Trailer – Episode 9: Every Tribe from Frontline Missions International on Vimeo.
On Sunday, my family had the privilege of viewing the latest episode of the Dispatches from the Front series produced by Frontline Missions International. This is Episode 9: Every Tribe (Cambodia, Laos, & Vietnam). I was encouraged, challenged, and convicted as I saw the work of God’s faithful servants as they follow His commands to “go into all the world.” What a thrill to see God calling out men and women of “every tongue, every tribe, and every nation.”
Every one of these films has stirred me to greater passion for God’s providential redeeming work in the difficult to reach places. God used the ministry and message of John Hutcheson, the Field Director for Frontline, to open my heart to listen for God’s call to reach the nations. John had served in pastoral ministry for 23 years before God led him into a role of missions mobilization. In my previous church, we had John in for a missions conference where he challenged our people to pray for the 10-40 window, that dark region of the world where His light shines the least. I know many of our folks accepted the challenge. I placed Frontline’s 31 Days Prayer Calendar on the wall in my office where I was sure to see it every day. God used this continual reminder to prick my heart to pray that the Lord of the harvest would send forth laborers into His harvest. Fast forward a couple of years and here I am, another man who has served in the pastorate for 25 years, who God has led into a role of missions mobilization. In January of 2016, I officially assumed my role as Assistant Director in Training of EMU International. One of the appeals of EMU International, from a human standpoint is the work among nationals in difficult to reach areas. It has been exciting to see what God has been doing through the ministry of one of our missionaries, J.D. Crowley in the country of Cambodia.
Cambodia is infamous for the four-year reign of terror by the Communist Khmer Rouge from 1975-1979, during which 2 million of Cambodia’s 6 million population were killed, the Kingdom of Cambodia has since risen from the ashes to boast one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Christ’s church has also risen from the ashes. Nearly all the believers were killed during the Khmer Rouge period, but the church in Cambodia has since exploded to over 200,000, according to official estimates. Although Buddhism is the national religion, and temples and shrines abound, no country in mainland SE Asia has more religious freedom than Cambodia.
In 1994 J.D. Crowley received one of the first permissions given to a foreigner for entering the country with the express purpose of evangelism. The opportunities for evangelism and church planting are wide open. The need for missionaries committed to indigenous church-planting throughout Cambodia is staggering. More linguists are also needed to work with Scripture translations among the indigenous minorities. EMU has five families working in Cambodia, three among the minorities in the northeast, and two in language study in Phnom Penh. In the days ahead I hope to introduce you to our EMU missionaries in Cambodia.
In this new Dispatches from the Front, J.D. Crowley takes Tim Keesee on a ministry tour through Cambodia and into Laos and Vietnam. We are given a glimpse into God’s work among the tribal people. We see the gospel being given and we see souls receptive to the truth. I was moved to tears as I saw how God is using these humble servants to share the gospel and then witness nationals reaching nationals.
From the Frontline Missions International Website:
Pioneer missionary Samuel Zwemer wrote, “The kingdoms and governments of this world have frontiers that must not be crossed.” Then he added, “The Gospel of Jesus Christ knows no frontier. It never has been kept within bounds.” This border-crossing, boundless Gospel is the theme ofEvery Tribe. The latest episode of theDispatches from the Front series is set in Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos, where a patchwork of tribes lives – people groups long crushed by brutal dictators and enslaved to the worship of demons. But the Gospel is setting prisoners free! From the killing fields of Cambodia to the remote corners of Laos, this is an “every tribe, every tongue” story of first-generation believers, who are now singing for joy over their deliverance, loving the Word, and crossing borders to share the Good News that “never has been kept within bounds.” Running time: 70 minutes.
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