We're Back Home!

How blessed we are to be back home here in Phnom Penh! After two and a half months in Bangkok, it was an amazing feeling to walk inside our front door with a new addition to the family. We arrived on Friday, August 26, and spent Saturday getting settled back into the house. Sunday, we were thrilled to see the church family again, and God truly blessed us with some marvelous services. Five people followed Christ in baptism, two of whom were led to Christ by members of the church. In the children's club on Sunday afternoon, I was so thankful to see two children whom I invited a few months ago and came one time, only to have their mother forbid them from coming again. Apparently she had a change of heart while we were in Bangkok, because those two children- a brother and sister, 10 and 8 years old respectively- were back and having the time of their lives singing, playing the games, and listening to the Gospel.

Emily Faith Phillips

Praise the Lord, on August 17, 2011, at 6:51 a.m., Emily Faith Phillips was born into the Phillips family. She is our third child, and we thank God for another precious one on whom we can pour out our love, and whom we can bring up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. She was 7 pounds, 3 ounces, and 20.5 inches in length. Praise God, it was, according to Linda, the smoothest delivery of the three she has experienced. Thank you for praying for us.

Video Update from Bangkok

My pastor, Derik Lawrence, asked me to put together a video update for my church family this past week. I thought those who read my blog would be interested to hear the update as well as see some photos from Phnom Penh and Bangkok. Please, no comments about the vanishing of my hair. :) Much thanks for my wife for intercutting the pictures into the video.

Update from Bangkok from Chad and Linda Phillips on Vimeo.

A Verse of Hope for Cambodians

Psalm 96:10- Say among the heathen that the LORD reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously.


One of the most difficult concepts of the Gospel for Cambodians to actually believe is that there is a Righteous Judge Who will one day hold every person who rejects Christ accountable for his sins. The idea of real justice makes some Khmers laugh in disbelief. Living in a country in which a few filthy rich, corrupt politicians literally get away with theft and murder without ever answering to anyone has a way of dulling the understanding of what true justice is. This has always been the situation in Cambodia.

Adjustments Part Six- The Cultural Difference in Conversations

Being raised by parents who hailed from Arkansas and Mississippi, and growing up mostly in Georgia, I am by nature a Southerner. My Southern culture is a key influence that shaped my view of what is and what is not acceptable in casual conversations. It is, as I have always believed, completely acceptable to ask questions such as the following when getting to know someone:

Cultural Do's and Don'ts for Any Mission Field

The following list of Do's and Don'ts was written by Pastor Austin Gardner, pastor of Vision Baptist Church in Alpharetta, GA. Bro. Gardner served as a church planting missionary in Peru for over twenty years before God lead him back to the States to start Vision Baptist. God used him mightily in Peru, and to this day the ministry God allowed him to start is thriving, and Peruvians reached through the ministry have been sent all over the world as missionaries. Not only does Bro. Gardner pastor a growing church, but he invests his life into training men for the mission field.