Welcome to Updates from the Field, produced by HeartCry Missionary Society. Welcome to updates from the field. I'm one of the Asian coordinators with heart crime here with one of our coordinators from Europe. So we want to share with you some of the details about a recent trip that he and I took to Cambodia. While we were there, we had a couple of pastoral conferences, and also we were able to visit one of our evangelists who is the director of an orphanage. Well, first of all, as a European coordinator, you're accustomed to traveling to Europe. Your last pastor's conference was in Paris. It was. How did that pastor conference compare with the one in Cambodia or the two that we had in Cambodia? Well, to start, I never realized how long it took to get to Asia. So, you know, we took a short flight to Atlanta and then a very, very long flight to South Korea. And even then we weren't there. And then it was a five-hour flight and then a seven-hour car ride. So that by itself was a whole new experience having to travel so far. The beauty of Christianity is that believers are the same everywhere. Pastors are the same everywhere. So that part was familiar, but everything else was completely different. Yeah, yeah. So one of the highlights of our trip was traveling to one of the provinces called Mendocory. And our partner in Cambodia, Shalom Ministries, they're seeking to reach out to the Bunong people up in Dholkiri. So we held a pastoral conference with the brethren there. And you and I, we share the time. I spoke on the person of Christ, and you spoke on the work of Christ. I felt like that was very beneficial. Pastors were very receptive, at least from my vantage point. They were seeking to learn. They were very interested, excited. It was good. People who sit there with their Bibles open and they're eager to learn, that's an easy person to teach. One of the most special parts of that was at the end, the thank you they gave us. You know, we saw the chickens hanging up, you know, across the field or whatever, and that was our supper that night. They had taken two of their chickens and killed them for us, and it was really special. Yeah, so I think there were probably 15 or 20 church leaders there at the conference. It was two days that we talked. So not only teaching the pastors, we also were able to meet some of the new evangelists we have that are reaching out to the Bunong people. And that was very interesting. We were there during rainy season. So we went to some villages where the roads were extremely muddy, and not only did the tires and vehicle get muddy. We had to walk through some mud as well, but it was exciting. It was encouraging. The missionaries there are working really hard to reach, I think there's four or five different villages that they're traveling to. They They go during the day, during the noon hour when a lot of the farmers come home for lunch, the missionaries and the evangelists, they go there to share the gospel. And in each location there has been the conversion of one or two believers there. So we want to pray for that work among the Bundang people. There's differing percentages of what different groups believe, you know, the percentage of Christians are, but where we were, it was a very small minority. In fact, in several of the villages, there's only one believer. You know, in the West, in the U. S., and in Europe, we were talking to one of the guys about how we all have idols, but our idols tend to be idols of the heart. But over there, their idols are physical statues and physical things they carry around. In every place that we would go into, there'd be a Buddha in the corner or some kind of altar they had set up to offer sacrifices. And so to see somebody who's willing to count the cost of following Christ, to lay aside their idols, to burn them, to get rid of them, it costs them a lot. You know, socially, it's not going to gain them any favor with the culture. It's not going to gain them any economic status. And so to see those villages where there are a couple converted is really a testimony of God's grace. And that one 18-year-old girl that had come to faith in Christ. She's only a believer in the village, and that was her prayer request, y'all pray that my family and other people in the village will embrace Christ and we'll have a church planted and can worship together. Yeah, so I was excited and encouraged by our visit there in Mendocory. I think the work is, the foundation's being laid and they're working extremely hard in Christ's name. Their willingness to go out and witness to people, like you said, to do what it takes to meet the people is very encouraging. And then we left Mundokiri on a very rainy day. We did. Yeah, we had a taxi driver that didn't speak English and had about a seven-hour drive in rainy weather, wet roads, and we were praying very fervently in the back seat for our protection. Yeah. So from Mundokiri, we went to the province of Kampong Tham. and visited a village, Stong. It's where an orphanage has been established that HeartCry works with, works with the director, Dara, who's an evangelist. But also, while we were at the orphanage, we had a pastor's conference, a second pastor's conference, where again we discussed the person and work of Christ. So thankfully, the orphanage has been able to build a chapel or a church building on the property. And this was the first gathering in that building. And it was extremely nice. We're very thankful how the Lord's provided so that that church could be built or the church building could be established. So what did you think about the second pastor's conference in relation to the first? Yeah, it was a whole different set of people. You know, I had never met any of them, but that was more of an invitation to neighboring pastors. And so we weren't sure. There was the range of some guys, you ask them a question and they could answer it. And you ask them, can you cite this verse? And they'd have it memorized. All the way down to there were a couple who were really earnest to learn, but they had a hard time finding the books of the Bible. So I try to keep that in mind as we were teaching of you've got to teach to everybody's level. So I think there were 30 church leaders at this conference. Yeah, I'm encouraged by the earnestness of the pastors that were there, but it is heartbreaking to see the great need that these men need for training. It is. Why don't you share with the one brother who came to the realization of what had happened to him. That was exciting. Yeah, that was really great. So, you know, we were sitting there teaching, and we had more sessions than I think we accounted for. And we couldn't tell, you know, are people following along? Are they tracking with us? And so I asked at the start, does anybody have any questions? And I thought there might be a couple, but it turned into over an hour of people just, they'd ask a question and then, and they're really insightful questions that helped us to understand how they were thinking. Well, one guy asked, he was an older man probably, he said, you know, before I was a Christian, all my life I've been so serious, you know, I wasn't emotional, I wasn't anything, I was just kind of stoic. But he said, now that I'm a Christian, I just, you know, can be driven to tears so easily. What changed? And so I said, well, turn in your Bible, and I showed him the verse where it says, God will take out your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And so that was through a translator. So the man translated it, and the guy turned there and found it, and he shouted out, hallelujah. Yeah, he did. And it hit him like, that's what happened to me. It did. And so to see that kind of power of God's word of maybe he's never read that verse before, but now he has it, and he can show other people, this is what God does to people. Yeah, it was beautiful to see how he was able to, seeing the Word of God, how what he experienced was found there in that verse, and just kind of that spontaneity and excitement that he expressed. Yes. It was great. He was definitely the most lively, you know, response as we were preaching. He would say, Amen. Yeah. So it was encouraging. It was. And we got to visit the orphanage. I've been traveling to Cambodia to visit the orphanage for around 15 years. So this was exciting for me to bring someone along from heart cry to see the work firsthand, to see Dara and his wife. I find it interesting when you asked Dara how many children he had. You meant biological children. I did, yeah. Yeah, we were sitting there at the first night, you know, asking him questions. And I said, how many children do you have? And I thought he'd say, you know, three, four, five. And he said with a straight face, 27. So he counts every single one of those kids as his own. Yeah, I think that's what makes it beautiful. They really do parent 27 children and love them and care for them. They do. Previously when I had visited, and this shows you my lack of faith, they had a prayer need that they expressed about God providing permanent dormitories and the housing for the orphans, because up to that point, the orphanages had to go from place to place trying to find a place to rent. And they were praying, God, please provide for us the funds so that we can build a permanent place. And I was thinking, you know, these poor children, you know, so naive. But I was the one that was naive and filled with unbelief. And it was heart-tearing to see how God's provided not only the church building, but the dorms as well. Well, and they, you know, those children all listen to Darr and his wife. They have chickens and they have fish and they have, you know, everything to take care of. And they just, they have what they've been given from God and they manage it very well, it seems like. Yeah, a lot of hard work. It is. You know, the guys there at the orphanage, they actually built the chicken houses. Yeah. So that was a lot of work. So they've invested into it and I think they're in a right way, proud of it and taking care of it. Yeah. And then there were those two young men that we met who had an interest in ministry that we talked to. Yeah. I don't remember their stories exactly, but they just sat down with us and said, we want to learn the Bible so we can teach the Bible. Yeah, and they had not graduated high school, so they were having trouble finding a Bible college. We think we found one for them, but we need to check it out a little further. But just the fact that they're wanting to learn and grow in their understanding. There's a lot of men like that. There's a lot of need. Just encourage our our audience just pray. You know, it's still true today what Jesus said, you know, the labors are few. And that's true in Cambodia and most places in the world. There's great need, but few labors. But there we see an earnestness, but just a lack of resources, a lack of manpower to train those men. But the men that are there that we're partnering with are faithful, are seeking to do that. No, I came home from Cambodia experiencing all these things and I got back to the office and I told everybody, I said, you've got to go on a trip one time to Cambodia with this brother. So I hope more people can travel with you and see it all first hand. Yeah, I love Cambodia and what God's doing there. Yeah. Thank you for being willing to travel with me. Thank you for inviting me. Thank you for tuning in. Continue to pray for Cambodia. Continue to pray for the work of HeartCry as we seek to make the gospel known among the nations and to strengthen the people of God. 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. you