Second Quarter Update

“God has made everything beautiful in its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from the beginning to end.” – Ecclesiastes 3:11

After 5 weeks away from my family, I arrived back in Cambodia to be greeted by a team of government workers ushering me through the airport to begin my 14 days of quarantine at a state-sanctioned hotel. Here is my best attempt to put into words the range of emotions that flooded my mind in that moment: I was thrilled to be back in the country I love, sad to leave behind family in the States, eager to be reunited with my wife and kids, dreading the 14 days of solitude in a hotel room, and longing to be discipling the students once again.

That moment reminded me that our lives are a series of moments. Some good, some bad, but all useful for the Kingdom of God as we surrender those moments to Him. Many years ago, we unreservedly gave our lives to God to do with it as He sees best. There have been times we’ve seen clearly what God was doing and other times, we’ve felt lost in an ocean of the unknown. Yet, though we don’t fully see the grand scope of God’s plan, we have witnessed that not one moment was wasted. Moments entrusted to Him have shaped our lives, which shape the ministry here, which shapes the young men and women who are a part of our community, which shapes the future of a nation and the eternity of countless Cambodian people.

God is alive and active in the grand design of this universe as well as the small details of our daily lives and as we align the moments of our lives with Him, He is working every moment to a beautiful conclusion. Thank you for joining with God in these precious moments here in Cambodia.

FAMILY CORNER

Elizabeth is starting her second year as the 1st grade teacher at Logos International School. She is eager for the opportunity to love and serve her colleagues, students and parents as they begin the 2021-22 school year fully online.

Clara is starting her first year of high school! She spends her days reading, drawing digital art, and talking to friends.

Josh is starting 2nd grade at Logos. He loves creating with Legos and making robots that transform. His reading has really taken off and he enjoys “Dogman” books.

Caleb turns 5 this month and is starting preschool at Logos. He loves eating plain tricolored spiral pasta with parmesan cheese and ninja fighting.

MINISTRY HIGHLIGHTS

Student training and leading: One of the most exciting things about my time in the US during the month of June was that our student leaders were leading independently. We spend a lot of time training them, teaching them, mentoring, discipling and giving them opportunities to lead. They do this on a daily basis among children and friends in our community. But it is a whole new level of leadership when you are asked to lead your peers and my absence gave them that opportunity.

Our student leaders have been taking care of every aspect of the ministry in my absence though Elizabeth was still there for guidance. They have been in charge of daily needs such as: paying bills, making sure the students are doing their duties and checking in on the needs of others in general. They’ve also been in charge of ministry--leading Bible studies, organizing care trips to provide food and prayer for those in need, and leading times of worship and prayer.

Refocused plan for development: One of the most important aspects of my time in the US was to rethink what we are doing in terms of how effective it is in accomplishing the goal of developing, training, mentoring, and discipling the next generation of leaders in Cambodia according to Biblical standards.

We have seen that although we are on the right track, there are areas and strategies we need to begin to implement as we grow as an organization. We have decided to spend time creating a “development track program.” This will help us to encourage their spiritual, mental, and educational maturity with a clear program so that the model we are using is not only transformative, it is also reproducible in the students’ lives and in other countries and contexts.

Bible material translation projects: While in the US I met with LATM a Biblical materials translation and publishing company that wants to partner with us to develop a book series to help train and shape the Cambodian Christian. The idea is to have books translated and printed that will bring them from birth as a believer to maturity. We are still working out the details, but this is an exciting and much needed side project that is now becoming a larger part of the ministry’s future! This project will not only provide much needed biblical material for Cambodian Christians including our students, but it will also provide job opportunities and ways to connect with the community around us.

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PRAYER REQUESTS

1. Please pray for our family: It is a joy to live and serve overseas, but it is also a challenge. We need wisdom as parents to help our children navigate a life and thrive in a land where they are foreigners. We also deeply miss time spent with our families in the US.

2. Please pray for our students: Since the Covid-19 virus first came to Cambodia the schools and universities have been all online, churches closed, and travel across provincial lines are restricted. We continue to meet, study, and worship together, but the past year has been stressful and hard for each of them. Pray they seek God and grow in their character and discipline during this time.

3. Please pray for our finances: This is not something we often talk about but it is a need we have. When we transitioned from having our financial support go through a church to becoming an official non-profit organization, we lost some of our financial ministry partners. God is faithful, this is His ministry and with that in mind, we want to ask you to pray for new ministry partners to support us financially and for organizations and churches to be passionate about creating a community of Christ exalting leaders who will transform the nation of Cambodia so that not only can we continue to serve here, but we can grow the ministry to the place we believe God wants it to be.

Thank you so much for your partnership and prayers. To God be the glory!