The picture above is the Mekong River, which is less than a two minute walk from our house. Some of the most beautiful sunsets and sunrises I have ever seen in my over sixty years of living are from this very location. This picture is a constant reminder to me of the great darkness that covers this part of the world – including the six countries this river flows through. And yet, the light of the glorious gospel shines in the midst of the darkness. We thank God for allowing us to be a small part of bringing the light here and we thank you for holding the ropes back home as we do!

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR US AS WE DO WHAT WE CAN WITH GOD’S HELP, AND YOUR PRAYERS AND FINANCIAL SUPPORT, TO LET HIS LIGHT SHINE IN THE MIDST OF THE DARKNESS!

DISCIPLESHIP CULTURE

One of the things I am most grateful for is to watch a “discipleship culture” being birthed here over the past two years since our arrival from China. It is such a blessing to have our core folks discipling others (children, teens, and adults) either one on one or in small groups. My wife has two discipleship groups and I am presently working with one discipleship group with ten men and discipling two other men personally. God has been so good to work in hearts and lives in all of these groups, and for this we are thankful!

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR DISCIPLERS, THOSE BEING DISCIPLED, AND FOR THE DISCIPLESHIP CULTURE TO CONTINUE HERE!

SELC

Our new English term began three weeks ago, and despite being short a few teachers and classes, the term is doing very well. While we have fewer students than last term we are having a great start to the term and we are grateful to God and a great team for the great start. Once again, my wife is having different classes over our house for food and fun once a month. I am thankful to God, my wife, and Lilee for the great work being accomplished in our school!

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR OUR ENGLISH SCHOOL!

VILLAGE MINISTRIES

Our village ministries are doing very well, and we thank the Lord and our various workers for what is happening. Whether it is teaching English, preaching services for adults, teens, and children, discipleship, soul-winning, or various activities, we are seeing a beehive of godly activity and it is producing godly results. In the village that Kong is pastoring, they have had 3 saved and seven baptized over the past few weeks – including two ladies in their 70s and another woman in her mid 30s. In the other village, two have trusted Christ and are waiting to be baptized. We are so very grateful for what God is doing in these two villages!

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR OUR TWO VILLAGE CHURCHES! 

SUNDAY AND EVENING SERVICES

As we have mentioned in previous prayer updates, our Sunday evening and Wednesday evening gatherings are a great time of sharing blessings, worship, a time of feasting on God’s word, and a time of team building for our Team and our School of Ministry students. This past Sunday we even had a handful of visitors – including two of our own that are serving in another church about 30 minutes away – and just a great time of food, fun, and fellowship to go along with our weekly worship and teaching!

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR OUR SUNDAY AND WEDNESDAY EVENING SERVICES!

VALENTINE’S DAY

Over the past few years, the country where we live and serve has actually picked up on a few American holidays, including Valentine’s Day. Now, it isn’t quite the same as in the States, at least not yet, but it’s picking up a little steam. My wife and a few of our “adopted daughters” used this as an opportunity to demonstrate the love of Christ to some of our Buddhist neighbors. They went around the village handing out candy, flowers, and homemade Valentine’s Day cards. We did the same type of thing at Christmas time, and like the Christmas give away, this was a great experience!

PLEASE PRAY THAT THESE SMALL DEMONSTRATIONS OF LOVE WILL EVENTUALLY OPEN DOORS FOR THE GOSPEL AND BEAR FRUIT UNTO EVERLASTING LIFE!

YOUTH CONFERENCE

Our annual Youth Conference, or should I say, Youth Conferences, is right around the corner. We are presently in the planning stages. Over the past five years, we have held the conference in Thailand and we will normally have between 12-15 churches and well over 200 young people in Thailand. Last year, we actually held one in our country also for the Hmong young people. We will be doing the same this year. We are very excited about the Hmong Youth Conference. After meeting with Kong, Lilee, Jui, and Pachu to guide the planning, I have now turned it over to them to do all the planning. They are excited!

PLEASE PRAY FOR BOTH YOUTH CONFERENCES!

HMONG YOUTH ACTIVITY

We are so grateful for Kong, Lilee, and Jui and their love for their people, especially the young people of this country. The pictures below are from a recent Youth Activity they put together for some of our Hmong young people, as well as the young people from another Hmong church about 40 minutes from us. They had a great time of food, fun, and fellowship!

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE! 

As always, my wife and I want to say thank you for your investment in our lives and all those that God allows us to influence on this side of the Pacific Ocean. We are grateful for your prayers and financial support, but above these, we are grateful for your friendship.

Your Missionaries to Southeast Asia,

Johnny and Denise Esposito