This month, our team is focusing on finding and sharing about Unsung Heroes in Cambodia. This post is part of an 11-blog series about our efforts.
This post written by Ben Mitchell & Katie Stoddard
Souls.
That’s the word Wilma Mishler has heard throughout her entire ministry. Jerry and Wilma Mishler are the founders of On the Frontline Ministries in Cambodia. Their ministry seeks to win souls. It’s not about numbers. It’s not about a program. It’s about souls. We were lucky enough to share a cup of Khmer coffee with them and hear their story.
In the fall of 2000, after serving for 10 years as a missionary in India, Jerry was walking through an over-ripe rice field. The rice was falling effortlessly to the ground as he brushed by and he suddenly heard an audible voice behind him. With no one around him, he knew it was God speaking. “This is how ripe Cambodia is that just brushing against them with the Word of God they will come.” At that moment Jerry’s heart went out for the people of Cambodia, but he wasn’t alone.
At home in the States, Wilma was washing dishes at the same time Jerry was walking through the rice field. All of a sudden she had a vision of many faces. Questioning, she told us that at first she was confused, because these faces were not Indian faces like she expected, they were Cambodian faces. She then heard a voice saying, “GO!” She questioned the voice and again heard His voice saying, “What part of ‘GO’ don’t you understand?” At that point God filled here with a love for Cambodia.
So, Wilma and Jerry soon left for Cambodia. They had no idea what to expect. They didn’t know where to go. They didn’t know where to begin. They started with nothing. All they could do was trust God to provide. Twelve years later, their ministry is thriving. Because of their trust in God, they now have over 100,000 Cambodians meeting every week in house churches and programs throughout their ministry and average about 3,000 salvations per month. Their ministry has gotten so big that their trained pastors are devoted full-time because there are so many people they are ministering to. This ministry that God started from nothing has become an incredible outreach.
Jerry and Wilma shared a word that they heard from God, which is a word I’ve heard so often in my own life, a famous quote by Henry Blackaby: “Look for where God is at work and join Him.” They spoke about being co-laborers with God, rather than reinventing the wheel. God was in Cambodia working before Jerry and Wilma arrived there, and He continues to go before us in all that we do. They may have not had an inkling as to where to begin ministering in Cambodia, but by joining forces with God and seeking to see where He was already working, they have been able to create an influential ministry in Cambodia. It is evident through the obedience of this dear couple, and now several people on staff and working in this ministry, that God has been at work in Cambodia for a very long time.
Jerry and Wilma never once ceased to give God the glory for what He has done. And though their ministry has become so big, their heart continues to be for the Cambodian people. For them it is not about the numbers, though God has blessed their efforts tremendously; it is about souls. It is about a loving God rescuing His children and blessing those who say “Yes” to Him.
The harvest is ripe, even over-ripe. God is at work. He is calling for workers to join Him.
If you would like to help support Jerry and Wilma’s ministry in any way, please visit their website to find out more! www.onthefrontlineministries.org
