May 17, 2015

May 17, 2015

Dear friends,

We had a great weekend here in Cambodia despite the very high temperatures. The spirit was great in our morning service. I preached a message dealing with the responsibility of fathers to lead their children. We thank God for His continued faithfulness to provide safety for the folks who travel to get to church. Thank you for your prayers for the work here in Cambodia. We know that the things that are happening are a result of God’s people praying.

Some of the Cham folks sang a special song which was an encouragement to us all. There are some amazing things happening right now due to the faithful soul-winning efforts of these folks. In recent days the great grandfather of the young man in the silver shirt came to faith in Christ. He is nearly 100 years old and was apparently very well known in many Cham villages as a powerful witch-doctor. It is my understanding that the news of his conversion spread quite rapidly among several villages. Please continue to pray for the safety of these believers as well as for them to continue to be faithful to the Lord.

This morning Chanun shared a very touching testimony of how her life has changed since she has been saved. As a 19 year old young lady she is taking a stand for the Lord and is a bold witness in her village. Her sweet spirit was an inspiration to everyone who heard her. Please pray for Chanun to continue to be a faithful witness to her lost family members.

It was a blessing to have ten new believers follow the Lord in Believer’s Baptism this morning. Each one of them have powerful and interesting testimonies of how they came to Christ. One of the men who was baptized is the father of one of our faithful teen boys. We have been praying for him to be saved for several years. Please pray for these new believers to trust in the Lord and be faithful to Him. Many times new Christians face persecution here in this country after they take the important step of baptism.

What a blessing it was to have fifteen deaf folks in the morning service. Some of these folks are not yet saved but they are seeking for truth. Praise the Lord for what He is doing among this unreached people group here in Cambodia. Please continue to be faithful to uphold Miss Grace, Sina, and others who devote many hours each week to winning and discipling these folks for the Lord Jesus Christ.

We have known Sreang and her family for several years now. For some time we tried to reach her with the gospel but she was not open. Last night, out of the blue, she called me on the phone and told me that she has been trying to reach us for four months. (We had forgotten to tell her that we would be in the States) For the past four months she has been wanting to visit the church and she wanted to know if it would be okay for her to come today. It was a blessing to be able to see her and spend a little time with her this morning. Her husband and I were friends for some time. He was a police officer for the Ministry of Interior and we would, on occasion, swap police stories. The last time I saw him, which was just just around six years ago, we met together to discuss the Do You Know God booklet. He said that he was very interested in knowing more about how to be saved but he was not quite ready to get saved. Sadly, several months later, he committed suicide. This morning I reminded Sreang that it is too late for her husband to make the decision to trust Christ as his Saviour but it is not too late for her and her children. Please pray that Sreang will take to heart the things she heard during the service this morning and that the Holy Spirit would bring her under conviction of her need to be saved.

It was a blessing to see Vanny in the service this morning. She comes from a Catholic background and seems to be very confused about salvation. She is a very sharp young business woman here in Phnom Penh but she seems to understand that there is something missing in her life. Please pray for some of the lady workers in the church who are trying to reach out to her to have the wisdom to be able to answer her questions from the Word of God.

Chhlonh and Sopanha are both university students and have visited the church off and on for the past few weeks. Chhlonh is studying to be a lawyer and Sopanha is majoring in business. It was difficult for me to “read” their demeanor as I was preaching but once the service was over I had the opportunity to speak with them for awhile. They are both very friendly and seem to really want to have interaction with me. They are part of an ethnic minority group known as Kui. There are only just over 30,000 Kui living in Cambodia. The Kui people also live in the country of Thailand as well as Laos. We are very excited to have the opportunity to connect with these young men. Not only would we like to see them saved, but we understand that if they get saved and on fire for the Lord they will be the key to reaching into their people group with the gospel. They have invited me to go with them to visit a “center” that has many other ethnic minorities from various other tribes here in Cambodia. Please pray that Chhlonh and Sopanha will be saved very soon.

It was a blessing to have Aaron and Soriya visiting in our morning service. They are faithful members of a good church in California and are visiting some of Soriya’s family here in Cambodia. They have a real genuine heart for the Lord and for missions. They both expressed how blessed they were to be able to experience the services today. We thank God for Christians in America who love the work here in Cambodia and who help partner with us to make disciples here in Southeast Asia. Pray that the things they witnessed today will have a lasting impact upon their lives.

What a blessing it was to watch these ladies, and others, joyfully serving the church this morning after the baptismal service. So much of what is done here is the result of folks who love the Lord and who love their own people and are willing to joyfully serve others! Thank you ladies!

We led Nigah to Christ several years ago. She is totally blind. However, she started and runs her own business that has around ten employees or so. It was a huge blessing this morning for her to have the opportunity to meet a new man in the church who was recently saved and who is totally blind as well. They spent several minutes encouraging each other in the Lord. Nigah is, by nature, a leader who has the ability to quickly connect with people. She is often mocked and ridiculed by the members of her family because of her faith in Jesus Christ. Please pray for Nigah to get truly serious about using her influence to win other blind people to the Lord.

It was a wonderful blessing to see so many folks take part in the Saturday soul-winning and visitation. Some of the folks make visits in Phnom Penh and some of them leave and do soul-winning in villages. After being gone for four months is was such a wonderful thing to be back and see various aspects of the ministry having grown while we were gone. Thank God for folks who are faithful to serve the Lord no matter who is around to check up on them!

The looks of joy on the faces of these ladies on Saturday soul-winning is such a vast contrast to the faces that you see on the streets of Phnom Penh. No doubt they are mocked as they walk down the street and hand out tracts from door to door. Thank you ladies for letting your light shine in the midst of spiritual darkness. You are making a difference!

The group I went visiting with on Saturday normally visits folks who live next to this sewer just blocks from our church. It is certainly appalling to see the living conditions in which so many people in Phnom Penh live. It was just over 100 degrees as we were making our Saturday visits and I can’t begin to describe to you how the open sewer smelled as we sat just about 15 feet from it while my soul-winning partner fellowshiped with a new believer.

Da lives right next to the open sewer. Brother Vannak led her to the Lord a few months back. It was a blessing to be able to meet her and hear of her love for the Word of God and for preaching. Some weeks ago Vannak gave her an mp3 player with music and preaching and she loves to listen to it. Here in this picture Vannak is showing her the pictures of his baby twins who were born just about two weeks ago.

Perhaps the saddest moment we had while visiting folks was to hear this older lady tell us that she is not able to comprehend the meaning of salvation.  She is well into her 70’s and may be in the beginning stages of dementia. Sadly for her the gospel may have reached her a little too late. It is a good reminder to each of us to be faithful to witness to our friends and loved ones while there is still time. Please pray that God in His mercy will work in this ladies heart in such as way that she will come to understand her need of salvation and be saved.

It was great to be able to meet one of the young ladies who faithfully attends our Children’s Ministry. Her name is Chicago. Her grandma informed me that Chicago is a city “somewhere over where the French people live.” (“French people” is kind of a catch all term that refers to anyone who is white.) I’ll have to admit that this is the first time I have ever met anyone over here with the name Chicago. Thank the Lord for the faithful Children’s workers who are so committed to loving the children in our neighborhood and bringing them to Christ!

It was a blessing to be with about 30 of our men and teen boys for men’s prayer meeting on Saturday afternoon. Certainly nothing else that we do throughout the week is any more important than the time we spend in prayer. Thank you for your faithful prayers and support for the work here in Cambodia. There is a great harvest being reaped that is fruit to your account.

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Because of God’s grace

Dave, Debbie, Joshua, Jeremy, and Jason