Dear Praying Friends,
2 More Souls Saved!
We are rejoicing this month that 2 more precious souls have been led to Christ! One of our older ladies met Ohm Sueng a couple of months ago while passing out tracts in a new neighborhood. Upon seeing Ohm Sueng’s interest in hearing the Gospel, the lady from our church began going to her house weekly to teach her about Jesus, as well as bringing her to church with her. A couple of weeks ago, after hearing the Word of God over several sittings, Ohm Sueng trusted Christ as Savior! Now we are praying for her husband. He is crippled, and thus far has been unable to attend church (it’s quite far), however, our church lady says that he is very open to the Gospel and she continues to teach them at their house.

The other salvation was a boy named Jojo, who comes to church with his mom and little sister. We’ve seen Jojo opening up to the Gospel over the recent months, and I thank God for one of our church members who very patiently taught him for many weeks until he understood the Gospel and made the decision to believe on Christ.

In my last letter, I asked you to pray for Ohm Yuen and his wife. I shared the Gospel with both of them at their house over the course of several weeks, but neither of them gave any indication of being under conviction of their sin or being ready to turn to Christ for salvation. Yesterday at church, Ohm Yuen approached me and said he had been thinking about Jesus and the Gospel and wants me to come back to his house again. I’ll be going back to see them again this week. Please pray for both of them to be saved soon.

2 Trips In April
Normally when we are between furloughs, it is very unusual for us to leave Cambodia at all, but in April, I ended up taking two trips, one of which was quite unexpected. As many of you know from my previous letters, my dad resigned as pastor of our sending church late last year after 48 years in that pastorate. Since then, my parents have been seeking the Lord’s will on their next step regarding where they will live and serve. My brother, who lives and pastors in Patterson and Modesto, has been providing almost all of the help and assistance that our parents needed during this transition time, and God laid it on my heart to go and help for a couple of weeks. The problem was, at that time I was waiting for some important documents to be issued relating to our visas to be in Cambodia. There was no way I could leave here until our visa renewal was finalized. To make a long story short, God answered 3 very specific prayers that clearly indicated to me that He wanted me to take 2 weeks and go check in on my parents. It was a profitable trip in many tangible ways, but perhaps the most profitable part was just being able to spend some time with them. It can be very hard for missionaries on the foreign field to be so far from home when loved ones (especially their children or their parents) are going through a tough time. I am really grateful to God for answering the prayers and working out the details that made this quick trip possible, as well as for watching over my wife and children while I was away. Also I greatly appreciate Pastor Tharp and our church family at Sequoia for taking up a love offering, which was a huge help towards the cost of the trip. I would greatly appreciate additional prayer on behalf of my mom and dad. The biggest prayer request right now is for their house to sell (we got it on the market while I was there), and beyond that, please pray for God’s leadership and direction as they consider what is next.

I got back to Cambodia in time to grab my family and fly to Thailand to attend a field conference with other BIMI missionaries from Southeast Asia. (Well, okay...it wasn’t quite that fast of a turn around, but it felt like it.) It was good to meet with other missionaries for a few days of teaching, prayer, and fellowship. We knew a couple of the other families, but most of them were new to us. During one of the breaks, one of the young missionary wives said, “Hi Bro. Benefield…do you remember me?” Her dad (Pastor Clint Caviness) was one of our supporters from way back when she was a child! Interestingly, her husband’s dad (Pastor Gerald McElroy) was also one of our supporters from way back when he was a child, too! So, of course, I knew both of them by name, but never would have recognized them. Made me feel a bit old…but also very blessed. Two great pastors from the Pacific Northwest (one of them now in Heaven) both had children grow up, marry, and end up on the other side of the globe at a field conference with a missionary that they first met as children. I thought that was pretty neat. Over the years, on a few occasions I’ve ended up in a missions conference with a missionary that I first met when I was a child. I just love to see the generational connections among servants of the Lord! We sincerely appreciate our field director, Bro. Steven Maldoff, for putting together an encouraging time for all of us, and we are thankful that we had the opportunity to participate.

Busy Summer Ahead
The coming months will continue to be very busy. In the middle of May, we will participate in the annual Pressing Forward Conference here in Phnom Penh. I’ll be preaching once at that conference as well as leading the music. Lord willing, a group of men from our church will be singing a special, too. Starting this Sunday, I’ll be covering Sunday night services for another missionary for the next three months, as well as continuing teaching the piano students that I recently began to teach. At some point over this summer, we expect to welcome a new missionary family to Phnom Penh (the Scuphams) as well as see our oldest son, Stephen, leave to go back to the US. All this to say…we continue to need your prayers.

We love and appreciate each of you and all that you do to make our ministry possible.

Sincerely,
Stephen Benefield
Phnom Penh
Cambodia

Dear Pastor Smith and Faith Baptist Church 
We’ve had a good start to the new year. Our church folks are busily pursuing the 4 goals I set for the whole church including a goal for Bible reading church attendance tracts distributed and Bible memory. It’s a blessing to see new Christians beginning a Bible-reading schedule or a Bible-memory plan for the first time in their lives but it’s equally a blessing to see long-time believers get a fresh vision for God to work in their lives.
 Several weeks ago one of our ladies asked prayer for a woman she met sometime earlier while soul winning in her neighborhood. After befriending her and trying to witness to her for a number of weeks she finally set a definite appointment to sit down with her at her house and clearly present the Gospel to her. Another lady a scoffer was there at the time and kept interrupting throughout the time of witnessing. She kept saying “Don’t listen to her. You don’t have to listen to her.” Our lady responded wisely “I’m not telling you to listen to me…(then lifting her Bible) I’m telling you to listen to God.” She didn’t get real far due to the scoffer’s interruptions but she set another appointment to come back the next day when the scoffer would not be there. This time the lady heard the Gospel and placed her faith in Christ alone for salvation! Pray for Sok Leung. She was supposed to come to church the past couple of Sundays but keeps being hindered by her poor health.  
Back in September of 2022 we asked prayer for a lady named Seena who was being witnessed to by a lady in our church. Just to show that sometimes it can take awhile Seena finally got saved this past Sunday! I am so proud of the lady in our church who has witnessed to her faithfully. On Sunday she brought Seena to church with her. I preached on the importance of knowing God and that evening I received a text message that Seena had trusted Christ as Savior. Apparently our church lady had spent the afternoon with her talking about the sermon witnessing to her further and following the admonition of II Corinthians 5:20 (Urging her on Christ’s behalf to be reconciled to God). Pray for Seena. 
Three weeks ago my son Stephen and I were out visiting on a Saturday and we got to lead a woman and a teen girl to the Lord. 2 weeks ago while passing out tracts with my daughter Gabby in a new area we started salvation studies with 2 men at 2 different houses. I’ve made follow-up visits on both of them and they are both listening to the Gospel with great interest. Additionally there are 4 teens and children whom we are currently counseling for salvation each Sunday at church asking God to bring them to a place of understanding and conviction of sin so they might be saved. Please pray for all of these I have mentioned. Our number one desire is to glorify God in our ministry and according to John 15:8 He is glorified when we bear much fruit and especially fruit that remains. 
Next week about 20 of us will be attending an annual leadership conference hosted by another Baptist church about a half an hour from us. I’ll be preaching once and helping out with the music. Please pray for the conference to go well and for God’s people to be stirred afresh and anew for the great work to which He has called us. 
We appreciate you and your faithful prayers and support. 
Sincerely 
Stephen Benefield
Phnom Penh
Cambodia