The Hourngs in Cambodia!

We are grateful to end the month of October with prayerful hearts. It has been a beautiful sight to see our family, our dorm students, and our Khmer church community united in prayer. Throughout the month, we have intentionally set aside time to praise God for His faithfulness and to lay before Him the burdens we cannot carry alone.  There are things in life that we simply cannot control. We try our best, but we soon realize that we are limited. Our energy, time, and resources can only go so far. And yet, in those very moments, we experience how faithful our God is. He fills the gaps we cannot fill. He restores what we lose. He provides when we lack. As our pastor shared in last Sunday’s sermon, sometimes we must learn to encourage ourselves in the Lord, especially when no one else can. Ministry can be tiring. There are days when we feel exhausted in the vineyard when the results are not what we expected, or the funds are not enough to sustain both ministry and family needs. But in...

David's Display Kiosk (Unmanned) at Limkokwing University Last week was a hectic week for us both in our home and at the university as we wrapped up the semester. We have never baked that many brownies, cookies, and Oreo banana bread before! I couldn’t help but smile thinking how our small kitchen turned into what felt like a mini bakeshop. The sweet aroma of chocolate brownies and bananas filled the house, and though it was tiring, it was also joyful. Praise God for the opportunity for David’s brownies to join our school’s cultural event. It was all by His grace that we managed to pull it off. Everything happened so quickly. My boss called over the weekend and asked if my son could sell his goodies at the event. It was a last-minute invitation, but I didn’t want to say no. My colleagues had tried David’s brownies before when I brought some to the faculty room, and they encouraged me to let him join. They said, “Your son’s brownies are really good! Let him sell them.” The only prob...

Last night during dinner, David began sharing stories from his day at school. These moments around the table are some of my favorites simple, ordinary, yet full of hidden lessons that often reflect deeper truths about life and faith. He told us that after P.E. class, he was the only one among his 7th-grade classmates who took a shower. The rest of them were, in his words, “too lazy to do it.” He laughed as he told us how quiet the shower room was without anyone teasing or bickering. I smiled and thought to myself how refreshing it is to see him growing into a young man who values cleanliness and enjoys the small moments of solitude. Then, with a change in tone, he shared something that caught my heart. “One of my friends from another class shaved his head today,” he said softly. “He looked really sad, so I sat beside him on the bench.” I asked what happened, and David told us that his friend’s father had just passed away. His friend had shaved his head as part of their Buddhist funera...

I don’t know for some reason, God’s Word really comes at the perfect timing. It’s like He has His own divine way of setting things in motion. Sometimes I joke that God has His own “algorithm” He knows exactly what we’re thinking about, even before we open our Bible app or pray about it. Just this morning, during my usual devotion time on my tuktuk ride to work, I opened my YouVersion app to read and reflect. The topic for today stunned me because it connected so perfectly to what my husband, Vandy, and I had talked about the night before. Isn’t it amazing how God’s Spirit moves and speaks to us in such personal ways? Last night, before we prayed as a family, Vandy suddenly asked me a question that took me back to a painful chapter of my life. “Why didn’t your family pursue your papa’s robbery case?” he asked. “Those people who did that to him should have been punished.” His question brought back memories I hadn’t revisited in a long while. The Pain of Losing Papa My papa, Rolly , was ...

For three consecutive weeks, my beloved country, the Philippines , has faced one disaster after another strong typhoons that uprooted homes, great floods that submerged communities, volcanic eruptions that covered towns in ash, and now, a series of powerful earthquakes that have shaken the nation from its northern provinces down to the southern islands. It feels like one tragedy after another. The whole country is trembling, not only from the movement of the earth beneath, but also from the fear that grips every heart. Finding Peace Amid the Earthquakes Even though I now live in Cambodia, my heart aches for the Philippines. Each time I see the news or receive updates from family, I feel both thankful and anxious. Thankful because they’re still safe, but anxious because I know how unpredictable nature can be. My mama, who lives alone, often comes to mind. I message her daily to check in and remind her to prepare an emergency bag with essentials medicines, bottled water, a flashlight, a...

There are moments in our family life when I pause and marvel at how God continues to work in the little and ordinary things. Parenting, especially in a cross-cultural home here in Cambodia, has taught us lessons far beyond what any book could offer. It’s not always easy, but every challenge we face points us back to God’s faithfulness. One of those areas where God has been showing His amazing grace lately is through our son, David.  “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” — Galatians 5:22–23 (NIV) When Struggles Become Seeds of Growth David has been struggling with his Khmer lessons this year. As parents, this was one of our main concerns for quite some time. His school (Asian Hope International School) is accredited by the Ministry of Education here in Cambodia, which means he has to meet the same requirements as every local student, including passing the Khmer exam to be promoted to high scho...