From a Broken Amulet to Six Continents:
Equipping Believers to Reach Their Own People
Key Points:
· A broken amulet and building a bridge to faith in Christ
· Cambodian believers training for frontline ministries to their own people
· Believers from 35+ nations worshiping together and getting equipped as ambassadors for Christ to the ends of the earth
Each is a reminder of Jesus’ words to the man set free from the legion of demons in Mark 5:
“Go home to your people and tell them what the Lord has done for you.”
A Simulated Contextualized Cambodian Christian Wedding at Cambodia Bible Institute
Dear Partners in the Harvest,
His Amulet Broke in God’s Perfect Timing
I continue meeting weekly with a man from India from a Hindu/Catholic/Atheist background who has been exploring the Christian faith. One theme I keep emphasizing in our conversations comes from Acts 17, where the Bereans didn’t simply accept the Apostle Paul’s authority but “searched the Scriptures daily” to see if his teaching was true. I have encouraged him to “fact-check” everything I say against God’s Word.
His biggest hurdle has been learning to pray to and trust in Jesus Christ alone. After many conversations confirming that he believes God is real, the Bible is true, and that Jesus is divine and risen, I was finally able to walk him through biblical answers to his remaining questions.
This week he shared two significant things:
• He now prays only to Jesus Christ.
• The amulet ring he had worn for years—given by his mother during his recovery from alcoholism—suddenly broke.
That ring had deep emotional and spiritual significance for him, and he told me he used to feel anxious without it. Yet he chose not to repair or replace it.
Please pray for him—and for wisdom for me as we continue studying the Scriptures together. I recently gave him passages about being born again to consider before our next meeting.
“Go Home to Your People…”
While preparing a sermon on the demon-possessed man in Mark 5, something struck me.
After Jesus cast out the legion of demons, the man begged to follow Him. But Jesus gave him a different assignment:
“Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you.” (Mark 5:19)
We don’t even know this man’s name. Jesus didn’t give him a ministry title. Yet his testimony impacted an entire region.
This passage beautifully captures the calling God has given Kayo and me in Cambodia:
to equip believers to bring the gospel to their own people.
Equipping Homeland Ambassadors
From February 10th to March 6th, I taught an intensive course on Christian Apologetics and Evangelism at Cambodia Bible Institute.
Students explored:
• Evidence for Christianity in a Buddhist context (which teaches creation through natural forces rather than a Creator)
• Questions related to atheism (important because of secular worldview education in Cambodia’s public and private schools) and Islam (very important in Cambodia because of the Cham Muslim population, which has been very difficult for foreign missionaries to reach directly)
• Practical ways to explain and defend their faith in personal evangelism and to equip other believers to do the same (Spiritual domino effects).
For their final project, students created their own apologetics-based evangelistic videos. One student shared that the project gave her confidence to begin sharing her faith on social media.
I was also extremely encouraged to watch the students simulate a culturally contextualized Cambodian Christian wedding ceremony. They will organize and lead many weddings in their own communities and impact their culture and nation for Christ in ways that missionaries never could.
Moments like this underline the significance (and privilege) of equipping Cambodian believers to “Always be prepared to give a reason for the hope…” (1 Peter 3:15) so that they can share the gospel with confidence and clarity.
Equipping Believers from Many Backgrounds
Recently, I shared copies of my bilingual apologetics book Christianity: Reasons for Faith with several people:
• Two new missionaries from the Philippines who recently arrived in Cambodia
• Two young Cambodian believers preparing for baptism (I begin their pre-baptism class this week)
• A Christian man from a closed country in the Middle East, who fled persecution there, hopes to develop evangelistic resources for people from (and perhaps in) his home country
Kayo’s Ministries to Women
Kayo continues serving in several ministries:
Board member of Precious Women, helping women vulnerable to exploitation rebuild their lives through new job skills and the gospel
Leading staff devotions and mentoring the ministry’s founder
Teaching the Gospel of John in the international church women’s ministry
Organizing and helping lead a recent two-day women’s retreat
Counseling and mentoring international women in person and online
Kayo and the Women’s Ministry
A Global Reach from Cambodia
Last Sunday, the international church women’s ministry sang “How Great Is Our God” in multiple languages while wearing clothing from their home countries.
Moments like these remind us that the believers we teach will always be more effective ambassadors to their own people than we could ever be.
Through Cambodian believers and an international congregation representing 35+ nations, the gospel is spreading through:
• daily life, families, and workplaces in Cambodia
• online connections
• visits home
• and sometimes permanent return to their countries
When I first arrived in Cambodia 26 years ago, I thought it was a very remote part of the world.
Now I see it as a remarkable hub from which the gospel can reach six continents!
Family Update
Benjamin continues preparing for graduation and college in the United States next year.
During his summer break, we plan to travel around Japan, visiting churches and a Bible school, and giving Benjamin one more opportunity to see his grandparents before graduation—and before we know how long it may be until his next visit to Hiroshima
Prayer Requests
• Upcoming baptisms — Cambodians and expats (including the Filipino man mentioned in January who came to Christ and immediately started evangelizing prisoners). Pray they will be deeply rooted in Christ and boldly share their faith with family members.
• Our Japan trip — travel planning, sermons, encouraging Japanese believers, representing Christ well before Kayo’s non-Christian parents, and family health etc., while traveling. Benjamin will also be preparing for his final SAT during the trip.
• The man from India — continued spiritual openness and growth in Christ.
• Wisdom as I partner with the believer from the Middle East who hopes to develop evangelistic resources for his people and other fledgling opportunities.
John 4:35-38
“Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors.”
Thank you for your continuing prayers and partnership in God’s work in Cambodia. In the Body of Christ, Kayo and I are merely the fingertips. Without so many other faithful parts of the Body faithfully serving and sowing behind the scenes as God calls and empowers each one, none of the praises mentioned above would be possible.
Your partnership helps equip believers who will carry the gospel to people we may never meet, in places we may never go, and in languages we may never speak. We look forward to celebrating the full harvest in heaven together.
With Gratitude,
Darryl, Kayo, and Benjamin
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