Reopened Doors

Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them.

Acts 16:6-7

In Act 16, God closed the doors for Paul and his team to preach in Asia or Bythinia, but this ensured that they were in Troas at the God-appointed time and place to evangelize Lydia and her family, and this was the first step in the Gospel spreading in Europe and beyond. As an American, I trace my access to the Gospel to Europe over many paths and generations. Kayo was first exposed to the Gospel through her Christian school in Hiroshima, Japan, which was founded by missionaries from the USA, many years before, and she was evangelized and discipled by a Japanese church/denomination which was planted by missionaries from Sweden who were en route to China when the country closed, so they diverted to Japan instead of returning to their home country. Before opening the doors for me to serve in Cambodia, God closed the doors to two other nations, but by God’s grace, I kept moving forward until the doors opened here.

Without Paul and his team’s obedience to the Holy Spirit’s guidance, the last 2,000 years of world history might be very different. As missionaries in Cambodia, Kayo and I continue riding the wave of the Gospel to Cambodians as well as believers and nonbelievers from more than 30 nations, as we trust that God will multiply and continue His wave until His return. Paul never saw the full impact of his simple act of obedience of going to a riverside and talking with Lydia etc. Even the smallest acts of obedience and faith can make huge eternal impacts both in the lives of individuals and the world.

Christian Apologetics (Evangelism) Class

I’ve been truly blessed and encouraged to teach another Christian Apologetics (Evangelism) class at the Cambodian Presbyterian Theological Institute, which is founded and run by missionaries from Korea (I have really enjoyed fellowshipping with them as well. Some don’t speak English, so we speak to each other in Cambodian). I have been teaching this class at this seminary yearly for around 14 years. During COVID, I wasn’t allowed to meet my students in person, so I had to record dozens of hours of video lectures. Last year, soon after I started teaching, I contracted Guillain-Barré Syndrome (PTL I have finally recovered fully!), so I had to use my COVID videos instead of in-person lectures. As I teach in person, I’m encouraged to observe the continuing growth in size and even more in the maturity of the Body of Christ in Cambodia. I also know that missionaries can’t go everywhere, and it is time for the Cambodian believers to take the lead. My main role is to equip the saints (Ephesians 4:12), both Cambodian believers and short and long-term immigrants in Cambodia and so that they can reach their own families and communities for Christ in Cambodia and beyond.

Cambodia is a unique crossroads of so many believers (and by God’s grace, future believers) from literally all corners of the globe. Recently, I’ve had the opportunity to help some people answer challenges to their faith that they have received from their non-Christian colleagues related to how all the different ethnic groups and skin color differences could have come about if God created Adam and Eve, as the Bible teaches. Another home care group leader recently told me that his home fellowship has been studying some Apologetics/Evangelistic materials weekly for this whole year, which I shared when I spoke at the international church early this year. I also have recently had the opportunity to pray for and start to communicate with a former atheist debater from Australia, who recently became a believer and is now living in Cambodia.

A few years ago, Kayo started and continues to lead the women’s ministry at the international church. Around a year after that, I formed a team and have been leading the men’s ministry. We’ve been teaching, equipping, connecting, and ministering to the men and women in our respective ministries since then through a variety of challenges, from major health crises, recovering from the death of a child, the near-death of a child, marriage/family issues/domestic violence, visa problems, extreme financial need, and other deeply personal issues.  Most of these men and women don’t come from a Christian background, and they must be discipled and equipped in Cambodia, where they must earn their livelihood.  Some even had to come to Cambodia to flee extreme persecution in their home countries, etc. Please pray that we will have the strength and wisdom, in partnership with others, to continue to minister to these “sheep without a shepherd”.

Soon after my team and I arrived in Cambodia in 2000, my team and I met, evangelized, discipled, and connected a motorcycle taxi driver named Phany to a Cambodian church. Phany evangelized many members of his family and rural village and started a ministry in 2006, to poor Cambodian children, which reached tens of thousands of children for Christ before closing in 2019 for lack of funds.

Phany married Lida in 2007, just before Kayo and I arrived together.  Lida was Kayo’s language tutor, and they have been very close ever since. In 2010, Lida started a ministry to Cambodian women called Precious Women, which has directly given opportunities to hear the Gospel, discipleship, and connection to Cambodian churches, along with retraining for new careers for more than 5,000 women (indirectly impacting nearly 30,000 family members) who worked in nightclubs (where they were at risk of prostitution, etc.). Kayo, Benjamin, and I were very blessed to be able to join their 15th anniversary celebration this past weekend.

Over the years, Kayo has served in many different capacities, from administrative staff, teaching the Bible to the staff, sharing the Gospel with the women, and board member, etc.  In the past, Benjamin and I have also volunteered for various projects.

Please keep all these ministries in prayer.  There is so much more to share but this is getting long!

In Christ’s Hands,

Darryl, Kayo, and Benjamin