Welcome to Updates from the Field, produced by Hard Cry Missionary Society. Welcome to Updates from the Field. I'm here with Matt, and we would like to share with you some of the highlights of our latest trip to Cambodia. So Matt, what did the pastor's conference look like? Well, we met together with a group of pastors that, I guess, HeartCry has worked with them for several years now, maybe 12 years or so. And so we went to a place that was several hours outside of the capital city in Cambodia. And we just spent a couple of days with the pastor studying the scriptures. And so the theme really was about running the race. We talked about the goal of the race. We talked about disciplines for the race. We talked about endurance in the race. And then finally, we talked about finishing the race. And we tried to relate these both to their lives as followers of Christ as well as to their lives as pastors and as ministers of the gospel. For our audience, for our supporters, so when we speak of a pastor's conference, you know, sometimes what comes to mind is what we see here in America in a nice auditorium, hundreds of people, but what is the setting for the pastor's conference? Yeah, so it was a totally different setting than what you might expect here in the U.S. It was just a laid-back setting. We were all in a circle. I think there were, what, like 15 people or so? And we were just sitting there and just studying the Scriptures together. And so it was not like what you would expect. from a pastor's conference here in the U.S. It was much smaller, much more intimate. There were times of worship. There were also times of sharing. There were reflections about the scriptures that were being taught. And so it was a really good time with these guys. One of the exciting things about this trip was we got to travel together. So before I came to HeartCry, you were the coordinator of Asia, but you're also living in Asia as a missionary, so it was an easy transition. So I've been back to Cambodia since the initial visit. many times, you not as much since you're serving as a missionary. So did you recognize any changes, particularly any spiritual maturation in the guys that we're partnering with? Yeah, absolutely. I think we first went there together in 2015, is that right? And then I went back in 2018 to teach. The first time that I went to Cambodia, though, was in 2008. And it was just, I think there were three or four pastors that were working with Shalom Mission to Cambodia. At the time, they were partnering with Action International. And so really, it was Action International that told us about this indigenous ministry that was reaching out to the different provinces of Cambodia. And it was just a small group of guys. The churches were small. I think many of them were immature as well. But as I've gone back over the years, and then 2015, and then 2018, and then just a couple of weeks ago, there has been a dramatic growth, I think, in the pastors' understanding of the scriptures, as well as just the breadth of the ministry there. I think there's, what, like 15 pastors, maybe? So 15 pastors now, and they're trying to reach out to every province of Cambodia and plant churches in each of these provinces. And so there's been a dramatic growth. And this is not something that you would see in one or two years, but as I look back over, you know, 12, 13 years of going to Cambodia, it's been something that's been very encouraging. And I thought another aspect that was exciting, not only seeing their spiritual, you know, maturity and growth as Christians and as pastors, but also their desire to evangelize, you know, in their own country. So maybe you can comment on their outreach. Yeah, so Pastor Chin Ho is the, he was the leader of Shalom Mission to Cambodia. He planted the first church there in Phnom Penh and he is now What was it, maybe like seven, eight years ago, he raised up another leader, Chentea, and gave her leadership of that church. Yeah, began to give the leadership over, I think. Yeah, and so he even said this himself, he feels gifted in planting and pioneering works, whereas he's maybe not as much gifted as a pastor. And so now he's reaching out into another province. It's in the northern part of Cambodia. It's called Mandokhari. It's right there on the Vietnam border. And he is reaching out to one of the tribal groups there called the Phnom people. I think the Phnom are like 76% animist. And so he's trying to reach into these animist peoples who, many of them still live in the forest. They still live very primitively. I think they work as farmers for much of the year, but then when their crops run out, then they are basically hunter-gatherers. And so he's trying to reach out to these people in Mandokiri. Yeah, so that was encouraging. It was very encouraging to hear about that ministry. JT, we also went to another place that is, I know, very near and dear to your heart. It was another part of Cambodia. Why don't you just give a little bit of an update on what we did there? Okay, yeah. So the Second Pastors Conference that we held was in Stone. It's about four, five-hour drive north of Phnom Penh, the capital. So we held a second pastor's conference. Again, there was about the same number of pastors, around 10 pastors that were gathered together. And we went over the same material that we had taught during the first pastor's conference, just encouraging them to run the race as Christians and as pastors. They're serving in some really hard places. Now, Cambodia has a degree of freedom, but it's largely a Buddhist country. Oftentimes, the pastors serve faithfully for years, and there's little visible fruit. And we just wanted to encourage them to remain faithful in proclaiming the Word, being faithful to what God has called them to do, and recognize that, ultimately, God is the one that judges, and He's the one that prospers, and we wanted them to remain faithful. Yeah. And so what was the setting of that place? So the setting for the second conference was at an orphanage that I and HeartCry are involved in. The orphanage started back in 2007. There's over 20 children. They're being cared for by Dara and his wife, Savun. Dara is a pastor and evangelist, and we're just excited about the ministry there among the children, as well as Dara's outreach and efforts to evangelize. Several years ago, we were able to purchase a piece of property, about 10 years ago. And the property hasn't just sat idle, we've actually used it to grow rice for the orphanage. It was beyond my expectation that we would ever have facilities there on site. But thankfully, in 2021, we were able to build dormitories. And the orphanage now is housing over 20 children there on the property that was purchased. So my lack of faith, but God is faithful and he's provided you know, the resources necessary to have a place where the children can really call their home. And the previous location was literally, it was right beside a crocodile farm. All that was separating, you know, the orphanage from the crocodile farm was above our fence. And so obviously that's dangerous and as well as just the smell of a hundred crocodiles next door. So it was very important that we found a new site. Facilities in a smaller village like that, it's not easy to find a place that can house that many people. So it was a great blessing. We thank God for his provision. Yeah, it was encouraging for me to see Brother Dara and his wife as they minister to those kids and take care of those kids. We read in history about people like George Mueller and Amy Carmichael and just people who gave themselves for orphans that they might know Christ and set their hope in Christ. And that's exactly what I saw in Dara. It's just a man and his wife who gave themselves for these children. Yeah, it was exciting. The first session of the conference, all the children were off to the side in the corner, following along with their Bibles and just paying attention. It's amazing how they've been loved and nurtured and disciplined so that they can sit there through an hour, hour and a half of teaching on the floor, following along in their Bible. Yeah, and Jamie would ask, he would ask the pastors to read a specific verse, and before the pastors could ever read the verse, all of the orphans together, they had found the passage in the Bible, and then they were reading it together in unison. Yeah, exactly. So I felt like the Lord blessed the trip, you know. Trying to get there was a little concerning. Trying to navigate through all the COVID tests that we had to have in order to depart. in order to return. So that was challenging. It looked like for a little while we weren't going to be able to make our flight, you know, to the part. And I appreciate you. I felt like, you know, the man that cried out, I believe, help my unbelief. You know, I was crying out, help my unbelief, and you were faithful. And, you know, we just kept continuing forward, and eventually we got our negative test like five minutes before the gate closed. And I think that was a testimony that God wanted us there. And looking back and seeing how God blessed the fellowship and the teaching and the encouragement, I believe that the Lord was pleased to allow us to go and to serve and minister and be ministered to. Yeah, absolutely. So thanks for watching updates from the field. Please remember to pray for Cambodia and to lift these dear brothers up before God's throne from Shalom Mission to Cambodia, as well as the other pastors that are working in the other part of Cambodia and the orphanage. God bless. Thank you for listening to Updates from the Field. Visit HeartCryMissionary.com to view our other productions and to find out more about HeartCry Missionary Society.