“And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and *stature, and in favor with God and men.” (Luke 2:52 NASB)
Missionary Perspective: Jesus’ life on earth provides the best example for missionaries to follow. Instead of coming to earth with great fanfare, he came as a baby. Instead of immediately starting to minister, Jesus took 30 years. Missionaries, like any other Christian leader can often be tempted move too quickly in our ministries. Jesus’ life encourages us to take time to learn, grow, and build relationships.
The ministries that Kayo and I are involved in now, would be impossible if they weren’t built on a foundation of prayer, relationships, and experience that stretch back many years. After many years of preparation, we are entering into a new chapter of our lives in ministries which require us to use all the skills that we possess, (and sometimes skills that we don’t possess yet,) on a regular basis. Some days we wish we had more time to prepare. Still, we understand that we can never be “fully-prepared” for ministry because God often calls us to exceed our own ability, strength, and resources so that we will depend on Him.
Family Update:
We are thankful for the prayer warriors who have been praying for us. Since sending out the prayer request e-mail last week, things have improved for us. For months we had been struggling with one sickness after another (104 fever/infections/eye problems/food poisoning etc.). Sometimes two of us were sick at the same time. It is difficult to be sick but because we were also in a season of very intense ministry, it was also stressful to have so many things to do but to be unable to do anything because of sickness. This past week, because of your prayers, we could finally move forward and make progress in a lot of areas. When people pray for us, it really makes a huge difference in our lives.
Kayo’s Music/Japanese Ministry:
God is opening up doors for Kayo to minister based on her training in Music and Bible Exposition with her Japanese background. She continues to play the flute with the worship team at the international church we attend. Her love for music has opened the door for her to meet Cambodian and Japanese musicians and other Japanese people who are here as missionaries, foreign aid workers, diplomats, or who are married to Cambodians. On Sunday Feb. 10, she was able to join with another missionary from Japan and host a Japanese language home fellowship. They were able to sing in Japanese and Kayo could go back to her Talbot notes to provide some basic Bible teaching in Japanese as well. There are hundreds of Japanese living in Cambodia but they have no opportunity to gather together to worship, pray, and study the Bible together in their own language. Please pray that God will use this group to minister to the spiritual needs of the Japanese which will then spill over into the lives of their Cambodian spouses.
Trinity Institute Update:
They even did more than we had hoped, for their first action was to give themselves to the Lord and to us, just as God wanted them to do. (2 Corinthians 8:5 NLT)
As VP of Trinity Institute of Cambodia, Darryl has had the privilege to see God move in the hearts and lives of missionaries and Cambodian Christian leaders to lead them to “give themselves first.” Building a Christian university from scratch requires much more than money, it requires people who are willing to give themselves: their skills, their talents, their experience, and their time. There are many colleges in universities in Cambodia that started off with a lot of money but without people to give themselves they end up being only a collection of buildings. Trinity on the other hand, has started with very little money but God is raising up experienced missionaries and Cambodian Christians who will give themselves. We are blessed to have volunteers from more than 7 nations. Some of these are former principals, teachers, corporate executives, accountants, social workers, a medical doctor, and pastors. We are blessed to have teachers who could earn a much higher salary in their home countries who are willing to come and teach at TIC either as volunteers or for a Cambodian-wage.
A couple of weeks ago, Darryl was uncertain how he was going to get the offices and classrooms at TIC ready for the 3 Courses and 3 Workshops which will start on February 26 (www.trinitycambodia.org). Darryl went to a Men’s Bible study/breakfast and one missionary in the group said that God had blessed him with some unexpected funds so that he could buy a new color-laser printer for his ministry of writing, printing, and distributing free Christian books in the Cambodian language. This brother was looking for some ministry that he could donate his old color-laser printer and boxes of toner. He donated it to Trinity. That same morning, Darryl rode his bicycle across town to Trinity, which is on the top floor of
Gateway Cafe. Another missionary from New Tribes Mission was waiting for Darryl and offered him an iced coffee. This man told Darryl that his mission had a complete set of surplus office furniture that they wanted to store in Trinity’s 2nd office (for teachers) for a year while this missionary and his family are on furlough. God worked it out so that TIC can use this furniture for a year, while our funds are limited, and then we can purchase any pieces that we want to keep (all of it) later at a good price. These financial blessings, freed up funds for Darryl to buy fans and other things that are needed to make the classroom and offices more usable for students and teachers.
International Fishers Update:
You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others (2 Timothy 2:2 NLT).
Darryl’s Christian Apologetics ministry is also taking off. Despite his workload at Trinity Institute, Darryl is trying to keep some time in his schedule to open to teach and speak on the evidence for the truth of Christianity at Bible schools, seminaries, churches, and organizations, as he is invited. He is very encouraged that his former students are teaching others. One of his students from his Apologetics class at Cambodia Bible Institute in December is now teaching what he learned in a Sunday school class at his church.
Darryl will also be helping Gateway and One to One university student ministries, with their Easter outreach at Gateway Cafe. This year, they want to present the evidence that Jesus really rose to from the dead to more than one hundred university students. Darryl and Sopheap are planning to team up lead a lunch-time group for those students who are interested in knowing more about the evidence for the truth of Christianity.
Darryl, Sopheap and Sovanna are also developing evangelistic videos for smartphones and Internet. There are other opportunities to distribute audio and video recordings in process as well.
Thank You! You will probably never fully understand (until heaven) just how much your prayers, encouragement, and other Kingdom investments impact Cambodia. We have the privilege to see the results first hand but it is impossible for us to fully communicate everything that is God is doing through our ministry partnership. On behalf of our family, and many others in Cambodia we thank God for your faithfulness, and pray that God will bless you greatly!
In Christ’s Hands,
Darryl, Kayo, and Benjamin Record