Looking Back

At the start of a new year, it’s always good to revisit the previous year’s highlights and lessons learned. Through highs and lows, challenges and changes, the faithfulness of God is always evident! And for IHSI in 2013, we experienced many challenges and changes indeed. Several staff members went through the loss of loved ones, meanwhile many in Sak Saum brought beautiful new children into the world. Traffic accidents and health scares tried to steal joy and instill fear, but instead we are walking in peace and blessing. Political upheaval in the region has continued for many months, yet through it all God has protected each person in our care.

It’s hard to know where to begin when recapping an entire year, but below are a few of the many things that God has been doing in our church, Father’s House, and international ministry!

Gospel Community Church Saang

• This has been a fruitful year for the church, with many new believers, a baptism, a baby dedication, a new Sunday School class, and lots of empowering opportunities for young people in the church to develop service and leadership skills. Building families and equipping young people for ministry are an important calling of the church!
• Our staff organized not only a boys’ soccer team in the spring, but also a young women’s volleyball team at the end of the year. In addition to holding practices and playing games, both our teams have discipleship meetings and are involved in church ministries as part of their team-building activities. It’s a great way to grow each team member individually as well as build camaraderie in the community!
• We are becoming a hub for helping smaller rural churches that do not have much support. Bibles, devotionals, books and audio Bibles from Messengers International have all been distributed to the Body of Christ in our area. During rainy season we collaborated with several churches to find families and widows in need of emergency relief, preparing and distributing 25 care packages with food and other supplies. We also provided training space for Operation Christmas Child to train  30 churches for their shoebox gift program!
• Fulfilling one of last year’s church goals, we started a monthly group for married men to fellowship together, pray, and encourage each other.
• GCCS staff and members of Sak Saum did repair work on several homes of elderly church members this year, as well as coordinating visitation to elderly and sick people in the area. We also donated food staples, clothing, hygiene supplies, and other items to those in need.
• We held many events this year, including seminars, educational programs, a church barbecue, a free health clinic at three locations with a visiting medical team, educational, youth fellowship gatherings, our yearly Children’s Christmas Program for almost 400 children and a beautiful Christmas service for the congregation.

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Father’s House

• An exciting new partnership with Mission Community Church in Gilbert, AZ has allowed us to enroll Father’s House kids in a private school, a great step up from the school they had been attending and an answer to prayer! They are still adjusting to the newer, more challenging learning environment, but we are confident that this will be of great long-term benefit to each of them.
• In addition to starting the kids in a new school, we were blessed to be able to trade in the Father’s House car for a van! This is great not only for transporting them back and forth to school, but for bringing the soccer and volleyball teams to games, transporting church members, and doing outreach.
• In November we welcomed our newest child into Father’s House. Makara is a sweet boy who just this week made the decision to become a Christian. He loves coloring, art projects, singing and dancing, and playing soccer. Although he has some catching up to do academically and socially, we already see growth in leaps and bounds!
• All Father’s House children are active in the church according to their abilities and personalities: helping with ushering, worship, children’s outreaches, Sunday School, visiting the sick, and being a part of church events. Several of them show great leadership potential, and many of them say their future life plans include wanting to be in ministry and help others like they have been helped! We are thankful for them and can see exciting things ahead for each one.

International Ministry and Teams

• In the fall the Hansons completed a whirlwind tour across the U.S., teaching at churches and colleges, meeting ministry partners, sharing the vision of IHSI, and doing fundraising work. This trip was very fruitful in terms of building relationship with new partners, and we believe that there will be more traveling of this nature in the future as God allows! To contact the Hansons for booking information, please email them at erich@ihsionline.org | ginnyh@ihsionline.org.

• In 2013 we hosted many outreach teams, short-term volunteers, and visitors from all over the United States, as well as Russia and Australia. A few highlights of their visits included:
• Children’s ministry at our Center and at other area churches
• Dramas/songs/teachings at church services
• A YWAM medical outreach with free clinics at three locations
• Prayer ministry/teaching
• Maintenance/service projects
•  Visiting the elderly and the sick
• Games and activities with local children
• Constructing a playground at our Center
• Human trafficking awareness seminars
• Sak Saum English practice and relationship-building
• Helping teach Center English classes
• Attending women’s group and overnight stays with Sak Saum
• Outings/educational activities with Fathers’ House and Loaves and Fish children

What has the Lord done in your life in the past year? What prayers has he answered and how did he demonstrate his faithfulness to you personally? Feel free to comment below, and tune in again soon for our next post, to hear about some of the exciting things in store for 2014!

-       In His Steps

Baptising Believers

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them

 in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit...”

Matthew 28:19

As a church and a ministry, this past weekend was one of much joy and celebration! Staff, volunteers and church members all joined together at a poolside in Phnom Penh for a time of worship, testimonies, and a public declaration of faith through the water baptism of new believers. In our midst were elderly ladies, men and women from the Sak Saum, teenagers from our youth group, and one of the children of Father's House: a gathering that without God would have very little in common but that in Christ has formed a family and community!

It was so encouraging to see Christians young and old embracing the transforming new life they have been given, and sharing with others what God has done in their hearts. From testimonies of a newfound love for other others and being set free from destructive behaviors, to the witness of watching someone who once almost drowned and had held a lifelong fear of water overcoming that fear, the day was a reminder of the Lord’s faithfulness and steadfast commitment to His creation, always with their good in mind.

We hope that as you look at the photos below, you would be encouraged by the work that only God can do!

The Three Little Pigs

Once upon a time in Saang, we decided to throw a party for staff, the Sak Saum community, Father's House, Loaves and Fish, and some of our elderly church members.  But this was not just any party, it was a Khmer-style barbecue, with three hefty porkers roasted on spits since the wee hours of morning! 

Several hours prior to the break of dawn, staff and youth from our Father's House and Loaves and Fish programs were up, pounding long wooden sticks through the pigs and lighting fires in the coal pits they had dug the day before. By midday the smell of smoke and barbecue sauce had taken over the neighborhood, as Sak Saum began making a huge vat of rice and salads, pickles, and drinks were being assembled by others.

Chairs and tables were set up, music began to play, and soon the partygoers started to arrive! It wasn't long before the GCCS sanctuary was filled with hungry, happy people, joining together for a delicious feast as one big family.

When everyone had eaten, it was clear there were too many leftovers... which is why we decided to go on a little mini-outreach in our neighborhood! With "doggy bags" of mouthwatering pork and rice in hand, we were able to bring an impromptu dinner to 20 families that evening, telling them they are loved and inviting them to attend church and sign up for our educational programs. Some of those who received a meal told us that they had been lacking money to buy food, and that this was their first meal of the day. What a privilege to be a part of God's provision!

We love our ministry family, and are excited to see the many ways that love knits people together and strengthens the Body of Christ. We look forward to many more barbecues, but more importantly, the continued growth of the wonderful work that God is doing in Saang.

-IHSI

Reaching Young Men

Anyone who has done missions work in Cambodia knows that young men are a difficult demographic to reach. There is a void in the lives of many who have lost fathers to war and sickness, or who have been abandoned by parents and are spiritually orphaned. Without role models and positive mentors, boys grow up without learning what it means to be be husbands and fathers, how to respond to life's challenges, or how to think and plan strategically to care for their families. Discipline, teamwork, grace in the face of failure - these are traits that are not acquired for lack of an environment that values them.

One of the ways that In His Steps is compensating for this problem is by providing an outlet where young men can practice teamwork, grow in discipline, and learn good sportsmanship: our Gospel Community Church Saang soccer team! When paired with our ongoing Boys to Men group, the team is a great way to draw youth towards positive challenges and growth, both on and off the field. It is a venue not only for developing physical ability, but for discipleship and community-building.

Our team attending a sports seminar organized by the Evangelical Fellowship of Cambodia.

Our team is made up of beginners, but already this season they have distinguished themselves with their practice ethic, fitness, and good attitudes, as well as many wins in the games they have played so far. They even placed second in a local tournament last month! We are so proud of each team member, not because of tallying wins and losses but because we see them working together, encouraging others, and doing their best. The lessons they are learning will prove valuable no matter where life leads them!

Other Updates

• Please keep founder/director Eric in your prayers as he and Ginny return to Thailand for several days next week for a follow-up check of his heart related to the emergency procedure he had in June.
• Staff member Rhiannon has returned to Cambodia and is now in the process of readjusting to life and ministry while continuing her recovery. Please continue to keep her in prayer! 
• Thank you for your continued intercession regarding Cambodia's election last week. There are still many concerns (read an insightful overview of the current situation here), but God is faithful and we are thankful that for the most part things are reasonably calm.

- In His Steps

Father's House Field Trip

Last week was an eye-opening one for the children of Father’s House! In the Western world, experiences like visiting historical monuments or going on field trips are often an integral part of one’s childhood education. But for the children in our care, brief mentions in dry textbooks were as close as they had ever gotten to their own rich and unique cultural heritage. That’s why we decided to take them to Siem Reap province to witness firsthand one of the wonders of the ancient world: Angkor Wat.

Cambodia was once known as “the Pearl of Asia”, a place of beauty where great architectural and artistic achievements were a prominent part of the cultural landscape. The 1970’s Khmer Rouge genocide, though purportedly a return to the agrarian glory of bygone days, in effect stripped Cambodia down to poverty and survivalism, a far cry from what it had once been. In out-of-the-way places lie preserved only remnants of what was once a thriving civilization.

Angkor Wat and the other ancient ruins in the surrounding region were all originally part of a bustling city where a system of aquifers enabled year-round crop cycles, impossible anywhere else in the region. Ceaseless building projects were meant to demonstrate the wealth and power of neo-Hindu “god-kings”. But as Christians, we see the incredible ingenuity of our Creator reflected in these stony structures and ancient art. Though the craftsman and laborers who built these places may not have known it, their creativity and problem-solving stands as a testament to the One in whose image they themselves were made. 

Though the drive to Siem Reap was over 8 hours long, it was well worth it to see the amazement on the children’s faces as they walked through palaces and roads hewn from gigantic boulders and stood beside life-sized carvings of their ancestors (see more photos here). Exploring, climbing, and wandering through acres of ruins..... It was an experience that our Father’s House family will never forget!

-In His Steps