Pictured below is Chanty, one of the graduates of the Cambodia Bible Institute who works during the week as an evangelist on the Nutritional Feeding Program. Here, he is teaching many children a Bible story, leading them in songs and saying a prayer with and for them. The nutrition program strives to increase the nutritional health of village children measured to be in the danger zone. It has had success in a number of villages to date. This village, Domnak Pring was just added to the program. Please pray for the success of the program to feed both body and spirit of the precious creations of the Living God.
The Adventures in Missions and the Preaching School students & staff,
Sunset International Bible Institute, Lubbock, TX,
sent us this Christmas greeting.
What a great way to bless missionaries around the world!
Thanks SIBI!!!
I went to the countryside today to help with the Partners in Progress Nutritional Feeding Program. Along the way we saw this load of piglets on the back of a moto heading somewhere.
The Ladies Bible Class at the Central Church of Christ, Stockton, CA sent us this sweet poem.
Please read and enjoy!
Filed under: Cambodia
To Sharon:
Thanks for the years of love, grace and patience! You are the best! I certainly “married way over my head.” I am so blessed by God!
Praise God,
Thank you Father,
Thank you, my love!
I pray for many more years together.
These are some encouragements we received concerning our work, specifically the trip to Vietnam. We pray they encourage you as well. Thanks for your love and prayers as we strive to assist you in expanding the Kingdom of Heaven.
Great!! I kept waiting for something bad to happen, because I was afraid that this is forbidden in that country. What a pleasant surprise. Reminds me of a student I had in China several years ago. I contacted E. S., who was making a trip to Shanghai. He baptized him and I heard from him for almost a year, then his letters quit coming. I often wonder about him, but don’t contact him because I know the church is “underground’ there, and I don’t want to do any thing that would harm him. I worried about “making Christians,” then leaving them alone with no one to help, but the story of the Ethiopian gives me comfort, because Phillip baptized him and he went on his way. We don’t know what happened after that. I came to the conclusion, he is in God’s hands. This person in China was the first of my students to be baptized, and I have had several since then.
That brought tears to my eyes. Thanks for passing this on. It will not be forwarded. Thanks!
Oh, how wonderful! What a perfect way to end the day. Thank that teacher for being so trusting and sharing this. It greatly encourages us.
AMEN! What faith this brother has shown. May the seed he is spreading grow deep roots and multiply. In Jesus Name, Amen.
Well now, … I gotta do what you said - Do not put it out on the Internet. But I want to. But I cannot. And I know why…. But somehow it is in my mind now and I will KNOW that I have a brother in THE city of communism and be glad to know I will know him later on.
What a great thing has happened! Will he preach? NO DOUBT … Thanks, that a good thing to read as I woke up this morning!
I am thankful for the continual work the two of you are doing for the people of Cambodia and His Kingdom.
Just read your email and that is truly awesome! You guys are creating legacies that will bless many generations to come.
How awesome!! You are in our prayers as you continue to do His work.
I’m glad to hear you had an encouraging trip. I can’t wait to hear more.
It seems like the situation in Vietnam is similar to China.
Tremendous news.!
God Bless you and Sharon and this new young brother!
Great news! We will especially be praying for him until he can get back to PP and be with you on a more regular basis.
Amen brother!
Luke wrote, “The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach…” (Acts 1:1). Our Jesus wasn’t willing to teach something that he wasn’t doing. It is easier to teach and not get involved, but it much more difficult to get down into the cesspool of a person’s life and pull them free. I appreciate the your role in our Savior’s Kingdom! It is exciting to hear of you being involved in the a Lost person’s life and I am sincerely grateful for you sharing this account with me.
I am sorry I do not write much. You must understand I am not all into the computer thing. I did pray for you and your wife this morning before breakfast with the family. You guys are always in our prayers and thoughts. We love you Dennis and Sharon.
That is wonderful!!! Pass on our prayers and praise to God for this.
Praise the Lord for your dedication and commitment to Him. We admire your courage in journeying to Vietnam to study with and baptize him. We will pray that he will follow your example and convert many there and back at his home. We thank God for your zeal. Our love to you both.
Hanoi, Vietnam. Wasn’t that the capital of North Vietnam—the capital of communist aggression during the Sixties and Seventies? What’s it like now? Are the reports of persecuting Christians true? These are just a sample of the many questions that have crossed my mind in the last week or so. Here’s why…
Many of you recall Sharon and I serve as teachers for an internet program called World English Institute (WEI). Worldwide, WEI teachers help those who have limited English skills to improve their writing, grammar, word selection and spelling. The wonderful aspect of the program is that it uses the Bible as the textbook. The program is designed to build faith while teaching English. WEI (actually, the Gospel!) has made disciples all over the world.
My policy is to only teach Cambodian males. One of my students is on scholarship, studying agriculture. He has completed much of the online WEI instruction including the lessons on baptism. That’s when I received this message from him, “teacher! I would to answer your question that you asked me last week. I please inform you that I not be baptize yet. I really want to be batized so what should I do? could help me to be baptized? Sincerely, your student” And then later, “Hi teacher! I am really appriciate thank to you that you can help me to be baptized in the name of father, son and the holly spirite. I am awaiting for this can happy to me. Sincerely, your student”
My student lives in Hanoi, Vietnam. So okay, now what should I do? He won’t be coming back through Phnom Penh until school is over next spring. After inquiring a bit, I didn’t find anyone who knew of a Christian in Hanoi. Quickly, it became obvious I needed to fly to Hanoi, study with him and then baptize him. I am so grateful to every one of you who confirmed this need and prayed.
When I arrived, I was not surprised to find Hanoi very similar to Phnom Penh except bigger and with much better roads. What did surprise me was how comfortable this made me feel. It took away the edge of the anxiety with which I had stepped onto the airplane. Although already dark, because the university is about an hour from the airport, I got a flavor of the landscape and conditions in-route.
My student met me at the entry to his dorm. He suggested I stay in his room so that we would have more time to study. This was a welcome invitation as I was still a bit nervous. From the time I arrived on Saturday evening, until Sunday at lunch, we studied the cost of discipleship. When we both were convinced he understood what Jesus is asking of him, we set out in pursuit of water. At and near the university, the bodies of water are filthy. There are no fountains or pools; no tubs or containers large enough could be found. We journey by bus to the tourist section of the city and found a guest house that would allow us to use a room with a bathtub.
And a new baby boy was born! Happy Birthday! May God allow you to see the fruit of your light!
During the remainder of my stay in Hanoi, I studied with him about the church and about his personal relationship with God through Bible study, prayer, etc. Several of his classmates joined the studies and I am convinced they have growing faith. Please join me in prayer that he will grow to be a mature and mighty warrior in the kingdom of God. Please also pray for my efforts to continue to study with him (and many other students) via the internet and in person when the Lord allows.
The Lord has encouraged me greatly by this experience. I rest secure in the hand of our All-Powerful God!
May He be forever glorified!!!
We are on our way! It is the morning of the 17th and in just a few hours we will board a plane and fly back to the United States for our 1st furlough. Our bags are packed and we are ready to go–ready to come see you.

Before we leave, we thought we would share yesterday with you.
This is MacKenzie, our new sister in Christ. Troy baptized her yesterday right after breakfast. She is Tabitha’s cousin on a summerr visit to help them. Seeing the work here, the Christians here and then Jesus more clearly, her life has been transformed. Praise God for His new child.
After the MacKenzie’s new birth, we journeyed to the countryside. We were rewarded with a beautiful day of cool breezes and lots of God’s beautiful little children.
Dennis with the recent graduates of the Cambodia Bible Institute.
See you soon!
Filed under: Cambodia
Last week was a holiday in Cambodia so we had a welcome break from our language studies. We took an exciting trip to Kirirom National Park with the students, translator and a few others. A couple of days in the park and a camp out over night! The park is absolutely beautiful. Our time was filled with blessings as we enjoyed God’s beautiful creation, prayed together, studied God’s word and sang songs of praise. Wish you could have been there.
We love you and are eagerly waiting our arrival to the States to see you.
Love & Blessings, Dennis & Sharon
Happy New Year,
That’s right…we are now celebrating our 3rd new year for 2009. First, just like you we celebrated January 1st, then in February “The Chinese New Year” (as many here in Cambodia are Chinese descendants or Chinese/Cambodian. Now, this week begins the Cambodian New Year. More regarding the Khmae New Year in next week’s report!
We pray you had a Happy Easter and a week filled with joy and blessings.
This past week was packed with much activity. On Monday, we took the day off and headed out to the province. The translator and his wife form CBI rode with us to Kampong Cham (approximately 3 hours away) for the wedding of a Khmae preacher. It was a festive affair deep in the countryside. We’re pretty sure they rarely see foreigners because we really drew attention. We pray Jesus was glorified! We really had a good time!
Two days we went with the students of CBI and instructor/translator Tawn to the countryside during “Evangelism Week”. This is something the school does the week following every class term as an additional form of training for the students and outreach to the people. We go to the countryside where we have existing works; such as church plants, or in the hometowns of the students. We are glad when we can share in these times and also see how the training the students are receiving is being used practically as they teach all day. It is with much joy we share with you that this week resulted in 6 new Christians. We are grateful the Lord is showing us how the hard work of the students is helping to grow the Kingdom!
Last week we also continued our language training. We added the last of the 33 consonants to our memory work. Yea, we have 33 of the 88 completed (well almost, we must continue to put them to memory). Our teacher forces us to converse with him in Khmae much of the time helping us to learn to listen carefully, learn street slang, and piece together our own response phrases and sentences.
Thursday evening we went to the home of Rich & Ronda Dolan (Rich is the dean at CBI) for our weekly missionary care group. There were several people absent due to travels, but we did have about 8 attending. Oh, BTW, if you have never had sweet sticky rice and sliced mangos you just haven’t lived, YUMMY!!! We did not know how much we liked mangos; you must come and try them. J
For the very first time since our arrival, we had all of the students and staff from CBI plus a number of their friends over for supper and singing. Sharon made 2 dishes and Ronda brought 2 so we had plenty of food. Then we sang about 25 songs (all Khmae) together sprinkled with prayers. What a special time of great food and sweet fellowship.
Saturday, Dennis had the two CBI students studying Galatians come over and spend most of the day with us helping to finish-off the leftovers from the night before.
On Sunday we worshipped in the countryside at PTT, PTC & TNT. CBI student Try taught a lesson at all three churches. At PTC, Sharon continues to receive several requests for help with their medical struggles. She expresses her wishes of having more training to serve them.
God is so busy here which fills our hearts and souls with joy. At the same time we see evidence of Satan’s evilness…daily. Please continue to lift up prayers for the people here that are lost and the struggles within the church body.
We miss you all so much and send our love. Although we are miles away, you are always near in heart!
Greetings to all,
Here we are and another week has gone by! We hope you are doing well. With the changing seasons comes vulnerability to illness so we hope you are protected from these maladies. We are doing well…enjoying the blessing of good health from the Lord.
This past week flew by with our normal routine of meeting for chapel at CBI each morning, followed by our morning session of Khmae lesson, lunch break, and then our afternoon language session. Language training brought us 4 more letters. We’re getting there, slow but steady. The training each week includes much review. With so much memory work, special effort is being made for additional study time.
We enjoy the opportunities we have to visit with the neighbors and those we meet while running errands and taking care of business. There are several guards and labor men working in our neighborhood whom Dennis continues to converse with and build relationships. Sharon continues to meet with a few Khmae ladies once every couple of weeks or so. She is trying to build enough relationship with them so that they know she cares and want to know “why” she cares. Please pray for Kuntia, Sophea, and for Pove.
Instead of the usual Sunday in the countryside, we stayed in Phnom Penh this weekend for the big gospel meeting at PPcoC. Two brothers came from Four Seas College of Bible and Missions in Singapore. They taught us the following eight lessons for the church:
· What does it mean to be “in Christ?”
· Church Leadership – Joshua
· Attitudes of Church Leaders
· Motivation to do the work
· Have I become your enemy? Gal 4:16
· God shows no partially…do we?
· God cares for all people
· How I can love the unlovable Rom 12:14-21

The meeting lasted from Friday evening, all day Saturday, until Sunday at lunch, with all meals provided for any who attended. Some of the brethren from the village churches came to join us too. We really enjoyed all the fellowship and some yummy traditional Khmae food.
This week’s schedule is filled with many exciting events, but that’s about it for the past week! Stay tuned for next week’s report.
We are in the process of planning a furlough trip during the summer. As details are confirmed we will certainly keep you posted.
Sending our love and blessings! We do remember who sent us and why we came. Please pray we maintain a good balance for the long distance race ahead.
Weekly Greetings with Love!
We pray the Lord has blessed you with a delightful first day of the week and the prospect for many new opportunities as this week unfolds. It is now Monday evening and we have been blessed with a great day.
Well we are now up to 25 consonants with only 8 more to go! Okay, actually we have another 23 vowels and 32 sub-consonants to complete the alphabet. The good news is we are getting closer 1 letter at a time. Much of our Khmae lessons this past week were spent practicing conversation. We welcome the opportunity to converse with our tutor. Although we are eager to learn the alphabet and be able to read and write, the ability to converse helps us now in our day-to-day activities. We praise God as we see our vocabulary growing. Yet, there is still so much to learn! Please pray that we can remember what we study and also that we might understand quickly the concepts we are taught.
Each week we start our morning with chapel at CBI. This is similar to what we did the 2 years we went to Sunset International Bible Institute. The big difference is we are in a different country and the lessons are taught in Khmae. The last few Monday mornings as we close chapel at CBI the dean of the school has the students give a recap of their Sunday “ministry missions.” It is great to hear these men and women tell of the “what and why” of the lessons they teach each week. This week two mentioned specific lessons tied to the upcoming Khmae New Year. One taught about not worshipping angels and spirits because this is a big element of the festival. The other taught about grace because Buddhism advocates works salvation and the pressure to do good deeds during the holiday goes up. We are thrilled to see their zeal as they continue their studies and serve in the community. We also heard of 3 more baptisms at the new church plant at Krang Trob (KT).
Our Sunday included worship with TTT and KSP. At KSP, a couple of days ago, a woman 4 months pregnant took a bad fall causing an instant miscarriage. She is recovering well now after her visit with the doctor, receiving the necessary care and meds. We were able to help a bit and pray for her as have several others. This family is among the poorest we know, but the Christians are pulling together to help! Once again we see evidence of the individual Christians and their churches growing and maturing. When we returned to the city, we assembled with the American, Khmae and one Romanian saints at UCC. It is such a blessing to see so many young Khmae seekers and Christians meeting together at PIP.
This past week included meeting with an American Cambodian who is striving to make disciples and plant churches on the far west side of the city. We had a wonderful traditional Khmae style meal together and time to share ideas. The Missionary Care Group joined for another special time of fellowship. We continue to have opportunities to meet with and build relationships with the Khmae people. Sharon spent time Saturday with a young lady she met while we were on our R&R trip and looks forward to sharing more time with her! Dennis had the opportunity to preach a good lesson on the need for telling about Jesus because many are dying in their sins. A couple of students were struggling with the God of grace who says we will die if we are not in Christ. We think they got HIS message! As you can see we always have plenty to do whether we are in the city or the countryside.
We had a couple of questions this week! Jessica is curious what the exchange rate is here in Cambodia. The exchange rate is 4000 reels to the dollar. Cyndia has an inquiring mind and wants to know what a typical meal is here and if we are able to have Americanized food. Typical Khmae style meals consist of rice, a small amount of meat and some vegetables! However, as the county has had more and more foreigner it is relatively easy to get Americanized food. Thank you for your interest in our lives and the county of Cambodia. Keep the questions comings!
We appreciate you more than words can express. More to come next week!
Eternal Love & Blessings,
Dennis & Sharon/Pawpaw & Nana







































