November 6, 2003

Sihanookville, Cambodia-Two months ago we visited this seaport city and were asked to teach a group of people what they should do to become a Christian. Others went back and baptized 103 of those we taught. We returned to study with this group further and to encourage them to be faithful to the Lord. Ken Smith, from Anchorage, Alaska, is with us for a month and he shared the teaching with me. Together we taught three hours about "The church for which Jesus died." The congregation responded with many questions, which gave us the opportunity to fill in the gaps we had previously missed. Four of the men are interested in coming to the Bible school or getting more intensive Bible training. We are trying to work out something to help them. Since this group of more than one hundred is alone most of the time, they need all the training they can get as quickly as possible. Please put this church on your prayer list.

This morning, November 4, we left the house at 5:15 and picked up four of the Bible school students. We drove four hours to the home of one of the group, where more than one hundred people were waiting to hear God’s word. They had never read a Bible or heard a sermon about Jesus, so we distributed the seventy Bibles we had taken with us. We gave them a short course on how to use the Bible-its division into books, chapters, and verses. After an explanation of how to find specific passages, we began teaching in Genesis with the creation of man, his sin and separation from God. We continued through Old Testament stories for three hours to demonstrate how God deals with man and what He wants from us. After three and one half hours we departed, promising to return. We then drove back over thirty miles of four wheel drive roads, with mud holes big enough to bury the Jeep, and another one hundred miles of carts, motorcycles, and trucks to get home. Following dinner at 7 p.m., our young Cambodian guest, Kim, was waiting for her nightly Bible Study from 8:30 to 9:30. The last thing on our agenda today is to get this article to Ann Baker on time and hit the sack.

We give thanks for the blessing of these opportunities and the strength God has provided us to share His message with so many people. What we need, and may be able to establish, is a traveling Bible school. We are thankful for each of you and as we ride in the old green Jeep, study with university students, and teach the countless people that have never heard of Jesus. You are here through your thoughts, prayers, and financial gifts because He Cares.

William E. "Bill" McDonough, Director
Partners In Progress
Phnom Penh, Cambodia