October 18, 2015

October 18, 2015

Dear friends,

Thank you for your continued prayer and support for the work here in Cambodia. It has been good to correspond with some of you. Thank you for doing your part to help the gospel go forth in this part of the world!

This morning we were blessed to have special music and testimonies during the service. We are grateful for all the different folks who work so hard practicing throughout the week so that we can glorify the Lord together through the singing of songs.

We are just coming off of a festival that lasts for 15 days here in Cambodia. It is a time when nearly the entire country performs special ceremonies that they hope will benefit their loved ones who have died and gone to Hell. Indeed, the devil is very cunning and cruel in his deception. For the last several days of the festival nearly everything in the country shuts down as people return to their villages for 4 days to be with family. Even though, as Christians, our national believers do not take part in the festival, many of our folks in Phnom Penh returned to their villages as well. It was a good time for them to share the gospel with their lost loved ones. We were blessed this morning to hear the testimonies of those who had the opportunity to witness to family members. It can sometimes be discouraging during festivals like this for those who do not have family or  do not have the means to return to their village and are stuck here in Phnom Penh alone. We did several special things this past week to help encourage Christian fellowship for those who were here. We had a special time for families to get dressed up and take pictures together. We then printed the pictures and handed them out. We also had two special evenings when we showed Christian films at the church. Even with so many people gone, each of the events were packed! Thank God for an active church family who desires to be together.

Twenty five or thirty of our young men had the opportunity to go to camp this past week and spend two nights and three days together. Bro. Vannak, Bro. Man, and Bro. San did a wonderful job of organizing the event. They did all of the preaching as well. Many of the teen boys shared testimonies during the Sunday evening service of decisions that they had made for the Lord. It was a blessing to hear Jason share, in Khmer, a couple of decisions that he made regarding his personal quiet time with the Lord each day. We are blessed to have him as our son!

This morning Chanta, 19 years old, shared a special testimony during the service from Jeremiah 1:5 which says, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” He shared about the difference that it made in his own life when he realized that just as God had a special plan for the prophet Jeremiah’s life, He also has a special plan for each of our lives. Chanta has only been saved a few months but he shows an unusual interest in the things of God. Please pray for Chanta and his sister, SokChea, to continue to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. SokChea will give birth to a son in a couple of months.

Thank you for praying for LayHout to be saved. We are happy to report that he accepted Christ as his personal Saviour a couple of weeks ago. Please pray for Bro. Bounna as he seeks to disciple him. It has been such an encouragement to see the testimony of this new family. Tara (in the yellow shirt) and SreyMohm (in the red dress) as well as their children have been faithful to nearly every church service, including our Wednesday prayer meeting at 6:30 AM, since they have been saved. Narin shared a very touching testimony this past week of the changes that have taken place in his heart since being saved. He challenged other young people in the church to live for the Lord as well as to honor their parents. Before being saved he lived a life that caused a lot of pain to this family and to those who love him. He openly shared about his remorse for causing shame upon the family as well as his gratitude for God’s forgiveness. Tara is a professor in a local university and teaches, believe it or not, around 900 students. He recently shared how that over the past couple of weeks he has been burdened to share his faith in Jesus Christ with his students. We don’t know how the Lord will lead but it would be wonderful if God would use Tara to help reach many university students with the gospel. Please pray for Tara to be faithful to grow in the Lord as Bro. and Mrs. Has, as well as others, invest in this family.

This past week it has been two years since our Pastor, Dr. Joe Esposito, suffered an aneurysm and went into a coma. Although he is no longer in a coma, he is still in much need of prayer. It was a blessing to have one of his daughters, Susanna, share a testimony about Pastor’s love for the Lord and for the Cambodian people. After her testimony we showed a short clip compiled from three different sermons that Pastor preached in recent years. Each clip relates to his desire to see the members of Pacific Baptist Church of Long Beach be faithful in the area of missions, and in particular, missions outreach to this part of the world. You can see the clip that we played by clicking on the video below.

Each week Debbie invests several hours teaching young people to play the piano. It is a blessing to see how their skills are growing to the point where they are able to play for the services. Of course the primary goal in training them to play is so that they can play for the various ministries in the church here in Phnom Penh as well as the ministries scattered throughout other villages. Justin did a great job playing a special number during the service this evening. It was evident that he had worked very hard to play the piece he played.

Last Sunday evening Jason played a special number. You an click on the video below to hear his special. (I included this video for the grandparents! 🙂 )

One of our greatest joys is seeing the national believers grow in their ability to serve the Lord. This evening it was a blessing to have Bro. Vannak preach. He preached a great message on the importance of living close to the Lord in the last days. Please continue to pray for our national leaders as they are taking on more and more responsibility in the ministry. As we continue to spread out to new villages and add new ministries, it is increasingly important that there are national believers who are equipped and willing to reach their own people. Pray for those who devote hours each week to discipling our national believers.

We were able to publish two new gospel tracts this week thanks to a special gift from friends in Ohio who love the Lord and desire to see His Word spread throughout this part of the world. We are grateful for their friendship and willingness to stand with us in the work here in Cambodia. We were able to print 10,000 copies of both of these tracts as well as 10,000 copies of another tract that we had published in the past (“One Minute After You Die”). The first tract is entitled, “Quiet…Don’t tell anyone!” The second one is entitled, “Is there a true God?”

Those of you who read Khmer can read the two new tracts below.

Please pray for Srey Mohm and her husband, Pov, to be saved. I began systematically witnessing to her several weeks ago and it seemed like she was getting very close to receiving Christ as her Saviour. Then, for some reason unknown to me, she closed up and didn’t want to meet together any more. I was able to go and see her a couple of days ago and this time she was friendly once again and told me that very soon she wanted to begin meeting with me. This time I am hoping to be able to meet with her husband as well.

Please pray for Saly to be saved. I was able to meet with him a couple of times several weeks ago, then his schedule changed and he has not been willing to make the time to meet. This evening, out of the blue, he showed up at church with his wife and two daughters. I am hoping to be able to rekindle a relationship with him and see him saved.

It is hard to believe that the Christmas season is quickly coming upon us. We are planning to have a special Christmas drama that will be edifying to those who are saved as well as present the gospel to the lost. This year there are around 25  folks serving on the drama team. Bro. Has and others have invested many hours in heading up this ministry. Lord willing, we will perform the drama here in Phnom Penh as well as in one of the village churches. Please pray that it will all come together and be used by God to see people saved.

Because of God’s grace,

Dave, Debbie, Joshua, Jeremy, and Jason