Nine years’ ago (March 14, 2013), my wife and I landed in Southeast Asia (Phnom Penh, Cambodia) and started a new journey in life. After nearly thirty years of full-time ministry in the United States, we had entered this new phase of life and ministry as missionaries in Asia.

We had left our five children, 12 grandchildren (that number has increased to 29 now), our home church (Pacific Baptist Church) of 18 years, a wonderful position as an Assistant Pastor, Vice-President of Pacific Baptist Bible College, School Administrator of Pacific Baptist School, and the Pastor of our Filipino Ministry and stepped a whole new world.

We have spent the past nine years in living and serving in two communist countries (over 5 ½ years in these two countries), along with the countries of Cambodia and Thailand, along with doing some ministry in Indonesia and Myanmar.

My wife and I are very grateful for your continual prayers and consistent financial support over the past ten years (one year deputation). God has blessed in so many ways, but we could not be here, nor stay here if it weren’t for the grace of God and the generosity of God’s people!

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR DENISE AND ME AS WE CONTINUE TO FOLLOW THE LORD’S LEADING WHILE SERVING HERE IN ASIA!

Valentine’s Festival

Every year during the week of Valentine’s Day, thousands of Hmong and Thai people arrive in a small village called Phu Chi Fa. For the past eight years or so, our team here in Northern Thailand has used this as an opportunity to pass out thousands of tracts and share the gospel with those willing to listen. This year we passed out over 7,000 tracts, had the chance to personally share a clear presentation of the gospel with 35 men, women, and young people, and had 14 people bow their heads and trust Christ. I was even given the opportunity to preach the gospel for 15 minutes from the platform. It was great to see so many folks listen attentively to the message.

We are thankful for those of you that prayed for this special outreach and that God blessed the three days of ministry on top of the mountain!

PLEASE PRAY THAT GOD WILL BRING FORTH MUCH FRUIT FROM ALL THE SEED THAT WAS SOWN DURING THE VALENTINE’S FESTIVAL!

Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day has become a popular holiday here in Southeast Asia over the past few years. This year, for many of the folks that I have been teaching what the Bible has to say about “Marriage and the Family,” it also became a wonderful opportunity for them to teach many

others about “Marriage and the Family.” We have heard so many good reports from our friends and fellow laborers that went out of their way and conducted special Valentine’s Day Fellowships and/or had special Sunday services the day before Valentine’s Day to encourage God’s people to have marriages and families that honor Christ. 

PLEASE PRAY THAT THE TRUTHS OF GOD’S LOVE AND OUR LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER, INCLUDING OUR FAMILIES, WOULD PERMEATE THE HEARTS AND LIVES OF THE BELIEVERS HERE IN SOUTHEAST ASIA!

OUR ADOPTED DAUGHTER
While living and serving in one of the two communist countries that my wife and I lived in we had the privilege to have four Hmong teen/college age girls live with us. Their names were Bounmee, Pachu, Pachua, and Mai. We love all four of them dearly. Bounmee married Adrian Torres, one of our fellow team members and now lives and serves in the country of Cambodia. Pachua and Mai are still enrolled in the School of Ministry I had the privilege to start and oversee.

Pachu graduated from our School of Ministry and has now been serving as a missionary in the northern part of the country for over a year. She is serving alongside a dear pastor friend of ours. She has been such a blessing over the past year or so. She is teaching women, children, and teens the Bible. Along with this, she is teaching some of them how to use the computer, how to play the guitar, and some of them how to read their language. Illiteracy is a severe problem in this part of the world!

PLEASE PRAY FOR PACHU AND HER CHURCH FAMILY TO CONTINUE TO MAKE AN IMPACT IN THEIR PART OF THE COUNTRY!

PASTOR “B’s” Ministry

While living and serving in the Creative Access Nation for almost 4 ½ years, one of the men that we had the opportunity to influence is named “B.” He was one of my wife’s English students and I had the opportunity to teach him the Bible on many occasions. He is now pastoring and has been for the past five years.

Just prior to the COVID crisis his church was averaging about 30 or so, which by the way is tremendous in this part of the world, but during the pandemic his church doubled in attendance (despite four different lock downs, the last being 27 weeks), he saw dozens saved and baptized, and started two new village ministries. The vast majority of this was the result of him and our Bible

students reaching out to the poor, the needy, and the helpless and meeting their physical needs and spiritual needs. We are grateful to God for the opportunity to partner with them and to sit back and watch God bless!

PLEASE PRAY FOR PASTOR “B,” his family, and the ministry!

New Students

We are excited about three of our young ladies, from two of our village churches, which will be learning English in the city at a school run by a missionary. Learning English will help them to get better jobs in the future. One of the girls, Maixiong, is the daughter of Cherchou who I have been discipling for the past 26 months. Maixiong was in my wife’s Discipleship Group for close to two years before we got locked out of the country. We love Cherchou and his family. We are helping the girls, and we are praying that God will keep them safe in the city and help them to continue to grow to be the young ladies God desires for them to be. Will you pray with us?

Samaritan’s Compassion

As we mentioned in our last Prayer update, things have opened up quite a bit here in Southeast Asia over the past two months. That being said, the need to give a helping hand to the poor, the needy, and the helpless, especially those that have been affected by two years of lockdowns and restrictions is still very real. And, for this reason, we are extremely grateful that we can still partner with our friends and fellow laborers in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand. WE ARE VERY GRATEFUL FOR A HANDFUL OF CHURCHES THAT HAVE RECENTLY TAKEN UP SPECIAL OFFERINGS FOR OPERATION SAMARITAN’S COMPASSION!

As always, Denise and I want to thank you for your continual prayers and consistent financial support over the years, but above all, we thank you for your love and friendship!

Your Missionaries in Asia,
Johnny and Denise Esposito