Keeping Up w/ God

08 Sep Keeping Up w/ God

Posted at 13:30h in Cambodia, Uncategorized by belovedministriesglobal 0 Comments

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Hi beautiful people! We know it’s been a while since we wrote an update, so we will summarize a bit that’s happened since we wrote last. As you know, we traveled back the Cambodia in January and had an amazing couple of months, but in May we had a family emergency and traveled back to the States. Jill’s dad went to be with Jesus in early April. We are forever grateful for the time we got to spend with him and loved ones during his last few weeks. Gary loved the Lord and was a living testimony of the Father’s love, not only for his children and family, but for every person he encountered. We heard countless stories of his radical generosity and unconditional love from many friends and family at the funeral services. We are grateful for the flexibility to be able to stay home with family for the following few months, loving each other through the grieving process. In July we decided it was time to go back to Cambodia, so we booked our flights and have been here since early July!

It’s been an amazing two months being back on the mission field. We have been running at full force just trying to keep up with all God is doing in Iris Cambodia in this season. Not only are we continuing to grow in the projects we have been working on, we are seeing major fruit from all the time, hard work, and seeds planted in seasons leading up to this. On top of that, we have launched a few new projects and broken ground in one of the darkest areas of the city. Here are some of the exciting things happening, that we can share with you at this time…

Riverside Outreach: This is the ministry we are leading. Since we arrived back in July, we have seen more progress here than ever before. Three of our children have been placed on Stop for the One, children and families are opening up to us about hardships in their lives, and through strategic partnerships we are seeing justice brought to the area. This is also the area where we have recently broken new ground. We prayed about how to get into this new village, and God spoke to us a very strategic and clear plan, and literally within 24 hours we were invited in by the chief of the village, her son showed us around and introduced us to everyone living there, and even though the son is not a Christian yet, he took us to the sick and told us to pray for them! This is the darkest area we have seen in Cambodia, and no other NGO’s are willing to or have been able to work there.

– Teaching our children about different animals & Noah’s Ark

Ice Cream & Brothels: Many of the ladies on our team minister in the brothels each week and we have been seeing so much breakthrough in this area specifically. In recent weeks we have rescued one lady from a life in the sex industry and she will be our first employee at our vocational program.

Vocational Study Program: Connected to our brothel outreach, our team is launching a jewelry and candle making vocational program for women wanting to leave the sex industry and live a life of freedom. Our mission is to empower them to provide a living for themselves, teach them what walking in freedom truly looks like, and help them flourish in their new way of life. This program will not only teach them practical skills, but provide them with daily discipleship and counsel with their team leader.

Stop for the One: We have officially launched our child sponsorship program through Iris Global called Stop for the One. The sponsorship donations go towards putting our kids in school, purchasing their uniforms and supplies, transportation if needed, as well as everything that goes into running our centre (staff, supplies, renting a room in the slum, food for children and families, etc.). All of this helps keep our children safe, educated, and off the streets.

Guesthouse: We have decided, as an organization, to rent a house for visitors and teams to live in during their time with us. So far, it’s been amazing, and a lot of work, but will hopefully be a profitable income to help support some of the needs of our base.

Language Learning: We are still language learning, and probably will be forever, but we know God has called us to communicate well with those we work with, so we are giving it everything we’ve got. Right now, on top of learning more vocabulary, we are learning to read and write.

សូមអធិស្ឋានសម្រាប់យើង (translation: Please pray for us!)

This really is a season of growth and acceleration for our team and God is moving so powerfully. We are working on some other really exciting projects that we can’t wait to share with you in the future. In the mean time, please pray for wisdom, guidance, and full provision in making these dreams become a reality.

Here are just some photos and memories from the past few months…