May 23, 2017

May 23, 2017

Dear friends,

We had a great weekend here in Cambodia despite being drenched with rain. So many of the folks have to make great effort to get to church in the type of weather we are having this time of the year.

It was a blessing to be able to present SokDen with a new Bible during the Sunday morning service after he completed a Bible study on the Book of Mark and answered about 100 questions. As you may recall, we had the opportunity to lead SokDen to the Lord about a month ago. His work schedule makes it so that at this point he is only able to be at church on Sunday morning but we are hoping that his hours will change in the future. He works in a local restaurant as a cook. Our Saturday morning soul-winning group met him while going door-to-door with gospel tracts and after being rejected by hundreds of other people in his neighborhood. PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY THAT SOKDEN WILL BE FAITHFUL TO THE LORD AND THAT HIS WORK HOURS WILL CHANGE SO THAT HE WILL BE ABLE TO BE MORE INVOLVED IN THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH.

You can hear one of our special songs from the Sunday morning service by clicking on the video below.

This past week we had the opportunity to hold our first family camp. There were 175 of our folks who were able to get time off of work and attend. We we able to find the perfect location in Kep which is located a little over 3 hours from our church.

Our family camp lasted for four days and was filled with many teaching and preaching sessions, times of competition, great food, and a couple of field trips to visit local attractions. We have heard many testimonies over the past few days of how much the camp has meant in the lives of our church family.

There were just over 50 folks in our married couples split session. I taught on the topic of “The freedom of forgiveness and the bondage of bitterness.” Many of our folks have expressed that the Holy Spirit dealt with their hearts as a result of the lessons.

Bro. Has taught the teens and singles during the split sessions. He taught on the importance of having a heart that is right with God. Thankfully our young people are flexible and were willing to meet outside on mats.

The food was awesome and we all likely ate more than we should have. For many of our people this was the biggest trip that they have ever been on in their entire life. I know that there were memories made that will last for a lifetime.

Leng is a real blessing to all of us! She is over 70 years old but at times she is the life of the party. She loves the Lord and regularly shares her faith with family, friends, and strangers alike. Sunday night it was raining very hard yet she rode her bike to church as she always does. She told me that she had to ride through flood water that was nearly up to her knees. She is a great testimony of the joy of the Lord. It was a blessing to be able to spend some time with her at family camp.

In our last update we asked you to pray for SokCheat to be reconciled to his estranged wife, SreyLeak. I am happy to be able to tell you that God has answered your prayers. SokCheat convinced his wife to attend family camp and she did. Not only did she attend camp but she also trusted Jesus Christ as her personal Saviour after one of the services! They have been separated for 9 months but are now back together and rejoicing at what God has done in their lives. PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR THESE TWO NEW BELIEVERS TO BE FAITHFUL TO THE LORD. They both plan to follow the Lord in Believer’s Baptism in a few weeks.

In our last update I asked you to pray for Chhay and the various contacts that he and others are making in the city of Oudong. I am happy to report to you that Chhay was able to lead Leng to the Lord this past Sunday afternoon! Chhay has been witnessing to him for quite awhile and has been very patient in allowing the Holy Spirit to work in Leng’s heart, convincing him of his need to be saved. PRAY FOR CHHAY AS HE NOW HAS THE RESPONSIBILITY TO DISCIPLE LENG IN THE WAY OF THE LORD. We look forward to seeing many more folks come to Christ in Oudong in the future. Chhay and his wife are planning to move from their present residence to another location in the near future. Part of the reason they are moving is to be able to more effectively reach out to the lost in Oudong. PRAY THAT GOD WILL OPEN JUST THE RIGHT DOORS TO ENABLE THEM TO MAKE MANY MORE CONTACTS.

In our last update we introduced you to a family that has traveled on several occasions from Preah Vithear Province to meet with us. Their village is located about 220 kilometers from Phnom Penh and it takes them many hours just to get here. This is their fourth time to come and see us. They come for one reason – they are hungry to learn the Word of God.

This weekend they came to see us once again but this time they  brought another family to meet us as well. This family lives about 4 miles from their village. They profess to be saved for nearly 10 years but they readily told me that no one has discipled them and they are baby Christians. They expressed their desire to have someone help them grow in the Lord. SokKim is a member of an ethnic minority group here in Southeast Asia known as Kuy. They have their own language and culture that is separate and distinct from Khmer. Her husband, Brat Sok, is Cambodian but also speaks the Kuy language. Myself, Bro. Keo, Bro. Vannak, and a couple of our Bible College young men are planning to take a survey trip to their villages in about a week. PLEASE PRAY THAT GOD WILL GIVE US CLEAR DIRECTION IN REGARD TO HIS WILL. It may be that He is opening a great door to be able to reach into the Kuy people group with the gospel. This weekend they also brought with them their niece from Vietnam. Her name is Nyong (ញុង) and she is open to the gospel.

The key to reaching any country with the gospel is in effectively discipling national believers. We have so many open doors but are in desperate need of more leaders. So many of the folks are actively serving right now but we need to increase the number of laborers who are able to go into the harvest field. We were previously told that there are 8,500 villages here in Cambodia without any gospel preaching church. However, this past week I read a report from a large ministry that reported there are actually 11,000 villages in need of a church. PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY THAT OUR TEAM WILL BE FAITHFUL TO DISCIPLE NATIONAL MEN AND WOMEN TO REACH THEIR OWN PEOPLE.

Sunday evening our married couples had a great time playing Charades during our small group time. You can see a short clip of one of the new couples competing against each other. The men won once again!

Because of God’s grace,

Dave, Debbie Joshua, Jeremy, and Jason