Hot Dogs for Jesus

It’s been a busy month for In His Steps: opening the Kairos Training Center, children in our programs starting the new school year, visitors passing through, and much more. With all the busyness, we thought it would be fun to have a party for local kids and share some hot dogs with them!

After sending word to the neighborhood that all children were invited for lunch on Wednesday, we wondered whether the recent holiday of Pchum Ben might negatively affect attendance. We needn’t have worried: an hour before the program started, our Center was already inundated with kids flocking in from the surrounding area!

Our staff and a great team of volunteers and Father’s House kids pitched in to prepare trays full of food and pass everything out. Over 220 children came, and after a short lesson from staff, received hot dogs, drinks, and snacks. The air was filled with a happy commotion as they and their friends enjoyed their hot dogs, a first for many!

We love kids: they are the future of Cambodia and a blessing from God. Please join us in praying for the children of Saang district, that they would grow to know Him through the small and seemingly simple acts of love that He has called us to.

- In His Steps

Teamwork - A Photo Update

Each year, we host teams from the US and other countries for short-term outreaches. Having teams is both challenging and energizing: it’s extra work for all of us, but often brings a breath of fresh air into the labor of love that we are busy with year-round!

These past few months have been packed with several teams visiting in quick succession. Multiple groups from Colorado Hong Kong, and Singapore all came with different backgrounds and skills but one shared goal: to bless Cambodians and share God’s love. They did everything from teaching English and preaching in church to helping with youth programs and taking children on a trip to the zoo!

If your church or group is interested in doing team outreach with IHSI, click here to learn more. Below are some photos of our most recent teams making new friends, doing ministry, and having fun!

Maternity Makeover

As a ministry, we teach that every baby born is a precious gift from God. Yet many women in rural areas experience childbirth in terrible conditions that seem to contradict this wonderful truth. Their only choice often lies between having a home birth without medical care or going to a maternity center such as pictured below.

Obviously, this birthing center was in dire need of a makeover. We started talking with the staff there and learned that the roof and ceiling needed repairs. Dealing with the entire building was beyond their means, but we wanted them to have ownership of the change as well. So we made a deal with them: if they were willing to take initiative to work on their roof, we would come and do the rest. The birthing center director was so happy about this that the roof work was finished in short order!

We began having sheet rock ceilings installed in several rooms and replacing drop-ceiling tiles in others. Then our staff and a visiting team from Colorado worked hard sanding, painting, cleaning, decorating, and collecting trash for two days. The end result? What was once drab and grimy is now a bright and welcoming place. New educational posters, nature photos taken by Eric, fresh paint, and new ceilings have completely transformed the building. 

The clinic staff are blessed by how new and bright the atmosphere of their workplace has become since it’s makeover. We hope that every woman who enters will feel the same, and that their experience giving birth would be a joyful one. Life is a gift worth celebrating!

Honoring Parents

An emotional moment between father and daughter this past Sunday.

How did you celebrate Father’s Day? Here in Cambodia, the holiday is not nearly as well known as others (for example, the Queen Mother’s Birthday, which was yesterday). Cambodian culture places a high value on respecting parents and ancestors, but all too often this takes the form of gifts of money or offering sacrifices to idols on their behalf.

For many Cambodians, to honor their parents means to live in complete subservience to their parents’ wishes, in relationships more reminiscent of servant/master than child/parent. This unhealthy mindset has been modeled for generations and is deeply rooted in Khmer culture.

To truly honor someone from your heart means to revere them by recognizing their value. This is what honor means in Scripture when it tells us to honor our father and mother, and this is what we are trying to teach Cambodians who have for far too long seen honor wrongly defined as co-dependency or control.

Many in Saang have never heard of Father’s Day or Mother’s Day, which is why we choose to celebrate both of these special days in church. Below are some photos of this weekend’s Father’s Day service, where God as our Heavenly Father was honored in worship and earthly fathers were encouraged and blessed through songs, teaching, a drama, and small gifts. We pray that your Father’s Day was blessed!

- In His Steps

Highlighting Health

Recently we had a small team visit, including one of our dear friends and some new friends as well. While they were here, they taught at Gospel Community Church, youth group, staff meetings, and our Pastors’ Fellowship, as well as providing valuable medical expertise and teaching.

Martha, a GP from upstate New York, taught several women’s health seminars at our Center and with other local churches, reaching over 120 women and girls. Superstition and ignorance surround the topic of women’s health in Cambodia, so it was wonderful to have many from Sak Saum and the Saang community receive this teaching!

At each seminar, simple lessons were given and many questions and concerns were answered. All those who attended received hygiene products and undergarments, and more importantly, were empowered to understand their bodies and make better health decisions for themselves! In addition to teaching seminars, Martha also did examinations and consultations with women in our programs, again answering questions and addressing individual concerns.

We loved having the opportunity to work with Martha in providing health education to women on this important topic! Individuals with specialized skill sets (medical or otherwise) can be a great blessing to the communities we work in. If you are interested in applying your skills through ministry with In His Steps, we hope you’ll click here to learn more!