February 18, 2018

February 18, 2018

Dear friends,

This past week we had the opportunity to lead a married couples seminar in a “creative access” country with our fellow team members who serve in that country. It was a wonderful opportunity to invest into the lives of a group of believers, many of whom have paid a great price to be a Christian. Below you can view a short video update that we shot while at the seminar.

Those of you who follow us on social media are perhaps aware of some of the health issues that Chantha, a student in our Bible college, has been facing. He recently underwent open heart surgery here in Cambodia. I know that some of you have been praying for him and so we wanted to let you know that his health has been stable over the past month. This morning he read the Scripture before I preached. For the time being some of his physical activities are restricted so as to allow him a better chance of making the best recovery possible. Chantha’s great desire is that he might one day be able to return to his home village, located several hours from here, and take the gospel to his fellow villagers. PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR CHANTHA TO MAKE A FULL RECOVERY.

I am presently preaching through the Book of Ephesians on Sunday mornings in Phnom Penh. This morning we were challenged by the example of those who came to know Christ in Ephesus and subsequently publicly burned all of their occultic books and idols as testimony of their faith. (Acts 19:8-20) It just so happens that we are just coming out of a nearly week long celebration of the Chinese New Year here in Cambodia. (It always amazes me how many people in this part of the world all of a sudden become “Chinese” during Chinese New Year 🙂 While there may be some aspects of the holiday that are not necessarily contrary to the Christian faith, much of what goes on each day during the celebration is deeply rooted in ancestor and demon worship. This morning Sinath and Sopheap shared a timely testimony during my message of the joy they have enjoyed since being saved and freed from the spiritual bondage of ancestral and demon worship. Sinath shared with us how that after accepting Christ seven years ago, he immediately destroyed all of his altars as well as anything else that was not honoring to Jesus Christ. His actions infuriated Sopheap! As a Chinese-Cambodian, Sopheap and her side of the family placed great value upon their idols and the various rituals and customs that their culture dictated to them. Sopheap watched Sinath’s example as he endeavored to live for the Lord despite her constant berating. After several months she too finally turned to God from idols. Thank God for the power of the gospel to not only save lost sinners but to give spiritual freedom and joy from the bondage of false religion and darkness. 

It was a blessing to meet Sila this morning. He is a university student here in Phnom Penh studying computer networking. Tara is a professor at the school where he is studying and he heard about our church as Tara was sharing his faith. Tara has around 900 students total in all of his classes and by God’s grace he is a bold witness for the Lord. PLEASE PRAY FOR SILA TO GET GROUNDED IN THE THINGS OF THE LORD AS WELL AS FOR GOD TO CONTINUE TO OPEN DOORS FOR TARA TO SHARE HIS FAITH WITH THE STUDENTS.

This past week it was a blessing to get an unexpected visit from Channy and Sei. Both of these ladies live in Romdeng Village which is located several hours from Phnom Penh and not far from the northern border of Cambodia and Thailand. They were both reached with the gospel through the efforts of many different folks from the church here in Phnom Penh. It was a blessing to meet with them for about an hour and a half and answer questions that they had from the Bible. Sei’s husband, Jung, is the district chief in the village. Various team members and nationals have witnessed to him and he understands the gospel but as of now is unwilling to stop trusting in his religious traditions and turn to the Saviour. Each week a group from Pacific Baptist travels to Romdeng to disciple those who have accepted Christ as well as to share the gospel with the lost. PRAY THAT JUNG WILL BE SAVED AND BECOME A GREAT TESTIMONY IN ROMDENG VILLAGE.

This afternoon, due to the Chinese New Year festival, we cancelled Children’s Ministry here in Phnom Penh as the majority of the children come from unsaved homes and would be back in their respective villages with their parents for the holiday. This gave us an opportunity to take the workers out for a time of fellowship. We split the workers into two groups and sent them to two different coffee shops not far from the church. Here is a short video of some of the workers playing games and enjoying a time of fellowship.

We had a great time in our Married Couples small group this evening. It is always a blessing to hear their testimonies of how God is changing their families for His glory. Here is a short video that I shot just before our teaching time began.

Because of God’s grace,

Dave & Debbie