Dear Prayer Partners,

The rice is growing tall and green, lots of kids with white shirts and blue pants or skirts are heading back to school, and the daily cooling rains are all part of our life here on a typical October day in Pursat, Cambodia! At the same time, it is at this time of year that many Cambodians are deeply religious—worshipping their dead ancestors and performing ceremonies in order to earn merit to wash away their sins. It grieves our hearts as we listen to the monks chant at two funerals near our house, saying that people can have peace and prosperity if they keep doing their sacramental ceremonies. How vastly different Biblical Christianity is from false religion! Praise the Lord Jesus that He offers the forgiveness of sins and the liberating gift of the Spirit to all who repent and believe! This is the Gospel we preach as servants for Christ’s sake (II Cor. 4:5).

In this letter, I have asked Heidi to write a prayer update about the family, and then I will close with some ministry updates.

Family Update

The last couple of months have been eventful ones for our family. We have had the wonderful privilege of seeing our children become involved in some of our evangelistic outreaches for the first time. Rachel especially is speaking with more ease in the Khmer language and has started learning verses and songs in Khmai. She tells us that when all of our kids are old enough to speak Khmai, we can stop using English in the home!

For the last several years, we have planned and looked for the right opportunity to enroll Rachel (six years old) and Isaac (four) in the Cambodian kindergarten. The timing was never right—until now. Both Chris and I experienced some typical parental feelings last week as we dropped them off at school for the first time. Our goals for our kids in the Cambodian school this year are not as much academic as they are immersion in the Cambodian language and culture. We already see that it will be a positive experience as the children learn more how to be courteous in the Cambodian way. Hopefully this will open doors for the Gospel in our community. Many of our neighborhood children are at the same school, which is especially nice for Rachel. We are still working hard to finish Rachel’s American homeschooling in the afternoons. It should be completed in the next month, Lord willing!

In the meantime, Mommy and Susanna (two years old this month) are having some quality time together during the hours that the other two children are away at school. She is a “go-getter” and has, to our delight, adapted to a big bed and potty training without difficulty. It won’t be long before she becomes a big sister! Baby T seems to be growing nicely, and we are praying that he won’t be as active in person as he is in the womb. We could use a laid-back counterpart to Isaac!

Prayer Requests for Family:

1. Please pray that Rachel and Isaac will profit much from the language and cultural instruction that they will receive in the Cambodian school system.
2. Pray that God will give us new doors for the Gospel in our community due to our family’s involvement in this nearby kindergarten.
3. Pray for continued good health for Baby T in these final months of my pregnancy. We have made plans for me to deliver in Singapore this time.

Ministry Update

The summer months of August and September were very busy with some special outreaches into our community of Khbal Hong. We held a video outreach for four Friday evenings and saw many of our neighbors come and watch the evangelistic video. For eight Tuesday afternoons, we held a kids’ club in our neighborhood, mostly with Rachel’s friends. They sang songs, memorized verses, listened to a Bible story from Genesis, and then colored a picture about the Bible story that day. In the past week, our family, as well as three ladies from the church in Prey Nyee, has decided to do a similar kids’ club on Sunday mornings in Anlong Vul (AV), where Ming Khom lives. It is wonderful to see these ladies ministering God’s Word in that village.

Prayer Requests for Ministry:

1. Pray for the follow-up visits to our neighbors who came to the video outreach this summer.
2. Pray for God’s blessing and wisdom with the kids’ club outreach in AV over the next couple of months.
3. Pray for me as I plan to sell and give away books and tracts again at another location in Pursat town over the next month.
4. Pray for my teammate, Forrest, as he continues to disciple and train three men in the ICC church (Ti, Seenik, and Phuek) to be spiritual leaders in their families and the church body.
5. Pray that the believers in AV and at the Inheritance in Christ Church in Prey Nyee will grow daily in their love for God and others, have victory over sin, and have joy in the midst of continual verbal persecution.

May the Lord bless you as you pray for these family and ministry requests.

Until the net is full,
Chris for the Seawright family

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

It is always a blessing to write prayer letters, for it gives us another opportunity to praise the Lord for answers to our prayers. The Lord always answers our prayers, but this time He has chosen to answer them very clearly. I would like to share with you some of these answers to prayer over the past two months as well as give you some new areas of prayer.

Answers to Prayer

1. B Vitamins—In mid-April, our family took a trip to Thailand, and Heidi went to Singapore to see a doctor about the numbness and pain in both of her hands. The doctor gave her some very high dose B vitamins and decided that surgery could be avoided at that time. We want to report to you that the Lord has decided to heal Heidi of her hand problems over the past two weeks! Just the other day, she started having feeling in her left thumb, which she hasn’t felt in over six months. Praise the Lord for this answer to prayer!

2. Baptisms—As we have reported in our HTR updates, the Lord has also clearly answered our prayers about the salvation and baptism of several souls. Two of these were previous members of the church in Preiy Nyee but were disciplined out of the church for idolatry and drunkenness. Pisut continues to show fruit of repentance and is meeting regularly with Forrest for discipleship. Srey Tul, Seenik’s wife, is also growing in Christ. The McPhails’ oldest son, Micaiah, also was baptized after repenting of his sins. The church was on the “mountaintop” after these conversions and a wonderful Bible conference on the family back in April. But we need to pray for the various families at ICC—the last couple of weeks have been a time of testing and “valley” for the church. Both Forrest and Jennifer have been spending much time counseling and dealing with various sin issues among the members. Please pray that the McPhails will have special wisdom at this time. In particular, please bring Aun before the Lord. This man, who was disciplined last year from the church for drunkenness, continues in his persecution and hostility towards his family and others in the church.

3. Bridge—Our family, as well as those in Anlong Vul, are thankful for even small things, such as a new bridge. In the middle of May, a small bridge for pedestrians and motos was built connecting Anlong Vul with the main part of Kundieng district (see picture). Now our Sunday trips to worship with Ming Khom and Yiey Khun are much easier since we don’t have to travel down a bumpy dirt road anymore! More importantly, it connects two areas on which I am currently focusing for evangelism—Svay Lueng (SL) and Anlong Vul (AV). God has opened up many doors to sow and water the seed of the Gospel in these areas over the past two months, primarily through house-to-house evangelism. I have a list of seven or eight good contacts of individuals who have asked many good questions. Please continue in your prayers for Bible studies to be started in these areas of SL and AV.

New Areas of Prayer

1. Books—Lord willing, starting this month I will begin selling Christian books in the main Kundieng market a few mornings each week as I did a few years ago in the main Pursat market. This is just another way to expose the people in this area to the Gospel and Biblical Christianity. I plan to continue with the house-to-house evangelism as well. Please pray that this new outreach opportunity will open up new doors. Also, by God’s grace, I have been able to start working on a question/answer (Q/A) booklet in Khmer. I completed the first question on whether believers in Jesus are required to honor their parents. This is a big issue and obstacle for Cambodians, for they perceive that Christians don’t honor their parents like Buddhists do. Please pray for wisdom as I develop this Q/A booklet.

2. Border—God has given my teammate and me an interesting open door to teach the Word of God near the Cambodian-Thai border. You may remember that we have done surveys and evangelistic trips to this area before. A believer in Phnom Pruk has asked us to come and teach a group of believers in this area. We are tentatively planning a trip to minister there the week of June 8–12. We would like to ask your special prayer for wisdom as we discern where these individuals are spiritually and how to help them take their next spiritual step—which may be salvation for some of them.

3. Bakan—Just in the past couple of days, the Lord has brought me into contact with a group of believers (5–8 people) in another district in Pursat called Bakan, about a 45-minute drive via moto from our house. This group has been exposed to Christianity in the past, but currently they do not have anyone to teach them the Scriptures. At this point we are uncertain what will happen, but please pray for this opportunity as well.

May you rejoice in these answers to prayer on our behalf and bring these new requests before our prayer-answering God.

Until the net is full,

Chris for the Seawright family

Praise the Lord for our first two months back in Pursat! We have had a great start to our second term. Today for lunch we ate our first Cambodian mangoes of this hot season! This reminds us that we are only a few weeks away from the biggest Khmer holiday of the year—Khmer New Year (April 14–16). We have been very thankful for the many unseasonable rains this March. They have been a blessing for us but not for the many Cambodian couples who get married during this typically dry time of the year.

In this letter, I would like to share our various prayer requests by using some of the roles or “hats” that I wear as a missionary day-by-day. I am sure many of you wear even more hats than I do!

Husband

Let me start off with the most important role. As I mentioned in our previous letter, Heidi was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome back in January while in Singapore. She continues to struggle with this. Some days are better than others. Since the doctor in Singapore wanted to see her again in three months, we are planning a trip to Thailand and Singapore so that she can see her doctor again. Please pray that this trip in mid-April will bring clear answers for Heidi’s hand situation and that God will give Heidi grace for this current trial.

Also on the home front, at the end of February our house helper Vannie told us that she was getting married in two weeks! This was a shock to us, but the Lord quickly provided a new house helper, Ong (long O), and the transition has gone very smoothly. Last week we went to Vannie’s wedding. Please begin praying for Ong’s salvation.

Father

The children’s homeschooling has started off very well, and we have gotten into a normal routine. Besides her daily English school, Rachel has also started studying Khmer with a teacher three hours a week. Our desire is that both Rachel and Isaac will go into the Cambodian kindergarten this September. Soon our kids will be speaking Khmer better than we do! Please pray for them as they adjust with the language, and pray most of all for our children’s salvation.

Evangelist

This is one of the primary roles of the missionary. Due to the change in responsibilities within our team, I have had more time to give to this important work than in the past. God has been teaching me much about the centrality of the Gospel. It has been exciting to go out several times each week to sow the seed of the Gospel house-to-house. It has greatly helped me with my Khmer as well.

I have been focusing my evangelistic energies on Kundieng district, one of six districts in Pursat province. In February I did some research on the district by talking with local government leaders. There are approximately 60,000 people in Kundieng, which includes nine communes. Our family lives in one of those communes (Khum Veal), and we have two believers in another commune (Khum Anlong Vul). All of the local leaders I talked to said there are no churches in this district. There is one church building built by a Korean missionary who lives in Phnom Penh, but there is not a body of believers there (only children who meet to study English a few times a week). Our heart’s desire is to see two to three churches established in this area. Will you please pray that people will be saved in the following areas that I am currently evangelizing: Khum Veal, Khum Svay Lueng, and Khum Anlong Vul?

I am currently praying about various approaches to evangelism in these pioneer areas. As I am sowing the seed, many are asking important questions that need good, concise, Biblical answers. I am specifically burdened to get these answers into written form and possibly to hold evangelistic meetings in which I strive to answer these questions. Please pray for wisdom with this over the coming months.

Teacher

Though my primary focus at this time is as an evangelist, the Lord is giving two opportunities each week to teach God’s Word to two believing widows in Anlong Vul. Heidi and the children are riding the moto with me each Sunday morning to worship with these believers. It has been a blessing to have them come down with me. Please pray for these two trophies of God’s grace:

1. Ming Khom—She is in her early 50s and believed on Christ in 2006. Some of her children are believers as well, but they work in Phnom Penh and attend church there.

2. Yiey Khun—She is in her early 70s and trusted in Christ over 20 years ago. Her older son runs a Christian orphanage in Pursat town. She is illiterate but has been a big encouragement to Ming Khom.

I am also helping Forrest as opportunities arise with the church plant in Preiy Nyee. One week before Khmer New Year, the Inheritance in Christ Church will host its first Bible conference. An American missionary and a Cambodian pastor from Phnom Penh will be coming to speak on the family from April 6–9. The Cambodian pastor will be preaching to the ladies in Anlong Vul as well. Please pray that the Lord will greatly use this conference in the lives of all the believers—both Cambodians and Americans. The church is also planning to hold an evangelistic meeting during the conference.

Student

The last of five hats is one of student. This is one that all missionaries continue to wear their entire ministry. I have continued my language/cultural studies with a teacher two hours a week. I am currently going through some of the Cambodian proverbs. It has been a very profitable study already. Please continue to pray for language and cultural growth, as well as praying for the salvation of my teacher, Nein.

I think I have given everyone enough to pray for over the next two months! May the Lord help each of you in your various areas of responsibility each day as you serve our great God.

Until the net is full,
Chris for the Seawright family

Greetings once again from Pursat, Cambodia! We have been back in Pursat for over a week now and are mostly settled into our home. Already, 2009 has been quite a year for us!

A Crazy January

It is hard to believe that we started 2009 in the Akron, Ohio, area visiting Chris’s family with four to five inches of snow on the ground and 15º–20º weather! We ended the month of January in warm and dusty Pursat! The days between those huge climatic changes were filled with the following:
• Meeting an ordination council.
• Traveling to Kansas City, Missouri, to drop off the van we used on furlough.
• Attending my ordination service at our sending church two days before we left.
• Flying from Greenville, South Carolina, to Singapore with three kids under the age of six.
• Spending over a week in Singapore recuperating and dealing with medical issues that came up.
• Staying three days in Phnom Penh to buy all of our groceries and supplies before heading to Pursat on January 25!
Are you tired after reading all of this? ? Throughout it all, God poured out His grace on us. We would like to mention two praises and one prayer request from this crazy January:

PRAISES:

1. I passed my ordination council on January 6 and was ordained to the Gospel ministry on Sunday evening, January 11, at University Baptist Church (see picture). It was a special service attended by both sides of the family, our new teammates (Carlyle family), and other special friends who have been to Cambodia. My mission board director, Dr. Mark Batory, gave the challenge, and our first summer intern in Cambodia, Matt Hancock, played and sang a song that he and I wrote, entitled “For the Sake of His Name.”

2. We survived the flight and were greeted by missionary Steve Reynolds in Singapore. It was our first time in Singapore, and we were amazed at how modern and Western the city was. It was providential that we planned a stopover in Singapore (see prayer request below). The Reynolds family was a huge blessing to our family. I had the opportunity to preach and share our ministry in Cambodia with their church, Asian Baptist Community Church.

PRAYER REQUEST:

Over the last couple of days that we were in the States, Heidi started having numbness in both of her hands. It became significantly worse once we arrived in Singapore, and we decided that she should have a doctor look at it while we were still in a country with good medical care. To make a long story short, we extended our stay in Singapore a few days, and the Singaporean neurologist believes that Heidi has severe carpal tunnel syndrome. He gave her some medications and wants to see her again in three months if she isn’t better. Heidi was very happy with the medical care she received in Singapore. Please pray for the healing of Heidi’s hands and for wisdom with future medical trips, if necessary.

A Prayerful February

As we start this second term in Cambodia, we are sobered once again with the privilege of serving our Lord in this needy place. We are reminded of our desperate need for God’s grace and the prayers of God’s people. As I’ve mentioned in previous letters, our roles in the ministry and as a team have significantly changed. Our teammates have moved out of our village, and we will now be dividing the responsibilities. As you think of us, please pray for the following four requests during this prayerful February:

1. Please pray for our continued adjustment to life here. Setting up the house, rebuilding relationships, relearning some of our Khmer language that we lost, etc., will take some time. We are off to a good start, by God’s grace.
2. This month, Lord willing, I will be taking over the Bible study/church plant in the Anlong Vul commune. Please pray that we will be able to encourage the two saved women there and see a church planted there for God’s glory. Heidi and the kids are hoping to get involved in this church plant, which is about seven bumpy kilometers from our house.
3. Also this month, Lord willing, I will begin extensive evangelistic trips into the Kundieng district in hopes of meeting old contacts as well as new people in whom God is working. Please pray for me as I do “the work of an evangelist” in this area. Pray especially that middle-aged men will be saved.
4. Not only are we beginning new ministry responsibilities outside the home, but we have also begun a new ministry inside our house called “homeschooling” ?. Please pray for Heidi and me as we start this new phase of life. Rachel started first grade this week, and Isaac started K4.

One last reminder: Please make sure you change our address from South Carolina back to Pursat, Cambodia. Thanks to all who pray in earnest to the King for us!

Until the net is full,
Chris for the Seawright family