These llamas, in the picture above, were the first thing I saw as I walked out of my room in Stockton, Missouri the first morning there. They were staring at me intently. I have a feeling they could tell I was a “foreigner.” 🙂

The past few weeks have been blessed and busy. I have had the opportunity to preach in six different churches, teach in two different Bible colleges, and preach two chapel services for a Christian Academy, and two more for the Agape Boy’s Home!

As always, it was a tremendous blessing for my wife and me to be with our dear friend Pastor Kirk Beard and his family, along with the Parkway Baptist Church family (Hemet, CA) on the morning of New Year’s Day. This is a church that I have preached for nearly every year of its existence (about 16 years I believe), other than the years that I have been in Southeast Asia. It’s a great and growing church and God has blessed them mightily!

On Sunday evening, my wife and I had the privilege to be with another dear friend and his church family. Pastor Jayson Brown, his family, and the staff of Victory Baptist Church in El Cajon, CA are doing a fantastic job or, should I say, God is doing a fantastic job through them. I always enjoy preaching for them, as well as fellowshipping with Pastor Brown and his folks!

Another good church in Southern California is the International Bible Baptist Church. They are in National City, just outside of San Diego. My wife and I had the privilege of being with them for their last mid-week service of the year. As always, they were very responsive to the message that I preached. Pastor Plata, a friend for years, has faithfully served this church family and community for many years. He even has two of his young people attending our Bible college in Long Beach. They are great girls!

While there, I had a chance to meet, or should I say, become reacquainted with a young lady named Raechel. She believes the Lord would have her serve someday on the mission field as a medical missionary. I gave her a copy of the book Peeking Through the 10/40 Window.

PLEASE PRAY FOR THESE THREE CHURCHES IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TO CONTINUE TO REACH THEIR COMMUNITY FOR CHRIST AND FOR THE MESSAGES THAT I PREACHED FOR THEM TO BRING FORTH LASTING FRUIT!

It had been nearly 15 years since I’ve been with, and preached for, the Agape Baptist Church and the Agape Boy’s Home. What an amazing work they have going on in the middle of nowhere. Well, it’s actually Stockton, Missouri, but for an old city boy, it sure seems like nowhere. I had the opportunity to present our work and preach for the church family. My dear friend Pastor Joe Grande is now pastoring the church. For many years, Pastor Grande pastored in Bakersfield, CA and taught for about seven or eight years at our Bible College when I was the Vice-President. In addition to preaching for the church, I also preached for their Academy twice and for the Boy’s Home twice. Enjoyed spending time with long-time friends, Brother Jim Clemenson, Brother Darrell Moore, and Brother Alan Clemenson.

I enjoyed spending all day Sunday at the Heritage Baptist Church in Lawrence, Kansas. This is a tremendous church pastored by a good man. Pastor Hanks has been in Lawrence for over 20 years and is doing a great job. I also had the opportunity and the privilege to teach in their Bible college on Monday and Tuesday!

It was a tremendous blessing to spend a few days with Pastor Mike Wells and the Parkside Baptist Church, as well as the Lone Star Baptist Bible College. Pastor Wells is a pastor with a heart for missions, and especially for Asia. I believe he has made over 50 trips to the Philippines and other countries in Asia, including Cambodia. Pastor Wells has been doing Pastor’s Conferences in the Philippines on a yearly basis. I was able to preach for their church services on both Sunday AM and Sunday PM. In addition, I preached for their college and high school students and taught in their college. It was a great experience. We had a handful of students surrender to serve on the mission field during the chapel service. Met a lot of great folks. Had a really good time!

PLEASE PRAY FOR THESE THREE CHURCHES TO REACH THEIR COMMUNITIES FOR CHRIST AND FOR ALL OF THE YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE SCHOOLS, THE BOY’S HOME, AND THE BIBLE COLLEGES THAT I HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO PREACH FOR TO FIND, FOLLOW, AND FINISH THE WILL OF GOD FOR THEIR LIVES!

God is doing so many wonderful things with and through our team in Phnom Penh, Cambodia and in the surrounding Provinces. While we have had a Bible Institute for quite some time, we just opened up a brand new Bible college. This is what our team leader in Cambodia noted in his most recent Prayer Update:

“We are greatly anticipating the opening day of our Bible college this coming week! We are planning to have 7-8 full-time students and 5 part-time students who will begin classes on Monday. We are also looking forward to the Bible Institute resuming classes on Monday afternoon with 39-40 students. We have other folks who desire to take classes but are unable to at this time because of their work schedules. This term we will be offering the following classes between the College and Bible Institute: Spiritual Warfare, Bible Doctrines 1, The Book of Matthew, John’s Epistles, The Book of James, The Christian Family, and English. This is a huge undertaking for us but it is vital that we train up the next generation of national leaders.”

As far as the college, I believe they had 10-12 students for the opening day of classes. According to Brother Board, the College students will be in class 16 hours per week and serving n the ministry many hours above that. They will be serving with the new church plant in Steung Meanchey, with our church in Phnom Penh, as well as with the church in Psa Thrict. This schedule leaves them with literally no time to earn an income. While the students are NOT being charged to attend classes, they will need to come up with their own transportation, food costs, and just an additional few dollars a week. Our ministry is trying to raise $75.00 a month per student. Of this, $25 per month will be set aside for two different missions trips per year (i.e. Vietnam and Laos), as well as helping to pay for books for their classes. The other $50 will be used for their monthly living expenses.

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN SPONSORING ONE OF THESE WORTHY COLLEGE STUDENTS PLEASE LET ME KNOW BY SHOOTING ME AN EMAIL!!!

PLEASE PRAY FOR GOD’S HAND OF FAVOR ON OUR TEAM IN CAMBODIA AND THE NEW PACIFIC BAPTIST BIBLE COLLEGE AND THE MANY LIVES WHO WILL BE TOUCHED BECAUSE OF THIS NEW MINISTRY!

Over the past few weeks, I have shown our video, “The Devils Dirty Little Secret” many times in church services, as well as school and Bible college chapels. If you’ve never seen it yet, I encourage you to check it out!

Denise and I want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your prayers and financial support. We couldn’t do what we are doing without you!

Johnny and Denise