In many ways 2023 feels like the start of a new season of ministry.

Here are a few new things for us…

In December we joined EFM at the Missionary Worldwide Gathering in Thailand. While there, we updated our ministry video and are excited to share it with you! This short video is a great way to learn how God is working through our ministry in Cambodia. Please feel free to share and use it as it fits your needs. If you are unable to download it, please contact the office at efmspanish@friendsmission.com.

In 2020 I heard about a new church in one of the farthest Kavet villages—near the Cambodia/Laos border. The Kavet are the largest tribal group in our province, Stung Treng. They speak their own language and have their own unique culture. For generations they lived in the forests and mountains. However, in recent decades, the Kavet have mostly settled in villages, and a small percentage of them have come to Christ.

Because of COVID-19 and impassable roads, I was prevented from visiting this new church until last month. I travelled there on motorbike with another missionary and a Khmer Christian leader. When we finally arrived at the village, we were greeted warmly by around ten believers. One Christian family welcomed us into their spartan home, prepared food, and began sharing how a couple years ago God used a drunken evangelist (!) to lead them to the Lord. Since then, they said their family had experienced peace and freedom from demonic oppression.

We came to later discover that this small group of believers didn’t have a single Bible among them. They did, however, have a Khmer hymnal. But since none of them knew the songs, they didn’t use it that much. When I asked what they did when they met for worship on Sunday, they said they prayed, encouraged each other to stay faithful to Jesus, and took up an offering. That’s it. Week by week, they prayed for each other, encouraged each other, and shared what they had.

Not having a Bible, their understanding of the Christian faith was quite limited, and they were eager to learn. But they’d also clearly encountered the risen Jesus, and they were trying to follow him as best they knew how.

“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8).

In 2021 a few Cambodian Christian leaders of different denominations and missionaries from different organizations met together to discuss how we could partner together to train church leaders in our province. After a few delays, last month we finally launched our Stung Treng Bible School with 50 students.

Our Bible School meets one full-day every month (the first Saturday). The first two-year module, consists of three classes—Bible survey, Bible interpretation and teaching (which I’m responsible for), and Christian doctrine.

We’ve seen the Lord’s hand in organizing this school, and in the enthusiasm of the students and we’re eager to see what God will do.

Our partnering organization, YWAM, has been providing aid to inmates at the local prison for over 20 years (food, blankets, mosquito nets, medicine, etc.). But, despite repeated requests, we’ve never been able to hold Bible studies in the prison. Recently, however, the new prison director informed us that he’d allow us to meet with prisoners for Bible studies if we built a building on the prison grounds for this purpose. This building would belong to the prison, but we’d have regular access to it. Since we’ve seen the fruit of prison ministry in other provinces, this is something we’re very interested in pursuing.

The prison director estimates that the project will cost $7,000. If you’d be interested in contributing to this project, we’d be deeply grateful. To make a donation, you can…

• Donate online, on our webpage aquí. Make sure to select “Projects | EFM Cambodia | Prison Bible Study as the project designation.
• Donate by credit card over the phone at 303-421-8100.
• Mail a check marked with “EFM Cambodia Prison Bible Study” to EFM, PO Box 771139, Wichita, KS 67277.

The post Sward Family February 2023 Newsletter first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.