“And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD.” 2 Kings 19:14
I always thought that King Hezekiah went to the house of the LORD alone but somehow the event and the contents of the letter were put into the Bible. Sometimes we just have to spread our situations out before the LORD so that we can praise Him boldly when He meets our needs. In this update, I will spread our situation out before the LORD.
Budget Breakthrough!
Last month, when I wrote the last update, we were in the midst of trying to figure out our mission budget for 2023 and beyond, but no matter what we did to save money or raise money, we were still short around $600 monthly. Kayo projected that we would be forced to leave Cambodia for lack of funds by June. We prayed for a few days and then God guided us on what changes to make so that our budget balances (just barely)!
Now that we have cut our budget to the maximum it is clear that we need more income. We don’t know whether God will provide through more donations and/or earning income on our part, we are knocking on all the doors to see what He does. We need more income for one-time expenses (medical/car repairs etc.), saving money to launch Benjamin in the USA in only four more years, and saving money so that we can continue to minister as many of our key senders retire or go to heaven.
Blessings in the Midst of Breakdowns!
In January our printer/scanner broke down but we couldn’t replace it because of lack of funds. At the end of January, I had an ear infection and at the beginning of February Benjamin had severe food poisoning and neither of these expenses were covered by insurance. Then in February, our rice/pressure cooker caught on fire so we had to replace that (Asian households must have rice 🙂 ). Kayo accidentally spilled tea on her laptop and it stopped working, but God heard our prayers and it started working again the next day! All four tires and a wheel bearing on our 1997 Camry had to be replaced. We still need to rebuild the rear suspension and the transmission is beginning to feel worn. While getting my tires replaced, I met a Cambodian-American man and was able to share my testimony and invite him to church. He attended the Christian Foundations/Apologetics Sunday school class I am teaching and part of the service. Please pray for more opportunities to reach out to him. Finally, Kayo’s filling fell out of her tooth. A year ago, when something similar happened the dentist’s bill was $1,200 but this time it was only $45! So, God protected and blessed us once again.
Ministry Update
In February, I started teaching an apologetics/evangelistic Sunday school class at the international church. The first week no one attended but now we have between five and ten (believers and non-believers) who are getting equipped and gaining confidence in the truth of the Bible as their doubts are answered. Please pray for God to use this class to draw the non-believers to himself. I also finished teaching the Apologetics class at a Bible school founded by Korean missionaries. I continue to help make testimony videos for Precious Women Organization and edit articles for Light Times Magazine.
Kayo has also been very busy with serving as a board member/administration work/leading devotions at Precious Women Organization, a local organization that evangelizes and retrains women who work in bars, etc. She also started a thriving women’s ministry primarily among foreign women at the international church.
USA Trip
I don’t have much to update about our planned trip to the USA between June 6 and August 1. The California part of the trip is for sure (we already bought the tickets), but I am growing increasingly doubtful that we will be able to afford the Missouri part of the trip unless there is some major financial breakthrough between now and then. Please pray for God to open and close all the right doors so that the trip is according to His perfect will.
In Christ’s Love,
Darryl, Kayo, and Benjamin