T wo-hundred years ago missionaries Adoniram and Ann Judson left Salem, Massachusetts for the mission field fully aware that they may never see their homeland

again. When in Burma (also known as Myanmar), it took Adoniram over three years spending twelve hours daily to learn the language fluently. It took six years before the first Burmese convert was baptized and ten years of labor for Judson to see eighteen converts. When the Anglo-Burmese War broke out in 1824, Adoniram was accused of being a spy because he spoke English. During the twenty long months in prison, he was half-starved, iron-fettered, sometimes bound and suspended by his mangled feet with only head and shoulders touching the ground. Not only that, Adoniram lost some of his children and his first wife Ann and later, his second wife, Sarah, to illness and fatigue. The spread of the gospel of Christ often comes at a great personal loss; however, Adoniram Judson gave of himself to God’s cause with no regrets.

In 2008, God opened the way for ASAP to begin sponsoring national missionaries in Burma. As a supporting ministry to the church, these national workers labor directly under the supervision and care of a district Adventist church pastor. We here at ASAP witness time and again the sacrifice each missionary makes for the cause. As you will see from two of their stories below, they give and give of themselves.

Hla Nwe*, a national missionary, and her husband serve among the animist Lahu and Akkha people groups who together number 500,000. Because of her witness through the classes she teaches and her warm, friendly approach, children and their parents have decided to follow Jesus as their Savior. Hla Nwe faces trials on a daily basis. The village where she and her family live is located in the path of conflict where fighting between the central government and ethnic army can erupt at any time. One night at 11:00 a Shan army unit charged through her village. She had to flee into the jungle and hide all night. As she huddled in the bushes with

No Regrets“We are admonished to redeem the time. But time squandered can never be recovered. We cannot call back even one moment. The only way in which we can redeem our time is by making the most of that which remains, by being co-workers with God in His great plan of redemption.” Christ’s Object Lessons, page 342

BY SAM NGALA

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Adventist Southeast Asia Projects

Die to Self, Live for Him (Phil. 1:21, Gal. 5:24)

Trust in the Lord (Proverbs 3:5,6)

Let the Holy Spirit Guide You (Psalm 32:8, Romans 8:14)

LIVE WITH NO REGRETS:

And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. 2 CORINTHIANS 9:8

CHECK IT OUT!Be sure to go online to

asapministries.org and watch the short clip “No Regrets”!

*Names changed for the safety of God’s servant.

bullets and tracers whizzing passed her head, she cried out to God. As she spent frequent nights in hiding, she sensed God’s presence protecting her.

She faced the trial of her baby being breach and not having enough money to go to the hospital for delivery. On top of that, her husband was away conducting evangelistic meetings. After many tears and prayers, God came through and she successfully gave birth to a healthy daughter named Esther*. Hla Nwe does not regret her commitment to work for God, not even for a moment, but rather rejoices in souls being saved.

Ko Ko*, an ASAP national missionary, travels seventeen miles a day to look after a small group. As a medical missionary, he currently is caring for five sick people in his area. In February of 2011, he witnessed fruit of his hard labor: eleven people, who started out very hardened to the gospel, received new lives in baptism. This was one of the happiest days of Ko Ko’s life! Since then he has had the privilege of baptizing more and now the believers have been organized into a company. Ko Ko knows that this miracle took place because of the working of the Holy Spirit. When Ko Ko was asked why he serves God he said, “I love this work because it is the same method Christ used to reach people. Villagers and even Buddhist monks respond positively.”

Unfortunately, the intensity of church planting and many late nights serving others became too much for Ko Ko’s wife. Sadly, she left him and their two young daughters who are ill with Thalassemia. With a broken heart, Ko Ko said, “Even if I had to choose between my wife and God’s work, I never regret staying true to God and the work He gave me to do. I wasted too much time running away from God in my past. I keep my eyes on Jesus and pray that one day my wife will come back to us.”

Laborers like the Judsons, Hla Nwe, and Ko Ko have been working in Myanmar for more than a hundred years. Today there are close to 30,000 church members in a country with a population of over 55 million. Time and experience demonstrate that Spirit-filled national missionaries are most effective in entering unreached territories and proclaiming the gospel in both urban and rural areas. There are close to 70,000 villages to reach in the country of Myanmar alone. ASAP would like to support many more workers this year. Is Christ calling you today to give, with no regrets, to help support more laborers? It only takes $90 per month to place one church planter into the ripe fields of Myanmar.

“Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.’” (Matthew 16:24, NKJV)

A deep sadness welled up in my heart when I read ABC Channel 57’s news clip on January 24, 2012 reporting that around 3:30 a.m. twenty-one year old David Quinn Jr. was found shot to death, allegedly by his sixteen year old girlfriend, Destiny. Why did this news shake me up so much? I have never met David and besides approximately 150,000 people on this earth die every day. David lived on a quiet dirt road only four houses down from ours. Just a few weeks before this tragic incident, his father, David Sr., had rescued our run-away German Shepherd, Jetta (that we got for free at a garage sale). We were out of town but our friend who picked Jetta up said, “You should meet your neighbor. He seems friendly and open.” Later, the Holy Spirit prompted me to go over and thank him. This was a prime opportunity to do something I will not have the chance to do in heaven: to witness.

The busyness of the holidays and life got in the way and that visit never happened. Could it be that God allowed Jetta to jet straight to that little yellow house for a reason? If we would have responded to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, could our prayers of intercession for that family and home have averted the death of their son? We will never know. However, it was a sobering reminder that prompted me to pray, “Father, I give you my all! I want to live in the center of Your will each moment of each day. I want to be about Your business, laboring for lost souls, instead of my busyness.” This newsletter is full of stories of individuals who are living lives of sacrifice, denying self for the sake of the gospel. May their testimonies inspire you to live your life with no regrets as they have inspired me.

PHOTO CAPTIONS (COVER): Ko Ko, ASAP National Missionary (L-R): Hla Nwe in prayer. Hla Nwe with her family and Kaila O’Carey. Tin Kyi, one of Ko Ko’s converts, getting baptized.

Thoughts From:JULIA O’CAREYASSOCIATE DIRECTOR

VIETNAMAt present I am serving God among six tribes in the highlands of Vietnam. I supervise 23 workers in 17 house churches with about 1,700 members. It is interesting that when we have to face persecution and problems we see more results, more growth in the church. Many people have decided to accept the message of salvation in Jesus Christ. Within this past year (2011) there were 170 new converts in my district. We praise the Lord for each person that decided to live for Christ. Please pray that each one will become a disciple and do all they can to share with their families and friends. BY TANIER, ASAP LAY PASTOR

CAMBODIAEvery evening I teach an English class in which I introduce children living near my home to Jesus. Sao Sopheap joined the class and after six months, he made a decision to be a Christian. When his family heard he was no longer a Buddhist, they forbade him to attend my class. He obeyed but continued studying the Bible and praying on his own. We prayed for him, too. Two months later, God worked a miracle and changed his parent’s hearts. Now Sao has been baptized and attends school and church regularly. BY DOUNG THARITH, ASAP CHURCH PLANTER

Your Gifts at Work

In places where the water supply is poor or non-existent, people are unhappy. They need clean water to drink, to bathe, to prepare their food, to live. The

people of Ta Pound Village are excited about their new well. It cost $500 to dig and now they have a good flow of water coming out of clean pipes. The water is very sweet and drinkable unlike some wells in other areas. “Villagers are coming to this well because the water tastes and looks better,” reports Bun Leng, the ASAP literacy teacher who is sharing the water of life with the local children. Thank you for making this possible for the children of Cambodia.

PHOTO CAPTION: Literacy students in Ta Pound Village, Cambodia, excited about the new well. (Taken by Deane Jackson)

NOTES from the field:

Giving Opportunities ........................ Seized!

1. Funds to build a school for poor $15,000 Laotian children in Takong, Cambodia 2. Much needed evangelistic tools such as $57,000 tracks, DVDs, and Bibles

3. Water Wells—great evangelistic tools which $8,569 open hearts to the gospel

4. A van for the Karen SDA Refugee group $8,893 in Albany, New York

www.asapministries.orgRemember you can peruse ASAP’s current list of 10 Dynamic Giving Opportunities online.

ASAP donors, have we mentioned lately how much we appreciate and love each one of you? We know that you are giving from the heart, giving with no regrets, even when giving sacrificially! Here is a glimpse of some of the many ways you seized opportunities to make an amazing difference for eternity.

www.asapministries.org/testimonies Learn more about the Reynolds’ mission adventure!

THAILANDByron and I finished the health and evangelism training and praise the Lord for the good response. Our ASAP workers are such a wonderful group! I am very tired but happy, as I interviewed most of them and prayed with them each - all in Thai. BY CAROL REYNOLDS, ASAP BOARD MEMBER

On a very rainy morning in late September of 2011, I did something that I have done countless times throughout my life, something that I am sure anyone reading this in any part of the world has also done innumerable times in their lifetime. From this one act I have come to find out that, indeed, it is impossible for me to out-give God. What I did was very simple indeed: I knocked on a door.

When I knocked on the door of Adventist Southeast Asia Projects (ASAP) in Berrien Springs, Michigan, to be quite honest, all I wanted at that point and time was some additional volunteer experience that would look good on my résumé and ultimately end my unemployment nightmare. With a master’s degree in international affairs and even an internship with a large NGO in Washington, DC under my belt, my 10-month-long job search had reached a frustrated roadblock. So my goal was to volunteer with ASAP for a couple of weeks, one month at the most, and gain a bit of international nonprofit experience until a job offer at one of the many organizations I had applied to in the most recent weeks hopefully came in. In my estimation, the cherry on top would be that I would be doing work for an Adventist organization and thus, helping to fulfill the three angels’ messages, the Great Commission and overall just being able to have the satisfactory feeling that I was “spreading the gospel message.” To my delight, ASAP also happened to need someone with my credentials, so about two weeks after I first knocked on their door, I began volunteering every day.

By the end of my first week at ASAP, I could already feel a change in my spiritual life. Daily morning staff worship followed by praises, confessions and intercessory prayers revealed to me just how much I needed to depend on God.

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Meet Jeanette Yeboah-AmoakoASAP’S ULTIMATE MISSION CHALLENGE WINNER!#

It was John Wesley who said, “Give me one hundred men who love only God with all their heart and hate only sin with all their heart, and

we will shake the gates of hell and bring in the kingdom of God in one generation.” As a preacher, theologian, and founder of the Methodist church, he was one of the greatest men of God in modern history. He was a man who spent a minimum of two hours on his knees each day in prayer. He believed that “God does nothing except in response to believing prayer.” Through his prayers he helped change England during the 18th century through a great evangelical awakening. He shook a back- sliding nation bound by immorality and unbelief. He rode over 250,000 miles by horseback and preached over 40,000 sermons during his ministry.

He truly lived a life of no regrets.

Wesley once said, “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.” Join ASAP in praying that God will help each of us and the ASAP missionaries give our all to Him!

Intercede for AsiaBY MARTIN KIM

P.S. We Love Hearing from YouP

Praise God for this ministry! May it bless many souls for Christ’s kingdom! Enclosed is a love gift from my last unemployment check. Please pray that God will heal my heart condition and help me be able to get a job, to be used for His glory and honor. May we be stronger and faithful in 2012 and unto death. HASTENING HIS RETURN, RAY FROM IDAHO

Always my wish as I send this little money (which God is able to multiply) is that one or more souls may get to know God and Jesus as their personal Saviour. BRIGNOT FROM ZAMBIA

A KNOCK ON THE DOOR

IN MEMORY OF:BOB AND ELMA ISAACS by Berwyn and Barbara Rogers • CHARLES WHITTENBURG by Gerald C. Jones • DR. G. W. BLAIR JR. by Walker Blair • ELDER DON ROTH by Philip and Phi Goh • ESTHER L. HOLMES by James H. and Charlotte M. Holmes • GORDON ARNOTT by Joan Arnott • GRAHAM MAXWELL by Jane Barker Banta • JAMES AND DOROTHY AITKEN by John and Harryette Aitken • JAY CAMRON WASHAM by Clint and Sandy Washam • LEW HURSLEY by Eleanor Hursley, Wesley and Judy Hart, Stephen Schilt, Gig Harbor Adventist Fellowship • MR. AND MRS. JOSE AND SOL ORTUOSTE by Joselito Ortuoste • TARACHAND AND PUNYABAI KESWANI by Haresh Keswani • WILBUR BURTON by Lael and Bernita Burton, Bryan LGH Medical Center

IN HONOR OF:DEE DEE’S MEGAVOICE PROJECT by Barbara Miller • CHIL AND SOHPIA KANG by Chan Sun and Esther Hwang • ESTHER ZHANG by Charles and Jewel Whidden • REBECCA DUNCAN, LAURA AND GENE BASANTA, MOLLY HENDERSON/BILL MORELAND by David and Anne Sauer • LEE AND MICHELLE PARKS by Heather Thorpe •DALE AND NANCY WOLCOTT by JK and Esther Martinez • ROEUM SILITONGA by Samuel C. Ramos • DOROTHY IMLER by Toby and Nyla Imler • JESUS by Angelia and Natalia Garcia • MY 90TH BIRTHDAY by William Farver • MR. AND MRS. ROLAND GRAY by Betty J. Silverstein

In Loving Memory and Honor

I work as a rice farmer and an evangelist. Both of these jobs can be dangerous in my country of Vietnam but God always protects me and

answers my prayers.

After I became a Seventh-day Adventist, I had an experience I will never forget. I was using a sickle to cut tall grass when suddenly I felt painful surges rip through my body that threw me to the ground. Quickly my brother-in-law managed to pull the electric wire off me that I had chopped into. Everything went black around me as I lay in an unconscious state. My family members looked on with horror, thinking that I had died.

Every morning when I wake up, I thank God for giving me life.

The last thing I remember was crying out two simple words to God, “Save me!” I don’t know how much time passed after my prayer, but I saw a bright light and opened my eyes. When I looked around I never was happier to see the faces of my loved ones. I experienced the power of God that day. Because of God’s grace I experienced no harmful effects from the electric shock I received.

Every morning when I wake up, I thank God for giving me life. I thank Him for preserving my physical body but also for rescuing me spiritually out of darkness. I pray many more people will cry out “save me!” and I know that God will hear their prayers.

*Name changed for the safety of God’s servant.

AlwaysSayingAPrayerBY TRAN HOANG*

Hi! I’m Charis Kim and I’m six. My little sister, Caia, is four. One day our daddy came home with a big bag from the craft store. He had a surprise for us and we love surprises! He pulled out eight little wooden boxes and two bigger ones and said, “These are going to be your banks, one for tithe, one for donations, one for spending and one for saving!” We felt excited.

ATTENTION KIDS! Charis and Caia saved $46.25 in three months for ASAP. Learn

more about their cool banking system by visiting asapministries.org, then

click on “Kids With a Mission” in the left corner. (They give you

permission to be “COPY CATS”.)

KIDS WITH A MISSION!CHARIS & CAIA KIM

Adventist Southeast Asia Projects is fueled by mission-minded, faith-filled individuals whom God impresses. Be assured that 100% of your gift will go directly to the projects you specify. However, in the blessed event that the project you chose is fully funded, ASAP will use your gift for a similar project or where most needed to help spread the gospel and ease the suffering in Southeast Asia. Because ASAP is a §501(c)(3) non-profit organization, your donations are tax-deductible.

ASI MEMBER ASAP has been a member of ASI (Adventist-layman’s Services and Industries) since 1996 and is grateful to be an ASI grant recipient.

EXECUTIVE EDITOR/DIRECTOR Judy AitkenEDITOR/ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR Julia O’Carey COPY EDITORS Wayne Labins, Linda BauerDESIGN/LAYOUT Sarah Lee www.ambientlightstudios.com

ASAP BOARD OF DIRECTORS Chair: Bruce Bauer, Judy Aitken, Peter Van Bemmelen, Christopher Carmen, Steven Chang, Chan Sun and Esther Hwang, Denzil McNeilus, Mary Ann McNeilus, Byron and Carol Reynolds and Trudi Starlin.

TOLL FREE 1-866-365-3541PHONE 269-471-3026FAX 269-471-3034EMAIL office@asapministries.orgWEB www.asapministries.org

All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New King James Version® copyright ©1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

ASAP serves people from the countries of Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar.

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A Knock on the Door … (continued)

Although I had worked at Christian organizations before, I had never been in a work environment in which staff gathered for worship and prayer each day, and it soon became my favorite part of the workday. As I witnessed prayer upon prayer answered, my faith grew stronger. As the weeks turned into months, I realized that I had actually found the type of work that God had been directing me to but that I had been avoiding, and I had found it right in my backyard no less. Through my volunteer work with ASAP, God revealed to me that the talent He gave me to offer humankind is the deep compassion in my heart to reach the lost in any part of the world.

It has now been months since I first knocked on the door at ASAP. When I showed up, I did not know what to expect. I know I was not expecting to instantly be welcomed with open, loving arms by every single ASAP employee. I was not expecting to immediately be treated like a family member. I was not expecting God to unearth so many things about my character that had previously been shrouded. I was not expecting to fall in love with this work. I definitely was not expecting to win an iPad in an Ultimate Mission Challenge! But all of the aforementioned are exactly what took place and as a result, my life is filled with peace and happiness. It has often been said that time is the stuff that life is made of.

I invite anyone reading this to also find ways to give their time to God and discover for themself that it is impossible to outgive the Ultimate Provider!

asapministries.org Read Jeannette’s full testimony where she shares specific answers to prayer. Also hear from the runner-up of the Ultimate Mission Challenge.