Playground Update

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If you were to turn onto the little dirt road in Saang that leads to our Center, it wouldn’t be long before you’d begin to hear loud shrieks of laughter and excited shouting filling the air. Past the wooden stilt houses of our neighbors and a group of boys playing volleyball nearby, you’d turn to find ten, twenty, or even more children running and climbing all over our brand-new playground!  

This new playspace has been a dream of ours for several years: a safe place for children in the neighborhood  to enjoy and a great way for us to engage and connect with them. This dream became a reality through partnering with Compassion Acts and Blood-n-Fire ministries in the U.S., who raised funds and sent a team over this past month to construct the new playspace.

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As home to the only reading room, the only free literacy and English classes, and now the only playground in the area, we are so excited to offer these opportunities for both fun and education. Safe play is a gift to this region, which for years has been known for trafficking people and producing criminals. Who knows how much danger, temptation, and abuse these children are avoiding simply by coming to our Center rather than staying at home unsupervised or wandering in the streets?

It is a joy to observe the happiness of each child who swings on a swing, rides a slide, climbs the monkey bars, or simply plays in the sand. Along the way, they will be learning important skills like teamwork, sharing, following directions, and taking care of community resources. We believe that this playground is going to be a great blessing to families in Saang for many years to come!

-In His Steps

Filling in the Gaps

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All too often in countries such as Cambodia, huge needs exist in spheres of life that the Western world takes for granted. Children without parents, families without food, young people without education.... the ravages of war in the past and a lack of infrastructure in the present cause entire nations to wallow in poverty and brokenness, without hope or vision. As Christians, it falls to us to be Jesus' hands and feet, filling in the gaps and sharing hope as He leads.

Each weekday at our Center, we hold Khmer literacy classes for Cambodian children, as well as some adults in our Sak Saum program. Not only is literacy in one's own language is a key to breaking free from poverty and ignorance, it is a valuable tool to transmit the Gospel. Thankfully, we have been able to acquire some excellent curriculum that combines basic reading and writing practice with Bible stories and a Christian worldview!

The Khmer writing system is beautiful but very complex, a challenge to any student. Some of those who attend our classes cannot afford to attend public school, others simply need some extra help. Teachers Aly, Sokra, and Solomon sit with their students and practice writing and sounding out letters, reading simple words together, and listening to Bible stories in their native language.

It is a wonderful privilege to be a part of equipping future Cambodian leaders, teachers, ministers and businessmen/women for success with something as simple as this weekly literacy program! Other ways we are empowering the next generation include: offering free English classes to all ages, providing a reading room filled with books in English and Khmer, job skills training and discipleship, Sunday School for children, seminars and workshops, youth group meetings and activities, hosting community events, our new soccer team, and most recently, the opening of a new playground! Each of these programs and resources, in their own way, are helping to fill in the gaps and spaces that have been left vacant in Cambodian communities for so long.

If you would like to learn how you can support In His Steps ministries, click here. And please remember to keep our staff and programs in your prayers!

- In His Steps

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Kairos Training Center: February Update

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Since opening the doors of the Kairos Training Center, it has been wonderful to see the community of Saang embracing opportunities for growth and empowerment. Children are learning to read their in own language, pastors are signing up for Bible courses, young people who might otherwise be wandering their neighborhood aimlessly are being taught practical skills and the principles of service and leadership. From English students who now can study sheltered from the sun and rain, to toddlers enjoying our nursery as their mothers attend church, the Kairos Training Center offers something for everyone.

In addition to our weekly English classes, Khmer literacy training, youth group, computer skills class and worship services, a few recent highlights at the KTC include:

  • Holding our first two ecumenical Youth Fellowship events, with nearly 200 youth from local churches joining for a time of worship, prayer, learning, and fun
  • Opening our Reading Room and watching children and teens enjoy access to more books than most Cambodians see in a lifetime
  • A very special gathering of women from area churches to meet Lisa Bevere, receive one of her books in the Khmer language, and be challenged to walk out their faith in boldness and authority

The need for a multi-purpose community building like the KTC was placed in our hearts several years ago, and to see this need being met is such a blessing. We are so thankful for Pearl Alliance's faithful partnership with us in pursuing the vision God has given In His Steps for this region. Please keep the KTC and all who enter its doors in your prayers, that God would be glorified and the community of Saang would be equipped to reach this nation for Him!

Click here to download our update!​

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Kairos Training Center Debut

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When Eric and Ginny Hanson first began In His Steps International, they felt led to focus on the Saang District of Cambodia. They wanted to influence this community in a deep, life-changing, empowering way and one way they chose to so was through teaching English. Over time, that choice grew and developed into children’s programs, youth services, a church plant, leadership training and more.

This past weekend marked both the fulfillment and the embarkation of a long-awaited vision — a center which would offer multiple avenues for training and equipping children, teenagers, young adults and the elders of the community. Construction of the building started in January 2012 but the foundation was laid years ago in a one-room building crammed full of the poorest of the poor, eager to learn.

We hope you will enjoy this video about the Kairos Training Center.

Also, we are pleased to announce the debut of our new website. We hope you will take time to look around. Engage with the ministries, see where In His Steps began and what God has done over the years, peruse the pictures and more. Enjoy!

Growth in Changing Times

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Although it’s only March, this year is already bringing much change to us here at In His Steps! We are growing, and with growth come new responsibilities, new strategies and new steps along the way as we work to accomplish the goals God has given us as a ministry.

Change can be uncomfortable, but we believe that God has good things in store as we journey through this time of transition. As we move forward, one of the things that God has provided for is a project that we have been hoping to begin for some time: the construction of a new multi-purpose building on our Foundation Center land!

Due to the volume of people attending our English classes, church services, children’s programs and other activities, we frequently end up holding these events outdoors for lack of space. That works great during more temperate months of the year, but is a challenge during Cambodia’s long rainy season and scorching hot season. That’s why we’re so excited about this new building, which should be completed this summer just as rainy season makes its entrance!

We’re thankful to be able to partner with Pearl Alliance in this new project, and are prayerfully looking forward to using this building to bless many more members of the Saang community.

Please pray with us for:

  •  Safety and peace at the construction site
  •  Salvation for the laborers involved
  •  Good fruit in the lives of all that we reach through the use of this new building

Stay tuned for photo updates in the coming months!