What An Amazing Change!

This is one of our orphans. His name is Tut. But this picture was taken a little over a year ago. This picture was taken on his first day in the orphanage. He was sick. He was hungry. He was scared. Here is his story. Tut's mother died of HIV/AIDS-related illness. We are told that she may have been a prostitute. When she died, another woman with two sons took him in off the street. Soon after, this mother died also. Now three boys were left without a mother. There wasn't a father in any of these situations. So, with no one to care for them, they headed out into the streets of Phnom Penh. We learned of their plight as they trudged down the street in front of the church. Dragging burlap bags behind them, they scavenged the sides of the street for cans and bottles. This was their way of finding something of value to sell so that they would have something to eat that day. We began to talk to them and find out where they came from. Then we went to that area and began to ask around. We finally found an aged grandmother and some neighbors who knew them. We did the necessary paperwork and brought them into our care. Pray for these boys: Sut (the oldest), Pov, and Tut (pictured in this post).

Now, here's the change! Here is Tut in a photo taken yesterday. What an amazing change! To God be the glory!

Kayla the English Teacher

Last night I opened Kayla's bedroom door and found a mini-classroom set-up. In this photo, she's teaching English to our newest orphan, Sopheak. At various times last night and the night before, she has had up to four people sitting there learning English. Go Kayla!

Engaging the Enemy

It is always wonderful when we can tell you of great blessings and victories. In our experiences here in Cambodia, we have had plenty of blessings. But life here on this revolving globe is a spiritual battle, and there are casualties. I learned today of the spiritual downfall of one of our Bible College students. He is a kid about whom you would never expect to hear such bad news. He has left the fellowship of our church, is drinking heavily, and has moved in with a young woman who is divorced and has children of her own. Please pray for Vannak. We are praying that he'll repent.

One of our orphans, the oldest, has left our care and responsibility. We did all we could to help him, but in the end, he was not willing to follow the rules. He was endangering himself and the other children. He is already in "the far country" and drinking, gambling, and involved in a gang. Pray for Sina. He is 15 years old.

Today's service at the church was simply a continuation of this ongoing spiritual battle. I was preaching on the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit. It was as if the powers of darkness moved into the room as I tried to preach. While preaching about how the Holy Spirit's work is to bring conviction of sin, it seemed as though the demons showed up at the church. Unsaved visitors began to talk loudly and chatter. An evil atmosphere descended upon the room. I was able to pray and preach my way through the episode in spite of the spiritual opposition, by the grace of God.

A great old camp meeting phrase is "shoutin' time." It means "a time of rejoicing." We have our "shoutin' times" but we want to let you know about the time in the trenches as well. There isn't much "shoutin' time" in the trenches of spiritual warfare. The Bible tells us to "endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." This we will do, by God's grace, and with your prayers.

Giving Thanks

The Bible says, "Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving..." Today is Thanksgiving Day. We have already finished our time of thanks, fellowship, and food with family and brethren. Right now, many of you are up and cooking, getting things ready for a big day. We are so thankful for all of you! We are thankful that you pray for us, support us, and remember this ministry. As Colossians 1:3 says, "We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you." God bless you all!

P.S. Go Cowboys!

Cindy's Biopsy

Just a quick update. Cindy's report came to us by email tonight. Her tumor was benign. Praise the Lord! Thank you all for praying!

Medical Trip to Bangkok

Well, we got back from Thailand today. Our flight back to Cambodia was an early flight and our wake up call was at 3:30 this morning. So, as you can imagine, we're tired. Cindy's dermatologist found another suspicious looking mole and did another biopsy. We will have the results sometime in the middle of next week. My checkup went good, however I received the expected warnings about cholesterol and high blood pressure. The doctor said that I need to lose some weight, exercise more, and change my diet. I'll update you next week when we hear from the hospital on Cindy's biopsy.

In the meantime, please don't forget to read our previous post on some special needs we are facing. The school teacher for one of our orphans said that we need to get his eyes checked. Actually, all of the orphans need to see the dentist and the eye doctor.

Some Current Needs

We have some very important needs in our ministry right now. Some churches take up Christmas offerings for missions, so we want to let you know about these things. Since the beginning of our ministry to the orphans, we have been always in need of support for them. We are in desperate need of regular monthly support for the orphans. This will help us house, feed, educate and take care of our orphans. Even though we are tremendously short of needed funds, the Lord is bringing us three more children. Another orphanage in Phnom Penh has had some leadership problems. As a result, we are taking three of their children temporarily, perhaps permanently. We know and love these children already and our hearts are open to follow God's will in this. We need to raise an additional $1,000 per month support for the orphan ministry. Would you please pray about supporting our orphanage monthly? James 1:27 tells us that "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." Psalm 82:3 tells us, "Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy."

We are still trying to raise about $5000 to $6000 more to finish our building. That's the "big ticket" item. We are so close to being done with this building, but just need that extra little boost at the end. We want to finish off the roof by putting a sloped roof and screening it all in. We need to finish all the bathrooms in the church and get the plumbing finished.

We are also trying to buy a motorcycle. There's a man selling a good, used Honda 250 cc dirt bike for $1,200. We'd like to buy it if the Lord provides. My wife would use the van we have for the family and the orphans, while I would use the dirt bike.

Please pray about helping us with these needs. We do appreciate it very much!

Baptism Photos from Prey Veng

"Former Buddhist Monk Rheeum Gets Baptized"


I got some photos scanned from our baptismal in Prey Veng. 26 have been baptized in the month of October in our two churches. In Prey Veng, we baptize in the muddy and dirty water of the Mekong River. Every time I baptize in the Mekong, I itch for months afterwards. The first photo is of myself and Rheeum. He is a young man who was a monk a few years, following in the path of Buddha. Seeing that Buddhism does not give the answers for which he was seeking, he opened his heart to other things. The Holy Spirit was able to reach his heart with conviction and he trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as His Saviour. He is now a new creature in Christ and studying the Bible. We praise the Lord for Rheeum and all the others there in Prey Veng who are learning more about the Saviour and studying the Bible.



The four young men pictured in this photo all trusted Christ during the week while I was down there teaching the Book of Proverbs. Pray for all of these young men as they learn to walk with Christ.

The Cobra

Well, as promised, the story of the cobra. A few weeks ago, it was early afternoon at the church, maybe 1:30 or 2:00. One of the ladies who cooks for the Manna children's feeding ministry got up from her siesta and walked from the back to the front door. When she stepped out the front door and onto the tile, lo, and behold, before her was a five foot long black cobra, hood fanned out and hissing at her. She screamed and called for one of the Bible College students to help. A student came and tried to kill it with a stick. Then the Vietnamese neighbor from next door came and he finally killed the cobra. That night our neighbors had cobra for supper. Mmmm mmmm good!