SEVENTH ANNIVERSARY FOR CHURCH FAMILY IN TDD 

For those of you that have been following our ministry for a while and are regular readers of our prayer updates you are familiar with Pastor Kong and his wife Lily. In fact, we highlighted the two of them and their ministry in our last update. On Sunday, August 27, they celebrated their seven-year anniversary as a church family. I often refer to their ministry as a “miracle ministry,” and it is. God has blessed this couple, our Bible students, and the two churches that he is presently pastoring. On Sunday, August 27, they had more than 200 in attendance to celebrate God’s grace and goodness over the past seven years. God has been exceptionally good to this ministry. 

Thank you for praying and giving! 

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR KONG, LILY, AND THE CHURCH FAMILY IN TDD AS THEY CONTINUE TO GO FORWARD FOR CHRIST AND THE CAUSE OFCHRIST!

GLORIOUS TWO-YEAR TOTALS  

It was two years ago last week that we returned to Southeast Asia, relocating with our team in Northern Thailand because Laos was still locked down. In the past two years, God has been so exceptionally good. Not only is this true with our ministries in Northern Thailand, my handful of discipleship groups, and teaching our two sets of Bible students, but over the past two years, God has been exceptionally good to the various friends and fellow laborers that we have had the privilege to partner with over the years.  

In the past two years, between our church here in Northern Thailand and three churches in Laos that we continue to partner with, despite being in Thailand, we have seen 778 professions of faith and 152 baptized. Add to this, the 15 small churches that we partner with in Vietnam another 552 professions of faith and 60 baptized. These Vietnam totals are just from their ministry of benevolence, which we have been privileged to assist them with for more than two years now. If my calculations are correct, that is 1,330 folks trusting Christ and 212 baptized. More than 90 percent of these professions and baptisms come from two communist countries. God has been good. Exceptionally good! 

Thank you for praying and for giving!

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR ALL OF OUR MINISTRIES AS THEY CONTINUE TO GO FORWARD WITH THE GOOD NEWS OF CHRIST TO A LOST AND DYING WORLD!

NORTHERN THIALAND

We are very encouraged about what God has been doing in Northern Thailand over the past two years and especially in recent days. We are now ministering in four different villages; people are trusting Christ (4 in just the last week or so). Our team had been praying for and witnessing to one couple for the past five years. Two weeks ago, Kong Meeg and his wife finally trusted Christ.  We also had a man and his granddaughter trust Christ this past Wednesday after the evening service. God has been exceptionally good. 

Thank you for praying and giving!

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR TOM, SUE, TZER-CHANG, JUI, AND THE REST OF OUR TEAM IN NORTHERN THAILAND, AS WELL AS FOR THESE NEW CONVERTS! 

NEW COLLEGE TERM 

As always, it is a blessing to teach our college students. We have just started a new term for both groups of students. I am presently teaching through the book of Romans for our group in the city and for our students in the village, I am teaching the Pastoral Epistles (1 & 2 Timothy and the Book of Titus). As I have mentioned often in our prayer updates, these are great young people. They are hungry for the word, they are committed to the work, and they have a passion to see people saved, discipled, and assimilated into the local church. Seldom does a week go by without a few salvation decisions. Two of our recent graduates (Somchit and Mai) have just married and will be heading to the southern part of the country to assist his father in his work there. God has been exceptionally good.  

Thank you for praying and giving!

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS, FOR THE STUDENTS THAT WILL BE GRADUATING THIS YEAR, AND FOR SOMCHIT AND MAI!

SAMARITAN’S COMPASSION ENROLLING CHILDREN AND TEENS IN SCHOOL 

As we have mentioned in previous prayer updates, the primary focus of Operation Samaritan’s Compassion now is four-fold:

*1 Assisting Poor Widows

*2 Assisting Fatherless Children

*3 Helping Poor Children to Get Enrolled in School (yes, they are required to pay to get in public schools)

*4 Assisting with Emergency Medical Needs

Concerning helping with emergency medical needs, just today we sent $500 to help the father of a national pastor we have been working alongside for years. He still needs much prayer. They are transporting him to a neighboring country for better medical attention.

We are extremely excited to announce that we were able to get 120 young people enrolled in school, along with getting them the required school uniforms, and school supplies. We were also able to help another 25 young people with school supplies. God has been exceptionally good.  

Thank you for praying and giving! 

PLEASE PRAY FOR THESE YOUNG PEOPLE TO HAVE A GOOD SCHOOL YEAR AND FOR THEIR PARENTS TO SEE THE VALUE IN EDUCATION TO BREAK THE CYCLE OF POVERTY!

MINISTRY SPOTLIGHT: KOSAL SANN 

My dear friend and fellow laborer, Kosal Sann, was saved out of Islam in 2006 when Dave Board, our Team Leader in Cambodia, led him to Christ and soon thereafter discipled him and grounded him in the basics of the Christian faith. Kosal was instrumental in seeing much of his family come to Christ, which eventually resulted in the planting of a church in a Muslim village. After four years of wrestling with God, Kosal finally surrendered to serve full-time in the ministry as his three other brothers had done previously. Absolutely, amazing family, by the way! 

He and his dear wife, Phalley, are faithfully serving in our church in Phnom Penh, Cambodia and he oversees our Christian school. He also works with teenagers, discipling them, taking them over to his home for food, fun, and fellowship. Most of these teens are extremely poor and find this time at their house to be a great blessing. I would like to share a few words from Kosal concerning his and my relationship: 

“I am so thankful and grateful for missionary Johnny Esposito. I had the privilege to be discipled by him more than two years while he was living and serving in Cambodia. I have no doubt that God used him to influence my life while I was resisting God’s call for years. He taught me the word of God and he lived what he taught. He taught me how to serve the Lord in the way that he served the Lord. The fact that he loved God and loved others really inspired me to do likewise. He has invested a lot of time and resources into me and my family. Without his influence in my life,  me and my family would not be doing what we are doing for God today.”

Thank you for praying and giving!

PLEASE PRAY FOR KOSAL, PHALLEY, ABIGAIL, AND STEPHAN TO CONTINUE SERVING THE LORD AND IMPACTING LIVES!

TRIP TO THE STATES AND BACK ISSUES

Denise and I are in the States now for 3 ½ months. We have a full schedule with various Missions’ Conferences and/or Missions’ Emphasis Weekends, as well as reporting to many of our supporting churches that we have not had a chance to be with for years. It has also been a blessing to preach for our home church a few times, as well as preach for our college revival. 

As a few of you know, I have had a bad back for decades, but over the past year-and-half it has become brutal, to say the least. I can no longer sit down. I read my Bible standing. I eat standing. I work on my laptop standing. Yep, that is what I am doing at this very moment. If possible, when in a car, I get in the back seat and lay down on my side. Flying is, to say the least, brutal!

While this physical issue has not limited most of my ministry opportunities, it has changed the way I do things, especially how I travel. And yet, as always, God has been exceptionally good. While we are here, we are also spending a lot of time trying to find answers. All that to say this, I DEFINITELY COVET YOUR PRAYERS! 

PLEASE PRAY FOR MY SCHEDULE ON THIS BRIEF TRIP AND FOR MY BACK ISSUE!

As always, my wife and I would like to thank you for praying, giving, and for loving us over the years. We could not do what we believe God has led us to do and let us do, without your prayer and financial support. 

Your Missionaries in Southeast Asia,

Johnny and Denise Esposito