A Magnet for Hope and Healing - Will you help?

We are so excited to announce that we have 25 Pray for Cambodia magnets that were handmade in Cambodia by a growing Christian organization that employs and teaches new skills to amputees who are victims of landmines. The magnets will be a thank you gift for the next 25 families, individuals, or churches that commit to a recurring monthly gift for our ministry in Cambodia.

We recognize that this is not a big gift. We recognize that these magnets are not worth a lot of money, but we are so excited about these magnets for three reasons:

1. Giving you these magnets is a meaningful, tangible way for us to say thank you for your financial investment in our family!
2. Placing the magnet in a prominent place will remind you to pray for Cambodia and for us!
3. The purchase of these items supports a good Christian organization in Cambodia that is doing great things!

Landmines were laid in Cambodia during the ousting of the Khmer Rouge in 1979 and continued until its demise in 1998. To impede the return of the Khmer Rouge, tens of thousands of Cambodians were forcibly enlisted into constructing a barrier minefield along the entire 466-mile Cambodia-Thailand border.  I’ve read that Cambodia is also littered with other kinds of unexploded ordinance (UXO), left over from half a million tons of bombs dropped on Cambodia by the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Although 50% of Cambodia’s minefields have now been cleared Cambodia is still one of the most landmine impacted countries in the world with over 64,000 casualties recorded since 1979 and over 25,000 amputees - the highest ratio per capita in the world.

At left, the man's sign says: "My name is Phuen.  I don't beg. I want to work.  Please support me that I can help my children they go to study.  Thank you for being [kind]!!!"

Between my first and second trips to Cambodia, I read numerous memoirs (I would love to lend you one!) written by Khmer Rouge survivors. It was these stories that burdened my spirit for the Cambodian people and during this time that God wrote Isaiah 61:1-3 on my heart

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,

because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim freedom for the captives

and release from darkness for the prisoners,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God,

to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—

to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,

the oil of joy instead of mourning,

and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.

They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.

Chum Muy, one of only seven  Khmer Rouge prison camp survivors from prison S-21

Landmine victims are one of the most visible evidences of the remaining damage of the devastating effects of the Khmer Rouge. Yet the emotional scars are much deeper than the physical scars.

My heart truly aches for the older population in Cambodia - those who continue to live with great amounts of pain and grief.  I so desperately want them to know the Hope of the Jesus Christ, but the calling seems too great because I don't know how I can reach this population.  Will you PLEASE(!!!) pray with me?

• That God would prepare the way for my encounters with the older population.
• That God would prepare my heart to grieve with them.
• That God would equip me to speak to their hearts.
• That they would embrace the hope and love of Jesus Christ.
• Because this population largely does not speak English, pray that I will succeed in my attempts to attain fluency in spoken Khmer.

To see Christ glorified in Cambodia,
Titus, Jewel, & Sophear