COLLEGE GRADUATES

The pictures above are of our 2024 Graduating Class and this year’s student body.  It is exciting that we have eleven more students graduating from the Bible school that the Lord allowed me to help to start six years ago. That makes a total of 15 graduates over the past six years. This is a tremendous group of young people that love the Lord, love people, and are committed to Christ and the cause of Christ. These 11 graduates will spend the Spring months interning in different churches in the countries of Laos and Thailand.

PLEASE PRAY FOR THE GRADUATES TO LEARN MUCH DURING THEIR UPCOMING INTERNSHIPS!

BACK IN NORTHERN THAILAND

My wife and I are glad to be back in Southeast Asia. We have been back now for a month. It’s a blessing to be back “home” in Thailand and it’s a blessing to be “back in the saddle.” Between our in-person Discipleship/Accountability Group here in Northern Thailand, teaching and preaching on Sundays, teaching our two sets of Bible students, some online discipleship, a few Christmas Celebrations, and helping to sponsor many more Christmas Celebrations, needless to say, we have been busy.

It’s hard to believe that we have been living and serving in Northern Thailand now for more than two years (28 months to be exact). It is a real joy to serve with Tom and Sue Sutrick and the rest of our team here. As I have mentioned many times in my preaching in the States and in previous updates, Tom and Sue are the real deal. They have a heart for souls, a heart for the Hmong people, and they live about the simplest lives of any missionaries that I know. Denise and I love them dearly.

Tom and Sue never went to Bible College, and they never served in full-time ministry prior to coming to Southeast Asia. They arrived in Thailand as elderly saints. They were both in their late 50’s when they arrived. Over the past twelve years, they have faithfully plodded away for Christ and the cause of Christ. They are a wonderful example of how a married couple in their senior years can make an impact for Christ and the cause of Christ.

PLEASE PRAY FOR OF OUR TEAM AND CHURCH FAMILY IN CHAING KHONG, THAILAND!

HMONG CHURCH LEADERS’ CONFERENCE 

What a blessing it was for so many of our dear friends and fellow laborers to be able to gather for a three-day conference. it was a great time of preaching, teaching, and fellowship. I was originally scheduled to preach twice in the conference, but some of the good men felt it might not be safe at this time to have me. I would have been the only non-Asian in attendance and it might have caused some suspicions. There were 150 people in attendance, including all our Hmong Bible students and 15 pastors/church leaders. Our students provided much of the special music, Kong and Cherchou (men that we have hi lighted on here before) both preached two times for the conference. Two of our graduates (Vangpao and Varmee) also got engaged at the conference.

PLEASE PRAY THAT GOD WILL CONTINUE TO BLESS THESE MEN AND WOMEN AS THEY ENDEAVOR TO BRING THE GOOD NEWS OF CHRIST THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY OF LAOS!

JUI IS HEADING BACK TO LAOS

It has been a tremendous blessing to have Jui serving with us here in Northern Thailand the past two years. At the end of this month, he will be heading back home (Laos) to assist another one of our graduates, Souphan, and his wife Sen and the work they planted a little bit over a year ago. We are going to miss Jui so much. He has been a tremendous blessing to the ministry here, not to mention to Denise and me personally.

PLEASE PRAY FOR JUI, SOUPHAN, SEN, AND THE CHURCH FAMILY!

CHRISTMAS CELEBRATIONS

By the time this month is over, we will have been able to help host about twenty Christmas Celebrations in five different countries [Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Myanmar]. While we have not seen as many come to Christ as we did last year, we have had dozens make professions of faith, and for this we are grateful. It has been such a blessing to receive good reports of people trusting Christ and so many young people being blessed in these various Celebrations.

Our 10th Annual Christmas Program in Muang Kan Village was a tremendous success. We had more than 200 in attendance, Tom, Sue, our team, and our young people did a tremendous job planning, singing, and performing. Everyone had plenty of food, fun, and fellowship. Best of all, the gospel was preached to all 200 plus people (many of them unbelievers).

While not exactly a Christmas Celebration, Christmas Program, and/or Christmas Outreach, it was a blessing for us to assist another ministry by purchasing blankets to give out in a refugee camp. More than 13,000 people had the gospel preached to them over a three-day period. According to the report that I was given, more than a 1,000 made a profession of faith.

It was also a blessing to have quite a few of our church members join us as we did some Christmas caroling, passed out care packages, and preached the gospel at our local hospital. If you notice the picture below, I didn’t get the memo that EVERYONE was dressing in Hmong attire. 🙂 

PLEASE PRAY FOR FRUIT TO CONTINUE TO ABOUND FROM THE SEEDS OF GOD’S WORD AND SEEDS OF LOVE AND COMPASSION THAT WAS SOWN!
 
THANKFUL FOR THE JOURNEY

Not only did my wife and I celebrate Christmas together this month, but we also celebrated our 42nd anniversary as a married couple, and my 67th birthday. We celebrated all three in a matter of one week. God has been so very good to us over the years. In the middle of January, I will celebrate 47 years as a believer, and in June, my wife and I will celebrate 42 years in full-time ministry. God has been good to both of us, our five children, and our 32 grandchildren, and for this we are grateful. I am so grateful for a good wife. Denise and I are very grateful for the many of you that have played an integral part in our lives and ministries over the years, and for this we say, “Thank you!”

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR DENISE AND ME AS WE CONTINUE TO WALK AND WORK TOGETHER IN OUR JOURNEY WITH JESUS!

SPOTLIGHT – SOMCHIT AND MAI

Somchit and Mai are two of our graduates from the Bible school in the capitol city. I have had the honor of teaching the two of them for almost five years now, either in person or online. They graduated about eight months ago, but they still often join with me and the other students online. They were married last June and in September, a few months after graduating, they went back to Somchit’s village to assist his father in his ministry there. In the last few months, they have had 35 come to Christ and 6 baptized. They are a wonderful couple, they love the Lord and their people, they are tremendous soul winners, and they covet your prayers!

PLEASE PRAY FOR SOMCHIT AND MAI

ADDITIONAL PRAYER REQUESTS:

* Couples Banquet January 19

* Pastors’/Church Leaders’ Conference January 29-February 2

* Puchi Fa Evangelistic Outreach February 13-15

As always, my wife and I are so very grateful to all our family, friends, fellow-laborers, financial supporters, and faithful prayer warriors. We are thankful for your love, your prayers, and your financial support. Thank you for sowing into our lives and ministries and into this part of the world.

Your Missionaries in Southeast Asia,

Johnny and Denise

The picture above is young Khmu girl named Phianxay. About a year ago, Operation Samaritan’s Compassion and Liberty Baptist Church of Newport Beach partnered together to provide the funds for her to have a lifesaving surgery. As a result of this act of compassion and kindness, eight people trusted Christ and are now attending church. After being abandoned by her grandmother, she has been adopted by a godly Christian woman and we have helped her to get enrolled in school. At one time, she lived in extreme poverty in the home of unbelievers and now she is growing to be a beautiful little girl raised in a godly, Christian home. Thank you for praying and giving so that we could help Phianxay and many others like her!

PLEASE PRAY FOR PHIANXAY TO GROW TO BE THE YOUNG LADY THAT GOD DESIRES FOR HER TO BE!

Almost a year ago, we found out that Kyi Pya Zaw (a 14-year-old Burmese girl) was going to have to work to help support her family. She would be working six days a week for a grand total of $38 per month. Because of her work schedule, she would be missing church services and various church activities. Because of generous folks like you we were able to “hire” her to work at her church a couple days a week for $40 a month. She cleans the church facility, teaches Sunday school, and helps with various other tasks for the church family.

Mercy (a 12-year-old Burmese girl) was basically orphaned and “adopted” by a National pastor in Myanmar and, unfortunately, they couldn’t afford to send her to school. So, because of the generosity of good folks like you we were able to get her enrolled in school. She is very happy about this to say the least. We are very grateful for the opportunity to help many families in Myanmar. Thank you for praying, giving, and helping us to help Kyi Pya Zaw, Mercy, and many others like them!

PLEASE PRAY FOR KYI PYA ZAW, MERCY, AND COUNTLESS OTHERS IN WAR TORN MYANMAR!

As I mentioned in our previous update, it’s summertime here in Southeast Asia. It’s still as hot as ever. Over the past six weeks or so, the temperatures have been between 95-103 and that’s not even taking into consideration the humidity, which has been horrendous. We did have one week where a cold front moved in, and we were in the low 90’s. The young people are back in school though and we are praying that the many decisions they made during the Spring Break will keep them walking in the light.

It’s been a great month or so since we sent out our last update, nothing spectacular, but God has been good in “the ordinary.” Despite the extreme heat, our church services have been going very well. My two Disciple Groups have been a blessing. Teaching our two groups of Bible students has been a blessing. Our Bible students in the village have been on a small summer break. Most of them went home to be with family and they will be returning for classes this week.

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR OUR MINISTRY HERE IN CHIANG KHONG, MY DISCIPLESHIP GROUPS, AND THE BIBLE STUDENTS!

I thought I would take a few moments of your time to share some about our Operation Samaritan’s Compassion Ministry. As most of you know, we started this ministry about 3 years ago. It was April or May of 2020, during the beginning days of the COVID crisis. For the first two-and-a-half years, we focused primarily on assisting the poor, the needy, and the helpless – especially those that were unable to work because of the various lockdowns. These lockdowns were far more serious and lasted much longer here in Southeast Asia than they did in the States. There were no government programs to help the folks out here and, of course, the poor suffered greatly.

In the past three years, as a direct result of OSC, there have been somewhere between 900 and 1,000 people (young and old alike) make professions of faith and approximately 250 have been baptized. Many of these have become faithful members of local churches. A handful of those that made decisions for Christ have since gone to heaven. Four churches were planted as a direct result of these many decisions. In the past year, we were even able to start a soccer league for 50 poor children in Laos. Eight of these boys have trusted Christ and are now attending church services. Thank you for praying and giving towards this much needed ministry!

The amazing thing about these numbers, is that the vast majority of those saved and baptized come from two communist countries where evangelism isn’t quite as easy as it is back home, or even as it is here in Thailand. So, yes, there was a “silver-lining” to the Covid crisis here in Southeast Asia. People were far more open to the gospel and the authorities tended to look the other way as we were helping their hurting citizens.

Here’s some stats that I received recently from our friends in Vietnam for the past 16 months of helping the poor, the needy, and the helpless:

*2,150 food packages delivered

*6,840 people were fed for 2-4 weeks

*378 professions of faith

Now that Covid has come and gone, a sense of “normalcy” has set in, and the poor are able to make a “living” if that’s what you would call it. Presently, our primary goals for Operation Samaritan’s Compassion are to provide aid for needy widows, for needy, fatherless children, for emergency medical needs (especially for the elderly), and helping poor children get an education. We thank God that we have been able to help more than 100 children and teens get enrolled in school. We have also helped a handful of high school graduates enroll in college. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN HELPING US TO GET POOR CHILDREN ENROLLED IN SCHOOL, PLEASE SHOOT ME A TEXT OR EMAIL!

PLEASE PRAY THAT GOD WILL CONTINUE TO BLESS OPERATION SAMARITAN’S COMPASSION AND PROVIDE THE FUNDS NECESSARY TO MEET THE MANY NEEDS!

THIS MONTH’S SPOTLIGHT – PASTOR “J”

This month, we would like to introduce you to Pastor “J.” He is a faithful man of God serving in a “Creative Access Nation,” a communist country. I have had the privilege to teach Pastor “J” over the past four years or so in different conferences and in our weekly Chiang Khong Discipleship Group, which meets in person, but he joins us online. Pastor “J” was saved about 13 years ago. About ten years ago, he started his first church and has now planted eight churches, which he oversees to this day. Over 600 people attend the services of these eight churches in a communist country. The mother church is no longer the largest of the churches, but it does run well over 100 in weekly attendance. He is one of the many different men that Brother Dwight Tomlinson and Barnabas 1040 supports monthly. Over the past year, they have had multiplied dozens saved and baptized. We recently treated Pastor “J” and his family to a three-day get away, which they thoroughly enjoyed. 

PLEASE PRAY FOR PASTOR “J,” HIS FAMILY, AND THE EIGHT CHURCHES THAT HE IS OVERSEEING!

As always, my wife and I want to say, “thank you” to all our family, friends, fellow-laborers, and faithful supporters for your faithful prayer and financial support over the years. We love and appreciate you all!

Your Missionaries in Southeast Asia,

Johnny and Denise Esposito

“Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.”
 – James 1:27

“Where have we any command in the Bible laid down in stronger terms, and in a more peremptory urgent manner, than the command of giving to the poor?”  – Jonathan Edwards

The picture above is from our recent Youth Conference in Laos.

Two weeks ago, our team in Laos hosted a three-day Youth Conference. There were fourteen churches represented with somewhere between 230 and 250 young people attending the conference. More than fifty young people surrendered to serve the Lord full-time and another thirteen young people trusted Christ. It was a blessing to have Bounna Has, one of our good men that works with our team in Cambodia, as one of our guest preachers for the conference. So many life-changing decisions were made during these three days. Kong, Lily, Souphan, Sen, and our Bible students did a tremendous job hosting the conference. Thank You for Praying!

PLEASE PRAY THAT THE SPIRIT OF GOD WILL SEAL THE MANY DECISIONS THAT WERE MADE DURING THE CONFERENCE!

CHILDREN’S HOME

As a team, we try to go and minister to the young people and staff at the Rong Ber Children’s Home once every three months. It’s always a tremendous blessing. Of course, we go to be a blessing to the young people and the staff, and yet, inevitably they always bless us far more than we could ever possibly bless them. 

ALWAYS!

On this last trip, we brought a team of 16 from our ministry in Chiang Khong and they all did what they could to be a blessing. As always, we played games with them for a few hours, we then treated them to a nice meal. I said a nice meal, not a healthy meal. As is often the case, we treated them to pizza, soda, and ice cream.  After the meal, we had a great service with a lot of congregational singing, special music by the young people, a handful of the young people quoted scripture and/or gave testimonies, and a message from God’s word. I normally do the preaching, but I asked Jui to preach, and he preached a tremendous message about being thankful.  Thank You for Praying!

PLEASE PRAY FOR BROTHER CHRIS, HIS STAFF, AND THE YOUNG PEOPLE OF THE RONG BER CHILDREN’S HOME!

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL

Our team here in Thailand was able to host four different Vacation Bible Schools in four different villages over a two-week period. We had nearly 300 young people attend the four Vacation Bible Schools, there was a plenty of good food, plenty of good old fashion fun, and fellowship, some great teaching, and at least six professions of faith. As always, Tom and Sue Sutrick did a fantastic job planning and organizing all four of the Vacation Bible Schools.  And our team did a great job laboring in love. Thank You for Praying!

PLEASE PRAY THAT THE SEEDS THAT WERE SOWN IN THE FOUR VILLAGES WILL BRING FORTH ETERNAL FRUIT!

BIBLE COLLEGE STUDENTS

It’s so hard to believe that the Spring Term is coming to an end soon. It’s been a real joy to teach the students this term. We have been teaching through the book of Proverbs. It’s been a great blessing for students and teacher alike, as we have considered among many other topics, the importance of wisdom, the difference between wise, foolish, simple, and scornful men. Add to these, the dangers of a proud heart, of using our tongue wrongly, of sowing discord, and an immoral lifestyle. I honestly believe these lessons from Proverbs might very well have been some of the most important lessons that I have taught them over the past five years. Thank You for Praying!

Speaking of our Bible students, two of the students just graduated, and they had a Graduation Service for them on Easter Sunday. Both Somchit and Mai love the Lord and are faithful soul-winners. Please pray for their future endeavors for Christ and the cause of Christ!

PLEASE PRAY THAT THE STUDENTS END THE SPRING TERM STRONG AND FOR GOD TO USE SOMCHIT AND MAI IN A VERY SPECIAL WAY!

NEW SINGLE ADULTS’ MINISTRY

One of the most neglected groups of people, whether in America or Southeast Asia, are the single adults. About two months ago, Jui, my wife, and I started setting up activities (once or twice a month) for the single adults. It’s been a lot of fun and, in my opinion, has been a great help to a few of our singles. I appreciate Jui for all the “footwork” that he does when we plan these activities. Occasionally, we simply go out to eat at a nice restaurant and at other times we meet at our Foundation building for a time of food, fun, fellowship, and a challenge from the word. This last week, we met at the foundation and had a wonderful time, and I challenged the young people to CHOOSE WISELY from Joshua 24:14-15.

PLEASE PRAY THAT GOD WILL USE THESE ACTIVITIES TO BLESS OUR SINGLE ADULTS AND HELP THEM TO CHOOSE CHRIST AND THE CAUSE OF CHRIST OVER EVERYTHING ELSE IN LIFE!

THIS MONTH’S SPOTLIGHT – JUI

Speaking of Jui, if you have kept up with our Prayer Updates over the years you are familiar with Jui. He is a young man that started attending our English Center in the country of Laos in September 2013 and trusted Christ in May 2014. Eventually, after growing in his faith, Jui left a good paying job to work on our school and church staff. He was my personal assistant in Laos for 2 ½ years and he graduated from our Bible School.

Just a year and a half back, Jui joined our team here in Thailand and has, once again, been serving as my assistant. Jui loves the Lord, and he loves people. He is especially wonderful when it comes to working with children and teens. Along with interpreting for me on Wednesday evenings in our new ministry, he teaches our teens on Sunday mornings and on Friday evenings. In addition to these important tasks, Jui disciples 4 young men and teaches English to 19 people (both young and old).

As I mentioned above, Jui preached at the Children’s Home recently and did a wonderful job. He also assisted our team with Vacation Bible School, and he assisted another team in Thailand with a Youth Camp. Jui is like a son of ours and we love and appreciate him much.

PLEASE PRAY FOR JUI AS HE CONTINUES TO SERVE IN HIS TWO-YEAR COMMITMENT HERE IN NORTHERN THAILAND!

As always, my wife and I would like to thank our family, friends, and fellow laborers for taking the time to read our Prayer Update, for praying for us, and for financially supporting our endeavors here in Southeast Asia. We love and appreciate you all!

Your Missionaries in Southeast Asia,

Johnny and Denise Esposito

If some of you are thinking that the picture above looks familiar, you’re right. Every year just about this time, I pull it out and add it to our Prayer Update. On March 13, 2013, my wife and I left the United States and headed for Asia. The picture is of us upon our arrival in Asia (Cambodia) on the very next day. After spending two weeks with our team in Cambodia, my wife and I headed to the country of Laos. Many of my preacher friends thought we were making a grave mistake. Many thought we were just plain old “crazy.” One pastor even said that my going to the mission field would be the greatest mistake that I ever made. By the way, I have made a boatload of them.

Well, after ten years of living and serving in four different countries (Laos, Cambodia, China, and Thailand), I just thought I would say, loud and clear, “As far as ministry is concerned, these past ten years have been the most fruitful and fulfilling in my 41 years of serving in full-time ministry, and yes, it has been a whole lot of fun too.”

My wife Denise would agree 110 percent. We have seen hundreds come to Christ and be baptized. We have helped in the planting and/or establishing of new churches, started a new college in Laos, and started Operation Samaritan’s Compassion – a ministry that has helped to meet the basic needs of multiplied hundreds (probably thousands) and has resulted in over 800 saved and about 200 baptized in the past three years. Yet, to be truly honest, most of our time and energy has gone to discipling believers and leadership development. 

SO MANY GREAT MEMORIES!!!

Thank you for praying, giving, and loving us over these past ten years while we have had the privilege to be on the field making memories, and by God’s grace, making a small difference for Christ and the cause of Christ.

To God be the glory!

Memories of Laos!

Memories of Cambodia!

Memories of China!

Memories of Conferences!

Recent Memories of Thailand!

Many of you will remember that in our last Prayer Update, I asked for some special prayer for our upcoming Pastors’ and Church Leaders’ “I Am Not Ashamed of the Gospel” Conference. If you prayed, thank you. Your prayers were answered. God blessed in a very special way. Many pastors and church leaders, as well as many from our church family, were encouraged, strengthened, and better equipped to serve the Lord during the five-day conference. We even had three trust Christ – including one of the church leaders. To God be the glory!

A FEW SPECIAL PRAYER REQUESTS:

* Pray for Upcoming Vacation Bible Schools in Thailand
* Pray for Upcoming Youth Conferences in Thailand and Laos
* Pray for Our Bible Students and Mid-Term Exams

As always, Denise and I would like to thank you from the depths of our hearts for taking time to read our Prayer Update, for praying, giving, and loving us from afar. We love and appreciate you all!

Your Missionaries in Southeast Asia,

Johnny and Denise Esposito

PHU CHI FA OUTREACH

The picture above is Brothers Tom and Jay sharing the gospel during our team’s recent outreach in Phu Chi Fa. Our team goes to the mountain top every year for this annual festival to pass out gospel tracts and share the gospel with those who are willing to listen. This year our team passed out more than 12,000 tracts, personally shared the gospel with dozens, and had 12 people trust Christ. While I was unable to join our team for this outreach, because of my sciatica kicking in after returning from Laos, I was praying.  Last month we asked you to pray for this outreach and many of you did. Thank you for praying!

PLEASE PRAY THAT THOSE THAT TRUSTED CHRIST WILL GROW AND THOSE THAT HEARD THE GOSPEL WILL EVENTUALLY COME TO A SAVING KNOWLEDGE OF JESUS CHRIST!

VALENTINE’S DAY COUPLE’S BANQUET

Our team did something this year that we had never done before. We had a Couple’s Valentine’s Banquet. We were specifically targeting unbelievers. To be honest, we had no clue how many folks would show up and were pleasantly surprised to see more than 20 couples show up. Over half of these were unbelievers. It was a wonderful time of food, fun, fellowship, and I preached a message on “The Greatest Love Story Ever Told” and shared a clear presentation of the gospel. We have heard so many good reports in the village and folks are asking whether we will be doing something like this again.  Last month we asked you to pray for this special evening and many of you did. Thank you for praying!

PLEASE PRAY THAT GOD WOULD BRING AN INCREASE TO THE SEEDS THAT WERE SOWN DURING THE BANQUET!

SUNDAY AFTERNOON PROGRAM/FRIDAY TEEN NIGHT

If you will remember, last month we specifically requested prayer for these two brand new ministries. Well, God is blessing, and we are grateful for our team and the many extra hours they are putting in to invest in the hearts and lives of the next generation. On Sunday, after the service, we will have lunch with the entire church family and then after lunch there is a time of fun and games, teaching English, teaching Hmong, and some discipleship. We are grateful that Tong and his wife Bao trusted Christ and are being discipled by Tom on Sunday afternoons. Friday evenings is a time for the teens to have good food and some fun, along with worship and a time in the word. THANK YOU FOR PRAYING!

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR THESE TWO MINISTRIES!

SPECIAL ADDITIONAL PRAYER REQUEST: PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR PASTORS’ AND CHURCH LEADERS’ CONFERENCE COMING UP NEXT WEEK!

As always, Denise and I would like to thank you from our hearts for taking time to read our Prayer Update, for praying, giving, and loving us from afar. We love and appreciate you all!

Your Missionaries in Southeast Asia,

Johnny and Denise Esposito

The picture above is me with our Bible students and two of our graduates that are now pastoring. Our ten-day ministry trip back “home” to Laos was wonderful. Both Denise and I had a wonderful time preaching (actually, I did the preaching), teaching, and counseling, as well as a lot of tremendous food and fellowship with our dear friends and fellow laborers.

I had the opportunity to teach our Bible students for 24 hours on this trip, as well as preach a combined service, preach for three different churches, including an Anniversary Service of our long-time, dear friend and fellow-laborer, Pastor “K.”

One of the hi-lights of the trip was Denise and I treating five pastor friends (four of them men that I had the opportunity to teach as Bible students) and their wives to a very nice meal. In addition to this, Denise and I had lunch or dinner dates with a handful of others – including our Bible students.

While we were in the country on this trip, we were only there for one Sunday. Two of the churches had a total of six saved and fourteen baptized on that one Sunday. Unfortunately, I could only be in one place at a time.

PLEASE PRAY THAT GOD WILL BRING FRUIT FROM OUR RECENT TRIP TO LAOS!

SPECIAL PRAYER REQUESTS:

*Please pray for our new Friday Teen Nights

*Please pray for our new Sunday Afternoon Program

*Please pray for our upcoming Annual Outreach at Puchi Fa

*Please pray for our upcoming Pastors’ and Church Leaders’ Conference

As always, Denise and I would like to thank you for taking the time to read our Prayer Update, for supporting us financially and with your prayers.

We appreciate your friendship and your support!

Your Missionaries in Southeast Asia,

Johnny and Denise

The pictures above are of a new ministry that we just started a month ago. We are now meeting on Wednesday evening for a time of fellowship, prayer, and teaching of God’s word with adults/teens and on Friday evenings for Children’s Ministry. It has been going extremely well. On one of the Friday’s, we celebrated with the children the annual “Thai National Children’s Day” with over 80 children in attendance. We are very grateful for the church family that is allowing us to use their building!

Please Continue to Pray for this New Ministry!

DISCIPLESHIP GROUPS

I am now meeting with 12 men in two Discipleship Groups. One of the Groups is in person here in Chiang Khong, Thailand (with one pastor joining us online) and the other Group is online. The Online Group is a group of men, from three different countries, that I have been discipling for a while and/or in the past.

Please Continue to Pray for these Men, their Families, and their Ministries!

BIBLE STUDENTS NEW TERM

It’s a blessing to be able to, once again, start a new term with our two sets of Bible students in the country of Laos. I am teaching on the Books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes this term and very excited about it. Lord willing, by the time this update reaches you, my wife and I will be in Laos on a short ministry trip and will be teaching the students in person. Looking forward to it.

Please Continue to Pray for Our Bible Students and for our Upcoming Trip to Laos!

CHRISTMAS PROGRAMS/OUTREACHES

As we mentioned in our last update, during the month of December, Operation Samaritan’s Compassion was able to help different National Pastors and their church families to host different Christmas Program/Outreaches and God blessed all 22 of these different Programs/Outreaches in the five different countries [Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and Myanmar]. Not only were there around 2,000 attending, with more than 100 professions of faith at these Programs/Outreaches, but hundreds of lost people were able to see the love of God in action. Below are just a few of the pictures from Cambodia, Thailand, and Laos!

Please Continue to Pray for these Different Pastors and Church Families to Wisely Follow-up!

OPERATION SAMARITAN’S COMPASSION

Speaking of Operation Samaritan’s Compassion, now that it looks like the “COVID Crisis,” and all that went along with it, is pretty much over in Southeast Asia, Operation Samaritan’s Compassion’s emphasis in 2023 will be widows, the fatherless, helping poor illiterate children to get an education, and emergency medical assistance for the poor.

Please Continue to Pray for Operation Samaritan’s Compassion to be a Blessing in 2023!

As always, my wife and I are grateful for your prayers, financial support, and friendship. As I often say, “We couldn’t be here, stay here, or do what we believe God has led us to do without your prayers and financial support.”

Your Missionaries in Southeast Asia,

Johnny and Denise