Sret and Daah fulfill this aspect.
Sret and Daah’s salary is an item we raise from supporters such as you. We support them in ministry and ask you to do the same. If you are interested in supporting Sret and Daah, please send a check payable to World Team, and in the memo line, write, “For Project #44008." For online giving, go to www.worldteam.org/giving.
Giataah, Sret and Daah’s daughter has graduated with honors from high school and is attending preparation classes for university studies in Phnom Penh. She is in need of a new or used laptop. If you have an operating extra laptop and are willing to donate it to her, please write us at jeff.hogue@worldteam.org or call us at 541-357-0256.
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