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People Groups in Cambodia

Posted by Sarah on Feb 4, 2012 in Church Planting, Training | 0 comments

Although I’m focused on the Khmer people of Cambodia, my ministry has also influenced the Brao, Khmer Keh, Kravet, Krung, Lao, and Tampuen people groups in Cambodia.  Take a brief look at the people groups of Cambodia: Cambodia People Groups Prayer cards.pdf

Christmas in Setabo

Posted by Sarah on Jan 21, 2012 in Church Planting | 0 comments

So much has happened since Christmas that it seems like a very long time ago.  But let’s revisit that wonderful time of the year so that I can take you with me to Setabo.

Sarah telling the Christmas story

We had a low-key Christmas celebration in Setabo village with a very close friend from Australia and her husband recently arrived and along for the experience.  We simply hung out with the family for the afternoon, shared the wonder of the Christmas story with them again and also shared donuts.  Doesn’t sound like much but it made a memory I’ll treasure.

Donuts for all

God is really working in the hearts of the family in Setabo.  They are responding to Jesus and starting to tell others also!  In February, we will complete the Evangelistic stories and begin to talk about baptism.  Please pray for God’s continued revelation to them and for transformed lives.

Setabo Update

Posted by Sarah on Dec 1, 2011 in Church Planting, Sarah's News | 0 comments

Tu performing a ceremony under the direction of a Buddhist lay leader in July 2011

I was in Setabo village yesterday and told the story of Jesus’ crucifixion, focusing on the fact that Jesus willingly took all the sins of the world on himself and the need to acknowledge our own sinfulness.  Rom and her husband, Leang, were really impacted by the story and my testimony of being made new by the power of the Holy Spirit once I acknowledged that I couldn’t save myself.  Tu, Rom’s mother, who was the one who requested to learn about Jesus last year, seems to have hardened her heart already.  She immediately wanted to tell us that something similar happens to anyone who believes whole-heartedly in any religion.  I began interceeding for her and binding the work of lying spirits over her during my motorbike ride back to Phnom Penh.

Today I’ve had a dreadful day with my pda/phone dying and potentially losing heaps of data, my water filter/cooler getting fixed by incompetant tradesmen and now producing un-drinkable, glue tasting water, as well as not being able to accomplish any of the important tasks I needed to do today.  I just realized that I’m under spiritual attack and the way forward is in lifting  up Jesus and his victory over my life and Tu’s life.

Please join in praying with me and for me.

Thank you!!

Rapid Truth – Recording Has Begun

Posted by Sarah on Nov 24, 2011 in Rapid Truth, Resource Development | 0 comments

I’ve lost count of the number of times people have asked me for the Rapid Truth evangelism stories we developed several years ago.  I was always sorry to disappoint them because we still hadn’t managed to get them recorded.  Now the recording has begun!

Over the 3-day Water Festival holiday in November, I was able to assemble my new team of Cambodian storytellers and begin the recording process.  Three of the storytellers are from Preah Vihear province, 6-hours away and only recently trained in storytelling.  The other 3 guys are from Phnom Penh and surrounding areas.  We did storying workshop activities for the first day to enhance their skills, learned and practiced 3 stories over the next day and a half, and spent half a day in the recording studio.

Sarah and the 6 great storytellers preparing the stories

It seemed like a lot of effort to get just 3 stories recorded considering that there are a total of 13 Bible stories and 13 Cambodian style stories, but we’ve finally rebuilt a team and made a start.  The next recording session won’t be until February but we will be able to get through more stories more quickly as they will pre-learn the stories before we get together.

A highlight for me was to see Piset from Baset village suddenly go from an average storyteller to a great storyteller, as well as receive incredible encouragement from spending the 3 days with other young guys who are passionate for God.

Recording in the studio - Piset and the team

Please pray for the wisdom, strength and the arranging of schedules to be able to complete the recording of all the stories before the middle of next year.  Pray also for the 6 guys who have formed the storytelling team for this project: Pitou, Dang, Tinak, Sotheary, Piset and Laksmi.

Watch a clip describing the Rapid Truth concept back in 2009 when I thought we’d have it completed by last year.  🙁  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WnPDa0jqw8

View more photos at:

Storytellers Set Loose on Preah Vihear Province

Posted by Sarah on Oct 20, 2011 in Training | 0 comments

Having fallen sick right before heading to Preah Vihear province to run the Story-Smith Workshop, we had to postpone the workshop a week, but it all went off well last week.  Eleven Cambodians and 3 missionaries participated in the 3-day workshop and had a great time.  Many of them commented that they’d never experienced such a training; so participatory and fun, rather than listening to someone speaking for hours on end.

Even though I’ve run this type of workshop many times now, it is always fun to hear the different stories people come up with from the same activities.  As usual we had many occassions of rolling on the floor laughing (always easier to do when you are sitting on the floor to start with 🙂  )

It was great to see them develop their skills and understanding of story construction and storytelling as the days progressed.  They ended with sharing how they were going to begin using storytelling and in what contexts.  The participants included most of the key leaders of one of the churches in Preah Vihear city, and they are now poised to begin using storytelling in every level of their church’s ministry.  A few participants also represented 2 other churches in the city.

Preah Vihear province has Cambodia’s highest iliteracy rate, so it was fairly easy to convince them of the need to use more inclusive communication methods.

Getting creative in small groups

I’m looking forward to hearing great reports of how they are reaching the hearts of people and seeing new doors open to the gospel through storytelling.

Upcoming Story-Smith workshop

Posted by Sarah on Sep 29, 2011 in Training | 1 comment

I’m excited to be running a Story-Smith workshop in Preah Vihear province next week with the great team I got to mentor during the Jonathan Training in January and their Cambodian leaders.  We will do 3 days of training (Tuesday – Thursday) and aim to have them all telling stories and making up stories like pros by the end of that.  Well, at least much more proficient and confident than before. 🙂

Please pray for travel safety, strength and for the team in Preah Vihear to be released into a new level of effectiveness as they implement storytelling in evangelism, discipleship, training and preaching.

An added bonus of this trip is that I’ll be able to say that I’ve now visited every one of Cambodia’s 24 provinces.

I’ll post photos when I get back.

Best Jonathan Training Ever

Posted by Sarah on Jul 14, 2011 in Training | 0 comments

I always look forward to Jonathan Training.  It is two very intensive weeks for both trainers and participants, and follows weeks and months of preparation and planning but it is worth it every time.

Spending the time with people who are catching a big vision and trying to figure out how to implement it in their situation spurs me on to greater heights.

This January we worked hard at steering away from lecture style teaching and the result was an even greater proportion of participants taking the radical steps to change their whole approach to church planting rather than just adding a few new strategies.

Neil Cole at Jonathan Training

Neil Cole, of Church Multiplication Associates, was our guest presenter for the last couple of days. Although Neil is based in the USA, his experience of growing many networks of house churches based on disciples making disciples meant he had much to contribute to us in Cambodia.

We had a great group of 20 missionaries working in Cambodia with 6 different mission agencies and from 9 different sending countries.  I have high hopes of seeing some rapid multiplication in a number of areas of Cambodia in a few years time, particularly in Preah Vihear province.

Praying for the Preah Vihear team at the conclusion of Jonathan Training

But perhaps I’m biased since the World Team people from Preah Vihear province were in my faciliation group. 🙂

Follow this link for lots more photos:

Christmas in July??

Posted by Sarah on Jul 14, 2011 in Church Planting | 0 comments

Christmas in Cambodia did not come late this year, only this news of our December, combined Christmas outreach with people from both Setabo and Baset.  Setabo is about 45 min south of Phnom Penh and Baset is over 1 hour north of Phnom Penh, so we held the event at my house in Phnom Penh.

12 kids and 2 old ladies in the back of the ute; 7 adults and 1 child in the cab

The day began early as I picked up the Setabo people in my ute.  We managed to pile 22 people into the car, if you include the 11 month old baby; a new record for my car.

Games, video, a narrated and spontaneously acted Nativity play, Christmas songs, more games and lots of Cambodian curry made for a memorable day.  It was the first time that any of the Setabo people had heard the story of Jesus’ birth and a first for a few of those from Baset too.

Cambodia Dream blog launch

Posted by Sarah on Jul 11, 2011 in Sarah's News | 0 comments

I  have a website and blog at last!!

It seems to me the day of the newsletter is waning and small bits of news more frequently via a blog is a far better way to keep you posted with what is going on in the work towards fulfilling the Cambodia Dream.