March/April 2013 Prayer Letter/Update

A very busy, profitable travel schedule

March and April found us visiting our supporting churches in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, Illinois, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, and Alabama. It truly was busy in the purest sense of the word, and it was equally profitable because of the wonderful opportunities that God afforded us. Those opportunities include: getting reconnected with some of the best churches in the world; getting to see some of our dearest friends in the world; preaching in church services and Christian school chapels; and giving the Gospel to people we met along the way.

It was a great blessing to spend some time at our home church at the beginning of March. My pastor allowed me to preach on our missions emphasis day, and the church was so gracious to highlight what God has been doing in Cambodia. Thank you Pastor Lawrence and Victory Baptist Church for your love for us and for your generous, sacrificial giving for the furtherance of the Gospel!

I want to thank Pastor Paul Clow, the pastor of Landmark Baptist Church in Loudon, New Hampshire, for giving me the opportunity to preach his revival meeting from April 14-16. This was the second time that I have had the privilege of preaching a revival meeting, and I thank God for His enabling and empowerment. The Lord led me to preach the following messages: “Motives Matter”- a message that highlighted the fact that it is possible to do all the right things in the Christian life for all the wrong reasons- and that our love for Christ should be the greatest motive for everything we do in the Christian life; “Are You a Conduit of God’s Love?”- while the first message focused on our love for Christ, this message focused on allowing God’s love to flow freely and uninhibited through our lives, and also reminded us that the greatest hindrance to that flow of God’s love is our own harboring of sin in our lives; “Bearing Fruit in the Christian Life”- this message was a reminder that bearing fruit in the Christian life is not intended to be done independently of God, but can only be done as we stay connected to Him, for He is the only source of spiritual life and strength. This message also highlighted the two types of fruit in the Christian life- the inner fruit of the Spirit that comes from being filled with the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), and how that inner fruit gives us the opportunity to see the other type of fruit- other people getting saved.

Preparing to return to Cambodia

We returned to our home (okay, my parents’ house) in Georgia on April 18, and began preparing for our return to Cambodia on May 27. The Lord used a good friend of ours to direct us to a wonderful Christian doctor, and we were able to have our physical examinations a couple of weeks ago. Praise the Lord, Linda and I got a good bill of health, and Linda was able to get a final diagnosis on her condition. She had been diagnosed with lupus 12 years ago, but three years ago we got a second opinion in which the doctor could not definitely give a positive diagnosis for lupus. So we asked our new doctor if he could get to the bottom of it, and he did- Linda doesn’t have lupus! She was diagnosed with a condition called fibromyalgia, and although it is indeed a very painful condition, it is not a disease that attacks the body like lupus. We will be seeing a specialist on May 8 in Houston, Texas, and hopefully will find a treatment to assist Linda with managing the pain caused by this condition. A special thanks to Tucson Baptist Temple who has generously given funds so that we can see this specialist.

We are currently en route from Loganville, Georgia to Houston, Texas, where we will spend 3 days, and then will proceed to Tucson, Arizona where we will be with one of our supporting churches, Tucson Baptist Temple, on May 12. On Monday, May 13 we will drive to Bakersfield, California to spend a few days with Linda’s family and visit our supporting churches in Southern California. Then on May 27 we will head to Los Angeles International Airport and will be flying Korean Air back to our home- Cambodia. Please pray for us as we return, that God will give us wisdom in leading the church in Ta Khmau. Thank you for your love, prayers, and support!

In Christ,

Chad Phillips