Dear Prayer Partners,
It is very sobering for me as a missionary to contemplate that the Apostle Paul, one of the greatest missionaries and evangelists of all time, asked on numerous occasions for believers to pray earnestly for him and for those working with him as they spread the glorious “good news” into new areas. How much more, then, should I ask you to pray for our team as we minister here in Pursat, Cambodia? In this letter, I would like to share our prayer needs by looking at three specific requests of the Apostle Paul (for pictures see http://blog.seawrights.com/ three-requests/).
Doors
“Praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance” (Colossians 4:3).
God has given us many doors recently to share His Word, and we are praying for more doors to communicate Christ:
1. Thai Border and Bakan—Over the past two months, our team has met with and taught three separate groups in areas away from Pursat. Each of these groups has had some exposure to Christianity. We have expressed a desire to teach God’s Word to each of these groups, but as of this letter, we are still waiting for a door for the Word. Please pray for open doors with these groups.
2. Singapore—The Lord gave our family a unique door to minister God’s Word in Singapore for ten days in July. A church in Singapore invited us to speak at its annual missions conference. We had some major culture shock going to a wealthy Asian country! The believers at Pasir Panjang Christ Church were a great blessing to our family in many ways. Also while in Singapore, Heidi was able to see a doctor, and we found out that Isaac is going to have a little brother to play with around Christmastime! Please pray for Heidi and “Baby T.”
3. Khbal Hong—These next couple of months, we will be starting some new outreaches into our village again. We are planning to start a weekly kid’s club as well as an outreach for adults and teens using a Bible video. Please pray for these two doors.
Words
“Praying . . . for me, that utterance [words] may be given unto me” (Ephesians 6:18–19).
When God gives us a door, we need bold and clear words to communicate Christ. These words are both verbal and written:
1. Books in Kundieng Market—For over a month, I had the opportunity to share written words with market sellers and buyers. I sold a good number of books and gave away hundreds of tracts. It was primarily a time of sowing seed. Please pray that these written words will fall on good ground.
2. The Pure Gospel Booklet—We are excited that we have made significant progress on a new five-lesson booklet in the Khmai language. It is meant to help those who have been exposed to Biblical Christianity to understand better the meaning of true saving faith and repentance. It also deals with persecution (a big issue in Cambodia) and baptism. Our goal is to complete both written and audio forms for these lessons. To that end, my teammate Forrest has recently recorded these lessons while teaching a group of new believers in the Preiy Nyee church. The written form is in the final stages of editing, but most of the audio messages have been posted on the web (see link “Sermons in Khmer” on http://blog.seawrights.com). Please feel free to copy these messages to a CD and give them to any Cambodian person you have met. Please pray that the words in these messages and booklets will enter the hearts of many Cambodians.
Fruit
“Pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course [bear fruit], and be glorified, even as it is with you” (II Thessalonians 3:1).
Doors and words are necessary, but not sufficient—we must pray for real spiritual fruit. We praise the Lord for the recent fruit of conversion in lives:
1. Conversions close to home—One of the biggest blessings of the last couple of months is seeing God give His gift of faith and repentance to a number of people. On August 2, six young ladies were baptized and became members of the Inheritance in Christ Church (see picture). Praise the Lord for this new fruit! Among those baptized were our house helper (Ong) and the McPhail’s house helper (Hooie). In the case of our helper, God used a number of individuals, both Khmer and American, to see her come to Christ. Both of these ladies have shown all the excitement of a new convert in hungering for teaching. This has greatly encouraged the church folks. But both of these ladies are experiencing great verbal persecution for their faith in Christ. Please pray that both Ong and Hooie will grow in their new faith and rejoice in their persecution.
2. Desire for more fruit—Many names could be mentioned here, but please bring these before the Lord:
1) Khut and family in Anlong Vul—Previously called Khon, Khut has shown increased interest in the truth.
2) Heng and family in Khbal Hong—One of our neighbors for whom I have asked prayer in the past.
3) Gayung and family—Please begin to pray that our helper’s husband and two children will come to Christ.
Thanks for praying for doors, words, and fruit in Pursat. May the Lord give each of you doors, words, and fruit as well!
Until the net is full,
Chris for the Seawright family