Ruppel Family to Cambodia – Cornerstone Baptist Church

Dear Praying Friends,

In our last prayer letter, we mentioned 4 adults that were just baptized on January 1st. Tich Meng faced his first real test as a young Christian; Chinese New Year. His family is ethnically Chinese, and they are accustomed to having Tich Meng participate in the worship of their ancestor spirits. He explained to them well before the ceremony that he would not be participating because he now believed in Jesus Christ. This was a massive step for him! Saophia continues to come to church and grow, but her brother Liza is having significant struggles with his health. Neither of his kidneys is working, and he has to undergo dialysis every week. These health problems often leave him too weak to make it to church. For Liza, the health prognosis is not good, but we do know where he will be going when his time comes to depart from this world.

Becky and I have been back in Cambodia for precisely two weeks. It took us a few days to get back on Cambodian time, but we are now in the midst of a number of ministry projects.

Pastor Wang asked me (Becky is helping me with this) to teach a series in S.S. Lord willing, this series about the family will start on February 12th.
Pastor Tho had the rest of his teeth pulled out, so he asked me to preach in his place for a couple of Sundays. His ministry in his home village is about 2 hours from our place in Phnom Penh.
Becky and I are also fully engaged in preparing for the annual “Pressing Forward Conference.” Pray it will be everything God wants it to be.
As part of my weekly schedule, I am teaching Pastor Tho through a doctrines book. Pastor Tho then teaches a group of young people the same lessons every Friday evening. Lord willing, Pastor Tho will eventually start recording videos using the same lessons for the online Bible institute we hope to start this year. (Pastor Tho and I decided that it would be best to wait on making these videos until after he gets his new teeth.) 🙂
The Online institute is a very important project the Lord has laid before us. Please pray that God will give us wisdom in setting this up, developing the courses in Khmer, and utilizing our missionary friends and national pastors as teachers. Pray that God would use the institute to strengthen churches and train people to serve our Lord Jesus Christ.

Another “opportunity” has presented itself that I would not exactly call ministry. It pertains to the paperwork that the Cambodian government requires so that Baptist missionaries in Cambodia can continue to work freely in the country. A sufficient explanation of this issue would take too much of your time, but in short, starting the middle of this February, I will need to submit an updated list of Baptist missionaries to the government on a monthly basis. Please pray for this monthly task. Pray that we will figure out a way to accomplish what the government requires without taking up much of our time. Pray that we will be wise as serpents and yet gentle as doves.

To my missionary friends who read this, I will contact you soon to discuss this new opportunity. 🙂 Let us begin with prayer.

Thank you all for your prayers on our behalf,

Rodney Ruppel