My wife has just returned from the states. She flew back to be with my daughter Jessica, who was recovering from surgery, and assisting my daughter-in-law Hannah, who just had our 15th grandchild. She was greatly missed that’s for sure. While my wife has been gone, my daughter Joy and niece Susanna have done their best to pick up the slack and have been a great help and blessing to me.

Speaking of Joy and Susanna. They have been a great addition to the ministry here in so many different ways. Joy has especially been helpful in one of our village ministries, and both of them have been a tremendous help with our teen girls. Recently, they took Kanha’s place and hosted the teen girls and did a great job. They are also a great help with some of the single college age young ladies. In the past we have on many occasions mentioned a young lady named Mora. This past Monday she came over our place for supper and fellowship, and both Joy and Susanna spent nearly an hour teaching her Biblical truths that will be a great help to her.

Please pray that God continues to use the girls to be a blessing to many here in Cambodia, both in the city and the villages, and pray for Mora’s continual growth in the Lord!

One area that our team here is spending quite of bit of time visiting is in a village (we would call it a suburb) called Steung Mean Chey. It is an extremely impoverished area with hundreds and hundreds (actually thousands) of people who need the Lord. For the most part these people are very friendly, hospitable, and open to hear us out as we attempt to share the love of Christ with them. We have seen a few of the folks saved, of which a handful of them are now attending our services, and we are building quite a few relationships. The men that are most involved in this area with God’s help that are making the biggest difference would be Adrian, Vannak, and Man. One woman who has been reached in Steung Mean Chey is named Sopha. She got saved, baptized, and has turned into quite an evangelist. She has been responsible for seeing quite a few elderly ladies attend our church services. In recent days Sopha has been quite ill.

Please pray for the ministry in Steung Mean Chey and pray for Sopha’s health!

One of the many different things in a place like Cambodia or just about anywhere in this part of the world, known as the 1040 Window, which is bound to break even the most callous of hearts is to see all of the poor and needy children who don’t know the Lord and; in most cases, have very little chance of ever hearing the name of Jesus, let alone the gospel. The words “Let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God” ring often in my ears. As one reads the Gospels it is very apparent that Jesus had a heart for children, and I can assure you that nothing has changed in the past 2,000 years. On any given weekend our team here is ministering to hundreds of teenagers and children. I am thankful to be a part of a ministry, in this part of the world, that is doing what it can to reach these children for Jesus.

Please pray that God will continue to use our team and our nationals to reach these precious ones for Jesus!

A few days ago while out visiting we met a woman named Juanita. Yeah I know, doesn’t sound Asian at all. It isn’t, Juanita is from Nigeria and has lived in Cambodia for two years. She doesn’t speak the language at all. Juanita professes to be a Christian, and is not fellowshipping anywhere right now. Lord willing we will be having her and her family over our house for a meal and we will be attempting to build a relationship with her and her family.

Please pray for Juanita and her family!  

In a recent update we mentioned a man named Sok. For a couple years now various members of our team have shared the gospel with him and have invited him to church services. A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to share the gospel with him. He was very attentive and you could sense the Holy Spirit’s conviction all over him. He didn’t trust Christ, but he did visit our church service the next morning. He had the opportunity to hear the gospel once more. A few days later, Man and I visited him again shared the love of Christ with him, and once again you could sense that God is stirring his heart. He understands the great cost to follow Christ in this country. Man and I went by to visit Sok once again today. He said he’s been thinking much about my message from the “Celebration Service.” The message “Our Life is Like a Vapor,” according to Sok, has been on his mind much the past few weeks. After sharing the gospel with him again today, the fifth time in the past four weeks, Sok trusted Christ. Praise the Lord!

Please pray for Sok’s spiritual growth!

As I am typing this update I am preparing to, once again, return to the “Creative Access Nation” in which my wife and I served. In fact, by the time you receive this update I will be in the country. While I will not be spending time with our team sent out of Pacific Baptist (they will actually be in Bangkok), I will have the opportunity to preach a total of nine times in four days. I will be preaching for a couple of house churches in the capital city on Sunday, and then will cross the border to preach in a three day camp for at least 3-4 different churches. This is the third year in a row that I have had the privilege to preach for this camp. It’s always a tremendous blessing!

Please pray for God to move in a special way!