It’s so hard to believe that my wife and I have now been in Southeast Asia for over two years. Our journey with Jesus in this part of the world has been exciting, and we are so grateful for our family and friends back home who are faithfully lifting up our names and our needs to our Father in heaven, and those who are going the second mile and helping to finance our needs and the work here in Southeast Asia.

This past weekend was a great one. It was a God-blessed weekend for sure! On Saturday morning Man and I visited together. We had three or four really good visits, but by far, our best visit was with a man named Sok. Man has been visiting Sok for a while now. In the past, he has not been very receptive to hearing the gospel and was not at all interested in visiting one of our church services. I had the opportunity to share the gospel with him for 30-40 minutes (Man interpreting for me) and he was really open. I invited him to our celebration service, which he did attend, and had the opportunity to hear the gospel once again. Our folks did a wonderful job making him feel loved!

Sok attending the Celebration Service

Please pray for Sok’s salvation!

Saturday afternoon was discipleship with Sinath, Vannak, and Man. In the past we were meeting on Fridays, but we moved it to Saturdays so they could have their Fridays to spend time with their wife and families. I love these men. These are three men that Brother Dave Board has invested so much into, they have a love for the Lord, they have a love for their people, and they are hungry to know the Word of God. Sinath’s wife, Sopheap, just had a baby on Wednesday, almost immediately after the church service. Vannak’s wife, Samantha, who is from our church back home, is due soon. They will be having twins. They will need much prayer! 🙂

Man, Sinath, and Vannak

Please pray for Sinath, Vannak, Man, and their families as they continue to grow in their love for Christ and the cause of Christ in this part of the world! 

On Saturday evening, immediately after our Men’s Prayer Meeting, we had some of our deaf folks come over for a meal. My niece Susanna prepared an Italian meal and they all loved it. Then Grace, Sina, Joy, and Sue taught them how to play UNO. I think they had a blast. Grace is doing a great job with the deaf ministry.

Joy, Grace, Sue, and Sina with our deaf folks

Please pray that God will continue to bless these dear deaf folks and bless the deaf ministry as a whole! 

Every six weeks or so we have our “Celebration Service.” It is a time when all of our churches join together to “celebrate.” This Sunday, it was absolutely amazing! The roof (where we hold the service) was jam-packed. We ran out of chairs long before the 8:30 AM service started. The singing and the testimonies were great. It is always a blessing to see folks who love Jesus share a blessing or sing about their love for Christ. I had the opportunity and the privilege to preach. I preached a message, “Our Life is a Vapor.” Of course, the primary text was James 4:13-17, but we looked at quite a few other passages. The message was geared for both saved and the unsaved alike. The response to the message was a blessing.  I believe we had 13 people baptized, including one elderly, blind Cham man. After the service was eating time. As always, our ladies did a great job cooking up food for “the masses.” One special blessing during the service was our folks from Pacific Baptist Church in Long Beach singing the song “We have been blessed.” While they were singing it, I kept thinking to myself, “Do we (in America) really understand how much we have been blessed?” God help us to see it!

Our “Celebration Service”

Pacific Baptist Long Beach teens singing

Getting ready to preach (the two blondes are Joy and Susanna)

Please pray that God will continue to bless all of the different ministries here as we seek to win, baptize, and disciple the dear people in Cambodia!

SPECIAL PRAYER REQUEST

In two weeks, I will be flying to the “Creative Access Nation” in which my wife and I served. I will be there less than a week, but will stay busy preaching for two different churches on a Sunday, and then preaching for 3-4 churches at a three-day Bible Camp in a neighboring country.  I sincerely covet your prayers for God to bless while I am with these folks who I love dearly!