November

June 27, 2012


1 John 3:16, “By this we know love,
that he laid down his life for us, and
we ought to lay down our lives for
the brothers.” There are many ways
that this can be lived out. For some,
it is actually dying for the sake of
the Gospel. For others, it is a less
demanding sacrifice but a sacrifice
just the same. Life on life is my
philosophy for ministry. I believe
that I must give my life for the sake
of the Gospel. My life is not my own
but belongs to God and He has
called me to love my neighbor as
myself. But how is this fleshed out?
How do I lay down my life for my
brother?
In Cambodia, this is seen in several
ways.
1. Choosing one person to live
with me and discipling her
and caring for her. In the
past this person was Roath
but since her marriage the
Lord has provided another
person to come and live
with me and her name is
Lida.
2. Making regular trips to visit
families in the neighborhood
in order to spend time with
them and  help them as

needed (helping to sell the
food at their business,
checking their blood
pressure, watching their
children for a few hours
while the parents work)
3. Investing in the lives of my
students by spending time
with them and teaching
them the Word and allowing
them access into my life so
they can see the Gospel lived
out on a daily basis.
Relationships are the key to my
ministry here in Cambodia but
relationships are also notoriously
messy. They require a lot of wisdom
in order to navigate them well and
bring fruit to the lives of all the
people involved. It would be much
easier to shield myself from
relationships, do a respectable task
to help spread the Gospel and keep
myself from harm. But this is not
what God has called me to do. I
must wander into the murky waters
of life on life discipleship and give
my life for my fellow brothers and
trust the Lord to provide me with
the grace and wisdom that is very
much needed. Please pray with me
for these relationships. Praise God
that they are flourishing.  


Relational Update:

My friend Drew recently came to
visit me for a week. He is from my
home church in Alabama. It was
wonderful to see a familiar face
and it was a great encouragement
to know that my church was
thinking about me and desiring to
see ways that they can help with
God’s work in Cambodia. He was a
great help in visiting people and
helping to build relationships with
the people in my neighborhood.
All are welcome to come so please
follow his lead and come to the
wonderful country of Cambodia!!!!



Funds Needed!!!

The title says it all!! The Toul Sangke Church plant is in
need of money. At this point, we have enough money to
continue with the current ministry for a few more months.
Below is some info about our outreaches that we are
involved in and our monthly need.
Outreaches
1. English classes to factory workers, university
students and children from Tuesday-Saturday
2. Computer classes to factory workers and university
students on Sunday
3. Business outreach in helping stores with their
inventory and organization  and teaching basic
business principles on Friday and Saturday
4. Bible studies for factory workers, university
students and children on Monday and Saturday
5. Prototype church service for the community of
Toul Sangke on Sunday evenings (this will turn into
the actual church service in the future)
Monthly operating costs
Rent and utilities-$230 per month
Administration fees, internet, etc--$80 per month
Special events--$100 per month
Translators--$110 per month
Total monthly need--$520
If you are able to help with this need, please give to the
Toul Sangke church plant account #94831



Travel and Events
Schedule:

July 30th-Aug. 11th—hosting 2 
short teams from America

Aug. 13th—spend 2 ½ weeks in 
the states with my family

Sept. 1st-Sept. 29th—Parents visit 
me for a month!! (the previous
trip was cancelled)


Books I’m reading:

Philosophy and The Christian
Faith by Colin Brown
The Art of War by Sun Tzu

Prayer Requests:

-Pray for the Khmer people who
are coming to the Bible studies.
We have several that are coming
regularly and very interested in
hearing about Jesus.
-Pray for my teammates at Toul
Sangke; Paul and Susan Lee,
John Gim, Bill and Akemi Rhea,
Hong. Please pray for us to work
well together and be loving and
gracious with one another.
-Pray for my seminary studies. I
have a class that is ending soon
and I am finding it difficult to
manage all my tasks.
-Pray for my relationships with
the people in my life. I want to
push them towards Christ and
love them well. I am a very
selfish person so this is difficult
to do. Please pray for me to
repent of my sins and follow
Jesus with an obedient heart.

The Harvest is Plentiful

I have spent the past six weeks teaching a Bible study with the female students from my English class. I have around 10-12 women joining me every week to learn about Jesus. As I watch their faces and listen to their questions, I see the struggle going on in their hearts. For some, this is the first time they have ever heard of Jesus. As they hear the gospel for the first time or, for those who have heard of him before, hear it on a consistent basis, I pray for their hearts. I cannot change them. I cannot convince them of the truth of the gospel and the lies of what they have believed for their whole lives. I can only share the truth of the gospel and live it out for them. This is where the rest of the verse, Matt. 9:37, is vividly shown. Living out the gospel is just as important as proclaiming the truth. I have known these women and been involved in their lives for the past 12 years. One year ago, I asked them to join a Bible study with me but none of them came. This time, they all stayed. When I asked them why, they told, “Because you have been faithful to us for a year.” I have been faithful to teaching them English and loving them and now they want to know about Jesus. Praise God that He has used this broken, wandering and inconsistent vessel to accomplish His will. He is drawing a people to Himself and it includes the students in my English class. Praise God!!

I ask you to pray for one particular girl named Leda. These English classes are part of an outreach in order to build relationships with the people living in Toul Sangke, which is where I live as well, in order to begin a church in about one more year. Since we are in the beginning stages of this church plant, I attend an established Khmer church every Sunday. One of my students, Leda, has been coming with me. She is 17 years old, extremely bright, and has a very gentle spirit. (Pray I don’t crush her with my robust spirit!) We had lunch the other day and I told her that I think she is close to believing in Jesus. She smiled and told me that I was right. She wears red bracelets made of string in order to ward off evil spirits. I am hoping and praying for the day when we can cut those strings because she has been set free by the grace given to her in the gospel and becomes a child of God. “And you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32

Relational Update

I have a very good friend here named Chenda. She is my Khmer tutor (still study every day!!) and she loves the Lord. She is my right hand man in so many of these outreach events that I plan. I am so thankful that the Lord has blessed me with her and pray that our friendship continues to grow as we seek to serve the Lord and each other.

We have a new guy that has joined our team to help with the Toul Sangke ministry. His name is John Gim and he will be with us for 11 months. He is an IT guy so he is heading up the computer classes. I am so thankful to have him here helping us with this work!!! He is a wonderful brother in the Lord.

Thank You

Thanks to Rainbow Presbyterian Church for buying this motorcycle for me. It has been such a blessing and I get so much more work done now!!! Thank you very much. (The lonely bike in the background is still used for exercise purposes and short trips.)

Travel and Events Schedule

Feb. 29th-March 5th: Trip to Singapore visiting friends and speaking at Providence Presbyterian Church

March 16th-17th: SEAP conference in CA. I will be skyping in on this conference

Books I’m reading

When People are Big and God is Small by Edward T. Welch

All of Grace by C.H. Spurgeon

The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

Prayer Requests

-Pray for my relationship with the Lord. He is showing me the strong and deep idols in my heart and it is a time of repenting and rejoicing for me.

-Pray for the outreach at Toul Sangke

1. English classes for factory workers Wed-Fri from 5:30am- 6:30am and Sat 4:00pm-6:00pm

2. English classes for university students starting next month (there is a university in our community) Tues-Fri for one hour (time is not set yet)

3. English classes for children Mon-Fri from 5:30pm-6:30pm

4. Computer classes for factory workers and university students Sun from 4:00pm- 6:00pm

5. Business English class for local business owners starting next month

6. Bible studies on Sat evenings (girls and boys separate) and fellowship/bible study on Sun evenings (all together). The vision is to have the Sun evening time transition into the church service.

-Pray for my partner in this work, Paul Lee. He will be returning to the states with his family at the end of April for rest and support raising for this project. Pray for people and churches to have a desire to invest in this work through prayer and finances. We currently have enough money to keep the ministry going until the end of June.