Three weeks from yesterday I will be heading back home to Cambodia. By the time I leave the States I will have been here for nine weeks. Nine long weeks! Definitely looking forward to going home. Sure do appreciate your prayers for me during this trip!

Last Wednesday I had the chance to be with Pastor Neal Holmes, his assistant Brother Kent Black, and the Mountain Vista Baptist Church in Sierra Vista, Arizona. Pastor Holmes has been a dear friend of our home church and mine for many, many years. The service was a blessing. Just a few hours prior to the service, I had the chance to meet Chanda and Savy. They are both from Cambodia and we had a great time of fellowship. THEY WERE SO EXCITED TO FIND SOMEONE WHO LIVED IN AND WAS FAMILIAR WITH CAMBODIA.

I also had the opportunity to share the Gospel with them, give them a tract, and invite them to the service. While they did not attend the service that evening, I do pray that the seed that was planted will bring forth fruit unto life eternal!

PLEASE PRAY FOR CHANDA AND SAVY TO TRUST CHRIST AS THEIR SAVIOR!

The day after returning from my trip to Arizona I (along with a handful of folks from Pacific Baptist Church that are seriously considering going to China) had the privilege to meet with Brother Tomlinson and missionary Dick Baucum. Brother Baucum has been in Hong Kong and/or Mainland China for over 30 years. The eight of us met for about two hours talking about China, the possibility of Pacific Baptist Church sending a team to China, and getting as much “wise counsel” from a “grizzled veteran” as possible.

Just a few days later I had the privilege to meet Peter and Peggy Li and their two daughters. The Li’s are a sweet family. They were saved in China under Brother Baucum’s ministry and have been in the States for about nine years. They have a burden to see the people of China come to Christ. Peter told me that as far as he can remember, not only had he never heard the Gospel prior to his wife meeting the Baucum family, but he does not think he had ever heard the name of Jesus prior to his wife trusting Christ!

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR THE 1.4 BILLION PEOPLE OF CHINA AND FOR A FUTURE TEAM TO BE SENT TO CHINA OUT OF PACIFIC BAPTIST CHURCH!

This past Saturday through Tuesday was Missions Conference time at Liberty Baptist Church of Newport Beach. The theme for the conference was “Impact the World.” Great theme and a worthy goal that’s for sure! It was a huge blessing to be with former Pastor and dear friend Dwight Tomlinson and Liberty’s new pastor, and longtime friend, Ryan Thompson. On Saturday evening Pastor Thompson interviewed all of the missionaries. Along with Brother Tomlinson and his wife Gayle, who recently resigned the church to head up Barnabas 1040 (barnabas1040.com), there were missionaries that are heading to Sri Lanka, Kurdistan (Northern Iraq), Indonesia, myself, and two church planters heading to Los Angeles to plant churches.

The Saturday evening interview and all of the services were a real blessing. The food and fellowship was tremendous. On Sunday evening I preached and shared many pictures from Cambodia, Thailand, and the country of Laos. On Tuesday evening, I shared the burden for reaching China, along with our five-minute video about China.

PLEASE PRAY FOR THE LIBERTY BAPTIST CHURCH FAMILY AND THE DIFFERENT MISSIONARIES WHO WERE AT THE CONFERENCE TO BE ABLE TO DO THEIR PART IN IMPACTING THE WORLD FOR CHRIST!

I have six more churches and one more Missions’ Conference over the next three weeks and then I head back to Southeast Asia.  I sincerely appreciate your prayers during this last leg of the trip!

For HIS Glory in the Nations,

Johnny, Denise, Joy and Sue

In the past few days I have received a few pictures from Phnom Penh that remind me of the wonderful things that God is doing in Cambodia. My wife sent me a picture of Debra Keo discipling Sony. Vannak sent me a picture of our teen boys who had the opportunity to get away for a few days for revival and refreshing, and Adrian Torres posted on Instagram a picture of some of our folks riding a tuk-tuk to church from Steung Meanchey.

I am so thankful for a ministry that not only emphasizes sharing the Gospel with folks and seeing them trust Christ, but a ministry that is committed to discipling converts. I am also grateful to be a part of a ministry that recognizes the importance of training up the “next generation” for Jesus Christ. I am also very appreciative for a ministry that is committed to going after the poor, and especially the poor children.

Last, but not least, I am grateful for all of you back home who are enabling us to share the Gospel, disciple converts, train up the next generation, and pursue the poor with the same passion our Lord Jesus exhibited during His earthly ministry!

WE COULD NOT DO IT WITHOUT YOU!!!

PLEASE PRAY THAT GOD WILL CONTINUE TO USE OUR TEAMS IN CAMBODIA, THAILAND, AND THE “CREATIVE ACCESS” NATION TO FOLLOW IN JESUS’ FOOTSTEPS AS FISHERS OF MEN!

As I mentioned in my previous update, I have been extremely busy meeting with couples, single men, and single women who truly believe that God might be leading them to someday serve in the country of China.  It has been a real joy to sit down with men and women alike who are considering leaving the comforts and conveniences of America, leaving their family, their friends, their future ambitions, and financial security to step into the “unknown” with Christ!

PLEASE PRAY FOR THE MANY WHO ARE SERIOUSLY CONSIDERING SERVING IN CHINA!

On my last day in Long Beach, just prior to leaving for Arizona I had one more opportunity to preach in chapel at Pacific Baptist Bible College. I preached a message on “Considering the Poor.” We had an unbelievable response to the message and we thank God for it! Immediately after the chapel service I met with students who believe God might be leading them to the mission field. Half of the student body attended the meeting. I took some time to give them some “pointers” that might be helpful as they consider this matter of worldwide missions.

PLEASE PRAY FOR THE YOUNG PEOPLE AT PBBC TO HAVE A PASSION, NOT ONLY FOR CHRIST, BUT FOR THE CAUSE OF CHRIST AROUND THE WORLD!

It is always a joy to be with the Harvest Baptist Church in Daly City, CA. Pastor Winiel Pechardo started the church about six or seven years ago. He was actually sent out of my home and sending church (Pacific Baptist Church in Long Beach). He was our Filipino Pastor for over five years at PBC. He is doing a great job in the San Francisco area. In recent days, eight of their folks have surrendered to go to the mission field. Praise the Lord!

I jumped on a flight Wednesday morning, preached for him that evening, and flew back to Southern California the next morning. We had a great service and, as always, the fellowship was sweet. So many of their folks, not only purchased copies of my new book, but many just gave money to “help the poor.”

PLEASE PRAY FOR THE FOLKS OF HARVEST BAPTIST CHURCH AND PRAY FOR MRS PECHARDO WHO WAS ACTUALLY IN THE HOSPITAL WHILE I WAS THERE!

This past Sunday I had the privilege to spend the entire day with Pastor Moffitt and the Sun Valley Baptist Church in Phoenix, Arizona. We had a great time. I preached for them three times. There was a tremendous response to the messages. One of the real blessings, and there were many, of my time with them, was having the opportunity to meet Angela and her two children. They are from, of all places, China. They have only been in the States for a little over a month. They don’t know Jesus yet, but they have been attending the services.

Please pray for Angela and her children to be saved!

My wife and the girls went to Coffee Bean recently to visit with Narin a few days ago. You will remember she is the young lady we have been working with for almost nine months now. We have had the opportunity to have her over our house many times. We have shared the Gospel with her. We have given her much Gospel literature. Unfortunately, Narin has yet to trust Christ! My wife was trying to set up a time Narin could come over our place. Sadly, she does not have one day off during the month of October.

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR NARIN’S SALVATION

For those of you who follow my updates, another couple that you are well familiar with are Nee and Thia. They live in Steung Meanchey. We have been working with them for well over six months now. Thia trusted Christ recently. Nee is very open, receptive, and has lot’s of questions. In the picture below, they were being taught by Vannak and had sent greetings to me all the way from Steung Meanchey!

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR NEE’S SALVATION AND THIA’S SPIRITUAL GROWTH!

I will be preaching this evening at a church in Sierra Vista, Arizona. I head back to So. California tomorrow. Friday morning, I (along with a few potential missionaries to China) have an important meeting with a man who has been serving in China for over 30 years. Then I will be with Pastor Dwight Tomlinson (barnabas10.com), Pastor Ryan Thompson, and the Liberty Baptist Church in Newport Beach from Saturday thru Tuesday for their annual Missions’ Conference.

PLEASE PRAY FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS TO BE FRUITFUL FOR THE CAUSE OF CHRIST!

My wife and I, along with Joy and Sue, want to thank you once again for your faithful prayers and support. Thank you for holding the ropes back home!

 

 

For the third year in a row I have had the privilege to fly back to the States from Southeast Asia and preach for the Pacific Baptist Church’s Mission Conference/Revival and teach a Missions’ Intensive at Pacific Baptist Bible College. It is a great joy, privilege, and an awesome responsibility to do so.

Of course, two years ago my brother flew me in from a “Restricted Access Nation,” to open the Conference on that Thursday evening, and just a few hours later he was having emergency surgery to keep him alive. We are grateful that he is making progress. I have visited my brother many times since arriving in the States. Whenever I talk to him about our team in Cambodia, the “Creative Access Nation,” and Thailand, or the possibility of sending a team to China his eyes light up!

Please continue to pray for my brother, his wife Mary, the rest of the family, and Pacific Baptist Church!

I preached a total of nine times (eight of those were missions’ messages) over a two week period of time for Pacific Baptist Church of Long Beach and Pacific Baptist Church of Monterrey Park, taught a three day intensive at the Bible College, as well as preached in College chapel, and taught and/or preached three times for Pacific Baptist School. In addition to this, I have been busy meeting with men and women who are seriously pondering this vital matter of the mission field, especially those who are considering going to China!

Please pray that God will use this past Missions’ Conference/Revival to stir many hearts to pray, to give, and to GO to the uttermost parts of the earth!

The week prior to our Missions Conference/Revival I had the privilege to be with two really good churches. On Sunday morning I was with my dear friend Pastor Kirk Beard and the Parkway Baptist Church family (Hemet, CA). On Sunday evening I was with the Victory Baptist Church (El Cajon/Lakeside, CA) both of these churches were a blessing.  I preached a total of three times with a tremendous response from many!

Please pray for the many who had their hearts stirred during the services that God will bring lasting change for His glory and for the good of others!

While at Victory Baptist Church I had the privilege to meet a woman named Helen and her daughter Nelly. Helen is originally from Iraq (10/40 Window) and is a devoted servant of and witness for Jesus Christ today. She came to the United States when she was 25-years old. After the service on Sunday evening she told me that she had never heard the word “salvation” until she came to the United States. Think about that for a moment. Let that truth sink deep into your heart! Helen lived the first 25 years of her life in darkness, without hope, and without help and very little chance to “hear” the gospel. Folks, this is our calling. This is our commission. This is the challenge for the church of Jesus Christ in the 21^st century!

Please pray for the dear people in the 10/40 Window, especially those in the Middle East who are walking in darkness, despair, and death with very little help or hope!

One blessing of being in the States for two months has been the opportunity to see the grandchildren some. My wife and I have 15 precious grandchildren and they are all under eight years old. 🙂 A real treat that I had in recent days was the opportunity to go soul winning and tract distribution with Hannah, my five-year old autistic granddaughter. We had a great time and she loves leaving Gospel tracts on people’s doors. She calls them “Jesus papers.”

We have mentioned Sony and her family in previous updates. In recent days my wife had the chance to meet her. I believe Debra Keo and my wife will be discipling Sony soon. Sony was baptized a few days ago. Sony, like so many people in Cambodia cannot read. She has a desire to grow in Christ. She has a desire to read the Bible, but she is unable to do so. We recently got her an MP3 Player with scripture and sermons on it. Not only is she listening to it, but from what I understand her lost husband is listening also.  This is something we do for many who cannot read or those who are ill and shut in. If you are interested in giving towards this needy area (MP3 Players) and ministry please do let me know.

Please continue to pray for Sony’s spiritual growth and health, as well as her husband’s salvation!

I also had a chance to take some, but not all, of my grandchildren out for a time of fun and pizza. On the trip to Chuck E Cheese Pizza, I got misdirected by Siri and got lost. It was frustrating for me, but I finally found my way. Someone has said, “The only thing worse than being lost is being lost and no one is looking for you.” This is the dilemma for so many people in our world today, but especially in the 10/40 Window!

As most of you know, my most recent book just came out. It is called “Peeking Through the 10/40 Window: Why it Matters to God and Why it Should Matter to Us.” All profits from the book will be used to help the poor folks in Cambodia. Nearly every day we are faced with tremendous needs with people we serve or people we meet. I received this email from one of our good men a couple of days ago:

When my wife picked up your 1040 book I started reading it during services and did not pay any attention to you. When we got home I stayed up and read the whole thing. I listened to your Thursday message on the church website so don’t despair. I am shocked by the 1040 statistics. I did not realize just how bad the situation is. I am sure that holds true for the majority of the people who are living comfortable lives. You really did an excellent job on explaining what the situation is really like and it makes me appreciate what the missionaries are doing and if I was 10 years younger I would be going back. I will continue to support the 1040 as best I can. I know that the greatest gift you can give our Lord is an unsaved soul.

Please pray that God will use this book to inform and inspire many about the great need in the 10/40 Window!

As most of you know, I flew into the States recently and will be here for two months. I will have a full calendar. As of now, I am scheduled to be in 13 churches, 3 Missions’ Conferences, and will be teaching a three-day Intensive at Pacific Baptist Bible College called “Discipleship and Missions.”

PLEASE PRAY FOR MY TIME IN THE STATES TO BE FRUITFUL!

I arrived in the country on Thursday evening and less than 36 hours later, on Saturday, my niece Sarah (Pastor Joe’s daughter) was married to one of our assistant pastors (Bruce Mejia). The most exciting thing about the wedding was that my brother was able to attend the wedding. What an emotional time it was to have Pastor Joe wheeled down the aisle holding his daughter’s hand to present her to Bruce. Of course, this was the first time my brother has been anywhere off of the hospital property for nearly two years and the first time he has been in the church since that dreadful night October 3, 2013.

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR MY BROTHER’S RECOVERY, FOR HIS WIFE, THE REST OF THE FAMILY, AND FOR GOD TO USE BRUCE AND SARAH MEJIA FOR HIS GLORY!

The following day was Pacific Baptist Church’s 27th anniversary! Regrettably, my brother wasn’t able to make this special event. Just over 27 years ago, my brother and his wife Mary, along with their first-born Joseph, started Cambodian Baptist Church. The name of the church was later changed to its present name of Pacific Baptist Church.

God had placed a dream in my brother’s heart years before, while still a student in Bible College, to reach the Cambodian people. The dream, which was birthed in North Chicago, led my brother to Long Beach (an amazing story right there) to start a church and has now been responsible for a thriving church in Long Beach, another one about twenty miles away in Monterey Park, and missions teams in Cambodia, Communist Laos, Thailand, and possibly, in the near future the country of China!

PLEASE PRAY FOR PACIFIC BAPTIST CHURCH TO CONTINUE WITH THE MISSIONS FERVOR OF THE PAST!

As always, it was a real joy to be able to spend a weekend with my dear friend Pastor Art Maricle, his family, and the New Hope Baptist Church of Santa Rosa. I had the opportunity to preach for them three times on Sunday. I preached messages on “Dreaming Big for God,” “Compassion Makes a Difference,” and per Brother Maricle’s request, on Sunday evening I preached a message called “Lessons We Have Learned.”

This message, again per the pastor’s request, was about lessons we have learned the past two years since my brother’s illness. I asked my brother’s wife Mary and his eldest Joseph, to give me a few lessons they have learned, and I added a few of my own. While the Holy Spirit moved in all three services; the evening service was special, not to mention, emotional!

While my time here in the States is primarily about the Father’s business, reporting the great things God is doing in Southeast Asia, and getting the word out about the 10/40 Window, we are also finding time to be with the grandchildren. Now, that’s always a blessing! Two of my grandchildren, Hosanna and Bella, started K-4 just this week. They are all growing up so quickly!

I SINCERELY COVET ALL OF YOUR PRAYERS DURING THESE TWO MONTHS IN THE STATES!

 As most of you know, for many followers of Christ in Southeast Asia and other parts of the 10/40 Window, persecution is a daily occurrence. In fact, it’s a way of life. The three teen boys pictured below (Sron, Bundit, and Sophea) have stood for Christ and because of their stand they were all kicked out of their homes in Phnom Penh. We mentioned Sophia’s testimony in our last blog update. Eventually, Bundit was forced to go back home to harsh beatings. He continues to serve Christ in spite of it!

It is good to hear that Sony is remaining faithful in her stand for Christ in spite of persecution from family and friends. Since Man and I had the opportunity to win her to Christ over a month ago, she has been faithfully attending the services

Please continue to pray for Sron, Bundit, Sophea, and Sony to stand true to Christ amidst the persecution! 

Thank you for your prayerful support of our ministry in Southeast Asia!!! 

It’s so hard to believe but summer is winding down quickly. The past ten days or so have been extremely busy and bountiful. It is so encouraging to see the desire of some of our new converts wanting to grow in their faith. We are grateful for your prayers and support. The many blessings we have witnessed this summer can surely be attributed to the prayers of God’s people and God’s grace and goodness.

I couldn’t resist adding this picture below to our update. For the past two months, while I was in the country, I had been teaching in our Worker’s Meeting. It’s always a privilege and a pleasure to do so. This past Wednesday, after we dismissed the meeting, I saw Phillip sleeping. Of course, he’s not a worker. His father, Sinath is one of our faithful men and fruitful workers and his older sister Srey Nech, who we have mentioned often, is one of our faithful workers.  For some reason, I am not sure he got much out of my teaching!

It has been especially encouraging to see Sung’s desire to grow in his newfound faith. In our last update we shared with you how Sung trusted Christ. Recently, we went back to his place to give him a Bible and talked to him about the necessity of growing in his faith, and some of the steps to grow now that he is born again. He expressed to Vannak and I that he wants to grow. I gave him and his wife a new Bible. He was thrilled!

Please pray for Sung and Thy’s spiritual growth and pray for their present situation (her possibly going to Malaysia for three years to work)!  

In our last blog update I introduced you to Sony. She trusted Christ about two week’s ago when Man and I shared the Gospel with her. Since then, Sony has been in most of our services, has expressed a sincere desire to grow, and has also started receiving persecution from family and friends.  This is very common in this part of the world. When an individual trusts Christ and starts coming to church, especially if a foreigner is involved in the salvation decision and/or discipleship process, the persecution begins. Sony told her family that she was going to continue to follow Christ no matter what they said. Their reply, again a common one here, was simple, “No problem, but you get no more rice.” In other words, we will not help you any more. Sony told us that she would probably have to move. She’s living on her family’s property in a little makeshift shack.  We have also had the chance to, once again, share the Gospel with her mother Yay Lee. I think she may be close to trusting Christ!

Please pray for Sony’s spiritual growth, her provision and protection, and for her mother’s salvation!

I have mentioned Abraham in a few of my past updates. Abraham has been tutoring me (or at least trying) in the Khmer language the past three months. He is also a Christian. The past month or so, our language sessions have turned into discipleship sessions. It has been a great joy to see his growth in recent days. Abraham has become more faithful to church, started passing out tracts, sharing the Gospel with others, and is having his vision for the harvest rekindled. He believes that one day God will have him to start a church in his wife’s village. He has a lot of God-given potential and if he keeps his eyes on Jesus I am sure God will use him greatly to reach his own people!

Please pray for Abraham and his wife (Sreyrohm) to continue to grow in their faith, their love for Christ, their love for one another, and their love for the Khmer people!

A truly huge blessing came to my attention after our most recent midweek service. Man introduced me to a young man named Sophea. Sophea is 19-years old and trusted Christ recently. He has also been attending church services and going soul winning also. That in and of itself is a blessing, but here’s the rest of the story! A few months ago, Man and I were working with a few displaced grandmothers from various villages who had been forced to Phnom Penh for a season. We had eight of them over our house to eat. Many of them started coming to our church services. A few of them trusted Christ. Then, they all headed back home, some in tears of gratitude after a Sunday evening service. Well, one of those grandmother’s son (Sophea) was going to be moving to Phnom Penh. She told him to find our church, which he did. But he didn’t only find the church. He found Jesus, or should I say, Jesus found him.

Please pray for Sophea’s spiritual growth!

The past few months, while soul winning in Steung Meanchey (where Lord willing, sometime in the near future we will plant a church) we have had the opportunity to meet Yay (grandma) Bounseang. She is in her late 90s and very ill. After sitting and listening to us share the Gospel many times, about a month ago Yay trusted Christ. After she got saved, she told us, “Now, I don’t have to worry anymore. When I die I will go to heaven.”  Two weeks ago, when Vannak and I visited her, she was very ill. From what I understand she is in the hospital now. She spoke to us like someone on their deathbed, who understood that their time was short. She begged us to take her MP3 player that someone had given her a few years ago. Of course, we didn’t want to take anything from this very poor old woman. She begged us saying, “You must take it. Because when I die, they (her neighbors) will come in here and steal it.” ISN’T THAT JUST LIKE THE WORLD? When we said goodbye to her and that we would see her next week she replied with, “Maybe!”

Please pray for Yay Boungsean’s spiritual growth and a peaceful and painless journey to heaven!

The past 3 weeks or so in Steung Meanchey have been tremendous. But last week was really good. Vannak and I had the opportunity to share the Gospel with 10 people including the teenage girls pictured below. While none trusted Christ, all ten of the people were open and the seeds were sown. We are praying that God will bring an increase that will lead to eternal life.

Please pray that the many who have heard the Gospel in Steung Meanchey over the past few weeks will trust Jesus as their Lord and Savior!

Knowing that I would be leaving soon and be back in the States for two months made my last week or two of discipleship session’s bittersweet. I am going to miss these men a boatload. Over the past eight months for most of them, a bit less for a few of them, I have had the privilege to get to know them, open God’s Word together with them, pray together, and share one another’s burdens. All ten (In the past few weeks we have had an extra man from the village join us making it eleven) of these men have so much potential. They have a heart for God, the have a heart for His Word, and they have a heart for their people.

If this country is going to be reached for Christ, it won’t be the missionaries who will do it. God will use men such as these to reach their own people!

While in the States, Lord willing, we will be staying in touch with most of them via Google-Hangout and I have given them reading and scripture memorization assignments from the Book of Acts to work on while I am gone. I thought I would share an email I received a couple days before leaving Cambodia from one of these men with you. It was a real blessing. You don’t get letters like this often, but when you do it reminds you, it’s worth it all.

“Brother Johnny!

We will miss you when you’re at the state. I’m very thankful that God sent you to help His work in Cambodia. And I’m very thankful that you listened to God’s voice and followed his will here in Cambodia.

 I know for foreigner to live in Cambodia it is not easy. Since I know you, and have had the privilege to study the bible from you, soul winning with you, and spent time with you, I can see that Jesus lives inside you. Brother Johnny, you may not know this, but you and your family are a BIG blessing to our church, my brothers and my family. Thank you for your Godly example, thank you for your investment and passing down the Truth to us.

 You have helped my brothers and myself a lot, like how to have a proper walk with God, prayer, and soul winning. Thank you for being a part of this team. We will truly miss to when you’re gone. You’re labor is not in vain. I am glad to have learned so much from you. The truth that you have taught we will pass to others. So that God’s name may be exalted. We will pray for your trip! God bless you.”

Please pray for Vannak, Man, Sinath, Kosal, Both, Abraham, San, Ra, Sen, Tom (that’s his English nickname J), and Ly to continue to grow in their passion for Christ and for the cause of Christ in this part of the world!

As I mentioned in our previous blog update, I will be in the States for two months. During this two month period of time, Lord willing, I will be in three different states, in three Missions’ Conferences–including our home church’s Missions’ Conference. I will also be teaching an Intensive at Pacific Baptist Bible College on Missions’ and Discipleship, along with being in at least seven other churches. While I am traveling, Lord willing, I will have my new book with me called, “Peeking Through the 1040 Window: Why it Matters to God and Why it Should Matter to Us.”

Please pray that God will use my time in the states to help folks awaken to the great need in Southeast Asia, China, and the rest of the 1040 Window!

Speaking of the 1040 Window and the great need for laborers, a few days ago, I posted the following words with the picture below on Instagram, Twitter, and Google+

Far too many of God’s ships [Christians] are sitting in safe and secure harbors, rather than sailing the seas of God’s eternal purpose for which they were created by the Wise Ship Builder (Colossians 1:16-8; Acts 1:8; Revelation 5:9; 7:9)!

My wife and I, along with Joy and Susanna are ever grateful for your prayers and your financial support!

God has been really good over the last few weeks since we returned from the “Creative Access Nation.” Of course, God is always good but you know what I mean. When you are in this part of the world (where Buddhism has been entrenched for thousands of years and they tend to see Christianity as the religion of the foreigners) to be able to witness an individual truly come to Christ, more often than not, takes time. In fact, it takes lots of time for most! Yet, over the past couple of weeks we have seen a handful of folks trust Jesus as their Savior.

The day after our “Celebration Service” we had Naren over our house for a meal. We have referred to Naren often in previous updates. We have been working with her now for over six months. She is the 28-year old young lady who is the manager of a Coffee Bean here in Phnom Penh. She’s the young lady who had never seen or heard of a Bible in her life until I opened up my Bible to share something with her a few months ago. After some pizza and fellowship, I once again began to explain the Gospel to Naren. While Naren speaks and understands English fairly well, I knew I needed someone to help me and interpret so she could hear it in her “heart language.” Man’s wife Kanha came to the rescue. While Naren did not trust Christ she got a little closer to making a decision for Christ!

Please pray for Naren’s salvation!

Over the last four months Vannak and I have been working with a group of extremely impoverished folks from Steung Meanchey. Lord willing, some time in the near future we will be planting a church in Steung Meanchey. As I mentioned in our last update, ten of them, along with their children, attended our “Celebration Service.” Just a couple days later, one of the men we have been working with trusted Christ as Vannak and I, once again, shared the Gospel with him. His name is Sung, please do keep him in your prayers. Then we turned to his wife Thy and asked her what was keeping her from trusting Christ and she then told us she had trusted Christ on her own. Well, amen! Then just a while later, Thia told Vannak that she too, had trusted Christ on her own.

Please pray for the spiritual growth of Sung, Thy, and Thia and for Nee’s salvation!

The blessings just kept coming!

A few days later, while on our regular Saturday visitation, Man was busy sharing the Gospel with a very ill grandmother and Sara was encouraging a brand new believer and his wife. I was trying to keep a handful of children busy by playing with them. While doing so, I was handing out candy to the children. One mother brought her child to get some candy too. She started talking to me. Only one problem there, I had no idea what she was saying. 🙂 To make a long story short, the woman, named Sony, eventually brought Man and I to her shack (pictured below) and we took about an hour and a half and shared the Gospel with her and her mother. Sony said she understood and wanted to trust Christ. I had Man lead her in a word of prayer. Sony was in church the next day with her two children and again on Wednesday evening with a visitor – her mother!

Please pray for Sony’s spiritual growth and that her mother will get saved!

Over the past few months we have been working with a family. We have mentioned Wanita from Nigeria and her cousins Isabel, Vanessa, and Basil in a few of our past posts. Wanita was saved in Nigeria and has been living here in Phnom Penh for the past two years. She had been looking for a church and God orchestrated our meeting her. Isabel, Vanessa, and Basil are half Nigerian and half Khmer and were Buddhists. About three weeks ago Basil trusted Christ and was baptized during our “Celebration Service.” Joy and Sue have been working with and praying for the girls for the past couple of months. This week I had the opportunity to meet with Isabel and Vanessa, answer a few of their questions, share the Gospel with them, and they trusted Christ. They were as ready as you could possibly be to get saved. I am very grateful for the investment of my daughter and niece into their lives preparing them to trust Christ!

Please pray for Isabel and Vanessa to grow in their faith!

In just a few days I will be flying to the states. I will be there for two months. During that two month period, Lord willing, I will be in three different states, in three Missions’ Conferences–including our home church’s Missions’ Conference. I will also be teaching an Intensive at Pacific Baptist Bible College on Missions’ and Discipleship, along with being in at least seven other churches. I have a few more churches pending at the moment. I sure do covet your prayers during this time period. While I am traveling, Lord willing, I will have my new book with me called, “Peeking Through the 1040 Window: Why it Matters to God and Why it Should Matter to Us.”

Please pray that God will use my time in the states to help folks awaken to the great need in Southeast Asia, China, and the rest of the 1040 Window!

Our last service in the “Creative Access Nation” was a tremendous blessing. Pastor Dwight Tomlinson preached for us. We had four illegal house churches represented for that Wednesday evening service. The place was packed to overflowing. It is amazing how much potential can be found in those churches. This is especially true in the three house churches that are reaching primarily nationals (one of the churches is a Filipino congregation). There’s just so much potential in this country. Approximately forty percent of the country is under the age of 15. These young people are so much more open to “new ideas” and “new ways” than their parents or grandparents were, and this is good news for the Good News. Every one of the services we were in, including the Wednesday PM “Combined Service,” was (counting the nationals only) somewhere between 90-95 percent under the age of 25. I remember reading a few years ago that this country, at the time, was considered the YOUNGEST NATION IN ASIA. 

Please pray that many in this country will get a vision for the harvest, especially among the young people!!!

This past Sunday was our “Celebration Service.” Every six weeks or so, all of our different ministries gather together in Phnom Penh to worship Christ and celebrate God’s goodness over the previous six weeks. It is always a great joy to see the folks coming from the different villages and to hear the different groups singing and sharing their testimonies. Of course, the food is always excellent! 🙂

It was nice to have Pastor and Mrs. Tomlinson with us for the service. They flew into the country with us and are with us for just about a week. It was also a blessing to have so many of the folks (I think ten adults) that Vannak and I have been working with from Steung Menchey in the service along with their children. Most of them have never attended our church. In fact, only two of them have ever set their feet inside of a any church service. We also had 18 deaf men and women in the service. Grace is doing a tremendous job. Praise the Lord! And, to add to all of the other blessings, we had twelve new converts baptized, including an elderly, disabled woman.

Please pray that God will continue to bless the many different ministries here in Cambodia!

Today, just before sending this update out, we held our annual Worker’s Training Seminar. We had about forty people in the different sessions.  Of course, not all of our workers were able to make it because of work and school.  A few of those who did come are not pictured below.  Brother Dave Board, Pastor Tomlinson, and I all taught. Pastor Tomlinson taught two sessions that were extremely helpful. Talking about potential. There was definitely a boatload of potential in that room today. There are so many people in Cambodia and the rest of Southeast Asia who need Jesus and if they are going to be reached we absolutely need more laborers.

I recently posted the following words on Instagram and Twitter:

“It never ceases to amaze me, how, on a regular basis (including today), I meet people who have not only not heard the Gospel (that’s a given), but have never heard of Jesus, or if they have, the name ‘Jesus’ means nothing more to them than the name ‘Johnny,’ or ‘Jeff.’”

Please pray for more laborers to come and serve in the 1040 Window!

Thank you for your prayers and your financial support,

Johnny, Denise, Joy and Sue

We are presently in the “Creative Access Nation.”  My wife and I, Joy, and Sue flew into the country about a week ago. I had the privilege to preach/teach on Wednesday and Thursday PM, along with Sunday AM and PM. On Wednesday and Thursday evening I preached a two part message called, “For the Sake of the Gospel” [1 Corinthians 9:16-24]. On Sunday I taught/preached three times. Two messages on the importance of discipling those we win to Christ and one message on “The More Excellent Way” [Matthew 22:37-39; John 13:34-35; 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:1-3, 13]. This message dealt with loving God, loving each other, and loving the world with the love of Jesus!

It has been a real joy to be with our friends and fellow missionaries, Koumaly and Darath Thongdy, and T.J. and Kam Slaymon. Of course, being able to spend time with Sen and a host of others was a real blessing. Another special treat was to have Touch and Debra Keo, along with their children here.

Please continue to pray for our friends from the “Creative Access Nation” as they continue to shine for Christ in the midst of difficult circumstances!

Pastor Dwight Tomlinson and his wife Gayle met us here in the “Creative Access Nation.”  Pastor Tomlinson, as many of you know, has been in the ministry for over 40 years and has pastored the Liberty Baptist Church in Newport Beach for the last 25 years.  A few years ago God began to stir in his heart to become more involved with missions, especially in the 1040 Window. He and his church were already very involved with missions, but the Tomlinson’s believed God had more in store for them. After visiting with us in the “Creative Access Nation” two years ago, Brother Tomlinson felt led by God to start a new ministry called Barnabas1040.com. This ministry is a ministry that helps to support national pastors as they seek to reach their people with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ!

The Tomlinson’s are now in a time of transition, as they will be turning the church over to a new pastor and going full-time into leading Barnabas1040.com. You can read more about this at http://libertybaptistchurch.org/pastoral-announcement I would encourage you to go to their website at http://barnabas1040.com and seriously consider prayerfully supporting this much needed ministry.

The next few days that we are together in this country were will be very busy. We have meetings with a couple of national pastors that Barnabas1040.com is presently supporting, a combined service with three different house churches, and then we are off to Phnom Penh, Cambodia together.

Please pray for Pastor Tomlinson, his wife, the Liberty Baptist Church, and Barnabas1040.com during this time of transition!

Friends,

I am excited about the release of my new book called, Peeking Through the 1040 Window: Why it Matters to God and Why it Should Matter to Us. It isn’t a long book but I believe a much needed book. It has been on my heart for quite sometime. It is presently being edited and should be ready to roll of the press in just a couple weeks. It should be ready for my short trip to the states at the end of the summer. I asked my dear friend Pastor Dwight Tomlinson to write a foreword for the book which he graciously agreed to do. Here are his thoughts about the book:

I love to read. Centuries ago the Apostle Paul gave these inspired words of advice to a young preacher. “Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.” I Timothy 4:13. 

It has been my practice for more than 40 years in ministry to “give attendance to reading”. Rarely have I come across a book that has moved me like Johnny Esposito’s book, “Peeking Through the 1040 Window.” This powerful book comes from the heart of a man that did more than merely take a casual glance at what he saw. What Johnny saw changed his life and as a result it changed many others.

Mine is one of the lives changed as a result of Johnny peeking through the 1040 window. I visited Johnny in the restricted access nation of which he writes in this book. My life was changed. It was as a result of that peek through the 1040 Window that God laid upon my heart to begin a Mission’s Organization to help get the gospel to some of the neediest countries in the world.

As you read this book, please ask the Holy Spirit to open your eyes to the needs and opportunities that await us in the 1040 window. God is raising up a movement of people whose hearts have been touched as a result of lifting up their eyes and seeing the massive harvest fields of the 1040 Window. 

Perhaps your life will be changed, as was mine, by “peeking through the 1040 Window”

Dwight Tomlinson

Pastor Liberty Baptist Church Newport 

Founder of Barnabas1040.com

Please pray that God will use this book to inspire many to pray for, give to, and seriously and prayerfully consider going to the “uttermost parts of the earth.”

I am also working on another book–a sequel if you will–called Don’t Let the Dream Die.  We might end up calling it Keep the Dream Alive. This book, while being along the same lines as the previous mentioned book and dealing with the great neglected harvest fields in the 1040 Window, will also  revolve much around the dream that God laid upon my brother’s heart for the “unreached peoples” of Cambodia, which began some 30 years ago in North Chicago.  It will also deal with the continual enlargement of that dream until the “dreaded day” when Pastor Joe was hospitalized on October 3, 2013. Lord willing, my sister-in-law Mary will be working with me on this book. If the Lord permits, Mary will write a few chapters in the book.

Please pray that God will give us the grace, the wisdom, and the ability to write a book that will challenge many to pray, give, and to GO!  

In previous updates we have mentioned Wanita a few times. She is a Christian from Nigeria who Man and I met one Saturday while out visiting. My wife is now discipling her on a weekly basis. We have been asking for prayer for the salvation of her cousins (Basil, Vanessa, Isabel). They are half Khmer and half Nigerian and have lived in Cambodia their entire lives. They are also Buddhist!

We are glad to report that Basil got saved about two week’s ago after our Youth Conference and his older sisters have been coming to church, the Teen Girl’s Fellowship, spending time with Joy and Sue, and asking a lot of questions.

Please pray for Wanita and Basil’s spiritual growth and for Vanessa and Isabel to trust Christ! 

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As we mentioned in our previous update, Sen came to visit us from the “Creative Access Nation” and was with us for a little over two weeks. In addition to Sen being with us Amie Richard, a missionary from Thailand, was also with us for a week. It was a blessing to have these two young ladies staying with my wife, Joy, Sue, and me. We had a great time!

Please pray that God will use Sen and Amie as they return to their countries!

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