Our flight from Springfield to Chicago was delayed 90 minutes due to a storm in the Windy City and we missed the connecting flights to Tokyo and Manila. After an overnight stay in Chicago and a bumpy flight to Tokyo, we arrived safely in Manila.
The next two weeks were filled with preparation for our annual Missionary Training Seminar (MTS). It began with the Board of Directors meeting for business and interviews of candidates. There were 24 adult missionaries that attended the MTS. Three couples and six singles were accepted into our missionary family. That brought our total missionary force to 95 family units in 31 countries of the world. One interesting note is that we accepted more missionary units this year than in the last 2 years combined. The Lord is blessing!
Bro. Byars and I and one of our ABC staff spent 7 days in Cambodia. We held our first Missionary Retreat for Asian Baptist Clearinghouse missionaries in Sinhanokville, about 4 hours south of Phnom Penh. There were 56 in attendance and we had a great time of fellowship and challenge. This is the first of what we hope will be an annual retreat in one of the fields served by ABC.
I spoke three times during the retreat and seven times Saturday, Sunday and Monday in Phnom Penh in 5 churches and a prayer meeting. What a thrill it was to see first hand the work the Lord is doing through our Filipino and American missionaries in Cambodia. At least 40 churches and missions have been started, 3 feeding programs, 3 orphanages, a Bible College and several Bible institutes, and an ACE school for missionary kids. The killing fields have become the saving fields!
Lloyd Baker, Philippines