The pictures above are from six year’s ago when we left Los Angeles and arrived on the mission field. It was nearly six years ago (March 13, 2013), that my wife and I left the United States and arrived in Southeast Asia. We will never forget the day we said goodbye to our family and left Los Angeles. When we left the States, we had nine grandchildren. We have 21 today!

It has been a blessing to be able to serve the people of Asia. It’s been a joy to see people saved, baptized, discipled, churches planted, and present and future church leaders trained for ministry among their own people. God has been so good and gracious to us over these past six years. We thank God for His favor, and we thank God’s people for their prayers and faithful financial support these past six years!

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR GOD’S FAVOR AND FRUITFULNESS AS MY WIFE AND I SERVE THE PEOPLE OF ASIA!

For Christians, in this part of the world, there is a little emphasis upon the family – at least the biblical concept of the family. For the past five years, the Lord has allowed our Team to have a Family Camp that has been a tremendous blessing to our married couples, our families, and our young people who, in most cases, are the only Christians in their home. This year, as in the years past, we were blessed to have our dear friend, missionary Dave Board, and his wife with us. Brother Board and I worked on staff together at Pacific Baptist of Long Beach for many years, and he has now headed up our Team in Cambodia for about eight years, as well as overseeing our three teams in Southeast Asia.

This year, we did something a little bit different than in year’s past. We had Four General Sessions with Dave Board preaching for us. We were also blessed to have four Split Sessions with Dave Board teaching the Men, his wife teaching the married women, and my wife and I  were privileged to teach the singles and the teenagers!

We had well over 100 attending this year’s Family Camp, including people from eight different People Groups. We even had seven couples take a bus (Third World conditions)  30 hours to attend the Camp. The preaching, worship, fellowship, and food was tremendous. And, we even had 18 of our Hmong brothers and sisters baptized after the Sunday morning service!

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR FAMILIES IN THIS PART OF THE WORLD AND THE SEEDS THAT WERE SOWN DURING OUR FAMILY CAMP, AS WELL AS FOR THE NEW BAPTIZED BELIEVERS TO GROW IN THEIR FAITH!

It’s always a special blessing to spend a weekend in one of our village ministries with Kong and Lilee. They are doing a wonderful job. In the past two years, they have seen some fifty people trust Christ as their Savior and many have or are being discipled to follow Christ as committed followers of the Lord Jesus. I had a wonderful Sunday with them. I taught a lesson during the Sunday school hour, “Being Thankful” from Luke 17, and preached for the main worship service on “Living a Holy Life in an Unholy Village.” As always, the response to the messages was great!

PLEASE PRAY FOR KONG, LILEE, AND THIS VILLAGE MINISTRY!

One of the real blessings of the weekend was to watch our “adopted daughter,” Mai teach the children. She did a wonderful job! Mai has been living with my wife and me for about six months now and is one of our students in the School of Ministry. She is a sweet girl with a real heart for the Lord and for her people. Mai is one of those fifty people, I mentioned above, who has trusted Christ in the past two years!

PLEASE PRAY FOR MAI TO CONTINUE TO GROW IN HER FAITH IN CHRIST, HER LOVE FOR CHRIST, AND HER LOVE FOR HER PEOPLE!

Our English school has three primary purposes: First of all, it gives us a reason to be in the country (no missionaries allowed here). Secondly, it gives us an opportunity to build relationships with the locals that we never could have had without the school. Thirdly, and most importantly, it opens the door for us to share the Gospel in a country where proselytizing is against the law.

With that in mind, school activities are important. As a school, we try to have two activities each term, but we also ask the teachers to have some type of activity monthly, if not more often. My wife recently had one of her two classes over for Mexican food and a few games of UNO. Oh boy, the girls (the male students weren’t able to make it) had a wonderful time. Actually, it was a “crazy time,” and it definitely accomplished the goal of getting to know each other a little better!

 

My wife is also very good at remembering her student’s birthdays and doing what she can to make special days like Valentine’s Day special for her students!

PLEASE PRAY FOR MY WIFE AND OUR OTHER TEACHERS AS THEY ATTEMPT TO BUILD RELATIONSHIPS WITH OUR STUDENTS THAT WILL RESULT IN THEIR TRUSTING CHRIST!

It is such a blessing to watch our young people grow in Christ, their commitment to Christ, and their service for Christ. Jui is just one of many examples. Jui, one of our former English students, got saved about five years ago. Almost immediately he was baptized, started to grow, and about a year ago he left a really good job to join our Team full-time. Along with being my personal assistant, Jui oversees one of our Village Ministries. He works with our teenagers. He does our Ministry Finances. And this term, Jui started teaching in our English school. We are so proud of Jui and look forward to seeing what God has in store for him!

PLEASE PRAY FOR JUI’S CONTINUAL GROWTH AND SERVICE FOR CHRIST!

It was a special blessing to have two of the young ladies (Cubie & Christine), who were a part of our church family in China, visit with us for a few days. While their time with us was short, we kept them fairly busy. They had the opportunity to visit our School of Ministry classes, our English classes, our Midweek Bible Study/Prayer Meeting, and one of our Village Ministries, along with having some down/fun time!

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CHINA THAT ARE SERVING UNDER EXTREMELY STRESSFUL CIRCUMSTANCES!

One of my priorities and favorite responsibilities here in Southeast Asia is the discipling of the Nationals, especially future National leaders. I love spending time with our men. I loved spending time with the men in Cambodia, in China, and, once again, here in the “Creative Access Nation” that we’re, once again, serving in. Of course, discipleship has many different “faces.” There’s One-on-One discipleship, there’s discipleship in Small Groups and, in our case here, our School of Ministry is just another way to disciple our folks.

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR YOUNG MEN (JUI, KONG, & LAMPHAN) WHO I HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO INFLUENCE FOR CHRIST AND THE CAUSE OF CHRIST ON ALMOST A DAILY BASIS! 

My wife and I want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your loving prayers, your faithful, generous, and sacrificial giving, which for the past six years has enabled us to do what God has led us to this part of the world to do, while you continue to do what God has called you to do in the States!

Johnny and Denise

“I wasn’t God’s first choice for what I’ve done for China… I don’t know who it was… It must have been a man… a well-educated man. I don’t know what happened. Perhaps he died. Perhaps he wasn’t willing… and God looked down… and saw Gladys Aylward… And God said – “Well, she’s willing.”
                                                        – Gladys Aylward

 

The above picture is from our special meetings in Chiang Khong, Thailand. Most of the  men and women pictured above, are pastors and church leaders from a “Creative Access Nation.” They travelled by motor bike, bus, and boat to get to the meeting. Some travelled from as far as 24 hours away. I am humbled that they came!

My brother, Pastor Joe, before being hospitalized, had long envisioned seeing our teams in the “Creative Access Nation” and Thailand working together to train Nationals to reach various countries in Southeast Asia, and eventually reach into the country of China. In a sense, these meetings are a “dream come true!”

Please pray that God will raise up many laborers for the harvest fields in this part of the world and use our teams in the “Creative Access Nation,” Thailand, and Cambodia to assist in this process!

It’s always good to get back in a routine after the holidays! Our theme for the New Year is “Pursuing Christ and Christlikeness.” Our heart’s desire as a Team, and as a church family, is that all of us and every aspect of our ministry would grow in our relationship with Christ and become more like Jesus  during 2019.

Please pray with us concerning this!

As many of you know, and as we have mentioned often in recent updates, we are in the midst of a transition. We are in the middle of making many changes that we believe the Lord would have us to make and that we believe will help us to grow spiritually and numerically. Of course, one of the biggest changes we have made is to divide our congregation into three separate congregations. Despite doing this, it has been a blessing to see the “smallest” congregation, in the Capital city, still have good attendance and visitors. On Sundays and Wednesdays, I am preaching messages on, you guessed it, “Pursuing Christ and Christlikeness.”

Please continue to pray for our services!

After a nearly four-week break, it was really good to get our School of Ministry (Bible College) classes up and running once again. As I mentioned in our last Update, I am teaching New Testament Survey 2, The Book of Acts, and The Christlike Life. Brother Koumaly is teaching Bible Doctrines, Pastor Lee Seng is teaching Church Leadership, and my wife is teaching Christian Womanhood again this semester. While we may not have many students, as of yet, the ones we do have, have a real heart for Christ, the cause of Christ, and the people of this country!

Please pray for our new term in the School of Ministry and for our students to continue to grow in their pursuit of Christ and Christlikeness! 

One of our favorite times of the week is Saturday Village Ministry. Every Saturday a few of us go to a nearby village and teach the Bible and English to Hmong children and teenagers. We recently lost one of our workers, Bounmee. She married one of our team members in Cambodia, and, of course, moved to Cambodia. She was doing a great job discipling some of our teen girls, so my wife has replaced her and is doing a great job. I am so grateful for a wife, who for 37 years now, has been a wonderful helpmeet to her husband and a faithful, compassionate laborer in the harvest wherever God has led us!

Please pray for both of our village ministries, our workers, and for the many young people and adults that we are reaching for Christ and encouraging to pursue Christ and Christlikeness this year!

Another one of my favorite times of the week is going with Jui, who I am discipling and is assisting me in the work here, to the same village (mentioned above) and having a “Midweek Bible Study” for the young people in the village. It’s always a great time of singing, games, Bible trivia, etc. We sure do love these young people and are praying that they will “Pursue Christ and Christlikeness,”  not only this year, but for the rest of their lives!

Please pray that God will raise up young men and women of God that will pursue Christ and Christlikeness for decades among these young people!

Nearly every month, we have Pastor Pradit visit with us and preach for our folks. He is the fruit of an American missionary named Philip Pope. Pastor Pradit has been pastoring  the same church in Thailand, which he started, for 25 years now. More often than not, when he comes, he brings some of his college students, and it’s always a great night of worship, teaching and preaching, fellowship, and, of course, lots of food. Pastor Pradit preached a great message on “The Love of God.” We are grateful for the National men who are serving Christ and their people faithfully here in Southeast Asia!

Please pray for the many different churches in Thailand and our country that are doing what they can, with God’s help, to reach the lost and train the saved for God’s glory in these two countries!

As I mentioned above, I spent a wonderful week in Chiang Khong, Thailand with our Team. We are so grateful for Tom and Sue Sutrick and their church family hosting this four-day meeting. I am also very grateful for fellow-team member, Jay Chang interpreting for me.

An hour after arriving in Chiang Khong, I had the privilege to speak for their regular Friday Night Team Meeting. Trust me, we had a lot of fun and they were very open to the Bible lesson. On Sunday, I had the opportunity to teach and preach twice for the church family.

I also had the opportunity and privilege to teach and preach Monday – Thursday for our Thailand Team and 28 National pastors and church leaders from across the Mekong River in a “Creative Access Nation.” We have been holding these meetings for about two years now. As I mentioned above, this was our fourth meeting and one of the dreams my brother, Pastor Joe, had before his being hospitalized!

During the morning sessions, I taught on “Responsibilities of Church Leaders” and “The Importance of God’s Word.” During the afternoon sessions, Brother Tom Sutrick taught the brethren on “How to Use the Wordless Book” and “How to Study the Bible for Yourself.” Brother Jay Chang, who graciously interpreted for me all week-long, taught one session on “Baptism.” During the evening sessions, I had the privilege of preaching on “Following in the Footsteps of Jesus: Living a Christlike Life.”

Please pray that God will water the seeds of His Word that were sown during this week in Chiang Khong and bring an eternal increase, not only in these countries, but around Southeast Asia!

As always, my wife and I want to thank you for your loving prayers, and your generous  and sacrificial giving, which enables us to continue to do what God has led us to do here on the other side of the Pacific, while you continue to do what God has called you to do in the States!

Johnny and Denise

“The task of reaching every people group is no small thing, but the problem isn’t in the amount of people groups who are unreached; it is in the amount of people going to them.”

 

Our folks want to wish you all a Happy New Year from Southeast Asia! 

Another year has come and gone! It’s so hard to believe that it’s 2019 already. God sure has been good. The year 2018 was such a blessed year with us having the privilege of doing ministry in four different countries (China, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia) and watching God work in so many different ways.  Our ministry here in this “Creative Access Nation” is doing well and we thank God for all of our family, friends, and faithful supporters. As we have said often, we couldn’t be here or do what God has called us to do if it weren’t for faithful folks like you!

Koumaly and I recently had the privilege of preaching and teaching for a Hmong Men’s Meeting not far from the Capital city. The meeting was hosted by Pastor Lee Seng and one of our congregations outside of the city. There were church leaders from six different churches in attendance. These are all churches that Lee Seng has either started or assisted in starting over the past ten years. We had a wonderful time!

PLEASE PRAY FOR THESE MEN TO BE USED GREATLY OF GOD IN THEIR VARIOUS VILLAGES AND PROVINCES!

As many of you know, recently, one of our team members from Cambodia, Adrian (a former student of mine from both Pacific Baptist School and Pacific Baptist Bible College) married one of our team members, who also happened to be one of our three “adopted” Hmong daughters. Her name is Bounmee, she’s a jewel, and we are going to miss her a boatload as she goes to Cambodia to serve with her husband. The wedding was such a beautiful and special occasion. We thank God for a young couple that love the Lord and are willing to serve Him in this part of the world!

PLEASE PRAY THAT GOD WILL BLESS ADRIAN AND BOUNMEE’S MARRIAGE AND MINISTRY IN CAMBODIA!

It was a real blessing to have quite a few members of our team from Cambodia, including the Team Leader of our three teams in Southeast Asia (Dave Board) and his family with us during the week of the wedding. We had a wonderful time fellowshipping with our longtime friends from Pacific Baptist and our fellow laborers in this part of the world. And even had the chance to do a little ministry with a few of them!

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR ALL THREE OF OUR TEAMS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA!

The day after the wedding, I headed out of town to spend the weekend with one of our village ministries. This ministry is headed up by Kong and Lilee. We have mentioned them often in the past. They are doing a wonderful job, God is blessing, and it’s always a joy to be with them. While the crowd was down quite a bit because of Hmong New year, we had a wonderful time, and everyone was very responsive the messages!

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR KONG, LILEE, AND THEIR FOLKS!

Our English School hosted a Christmas Fellowship for our students. We had such a wonderful time. The food and fun were great. But the greatest blessing was for our Buddhist students to learn the truth of Christmas and the Christ of Christmas. We even showed them a portion of the Jesus film in their language showing Christ being crucified for the sins of the world!

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR ENGLISH STUDENTS TO UNDERSTAND AND RESPOND TO THE GOSPEL MESSAGE!

Our School of Ministry Fall Term came to an end just before Christmas. Everyone passed their Final Exams and we had a great time of food and fellowship to finish the term. It was a blessing to be able to teach The Gospel of Matthew 2, New Testament Survey 1, and Discipleship and Leadership Principles for Men this last term.

Our next term begins January 14 and I will be teaching New Testament Survey 2, The Book of Acts, and The Christlike Life. Brother Koumaly will be teaching Bible Doctrines and Pastor Lee Seng will be teaching Church Leadership!

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR OUR STUDENTS AS THEY LEARN THE BIBLE AND LIVE WHAT THEY LEARN!

It was a blessing for my wife and I to have the chance to go back to the States for the holidays. Of course, more than anything else in life, we miss our children and our grandchildren, so anytime we have the chance to spend some quality time with them we are grateful!

As we have just left 2018 in the past and enter a New Year, Denise and I are so very grateful for your faithful prayers and financial support. And, above all, we cherish your friendship!

Happy New Year,

Johnny and Denise

“I believe that in each generation God has called enough men and women to evangelize all the yet unreached tribes of the earth. It is not God who does not call. It is man who will not respond!”
― Isobel Kuhn