January 15, 2019

Dear friends,

It’s a blessing to have the opportunity to provide you with a brief update on just a few of the things that the Lord is allowing us to see accomplished here in Cambodia. Thank you for your faithful partnership in the gospel. We could not be here doing what God has called us to do without you being there and playing the role that God has called you to play in order to see the gospel come to places like Cambodia.

BUILDING UPDATE

As you can see from these pictures, there is progress being made on the new property. Over the past two weeks the sewer lines have been installed, the electric has been brought into the property, a water well has been drilled, the foundation of the wall has been dug, and the wall has begun to be built. We are so grateful for the way that God has used His people to supply the needs up to this point. Not only has the land been paid for, in full, but there has been enough money to accomplish all the other things that have been done as well. Over the next couple of weeks we anticipate the wall being done. At that point we will be bringing in somewhere around 450-480 truckloads of dirt in order to raise the elevation of the land. If we don’t, we could easily be flooded out during the rainy season. Each truckload of dirt will be between $15-16.

You can see the progress on the property by viewing this video.

This past week we had a soul-winning conference at the church in Phnom Penh. It was a great blessing to have a few of our folks travel down from Romdeng village in northern Cambodia in order to participate in the conference. In addition to the folks in these pictures, there were three other young adult men who came as well. Please help us to pray that God will raise up a young married couple that will not just get saved, but who are qualified to be trained to eventually lead the outreach in Romdeng. Ideally it would be a couple who is from that part of the country and who are accustomed to living in that environment.

It was a blessing this past week to have the opportunity to lead Si and Saam to the Lord. For the past couple of years Saam has ridden her bike past our church in Phnom Penh as she sells potatoes up and down the streets of our neighborhood. Normally her face is covered by a mask to help keep out the dirt and so I had never actually seen her face. While Sinath and I met with her in her home and presented the gospel to her, she told us that she has been watching the people at the church and sees that they are all filled with joy. She has always desired to visit the church but she has been afraid that she would not be welcomed. Please pray that Si and Saam will grow in the Lord as we begin new believer discipleship with them every Tuesday afternoon. They live in a very crowded and noisy location that is not ideal for teaching, but it is important that we are willing to go to their home, sit on the floor with them, and patiently teach them the things that they need to know and do in order to live a Christian life that honors the Lord. Likewise, please pray for their 28 year old adult daughter who lives with them. I had the opportunity to meet her yesterday and hope to begin to reach out to her with the gospel.

Many of you might recall hearing of the young Muslim girl who got saved about 7 years ago as a result of the Children’s ministry in her village. When we were back stateside and visiting churches, I would often tell the story of how her strong testimony and unwillingness to compromise, even as a 9 year old girl, helped lead to her parents both being saved. She is now 16 years old and still faithful to the Lord! Tina is standing next to Debbie in the picture. Tina has been praying for many of her fellow classmates in her public school to be saved. She realizes that prayer alone is not enough – She needs to live the Christian life in front of them, and as they see the love of Christ and her consistent example, their hearts will be softened to the gospel. Because of the grace of God (the desire and the ability to joyfully obey Christ) Tina has a very good name in her school. That is why when the door was opened for her to clearly speak with her friends about their need for a personal Saviour, they were willing to listen to her. It has been a great blessing to see Theary and SreySrahs accept Jesus as their personal Saviour because of Tina’s example and boldness to live for the Lord at school! Please help pray for Theary and SreySrahs to grow in the Lord and for their parents to be saved. I am hoping to have the opportunity to meet Theary’s mother soon.

A couple of weeks ago I met Tina at the hardware store where he works. Since then we have been texting back and forth and have begun to build a relationship. Joshua and I had the opportunity to eat lunch with him in his home this past week. During the meal he told me that he is open to learning what it means to be a Christian. He was born into a belief system that offers him no hope of salvation, no forgiveness for sin, no relationship with a personal God, and no freedom from the power of darkness, and that teaches him to depend upon his own “good works” in hope that he will be reincarnated and have a more prosperous “next” life. We were stuck in traffic and arrived at his home 45 minutes late. His wife had to return back to the factory where she works just before we arrived as she only had an hour break. Please pray that Tina will seriously think about the things we taught him regarding his need for a personal Saviour. Also pray for the opportunity to meet his wife, Pe, and daughters Phoas and Peng.

Hout (on the right) and his entire family were saved a little over 3 years ago. His father, Tara, is a professor and has a great testimony where he teaches. One of his students, Tearak, recently accepted Christ and will be baptized soon. Tara teaches around 900 students and has opportunities on a daily basis to share the gospel as well as try and answer questions about the Bible and what it means to be a Christian. Tara’s burden for the lost has influenced Hout to have a burden for his own people as well. Hout is a first year student in our Bible college and is also involved in the outreach to Ondong village. Several months ago Hout began learning how to play several traditional Khmer instruments with the singular goal of using music as a way to spread the gospel among older folks who are normally not willing to listen to your typical soul-winner. A ministry like this has the potential to help open doors for the gospel to spread to places that are currently without any gospel witness whatsoever. I am sure that the enemy will work overtime to get him to follow after useless pursuits that will not result in the gospel going where it needs to go. Please pray that Hout will continue to be teachable and faithful to the vision that he believes God has given him.

We began a new term in the Bible college this past week. This term we are offering the following classes to our students: Child Development, 1 & 2 Peter, Acts, Cults 2, Discipling new believers, English, and Khmer grammar and writing. In the picture above, Brother Kosal is administering a diagnostic test to the students to try and assess their ability to effectively read and comprehend literature in their own language as well as write cohesive sentences and paragraphs regarding various topics that were discussed in class. I didn’t sit in on the class but from what I heard it was fairly difficult for most of them. Kosal recently resigned from teaching at one of the top English schools here in Phnom Penh in order to serve alongside of us full-time in the ministry. Thank God for Kosal and his wife, Phalley, and for their willingness to unreservedly surrender their lives to the cause of Christ among their own people. Please help pray for God to supply Kosal’s needs as he enters this new stage of his life in ministry.

Because of God’s grace,

Dave & Debbie