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3 Short Updates from the Field January 31, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — GoWests! @ 9:39 am

We love being part of sending out teams and hearing the good reports!  Be encouraged today!

 

Thailand Update from one of the team leaders:

“We’ve just come out of the jungle where we’ve been for the last few weeks, and I actually have internet access at the moment, so I’ll write you a brief update…

For those who haven’t heard yet, our time at Ging Gaan was AMAZING!! We we’re able to speak to 2000 people in just one week, and we saw so many fruitful relationships, prayers of salvation, and lots of progress for our friends at Ging Gaan.

We just finished working at a children’s home near Chiang Rai, Thailand. We were teaching English and doing construction projects for the home…our team re-roofed a hut, painted a mural, and laid a huge piece of driveway. So much concrete…and all of it was stirred and poured by hand! So proud of our team!

Yesterday, we traveled to Mae Sai on the Burmese border, and Cortnie and I sat in a little canteen right on the river between the two countries, and it was amazing being able to stare across at Myanmar…hopefully, one day, we can go there with another team! (And to all our friends in Myanmar, we’re thinking of you…)

Tonight, we get on a bus and travel down to Phuket, where we’ll be working with an organization that helps women caught in the prostitution industry as well as teaching English and job skills to immigrant workers and their families. Pray that our time there is as fruitful as what we’ve seen here up north.

As many of you know, there have been protests in Bangkok since before we arrived in Thailand, and it has started to escalate with an explosion and at least one death. As a result of the escalation, we’re bypassing our stop in Bangkok that was planned, and we’re traveling straight to Phuket instead. Please pray for the eight or so million people in Bangkok that the protests stay peaceful, that no one else gets harmed, and that there’s a quick solution found for the Thai government and its people.

We have amazing, intelligent, and very helpful contacts here in Thailand that are making sure we all stay safe. Internet access will continue to be spotty for our remaining two and a half weeks, but we will send another update as soon as we’re able.”

 

Taiwan Update from one of the team leaders:

“We’ve been having a busy last month here in Taiwan. We traveled to the Southern part of the island to help with a new church in the area. We led Bible Study, preached, led worship and got to do some open airs in the community. It was an awesome 10 days of building relationships with people and encouraging the church there. We saw several new people come into the church during our stay and ask you to keep praying for the people of Kaohsiung and that their influence in the community would keep growing!

We then taught at an English camp for 4 days that had about 100 High-school students attend. We got to talk to a lot of students about the Bible and they had many questions about How to Hear God speak! The way our team loved kids and served with joy had a huge effect on the teachers we were working alongside during those 4 days.

We have now returned to the base in Danshui for our final two weeks of ministry and are getting to work with The Rock coffee bar which many of you know of. It’s Chinese New Year so things are bustling in the area and there’s SO MANY opportunities to talk to people about Jesus. We are praying to see more salvations as fruit of the many relationships we’ve built here! Keep praying with us in these last two weeks!!”

 

Mexico Update from one of the team leaders:

“We have had a great couple of weeks of ministry which was highlighted by building a Home of Hope. We built a 16’x20′ house for a family of 15. With the house we also were able to give them a table and chairs, a nice bunk bed and most of all a nice small range that they can cook on. When we arrived for our first day of the build there was a small fire going outside with a pot on it, so giving them this range will bless them immensely.

In addition to the house, we were able to bless the small community with some blankets and bags of food. Last night we went to the church there and all the community showed up which is a lot more than the normal 12 people. We were supposed to preach but the Pastor was caught up in the moment of having his church filled, so he went for it and preached the gospel. We snuck in a drama and I was able to give my testimony. God is doing some good things in that community.”

 

We also have teams currently in Haiti, Dominican Republic, Russia, and Ukraine.. but this update is already long enough =)

Jeremy leaves today for Amsterdam where he will be in International meetings for a week.  The 50 or so leaders gathering together are coming from around the globe, reporting on what God is doing in their regions and planning for the next seasons of training. Good stuff.

It’s a privilege to serve.  Thanks for being on our team!

 

This week, in the mountains of NEPAL… October 30, 2013

Filed under: Uncategorized — GoWests! @ 11:23 pm

What a privilege and a joy to be able to share with you tonight

that we currently have a team in Nepal that is sharing the love of Jesus

to Nepali people who have never heard the gospel before!

Image  NEPAL 2

This discipleship training team of 15 from Lakeside, Montana (8 of whom

are internationals) are hiking through different mountain ranges of Nepal, sharing with

trekkers and Nepalis alike that their lives have been turned upside-down by Jesus and

inviting new friends into the journey with them.  Jesus said “Go into all the world

and make disciples”; please pray for this team and the people they are meeting and ministering to!

 

 

Molly on a “Live Hangout” Online Discussion Panel September 18, 2013

Filed under: Uncategorized — GoWests! @ 6:27 pm

Hi all.

Molly bringing some fun heat in Cambodia

Molly bringing the heat

Just an FYI, at our YWAM training location here in Montana we run an online Hangout discussion forum.  Today, Molly was part of a 4-person panel discussing publicly “What does the Bible say about MISSION?”

It has been pasted onto Youtube.  Check it out at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LIGf5Aju8U

JW

 

Part 2 Blog released September 13, 2013

Filed under: Uncategorized — GoWests! @ 9:46 am

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

Filed under: Uncategorized — GoWests! @ 2:59 pm

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…

http://blog.olivetree.com/

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

Filed under: Uncategorized — GoWests! @ 11:21 am

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!

Doug has their attention!

Illustrating how salvation requires Jesus' suffering.  The kids got it.

       Illustrating how salvation requires Jesus’ suffering.  The kids got it.

Getting ready for game time!  Heather is excited..

Getting ready for game time – Heather loves her job!

 

DTS Equip – Equipping regional leaders and disicplers September 30, 2012

Filed under: Uncategorized — GoWests! @ 1:37 am

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

Filed under: Family,Photos,Uncategorized,Updates — GoWests! @ 12:15 am

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

Filed under: Uncategorized — GoWests! @ 1:17 pm

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!

Image

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

Filed under: DTS Equip,Family,Uncategorized — GoWests! @ 10:13 pm

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.