Citizens of Heaven, Ambassadors for Christ
As we visit Japanese churches and share about our ministries in Cambodia, we have the unique opportunity to encourage them to represent Christ before their families, classmates, co-workers, who they encounter in their daily lives instead of limiting their ministries to their church buildings. This message has been well received. We believe that this is also an important message for Cambodia as well and this is why we want to continue our work of equipping the saints there.
Kayo also met with Mr. Yanase, the director of Euodia, a music ministry based in Japan about the possibility of having an outreach concert in Cambodia.
Even though we are far from Cambodia, God still brings Cambodia across our paths. One of the students from the Royal University of Law and Economics in Cambodia came to Japan six years ago. He worked his way through language study and a university degree in Tokyo by delivering newspapers. Now he has married a Japanese lady. We were able to share a copy of Christianity: Reasons for Faith with him. Please pray that he will read the book and come to Christ.
While visiting Tokyo Grace church, we spent a night at a missionary guesthouse. There we met an American lady who is planning to lead a lead a short term mission team to Cambodia in July, we have the opportunity to equip her team with International Fishers’ videos and recommend other resources to help them be more effective during their time in Cambodia.
Please pray for strength, health, and courage for us as we continue the journey that God has set before us.
I lift up my eyes to the hills— where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. Psalm 121:1-2
Sometimes it seems that there is no one coming over the hills to help us. When we read these verses we can imagine a lost traveler or a soldier, about to be defeated, desperately scanning the slopes for any sign of a a rescuer or reinforcements, but no one seems to be there. It is in these moments that we realize that our help isn’t on the hilltops but our help is from the LORD who made the hills, the earth, the universe, and heaven.
During the days between speaking engagements, I have been watching a lot of Creation videos on my computer. It has been encouraging to be reminded of God’s infinite power displayed from the smallest sub-atomic particle to the farthest star in the universe. Discoveries of the physics of space and time itself help us to begin to appreciate God’s omnipresence and omniscience. And yet, with all God’s power, there is overwhelming evidence that He knows us and genuinely cares about us as individuals.
As faith-missionaries, there is no one who is obligated to pray for us, help us, host us, or partner with us financially. In other words, we have no reason to expect anyone to be coming over the hills to help us. HOWEVER! There are brothers and sisters in Christ in the US and Japan who have been faithfully praying, helping, hosting, and financially partnering with us for seven years or more, regardless or the economy or their personal situation. We have never been without food, clothes, housing, or transportation no matter where we go in the world. This is evidence that our help came from the LORD through our senders. We are thankful for those that God has chosen to use to make His work possible.
As we complete our seventh year in Cambodia, we are in a time of reflection. On one hand, our various ministry projects (International Fishers, Trinity Institute, Japanese Ministry, and other Cambodian ministries) have sprouted and look very promising. On the other hand, our personal, Benjamin’s
educational, and ministry expenses have been exceeding our income from the US and Japan for some time now, and our reserves are being used up. We have been trying our best to reduce expenses, but some expenses such as Benjamin’s Christian school expenses will continue to increase. If we cut our personal or ministry budgets much deeper, we will lose our ministry productivity.
Therefore, it is becoming clear that we need more help from the Maker of the hills, if we are to continue our ministries in Cambodia over the long-term. If not, we are willing to return to the US or Japan, but we don’t have any sense of calling or open doors for this. Regardless, we desire to finish our work in Cambodia well, with a sense of completion and victory. I am sharing this need publicly, so that when God meets this need, we can praise Him publicly. God has often met our needs from unexpected directions. Please pray that God will strengthen our current senders and raise up new senders in the US and Japan.
In Christ’s Hands,
Darryl, Kayo, and Benjamin