Chumpri is one of the first Pnong I met when I came to Mondulkiri Province. Braden Pewitt took me to meet him one sunny afternoon. Chumpri was wiring his house for lights and wasn’t sure how to put everything together. He is clever, and it didn’t take much explaining before he had figured out what to do and was connecting the wires to the light fixture.

Over several years, Chumpri has learned bits and pieces about God. He watched as his wife Kaak learned more and more about God, but he wasn’t ready to give up his trust in the traditional healers he knew so well. Kaak began praying for him. Last year, Chumpri started attending the local Khmer church plant with us on Sabbaths along with Kaak. It has been exciting to me to see the changes taking place in his heart. He has started to embrace Christianity and is starting to view himself as more of a Christian than an animist.

Recently Chumpri and Kaak’s daughter Gam took her ninth-grade exams. All their friends were encouraging them to go offer a sacrifice on a nearby hilltop to invoke the spirits’ blessing on Gam’s exams. Instead, Chumpri and Kaak decided to have a ceremony of their own to ask God to bless Gam’s exams. They invited us out to their house to eat with them. Kaak made a very tasty pumpkin dessert. After the meal, we had a Bible study and then asked Chief God to be with Gam and bless her as she took her exams.

Before praying, we asked Chumpri if he wanted to pray. He shyly told us he didn’t know how. So I prayed, then Kaak and Cara prayed. After Cara finished her prayer, we were about to get up when Chumpri started to pray. It was his first time praying aloud. It was a simple prayer, but it brought us such joy to hear him open his heart to God and ask Him to be with his daughter as she took her exams! God heard his prayer, and now Chumpri and Kaak are planning another ceremony to thank God for helping Gam pass the exam.

The Holy Spirit is working on Chumpri’s heart. Please pray for Chumpri as he moves forward in his walk with God. Pray for God’s blessing and protection on both him and his family. Thank you.

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