Prince of Peace

I was watching a football game the other day with Sterling and Benjamin and we saw this commerical for a new video game. Ozzy Ozbourne is in it and arguing with the main character of in the game about who is the true "Prince of Darkness." Of course, this brought back many memories of my high school years and the music that I used to listen to, but, more importantly, it reminded me of the war going on around us for the souls of men. It also reminded me of the Prince of Peace moving in a man's life in the jungle of Cambodia.

Christmas 2002, Kristen, Sterling, Benjamin and I went with our language teacher into the jungle of Banteay Meanchey on the border of Thailand. We went to visit an orphanage that our language teacher's husband ran. It was a 14 hour van ride on a dirt road. Because the boys were five and two years old, we broke the trip up and spent the night in Battambang. Due to stopping in Battambang and the road condition, we arrived at the orphanage later than expected. I knew that I was suppose to share a message at the Church, but I did not know that the service was starting about 10 minutes after we arrived.

Once we arrived, the service was filling up and we had to hurry and enter the building. During worship, I kept seeing a man sitting in the front row who looked like he was familiar with a life of suffering. Banteay Meanchey was one of the last strongholds of the Khmer Rouge. The area had seen much war during the past 100 years (before the Khmer Rouge, there were warring factions in this part of the country). As we worshipped the Lord, I kept sensing the Holy Spirit encouraging me to share on Jesus Christ - the Prince of Peace.

As I stood up to greet the Church; I begin to share on Isaiah 9:6

For unto us a Child is born,

Unto us a Son is given;

And the government will be upon His shoulder.

And His name will be called

Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

From the moment that I opened my mouth, the man sitting in the front began to tear up. As I shared how Jesus came to give us peace not only in our physical circumstances, but also peace in our souls, the man began to cry. I shared that although they had suffered from war in this area, the real war was in their own spirits. I declared how that Jesus Christ died for us so that we can have peace with God, and the man began to sob.

When I gave the alter call, this man rushed forward. After we had prayed with many of the people there that day, the pastor of the Church asked this man to share. He introduced the man as the village leader. He stood before the congregation with tears of joy as he declared that he was a former Khmer Rouge commander and that his entire life he had only known war. He shared how that from a young man, all he had known was killing and violence, but that he had always truly desired peace. He said that when he heard how that Jesus, the true God, could bring peace to his heart, he knew that he had to repent of his sin and ask this Prince of Peace to enter his life as his Lord.

My family was blessed that day in the jungle to see Jesus moving in the lives of many. It was amazing to see this man of position in this village humble himself and to show earthly weakness in the eyes of the village in order to allow Christ into his heart (men, especially leaders, are not allowed to show emotion or weakness). The last that I heard of this man, he was involved in the Church and serving the Lord.

As you celebrate this holiday season, I pray that the Prince of Peace will rule in your heart and give you the only true peace that any of us can have - the peace that comes through Christ.

Merry Christmas!

Settling Back Into "Life"

I have been back in the states for three weeks now. Bouncing between our two homes, America and S.E. Asia, can be overwhelming at times. Thankfully, the grace of God is over us in both places and we can rest in the Prince of Peace wherever we are.

Kristen and I just celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary. We were blessed to stay at Locust Springs Christian Retreat in Baileyton, TN. We were in a little cabin built in the 1830's for five nights (two nights with just us and three nights with the boys). It was such a refreshing time. The cabin was updated in the mid-90's and the caretakers of the retreat were great. If you need a get away from the cares of this world, I highly recommend this place. There is no cable TV, your mobile phone may or may not work, and no internet connection. It was wonderful!

All of you who know us, know that Kristen is amazing. I am blessed to have a wife who is passionately in love with Jesus. One who is commited to walking out His will regardless of the cost. She is an incredible mother and a wonderful wife. I am grateful to the Lord for blessing me with Kristen. I look forward to what the next 15 years hold for us.

Heritage House is doing good. They have a new dorm mother and cook. They continue to plug along. Hosanna Cambodia had four visitors this week. Vutha was really excited that they actually had a man visit the Church. Please pray for Jesus to pour out His Spirit in the city of Kampot and for all to know of His great mercy.

Bangkok!

Well Sterling and I made it to Bangkok. He is a trooper hobbling around the city. You have to walk alot in a city this size and he has hobbled through it without a whimper. I keep telling him that he is going to have these huge arms by the time that we get back to the states.

I went to the doctor yesterday and it goes down as the most unusal birthday that I have ever had. I head back to the doctor for some follow up on Wednesday and then we fly out on Thursday morning at 1:20 am. Please pray that we will get a bulk head set so that Sterling can stretch his leg with the cast on it.

This trip has been such a blessing for us. Jesus has been faithful to lead and direct us along the way and we trust that new and increased vision has been set for Lighthouse Ministries. We sure miss Kristen and Benjamin and look forward to seeing them Thursday night.

I will send a complete trip update after we are back and have a few days to get over the jet lag.

and Then There Were Two!

Well most of the team is offically back in the United States. I cannot begin to express how grateful we were for each of them. The example that all of them set for the Khmer Church through their service was incredible. They all cheerfully served in whatever task they were given. They scrubbed dirty bathrooms on their hands and knees, prepared walls to be painted, cleaned windows, washed floors, painted, mixed concrete, and anything else that was asked of them. They also prayed through the city and sat in the floor with the kids during worship and devotion times. Vutha has said over and over again that the example they set is a real boost to Heritage House.

Sterling got his cast on yesterday. Thankfully, they have a new hospital in Phnom Penh and it was actually clean and the doctors were excellent. He got a cast halfway up to his knee and some new crutches (the old ones were really heavy). Pray for him to be able to keep it dry and clean during our remaining time here in Cambodia and Thailand. We do not leave until Oct 2nd.

We made it back down to Kampot today and will be spending the rest of our time here with the staff and children. Vutha and I are going to visit a few villages in the area to see about starting a cell group or two. We are also checking on a building to rent for the new Church plant. Please keep us in your prayers.

Exciting Few Days

Well, true to form, the last few days have been rather exciting. S.E. Asia always offers up suprises. On Saturday, Sterling and Krum were playing in a tree at Heritage House when they both fell. Krum landed on Sterling's foot and broke it. We had an x-ray in Kampot, but they were not able to put a cast on it. Today I took him to the hospital in Phnom Penh and they confirmed that it was broken but that it was too swelled up to cast as of right now (not to mention the orph. doc was not on duty), so they will cast it tomorrow at 4 pm.

Last night the team went out for pizza (a good Khmer meal) and afterward planned to go to the internet cafe. We could not find two tuk-tuks, so we took moto taxis. Sarah and Katherine were on one, Maria and Heather on another, Sterling and Lewis on one and the rest of the men on one. In the confusion of traffic, we were separated. All of the men made it to the internet cafe, all of the ladies had a tour of the city. Thankfully, everyone was able to make it back to the hotel safely. The ladies actually seemed to enjoy the adventure.

It is these little things that make living in a third world country quite different from living in the developed world. Thankfully, the grace of God is over us at all times. The little adventures do not detour us from our main purpose of being here - to spread the message of Jesus Christ to those who are perishing.

The team leaves this afternoon at 4:30 to start their journey back to the states. Sterling and I will get the cast put on tomorrow afternoon and then head back to Kampot to spend a week there before heading to Bangkok. The team has been more than a blessing to the ministry. They have all served and gone the extra mile over and over again. We will truly miss them.

Please pray for the team as they travel and for Sterling as he navigates the dirty streets with a cast on for a week and a half more.

Two Have Left Us

Well part of our team has left us. Shane Lilly and David Butler just got in a taxi heading to Phnom Penh. They have a really long trip ahead of them - four hour taxi ride to Phnom Penh, one hour flight to Bangkok, eight hour layover, six hour flight to Seoul, seven hour lay over, eleven hour flight to LA, four hour lay over, five hour flight to DC and then a three hour drive back to Fishersville, VA. Please pray for them!

Both of them were a tremendous blessing to the team. They painted a huge amount of the house, David lead the crew putting up the clothes line, Shane led devotions several days and they both were true examples of servants. The Heritage House kids prayed over them before they left and it was a great time.

Sarah, Matt and me (Lewis) are all back to normal, but now Robert is feeling a bit under the weather. This climate, the food, the jet lag, etc can all wear your body down.

We had a great prayer time at Vutha and Pheakadey's house yesterday. We also went to the school where most of the Heritage House children will be going and had a prayer time. This afternoon we will be going to the market to pray for the economy of the city and for righteous business owners to arise.

Thank you to everyone who is responding to the blog. I do not have time to respond back, but truly appreciate your prayers for the team and Heritage House. We also appreciate Sheila Atchley being persecuted and standing for Light of Heaven to shine in this dark country.

The House is Painted - Yeah!

We have finished painting all that we can in the house so far. The rest will have to wait for the dry season and the gutters to be fixed. The house looks great! It is amazing what a little fresh paint on the walls can do.

Today we will be cleaning up all of the trash on the outside of the house. Getting the yard in shape and putting up a new clothes line. It takes a pretty sturdy clothes line to handle 25 people's laundry.

We have a few people with stomach problems - Sarah Atchely, Matt Spencer, and myself (Lewis). Please pray for us to get healthy. Nothing serious, but stopping to hit the bathroom five or six times per day slows us down.

All of the team have done an incredible job of serving. It has been neat for the Khmer to see the Americans working like they have. This morning's devotion was on the example of Jesus in coming to serve mankind and I have to say that this team has truly followed the example of our Lord. I am thankful for each of them.

Moving Ahead

It is Sunday morning here in Kampot and we are heading to work. We should finish all of the bedrooms this afternoon. So far we have painted three dorm mother rooms, the girl dorm room, and the office. Today we will finish the two boy rooms if all goes well.

The team is working really hard and everyone is taking part. It has gone really good so far. What a blessing everyone has been. Everyone has been health so far and there have been no major illness in the group. I praise God for that!

This afternoon, we are going to do our first prayer walk through the city and prepare for the children to arrive tomorrow. We plan on having a communion service this evening together as a team.

This morning I was up on the roof of our hotel at 5:00 am and felt the Lord speak to my heart and say that it was important to remember what really matters. As the Holy Spirit was speaking to me, the wat started "the monk chant" and a young man who works at our hotel walked out with food offering to two spirit houses in front of the hotel. There is always "work"to be done, but the most important thing that we can do in this city is pray for Jesus to pierce the darkness of men's souls.

Tomorrow the Heritage House children arrive and we begin to get them settled. The next few days we will be painting all of the common areas.

Thank you for your prayers!

Clean at Last!

Our bags arrived from the United States last night and Matthew and Robert were actually able to get them for us. They spent the night in Phnom Penh and caught a taxi van down today with the bags. It will be nice to have a clean change of clothes and a shave tonight. It will also be good to hopefully get a full night sleep for the first time on the trip.

Today we were able to get two of the rooms painted at Heritage House. Maria picked out some nice colors for the rooms (she has a gift for it). Vutha headed back to Sihanoukville to pick up some more supplies and will be back tomorrow with another load for us to unpack.

The new house is great for the needs of the orphanage, but needs alot of TLC. Thankfully we have a great team with us here and everyone is eager to work. Tomorrow we will finish painting the children's rooms and continue to clean up the place.

Our new landlord is a recent widow and a serious Buddhist. She is mourning her husband and has shrines all over the place. Please pray for her families salvation. Tonight she, her sister and grandson sat in on our worship time. She sat as we prayed for her salvation and did not understand a word that we prayed. Thankfully, there is One who heard the prayer and loves her soul. It is our sincere desire to see Heritage House be a blessing in this woman's life and that our testimony would lead her to Christ.

We Made it to Bangkok

Hello Everyone

We made it Bangkok after 28 long hours. However, (for the 9 of us from TN) our luggage was still in LA. We head to Cambodia this afternoon at 3:00 PM. Vutha will pick us up and drive us to Kampot. Matthew and Robert will stay in Phnom Penh to collect our luggage which should arrive tonight at 11:00 PM.

Please pray that our luggage actually arrives as all of the men really stink and the ladies are not so fresh themselves. Seriously, we all do need our clothes for this two week trip.

Our flights were uneventful, just the way that we like them. Other than leaving Knoxville two hours late and making the flight in LA by seconds (we had to run from one building to another).

Heading to the Ends of the Earth
Lewis and the team
Rom 8:31

Heading to Cambodia!

We have a great team traveling to Cambodia to help Heritage House move from Sihanoukville to Kampot. We will be helping to set up the new house for the children and praying through the city as Vutha and the Khmer team prepare for the new Church plant.

Please pray for the team, Heritage House staff and children and the city of Kampot. It is our desire to see the name of Jesus Christ being exhaulted in every area of S.E. Asia.

Cambodia Team - Sept 9th - 23rd

Hosanna Fellowship - Johnson City, TN

Lewis Burke - Sterling Burke

Robert Read - Matthew Spencer

Harvest Church - Knoxville, TN

Sarah Atchley - Jonathan Trentham

Maria Kear - Katherine Kear

Church on the Hill - Fishersville, VA

Shane Lilly - David Butler

Trinity Chapel - Knoxville, TN

Heather Jones

To learn more about Heritage House and Lighthouse Ministries, you can visit our website:

http://www.lightincambodia.org/