Thieves Steal Ministry Motorcycles!

Brother Pilot emailed me yesterday and informed me that thieves entered the orphanage property and stole both motorcycles used by the orphanage and by the young men who are planting churches in the rural villages. This is a devastating thing to our Cambodian brethren who are preaching the gospel and starting churches. Two motorcycles over there will cost about $1,500 each to replace. If you or your church can help, that would be a tremendous help to these brothers in Christ! Here are some pictures of the Tro Kiet First Bible Baptist Church and some recent improvements made to the building. By God's grace and the help of my dear friend from Colorado, they were able to put in a cement slab and build some benches for the church. Praise the Lord!

There is a really great children's ministry going out there in Tro Kiet, as well as about 25 adults worshipping the Lord and learning the Bible!

Here you can see the cement slab and the new benches.

A view of the new cement slab and new benches for the Tro Kiet First Bible Baptist Church

Every year we try to give out some school supplies to the Cambodian children in many villages of rural Cambodia

Update On Cindy's Health

CIndy had two doctor appointments today. The first one was at the dermatologist which handles her melanoma issues. She wants Cindy to have this test done, but trouble is, the place where it's done won't take insurance (which is weird). You just have to pay out of pocket and I think Cindy said they want $300 to do the test. Then Cindy went to the other doctor who deals with the lung and heart problems. He said that her lungs look good and that he doesn't need to see her anymore. So, that's good. So, the synopsis is that we need to focus on the melanoma skin cancer issue now. That doctor said that Cindy needs this medical creme to apply to her face or she's going to eventually have some rather unsightly holes on her face.

Well, we'd appreciate your prayers about all of this. I've got a couple of weeks left before I return home. I'm on the Chippewa reservation doing some pulpit supply for a really needy and struggling church.

New Orphan Photos

I thought many of you might like to see the most recent photos of some of the orphans in Cambodia. Even though we are now primarily ministering to Native Americans/First Nations indigenous people, we are still doing all we can to help out the orphan ministry we established in Cambodia. There are always more needs than we can possibly meet. If you'd like to help, just drop me an email at potawatomipreacher@gmail.com.

Field Change

I just returned from Canton, Ohio, where I attended the National BBFI Fellowship meeting. We met with the Missions Committee and changed our field from Cambodia to Potawatomi Indians. We truly appreciate all your kind words, encouragement, and prayers. It has been a difficult time with Cindy's illnesses.

It was good to be able to have some fellowship with pastors and missionaries in Canton. Other missionaries tell of the same struggles that we've been experiencing. Some missionaries have resigned and become pastors here in the U.S. Others have had to stay off the field longer in order to raise more support.

I'm going to begin taking meetings to raise more support. Please email me at max4missions@gmail.com in order to arrange a date for us to visit your church. God bless you all!

News From Cambodia

Sophal, one of our orphans, and holds the distinction of being our first boy, led 30 people to Christ in the month of August! To God be the glory! We're so happy for his growth in the Lord and His concern for souls.

According to information received from a missionary colleague in Cambodia, the annual evangelistic camp was a great spiritual victory! From August 2nd to September 5th, there were five weeks of evangelistic camps. During that time, 13,077 people attended the camp. 2,667 precious souls responded to the plain and straight gospel message by trusting Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. To God be the glory! Praise the Lord for the local churches who worked so hard to get these souls to the camp. Now pray as the churches conduct follow-up and discipleship ministry among these new believers. Thanks must go out to the Rawlings Foundation for sponsorships and for the use of their facilities to conduct the camp. Many of the men we've trained were the preachers for this 2009 Evangelistic Youth Camp. Pray for these young men as they boldly proclaim the gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ across Cambodia!
Cambodia Baptist Bible College graduated 3 young ladies and 6 young men this year! The three young ladies were from our church and three of the six young men were also from our church. We are thankful to the Lord for their diligence and faithfulness to "stick it out" and finish Bible school. Now they need your prayers as they take the gospel into Cambodia and beyond.

Ministry Among Oklahoma Indians

God has opened a door of ministry for us among the Choctaw Indians of Southeast Oklahoma. We'll be working with and assisting Bob and Cala Williams in the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. There is so much that needs to be done! In just a month, we have seen the tragic result of drunkenness and abuse in the lives of many young people in this region.

This open door came at the right time for the Williams family and for us. Cindy still has some ongoing medical issues that are continuing to be treated at Dallas area doctors and hospitals. We are close enough to be able to travel freely to the Choctaw Nation while still living in the Dallas metro area.

Specifically, we will be working with Bro. Williams and his associate missionary, Bro. Sonny Dense. Bro. Sonny has been having some diabetes-related health issues. He needed some help and the Lord brought us all together. We've been asked to come in and assist the Choctaw Baptist mission work in Swink, Oklahoma. It's a blessing to be able to help these brothers as we plant and establish churches together. We have committed to helping these brother missionaries for a length of one year and during this time, we will seek the Lord's direction for future Native American ministry.

It's a blessing to talk with many pastors and receive assurances of continuing prayer and financial support. God bless you all!

I do have some prayer requests:
1. Car trouble: We have a suspension problem with our car and need funds to repair it. It will cost about $500.
2. We need to raise additional support. Could your church help us with additional support to conduct this mission work among the Native American Indians of North America?
3. I won't give the names, but there are some youth in our Choctaw churches and missions that need prayer. Their lives are marked tragically by abuse. Only the Lord God can heal these hurts. Please pray for the youth of Choctaw Baptist.

Ministry Transition

Cindy and I, along with Leah and Kayla, would like to thank you for your faithful prayers during what has been a very trying time. Cindy’s health battle has been really tough. First, she contracted TB. She’s been treated and is now cured. However, she is now being treated for degenerative disk disease, bulging disks, and fibromyalgia. And then there’s the ongoing problem of melanoma. Cindy is going to continue to need medical care here in the U.S. Through all of this, God has shown us that we should make the U.S. our base of ministry operations. God has confirmed this in our hearts in so many ways, it is amazing! God's power and presence through all of this has been so clearly evident.

The orphanage has been transferred to the direction of fellow missionaries, Drs. Leo and Mary Tago. The children are in excellent care. If you are supporting orphans, we are still forwarding your help on to Cambodia for their care. The same goes for supporting church planters in Cambodia.

On the U.S. spiritual battlefront, we will now be working with indigenous Native American Indians . We trust that you will continue to support us as we continue to serve our Lord in this needy ministry.

Sometimes we wonder why things happen the way they do, but it’s during those times we truly learn what Romans 8:28 means! We put a lot of hard work into Cambodia, seeing over 2,000 souls saved in our ministries, not to mention the over 10,000 we’ve witnessed come to Christ through the cooperative efforts of our missionaries in youth camps, conferences, and sports outreach programs! We miss Cambodia. Please continue to pray for us and continue to support us as we take the gospel to a neglected people group right here in our own backyard: The tribes of Native North American Indians.

In Christ,
The Haas Family
Billy, Cindy, Leah, and Kayla