For the third year in a row I have had the privilege to fly back to the States from Southeast Asia and preach for the Pacific Baptist Church’s Mission Conference/Revival and teach a Missions’ Intensive at Pacific Baptist Bible College. It is a great joy, privilege, and an awesome responsibility to do so.

Of course, two years ago my brother flew me in from a “Restricted Access Nation,” to open the Conference on that Thursday evening, and just a few hours later he was having emergency surgery to keep him alive. We are grateful that he is making progress. I have visited my brother many times since arriving in the States. Whenever I talk to him about our team in Cambodia, the “Creative Access Nation,” and Thailand, or the possibility of sending a team to China his eyes light up!

Please continue to pray for my brother, his wife Mary, the rest of the family, and Pacific Baptist Church!

I preached a total of nine times (eight of those were missions’ messages) over a two week period of time for Pacific Baptist Church of Long Beach and Pacific Baptist Church of Monterrey Park, taught a three day intensive at the Bible College, as well as preached in College chapel, and taught and/or preached three times for Pacific Baptist School. In addition to this, I have been busy meeting with men and women who are seriously pondering this vital matter of the mission field, especially those who are considering going to China!

Please pray that God will use this past Missions’ Conference/Revival to stir many hearts to pray, to give, and to GO to the uttermost parts of the earth!

The week prior to our Missions Conference/Revival I had the privilege to be with two really good churches. On Sunday morning I was with my dear friend Pastor Kirk Beard and the Parkway Baptist Church family (Hemet, CA). On Sunday evening I was with the Victory Baptist Church (El Cajon/Lakeside, CA) both of these churches were a blessing.  I preached a total of three times with a tremendous response from many!

Please pray for the many who had their hearts stirred during the services that God will bring lasting change for His glory and for the good of others!

While at Victory Baptist Church I had the privilege to meet a woman named Helen and her daughter Nelly. Helen is originally from Iraq (10/40 Window) and is a devoted servant of and witness for Jesus Christ today. She came to the United States when she was 25-years old. After the service on Sunday evening she told me that she had never heard the word “salvation” until she came to the United States. Think about that for a moment. Let that truth sink deep into your heart! Helen lived the first 25 years of her life in darkness, without hope, and without help and very little chance to “hear” the gospel. Folks, this is our calling. This is our commission. This is the challenge for the church of Jesus Christ in the 21^st century!

Please pray for the dear people in the 10/40 Window, especially those in the Middle East who are walking in darkness, despair, and death with very little help or hope!

One blessing of being in the States for two months has been the opportunity to see the grandchildren some. My wife and I have 15 precious grandchildren and they are all under eight years old. 🙂 A real treat that I had in recent days was the opportunity to go soul winning and tract distribution with Hannah, my five-year old autistic granddaughter. We had a great time and she loves leaving Gospel tracts on people’s doors. She calls them “Jesus papers.”

We have mentioned Sony and her family in previous updates. In recent days my wife had the chance to meet her. I believe Debra Keo and my wife will be discipling Sony soon. Sony was baptized a few days ago. Sony, like so many people in Cambodia cannot read. She has a desire to grow in Christ. She has a desire to read the Bible, but she is unable to do so. We recently got her an MP3 Player with scripture and sermons on it. Not only is she listening to it, but from what I understand her lost husband is listening also.  This is something we do for many who cannot read or those who are ill and shut in. If you are interested in giving towards this needy area (MP3 Players) and ministry please do let me know.

Please continue to pray for Sony’s spiritual growth and health, as well as her husband’s salvation!

I also had a chance to take some, but not all, of my grandchildren out for a time of fun and pizza. On the trip to Chuck E Cheese Pizza, I got misdirected by Siri and got lost. It was frustrating for me, but I finally found my way. Someone has said, “The only thing worse than being lost is being lost and no one is looking for you.” This is the dilemma for so many people in our world today, but especially in the 10/40 Window!

As most of you know, my most recent book just came out. It is called “Peeking Through the 10/40 Window: Why it Matters to God and Why it Should Matter to Us.” All profits from the book will be used to help the poor folks in Cambodia. Nearly every day we are faced with tremendous needs with people we serve or people we meet. I received this email from one of our good men a couple of days ago:

When my wife picked up your 1040 book I started reading it during services and did not pay any attention to you. When we got home I stayed up and read the whole thing. I listened to your Thursday message on the church website so don’t despair. I am shocked by the 1040 statistics. I did not realize just how bad the situation is. I am sure that holds true for the majority of the people who are living comfortable lives. You really did an excellent job on explaining what the situation is really like and it makes me appreciate what the missionaries are doing and if I was 10 years younger I would be going back. I will continue to support the 1040 as best I can. I know that the greatest gift you can give our Lord is an unsaved soul.

Please pray that God will use this book to inform and inspire many about the great need in the 10/40 Window!

As most of you know, I flew into the States recently and will be here for two months. I will have a full calendar. As of now, I am scheduled to be in 13 churches, 3 Missions’ Conferences, and will be teaching a three-day Intensive at Pacific Baptist Bible College called “Discipleship and Missions.”

PLEASE PRAY FOR MY TIME IN THE STATES TO BE FRUITFUL!

I arrived in the country on Thursday evening and less than 36 hours later, on Saturday, my niece Sarah (Pastor Joe’s daughter) was married to one of our assistant pastors (Bruce Mejia). The most exciting thing about the wedding was that my brother was able to attend the wedding. What an emotional time it was to have Pastor Joe wheeled down the aisle holding his daughter’s hand to present her to Bruce. Of course, this was the first time my brother has been anywhere off of the hospital property for nearly two years and the first time he has been in the church since that dreadful night October 3, 2013.

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR MY BROTHER’S RECOVERY, FOR HIS WIFE, THE REST OF THE FAMILY, AND FOR GOD TO USE BRUCE AND SARAH MEJIA FOR HIS GLORY!

The following day was Pacific Baptist Church’s 27th anniversary! Regrettably, my brother wasn’t able to make this special event. Just over 27 years ago, my brother and his wife Mary, along with their first-born Joseph, started Cambodian Baptist Church. The name of the church was later changed to its present name of Pacific Baptist Church.

God had placed a dream in my brother’s heart years before, while still a student in Bible College, to reach the Cambodian people. The dream, which was birthed in North Chicago, led my brother to Long Beach (an amazing story right there) to start a church and has now been responsible for a thriving church in Long Beach, another one about twenty miles away in Monterey Park, and missions teams in Cambodia, Communist Laos, Thailand, and possibly, in the near future the country of China!

PLEASE PRAY FOR PACIFIC BAPTIST CHURCH TO CONTINUE WITH THE MISSIONS FERVOR OF THE PAST!

As always, it was a real joy to be able to spend a weekend with my dear friend Pastor Art Maricle, his family, and the New Hope Baptist Church of Santa Rosa. I had the opportunity to preach for them three times on Sunday. I preached messages on “Dreaming Big for God,” “Compassion Makes a Difference,” and per Brother Maricle’s request, on Sunday evening I preached a message called “Lessons We Have Learned.”

This message, again per the pastor’s request, was about lessons we have learned the past two years since my brother’s illness. I asked my brother’s wife Mary and his eldest Joseph, to give me a few lessons they have learned, and I added a few of my own. While the Holy Spirit moved in all three services; the evening service was special, not to mention, emotional!

While my time here in the States is primarily about the Father’s business, reporting the great things God is doing in Southeast Asia, and getting the word out about the 10/40 Window, we are also finding time to be with the grandchildren. Now, that’s always a blessing! Two of my grandchildren, Hosanna and Bella, started K-4 just this week. They are all growing up so quickly!

I SINCERELY COVET ALL OF YOUR PRAYERS DURING THESE TWO MONTHS IN THE STATES!

 As most of you know, for many followers of Christ in Southeast Asia and other parts of the 10/40 Window, persecution is a daily occurrence. In fact, it’s a way of life. The three teen boys pictured below (Sron, Bundit, and Sophea) have stood for Christ and because of their stand they were all kicked out of their homes in Phnom Penh. We mentioned Sophia’s testimony in our last blog update. Eventually, Bundit was forced to go back home to harsh beatings. He continues to serve Christ in spite of it!

It is good to hear that Sony is remaining faithful in her stand for Christ in spite of persecution from family and friends. Since Man and I had the opportunity to win her to Christ over a month ago, she has been faithfully attending the services

Please continue to pray for Sron, Bundit, Sophea, and Sony to stand true to Christ amidst the persecution! 

Thank you for your prayerful support of our ministry in Southeast Asia!!!