We've Moved!

Hello everyone:

We are very excited to announce that our new website is up and running, thanks to the efforts of our new staff members Jacob and Noelle Goodlin! From now on, all our updates and blog entries will be posted at the new site (not at ihsi1.blogspot.com).

Our new website is beautiful and filled with new photos, stories, and information about the work that In His Steps is doing in Cambodia. So please, check it out, and send a link to anyone you know who might be interested!

God bless,

In His Steps

Greetings everyone! We have had a whirlwind beginning to our new year. Working in Cambodia is always challenging! We believe that this year is going to be one of transformation, with Theavy as our new national director, growing ministry opportunities, new foreign staff arriving, teams visiting from the U.S., and much more. All of this is going to help us to continue walking in our core vision: to reach the lost and demonstrate God's love to people in tangible ways.

We wanted to take a moment to tell you about a fun event we recently held at our Foundation Center. Some of you have probably heard of Operation Christmas Child, a Samaritan's Purse program that provides shoeboxes of hygiene items, school supplies, clothes, and toys to needy children. We were very happy to partner with them recently to provide boxes for children in the Saang area where we minister.

It was a joy to see the excitement and surprise on the children's faces as they received notebooks, toothbrushes, hats, stuffed animals, games, and many other items. Most of the kids in poor areas like Saang have never had such things for their own. Some of the boxes also contained photos or letters from families and individuals who donated to the project (our staff helped read the letters to the children in Khmai). This was a personal touch which the children greatly enjoyed.

A visiting team of young adults who were here working with In His Steps for three weeks all pitched in to help distribute shoeboxes. They also helped with English classes at our Foundation Center and Sak Saum, orphan tutoring, leading worship, and creative work at Sak Saum. It was nice to have American visitors, and their work with us mutually built up their team and our ministry.

We gave away more than 300 boxes over the course of two days, both at our Center and a nearby village. We are very grateful to Samaritan's Purse for making these gift boxes available to our ministry for distribution. What a blessing to the Saang community! Please pray that God would use the gifts that the children received to remind them of how much He loves and values them.

~ In His Steps

Merry Christmas!

Dear Friends,

Merry Christmas! We hope you have a great holiday with family and loved ones. Here in Cambodia, we celebrate a little differently than in the West, since most Cambodians do not even know the meaning of Christmas. We feel that this time of year is a great opportunity to bless the communities we are in and teach the true significance of Christmas: the birth of Jesus Christ.

This past Sunday, we held a Christmas program at our Saang Foundation Center. The program began in prayer by Pastor Pheaktra, and was MC’d by Solomon (one of our staff teachers) and a young woman from our youth group. It was an almost 4-hour program, including dance, worship, drama, and the message of Christmas.

• Sak Saum, our program for at-risk and trafficked women, performed a beautiful skit, song, and dance telling of how God has brought them out of dark and difficult situations into a place of hope and new life.
• Solomon and a group of youth led a time of worship, and the youth also performed a dance.
• Our intern Daniel and some of the young men in his breakdance class debuted their new dance group, “Souljuz Crew”. It was exciting for their friends and family to see them use their talent and new skills to glorify God. Interest in his class is growing and now many more youth in the area are signing up!
• Children sponsored by our Loaves and Fish program danced, and some also participated with other youth in a drama telling the story of Jesus’ birth.
• Following the drama, Eric and Pastor Pheaktra spoke, sharing the significance of Jesus’ birth and the meaning of Christmas.
• Through a free prize draw, we gave away 2 bicycles, 5 moto helmets, 22 cases of noodles, 2 electric fans, 3 small gas stoves, 5 water filters, 2 rice pots, 50 tee shirts, 20 sarongs, Sak Saum bags, and more! This was a great blessing to the community. Many of the prizes went to children, which very exciting!

Although we have done other Christmas events in the past, this year’s outreach was by far the largest event In His Steps has ever hosted. We invited 2,000 people, and over 1,800 attended! People in Saang have never seen such a large event, and are still talking about all that happened. We invited local government leaders, and were excited that many of them came. They seemed very impressed with the program and what we are doing in the community.

Our staff and volunteers all did a great job making sure that things ran smoothly. Many members of our youth group volunteered as ushers, parking attendants, and security guards. We know that our efforts were blessed: throughout the day there were no disturbances, thefts, or injuries! This is incredible, considering the number of people who attended. We were amazed by the success of the program and God’s faithfulness to the people of Cambodia as he uses us to minister to them. Please pray that the message of hope they heard will touch their hearts and lead to more salvations and transformed lives in the community!

Happy Holidays,

In His Steps

Breakdance Class

Hello all,

This week we wanted to give you a glimpse into the ministry of our intern Daniel. Daniel is from Singapore and is with In His Steps for a year. Our interns receive personal discipleship and opportunities for them to use their skills to assist in ministry. 

For Daniel, who has been breakdancing for several years, his time in Cambodia has led him to see how his own interest in dance can be used to influence Cambodian youth in a positive way. He is now holding weekly classes with youth in Saang, and is teaching some of our staff to breakdance as well! Those who attend the classes enjoy practicing their new skills and building friendships at the same time.

Cambodia is a nation where over 50% of the population are under the age of twenty years old. There is a great need for discipleship of this young generation; they are the leaders and influencers of Cambodia's future. Young teen boys in Saang are often at risk for gang activity, and need a pastime and a positive means of self-expression. Making a difference in their lives now can influence many generations to come. Daniel's breakdance class is one of the ways that In His Steps can do that!

~ In His Steps

Ministry Update

Hello everyone,

In this post we wanted to give you a little update on each of our ministries. If you're not already familiar with what In His Steps does, click here to read more about our ministry and the ways that we are working to establish the Kingdom of God in Cambodia!

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Loaves and Fish

Our Loaves and Fish program is always busy, and this month has been no exception! School break ended at the beginning of the month and all of our sponsored orphans are now back in school studying hard. We are so proud of them all; many were illiterate until we began sponsoring them. Now almost all are at the head of their classes and setting a great example to their peers. It is such a joy to see them reaching their potential!

Sadly, a disabled man that Loaves and Fish sponsored recently passed away. Many of you have met or know about Mr. Loung, a stroke victim who had been paralyzed and had no way to provide for his family. We began to care for him and his family, meeting physical needs and encouraging them through daily visits, encouragement, and prayer. We saw great changes in Mr. Loung, including improved health, a better living standard, and a new outlook on life as he and his family received God's love from our staff. We were able to have a Christian funeral for him (a first in the Saang area) and will continue to work with and help his family. Please keep his wife and children in your prayers as they go through this difficult time.

Foundation Center

Our Foundation Center is growing in many ways, both as a center of learning and a hub of activity for the Saang Christian community. We are seeing an increase of attendance at both our educational classes and our church services. Not only our the numbers growing, but our students are maturing in their faith and seeking more opportunities to make a difference in their community!

Please continue to keep our plans for a safehouse in your prayers. There is such a need for this in Saang. Our staff constantly encounter situations where at-risk children are in desperate need of a place of refuge. The local government approves of our safehouse plans, but we cannot move forward without funding. Phec, Joshua, and Aaron (at-risk children and youth who we have been able to help by housing them at Sak Saum and the Foundation Center) are thriving and we look forward to helping more children like them!

Sak Saum

Our Sak Saum girls have been busy this month preparing for product sales in both Cambodia and the US. They have also been learning how to sew new products, which is always both a challenge and a chance to learn new skills. We believe in teaching each girl each step of the production process so that they can master many skills (unlike assembly lines at garment factories!).

In the future, we also want to teach other job skills to girls who may not wish to learn sewing. There are many other lines of work which can also be taught to help more at-risk and trafficked women provide for themselves. We are excited about future possibilities and are praying that God will give us more insight into how to expand Sak Saum in the coming years.

Some of our girls have been facing personal adversity from family, so please keep them in your prayers. We want to work with each of them to help them make positive life choices. Culture, tradition, and circumstances can make this difficult, but we know God has good plans and purposes for every one of our girls!

~

As always, thank you for remembering our ministry in your prayers and supporting what we do. God is moving in Cambodia and worldwide, and we are very blessed to be a part of that!

Love in Christ,

In His Steps

October Update

Greetings everyone!

We hope that as the seasons change you are all doing well! Autumn is always a busy time for In His Steps; our in-country ministry continues as Eric and Ginny visit the U.S.

While Eric and Ginny are away, our Cambodian directors work together to keep everything running smoothly. Meanwhile, the Hanson's are traveling to Colorado, Florida, and New York, touching bases with churches, teaching at Christian retreats, visiting family, and seeking to raise funds for our upcoming safehouse project.* 

Back in Cambodia, the month of October has been a time of staff training, as some of our national and international staff have attended seminars on family management and labor law. By participating in these seminars, our staff are being better equipped for ministry. This weekend, our Foundation Center will be holding a family management seminar of our own, taught by staff and free to the community! 

As time goes on and our ministry expands, we are seeing the fruit of discipleship and God's grace in the lives of our staff. As they grow personally, they are able to sow back into the lives of others more effectively. At our weekly staff meetings, we now rotate responsibilities for leading worship, prayer, teaching, setup, and cleanup. This keeps everyone involved and gives all a chance to grow in their giftings and leadership.

In additional to regular ministry, we are preparing for a Christmas program outreach to the community in Saang. Sak Saum, Loaves and Fish, and Foundation Center ministries will all take part in leading games, dramas, dance performances, worship times, and outreach. Please keep these plans in your prayers. Last year's program was a great success with hundreds in attendance, and we expect even more from the community this year. This will be a great opportunity to share the gospel to many who have never heard it. We are excited to see what God will do!

~In His Steps

*We now have at least four children in Saang area who are great need of a home. This is a serious matter and we have a strong burden to intervene. Please pray with us that God will touch hearts and release the finances for us to build a safehouse. 

Greetings everyone! These past few weeks have marked some important steps forward for both Sak Saum and our work in Saang, so we would like to share the news with you.

For the last few months, we have been going through the process of applying to the Cambodian Ministry of Social Affairs for a three-year approval of our Loaves and Fish and Foundation Center ministries. We are very happy to have received this approval this past Thursday! Although we already have permission to work in the Saang District, the three-year agreement is a great blessing to us. It will allow us to expand ministry and reach more people in Kandal Province. It makes it easier for international and national staff to receive visas for travel. And it also establishes Sarith (our national director) and other Cambodian staff as leaders and forerunners of future ministry.

We had been told that it was very difficult for NGO’s to be approved, and that the process would take much longer. Instead, with little hassle and no long wait, God answered our prayers and our application was accepted! While we were meeting with the Cambodian Secretary of State for the signing ceremony, he had nothing but positive and encouraging things to say about our ministry. In fact, the ceremony was filmed and aired during a government news program on TV that evening!

Clearly, God is moving in amazing ways here. New doors have also been opening for Sak Saum in the areas of marketing products and supporting the girls. Opportunities that we could never have orchestrated on our own have seemingly fallen into our laps! We know that in reality they are falling from heaven. God is enlarging our reach in so many areas and we believe this is a result of submitting to authority and letting God work in his ways instead of ours. 

We are excited to see so many signs of God’s favor and confirmation of the goals we have been working towards. We appreciate your prayers that he would continue to bless In His Steps and the people we reach here in Cambodia.

In Christ,

IHSI