March/April 2012 Prayer Letter/Update

Dear Pastors and Praying Friends,                                                                                                                         

God is Answering Prayer

You may remember from my last prayer letter that I mentioned a situation that took place in the village where we hold a children’s service every Saturday. The situation I mentioned dealt with the drowning of one of our faithful girls named Srey Bpoe- she drowned in a pond right next to the church. As a result of that tragedy, we lost over half of the faithful children because many parents were afraid to send their children to the church because of its close proximity to the pond where Srey Bpoe drowned. Another reason is because one of the mothers in the village had a dream that the pond was going to take the lives of three more children. I could sense that some of our faithful helpers in the children’s service- all members of Good News Baptist Church- were getting a little bit discouraged after weeks of driving an hour out to the village and only seeing only about 18 children come to the service (we were having almost 40 every Saturday before the death of Srey Bpoe). So I had a prayer meeting with them one Saturday after the service was over; and I also began urging the church in Phnom Penh to pray for this matter fervently. Well, praise the Lord that He is answering our prayers in this situation. For the past month we have seen an increase almost every week- not a drastic increase, but little by little some of the children are starting to return. This past Saturday, April 28, we had a wonderful service with the most children we have had in months. The spirit was great, and the children listened intently as I taught about the events leading to the crucifixion of Christ. Please pray for the parents of Srey Bpoe. This past Saturday I finally had a chance to talk with them about the hope that we have that Srey Bpoe is in Heaven. I asked them, “Do you have any hope for her soul?” The answered plainly, “No, we do not know where she is.” Pray that God will use this to soften their hearts to the Gospel.

They Caught It!

When I was a student at West Coast Baptist College, Pastor Chappell would always say, “Soul winning is better caught than taught.” That simply means that soul winning isn’t just something we learn intellectually, but it is a fire that is born in the hearts of those who have a true heart for God. Well, I just want to say that the members of Good News Baptist Church have caught the meaning of soul winning! Bro. Benefield has taught these precious people to be strong witnesses for Christ, and they have caught it! About 3 weeks ago, right before Khmer New Year, several of the members of the church came to me asking for Gospel tracts to take with them on their journey to their home provinces. (Khmer New Year lasts for several days, and most people in the city return to their home provinces to celebrate with family.) I distributed a couple thousand tracts to different members of the church. A couple of days later, I got a call from Hawn, the man who teaches me Khmer. He said, “Two of my younger cousins who live in Pailin got saved!” A group from the church had gone together to Pailin, a province next to the Thailand border, to visit Hawn’s relatives there; and one of the young ladies from the church led two of Hawn’s cousins to Christ. A couple of days later, I heard the news that Hawn had led two more of his cousins to Christ- meaning that on that trip four people were saved, all led to Christ by members of the church. For the average Cambodian, Khmer New Year is a time for partying; but for the members of Good News Baptist Church, they saw Khmer New Year as an opportunity to spread the Gospel. Not only were four people saved, but thousands of tracts were passed out as well. Glory to God!

More Preaching Opportunities

I thank the Lord that He has enabled me to improve in my language ability. Right now, I am teaching Sunday school, preaching every Sunday morning, and teaching the children’s lesson every other weekend. I also just started preaching every Thursday night. I am also preaching on Sunday evenings once a month. This Sunday morning I will preach my last message out of the book of James, and next Sunday I will start a new series on the parables of Christ. On Thursdays I am preaching through 1 and 2 Thessalonians. In Sunday school I am teaching a series that Bro. Benefield developed and taught several years ago entitled “Ordinary People, Extraordinary Christians”, about characters in the Bible who aren’t mentioned very often, but who had an outstanding character trait that we need in our lives. I thank the Lord also for the opportunities I have had during our weekly soul winning time to have good conversations with people about their need for Christ. I am currently praying for a couple of people I have met recently who may be interested in allowing me to teach them more in depth about the Gospel.

Thank you for your faithful love, prayers, and support for our family. We love you!

Chad Phillips