December 11, 2003

Cambodia reports that there were record numbers in attendance at the congregation in Phnom last Sunday and more are being led to Christ weekly. Dr. Russ and Rosemary Burcham, left on Tuesday for a three and a half month mission with us in Cambodia. They will be teaching the university students who come to the Partners In Progress Center to study the Bible in English. Russ and Rosemary bring not only a great deal of experience but exceptional talent to the work. Russ retired from a dental practice fourteen years ago. They have spent months abroad each year since, sharing the gospel with those in Kosovo, Albania, Romanian and the Ukraine, who had no other opportunity to hear.

Prattville, Alabama, was the site of the Guyana Mission Forum last weekend where we were invited to join missionary speakers Tex William, Howard Norton, Charles Cook, Phil Slate and Ken Bolden. Jerry Cantrell, missionary to Guyana, called us together to help the hundreds of campaigners and missionaries that go to Guyana each year look at long range plans and strategies for building responsible congregations of the Lord's church.

The church in Prattville was a marvelous host. Every detail was planned and taken care of. Their members attended the classes and asked meaningful questions as did the other participants from as far away as California and Southern Florida. There were eight missionary families that work in this little South American country. It was a wonderful weekend of straight talk and honest soul searching as to how we can better do the Lord’s work.

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