FYI, Part 2 of the blog I wrote for Blog.Olivetree.com was released today.
Ok, that’s the last announcement about this from me. There will be more there form me later on, but you can find those yourself if you’re interested. 🙂
JW
I’m a published blogger…! September 11, 2013
Yep. I’m in cyber-print.
A great website and downloadable Bible software is available through Olivetree.com. An old friend of mine works for them now and has recruited me to contribute blog-entries from time to time. If you’re interested in checking them out, go to…
Mine for today is entitled, “The Burning Bush part 1: Who am I, and Why am I here?”
Shyly yours…
JW
New Ministry in Local Elementary School April 18, 2013
Club 3:16
It is with enormous joy that we share about Club 3:16, which we began in January at Lakeside Elementary School.
A group YWAMers combined with a couple local parents and a couple teachers launched this Club which meets twice a month IN the school. It is openly evangelistic every single time and just last Friday 5 children made the decision and prayed to follow Christ! Three of those children were in my (Molly’s) “small group” and come from un-churched families. Can I get a Hallelujah?!! We will be giving them Bibles next club.
Honestly, this is proving to be the highlight of my Spring! I look forward to these Fridays as my opportunity to share Christ’s love with children (and eventually families) in my little town in the mountains. So much of our investment is in foreign lands – and we are seeing incredible transformation, even hearing reports this month from Cambodia, Ukraine, Vietnam, etc.
As we combine our efforts overseas with this local outreach, I feel like my cup is overflowing!
Thanks for investing in us and therefore in Club 3:16!
Doug has their attention!
Illustrating how salvation requires Jesus’ suffering. The kids got it.
Getting ready for game time – Heather loves her job!
DTS Equip – Equipping regional leaders and disicplers September 30, 2012
Equipping in “B-Town”
Hello out there! DTS Equip, the reason we are here in Cambodia, is 4 weeks in. Only three left; time is flying. Equip is a short but intense school to develop leaders and discipleship. Why Cambodia? Cambodia is strategically placed in the heart of South East Asia, easy to enter for countries of all political persuasion, and easy to send from. We have been working with the Cambodians for over 10 years now for exactly this purpose.
Getting the point across
Another day in “the cage”. The affectionate name for our classroom 🙂
This is the second Equip we have run in “B-Town” (Battambang, Cambodia). The first in 2010 was a wonderful success with fruit being seen in several nations. What is fruit? Leaders developed personally as well as professionally, improved styles of leadership and discipling, more effective decision-making, church planting, and increased networking. Overall, we have 35 participants and 10 staff, with work spanning 9 nations and two continents.
A few highlights:
Persecuted leaders arrive in numbers.
Security demands anonymity. Vietnamese Staff and Students, BB2012.
Cuong & Jeremy. Cuong is a Vietnamese Leader, Equip staff, and dear friend.
In 2010 we had 6 Vietnamese participants, plus 2 Vietnamese two staff. This year we have 20 participants plus four staff. Some of these young leaders have been in prison for the Gospel, yet this only fuels their desire for more training and development (see the group picture below). Believe me, even though you can’t see their faces (for security) they are all smiling!
Deepening Relationships.
Here in Battambang we are able to work again with people whom we have spent so much time with for more than a decade in a variety of roles and places. Another significant blessing for us is being able to work again with the staff and graduates from the previous Cambodia school, building friendships as well as continuing mentoring and development. In a picture of diversity with common purpose, our staff of 10 represents 5 nations on its own!
A church planted in 2010 now bearing fruit.
During Equip 2010 the Lord led us to a nearby slum (see the blog and video from October 22, 2010). When we arrived in Cambodia this year one of our graduates from 2010 (who is on the local YWAM leadership team) excitedly told me, “Do you remember our time in the slum? We ended up planting a church there.” This church has a (Khmer!) pastor, elders and a congregation, all in the slum. Early in the work one of the men there actually tried to kill our friend with an axe. However, he soon became a Christian. Today he is on the church leadership team! These people have been taught and discipled. An example of their growth is how they steward any money brought to the church. Over a whole year they saved their tithes. Not only do they bless their local community (the slum) with feedings and ministry, they also felt to commit to support a Khmer missionary, $10 per month. This is astounding. The money is huge for them, and the idea of supporting a Cambodian in missions is a major spiritual and psychological breakthrough for these impoverished people.
Thank you for reading this, and for your support of prayer and interest. Together we are making a difference. Keep watching this space for more updates and photos. The school is on Facebook too. Like us, at “dtsequip”.
Family Update, BTown 2012
Family Update
We have been here in Cambodia 4 weeks, and are undoubtedly walking in the grace of God! Despite all the challenges in the areas of comfort and convenience, (oh, and injuries) we are having fun, laughing a lot, and growing together as a family as we minister in the third world.
A few days ago, Samuel realized we are half way through our time here, and he offered his opinion that we should probably stay longer! Wow!
Highlights as a family so far would certainly include the boys fishing adventures. They got a hold of some bamboo poles, fishing line, and hooks, and away they went! They love fishing in the pond here on base. Their first attempt yielded 6 fish, which they handed over to some Kmai staff to eat when the base kitchen is closed! Their second day was 10 fish, and we have stopped counting since. I love how their new hobby is supporting Kmai missionaries =))
Another family highlight would be eating at Café Eden. Our lovely friend Anna has established an amazing café – some of the best eats in Battambang! 40 % of the profits go to supporting Kmai staff, and 25% towards new ministries starting up, so it feels reasonable to eat delicious food and put our money towards that every now and then! Eden happens to like the name too…
Arriving by TukTuk to Café Eden. This is how Battambang rolls!
Getting back to basics has been a family highlight as well. The joy of playing games together and finding creative things to do is a good change from the usual go-to’s at home, ie..the Wii! Games like, “Don’t touch the ground” can last for hours!!
We got to visit one of the many crocodile farms in the city…they are farmed to sell to Thailand for leather, meat, etc. It was creepy and shocking really, to discover a person’s yard filled with hundreds, yes hundreds, of crocodiles! I certainly would not want to live next door!
Check out this short clip of the Crocodile Farm!
A river runs thru Battambang, which Eden has named the Chocolate Milk River=)
It is such a privilege to be here and be part of fulfilling God’s dreams for Cambodia and beyond. While we miss the comforts of home, God is faithful in reminding us that investing in His Kingdom guarantees the best return!!
Fun Fact #1: In about 10 days the DTS here leaves for India, Laos, and Tajikistan! God is raising up Cambodian missionaries! And sending them into all the world!!
Fun Fact #2: Izzy, a gal from Washington state, is co-leading the outreach to India. Izzy was in a DTS we led in MT 4 years ago! God called her back long term, and Jeremy and I couldn’t be more proud of her obedience and love for Cambodia. This is what we call in YWAM, a big paycheck!
Thank you for your prayers, here are a couple ideas, if you would like them…
– We have been to the hospital twice already (Eden’s sliced under her chin, and Joel his lower back) and we would prefer to avoid that in the last month!
– Joel has been struggling a bit with taking deep breaths. This may be asthma or an indicator or stress..
– Eyes for all 5 of us to see God’s beauty here and opportunities to show love to our Equip class, to folks on campus, and to those we encounter in the streets.
– Cambodia and Southeast Asia were designed to glorify God! Join us in prayer for this!
Summer Equip 2012 – INTO ALL THE WORLD August 10, 2012
Hello Friends!
It has been an active summer up here in the woods! In Matthew 28:18 Jesus said, “Go and make disciples of all nations…” On Friday, we graduated our DTS Equip participants and commissioned them “into all the world”!!
These leaders and trainers of others are heading every direction:
– Into Northwest China to work with Muslim minorities
– Into the South of Thailand to pioneer a new Discipleship Training School
– Into Ukraine to raise up Ukrainians for Christ
– Into Dayton Ohio to re-pioneer a discipleship school
– Into Nashville to train and send missionaries out
– Into Northern Thailand to train Thai leaders and staff
– Into the tenderloin of San Francisco to work with inner city folks
– Into Germany to disciple young Europeans for missions
– Into our Montana campus for training the young people God brings here to be sent out into the field.
What a privilege to work with these people! They are such a special group and the school went by too quickly. From their own lips we received a well done, and from the Lord we received the same. This is our paycheck!
A highlight this summer was the staff team God brought together for us. It was a team of 7, ages ranging from 22 to 73 and from 4 nations! This brought such a wealth of enthusiasm, wisdom, eldership and experience to the group.
Thank you for your friendship and support. We wish you could have been here with us!
Go team!
Cambodia is Calling May 7, 2012
Hello Friends!
Our Equip class 2010 (Vietnamese friends blocked for security purposes)
We are pleased to announce that it is almost time for our leadership school, DTS Equip, to run in Cambodia for the second time! In this letter we want to share these plans with you, and ask for both spiritual and practical help to make it happen. If you remember, we pioneered the first one in 2010. The base director has told us that the Equip was the beginning of the fulfillment of Cambodia being a resource to the entire region. This has been a huge encouragement to us!!
In 2010 we trained staff from Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, and the U.S., including every DTS staff from Vietnam. Our fantastic leadership team was made up of Vietnamese, Khmer, Americans, and 2 Aussies. It was a privilege to work with these outstanding people who have truly forsaken all for the sake of the Gospel.
Our goal is to release the program to local leaders, but we are not quite there yet. So, late this August, we are heading back for 2 months to work with more amazing young leaders from the region of Asia! It is our privilege to return and run DTS Equip-Cambodia, again.
Sharing the love of Jesus and good food in a nearby slum
As we prepare to go, our most important consideration is the family. Our last trip out there was amazing but it certainly had its challenges. We will be home-schooling again, which can be a stretch at times! The food is another big adjustment for the kids, among a few other things. Please pray for a good adjustment to school hours, culture, climate, food – and especially for health and safety. (Remember Samuel’s stitches in his head at the Cambodian Amputee Hospital…?) Aside from the parental-worry 😉 the kids are all VERY excited. They keep asking “When can we go? Can we go now?” We are truly blessed with children who love to travel, even into third world Asia!
Our practical needs are …daunting. This trip is costing us $6000 in airfare alone, and that’s a fantastic deal! Until this week, airfare was looking more like $10,000, so the fare reduction we saw this week is God’s provision already! Visas will be about $200. Then there’s the usual… accommodation, food, transportation, etc. bringing the total to about $7500. The total seems frightening, but divided by say, 75 friends and supporters, it’s only $100 each!
The boys got dirty building a toilet for a blind family
If you know anyone who may like to get behind this ministry, please either forward this to them, or give us their contact info. We are at a place where we need to see our support base expand, and it may be through a connection you have! Perhaps a cell group or Bible study you attend that would like to get involved in missions?
Click HERE! to see a short video of the place we will be working (it’s their website – scroll down to see the video) Jeremy has been going to Cambodia since around 2000, and as a family, this will be our third trip. (Don’t miss the clip, and see if you can spot Jeremy in there, too!)
Remember, stay up to date with this blog, click the Email Subscription button on the home page.
Thanks for reading, and for working with us.
Jeremy, Molly, Samuel, Joel & Eden.
PS. Join us! Come and visit… I guarantee it will blow you away.
Cub Scouts, Birthdays, Buckingham Palace and more! April 1, 2012
It sure has been an exciting first quarter of 2012 for our family!
Our boys are Cub Scouts! In their uniforms, they are hands-down the cutest! They have been busy earning badges which has involved charting nutrition (wake up call to mom to provide more produce!), talking with elders at church about faith, creating collages on being good citizens, speaking with an attorney (Papa Craig!), and much more. A highlight was the Pinewood Derby – taking a block of wood and making it into a race car, which they then raced against other Scouts in the valley. Jeremy and the boys even made the newspaper! Samuel’s car was named Qantas, and Joel’s was named Slug Bug. (See a newspaper photo here)
In February, Samuel turned 10 and Joel turned 8. We took them up our local ski mountain for lessons – Joel in skiing, and Samuel in snowboarding. They were awesome! Joel says skiing was really fun and easy =), and Samuel persevered a tough but fun first time on a snowboard.
Last month Samuel placed 2nd in his school science fair!! His project was called, “Boiling up the Mountain”, and he researched the way elevation affects the boiling point of water. So we may have another budding scientist in the family! Samuel also loves learning music on the recorder. He is progressing so well and really loves to play…Ode to Joy, Oh when the Saints, America…, and we love to listen!! He is in the
top two of 60 fourth graders. But what I love most about Samuel (this month) is the grateful heart I see naturally coming out of him. He is absolutely awesome at saying, “Thank you, thanks Dad, thanks Mom”, thanking people in stores, even thanking his brother and sister.
Joel is quite the clever second grader. His teacher tells me that despite his dreamy nature, he is especially quick to grasp new concepts in math and he reads way above grade level. Joel is still in a shy season, but boy you should see him go crazy on the Wii! He bounces up and down in the air, squealing and shouting the WHOLE time! Joel picked up skiing so easily and was taking runs all over the mountain! And what I love most about Joel (this month) is how he hugs and cuddles us! He squeezes tightly and then does a little pat on our heads or our backs!! Precious. And when we say, “I love you Joel”. He sweetly says, “I know” =))
Then there is Eden, aka Bossy Boots, Dolly, Princess, the Pink Explosion, Peanut, and Missy Moo! In Preschool, she is perfecting her letters and enjoying story time and art the most. Eden loves coloring, playing house, bossing the dog around (since she is older than him!), playing with her Rapunzel doll while wearing her Rapunzel dress, and helping Mommy cook. If I grab the garlic, she grabs the garlic press. If I scoop out four, she brings the mixing spoon. I have an awesome assistant!! What I love most about Eden (this month), is how she reminds me daily through her actions that time spent together is time best spent!!
As we were in England last month for meetings, Jeremy and I got 2 days in London to enjoy the city!! We were able to float down the Thames, tour the Tower of London, appreciate the grandeur of Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace, saw a show in the West 
End, chillax in a couple of British pubs, ride in red double decker buses, travel underground in the tube (pronounced “chewb”), pass through the Queen’s Galleria to see a most amazing exhibition on Sir Ernest Shalckelton and Scott, and race through the British Museum. We were blessed to stay with friends we worked with in Kona years ago. Love how our work gives us lifelong friends around the globe! And let’s us travel the globe!
And that a wrap!!
2011 Christmas Tree Hunt December 24, 2011
Enjoy the experience! Come along with us as we “hunt” (you hunt everything here in Montana) this year’s Christmas tree.
Merry Christmas!
…Go Wests!
Jeremy’s Latest Journey – Panama, Taiwan, and a Tsunami March 17, 2011
Hi all.
Just back from a trip which took me to Panama, then on to Taiwan.
Panama:
As a member of YWAM’s International Discipleship Training Centre (IDTSC), we meet globally once a year. This year we met in regions, the Americas rep’s meeting in Panama. We had around 20 members gather, representing DTS oversight from Canada down to Argentina.
Our discussions vary from recent inititiaves in discipleship, program multiplication and integrity, as well as what the Lord is speaking to us as a mission globally: where we should be focusing, contributing, and heading. For me personally two highlights of these meetings are:
IDTSC Americas Regional Members, Panama
1. the human connection. It always amazes me how personal and close this group of international and cross cultural volunteers is. Some of our best times are sharing what we are going through in work, life, heart, …successes and challenges. Prayer for one another is always great, and God speaks through our relationships.
2. training and discipleship development. This element of our gatherings is priceless, and essential. We are able to learn from each other, hear what is working and what isn’t, and learn what other discipleship issues are being dealt with in their region’s programs and if any themes are emerging that we can recognize within the generations globally.
One more thing for me; it allows me to spread the word about the training I can offer others, such as DTS Equip, and other leadership development work.
From Panama, it was directly to Taiwan…
Taiwan:
It was such a privilege to be invited to address the entire (35) DTS and SBS (School of Biblical Studies) staff in Taipei, Taiwan, on discipleship and leadership. It was a great week of coming back to our roots as disciples first, as sons and daughters of God, before we attempt to lead and disciple others. With some fantastic translation, I think we had a profound time of learning and growing, individually and corporately.
I also spent time with some of their training leaders talking about some extended, more specialized leadership development in the future. This is very exciting to me, and I would like to think very beneficial for everyone. I look forward to more time in Taiwan, teaching both within, and outside of, the DTS program, such as the SBS.
On a much sadder note, I was in Taiwan when the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan. Taiwan soon received a tsunami warning and it wasn’t long before we were on our way to higher ground. Thankfully there was no tsunami of any significance to hit Taiwan. On a better note, I was able to immediately contact my brother in law in Tokyo and talk to him and his family. They are fine, although they have just now relocated to his wifes family’s home further south in Japan, due to rolling blackouts, food issues, and approaching radiation.
PLEASE pray for the beautiful people of Japan. I have been there several times and love it. Seeing this lifetime-tragedy for so many people, from the comfort of my living room or office, makes us feel so helpless, inadequate, and hopeless. But God is still good! And reports of miracles are just now starting to emerge from a shattered nation. Reports of amazing rescues, inexplicable survival, selfless giving, and of course a global force of intercession and prayer. As I hear of things through our network of contacts in Asia and Japan, I will pass them on to you also.
One small miracle for me and my family… after being away for 2 weeks, I was looking at more days stranded in Taiwan as my flights home were heading back through Tokyo airport, which was promptly forced to close. At the last minute I was able to call my airline in the USA, and actually find a seat on a flight that night directly out of Taiwan, which was previously sold out (as all were for two days). Sweeeet.
Thanks for following me, and for your prayers and support.
JW
GoWests! 