The post June 2024 Prayer Letter first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

Happy New Year!! As I write this, the winds of change are blowing gently in Cambodia, and threatening to blow away our brief and beloved cool season already. And as I write this, many of you are shivering underneath piled feet of snow and shuddering winds!!

The winds of change in this new year also usher in a new ministry season for our family. For the past five years we have lived in Stung Treng and January to May (dry season) is the season in which Scott leaves our family at home for a week each month. He travels around to visit various Kavet villages and fellowships in the more remote areas of our province.

We’ve been sharing with you for some time that he goes out to the villages, but, thanks to another co-worker who has been traveling with him lately, we now have some pictures to share of these adventures. I thought some of you might wonder what exactly it means to “go out to the villages” – and decided to document this most recent trip for you as an example of what these weeks look like for our family.

A few days before his trips, we begin gathering “groceries” he will take to the villages, snacks to share during teaching sessions, or gifts for his hosts. This trip, we bought cinnamon bark at the market (“sweet wood”) as a hosting gift – because the villagers can boil it in their water to make it taste a little better. We bought a big bag of dried and shredded pork that can be easily sprinkled on rice, as a snack during teaching sessions. This is always a hit for the extra protein and vitamins it brings. Our missionary colleagues got a few precious bars of butter and blocks of cheese in the cooler!

Scott gets out his packing list each month to make sure he has all the needed supplies for a week away, with each night in a different village.

The night before he leaves, Scott gathers up all the supplies and packs them into his little duffel bag that he will carry on the moto with him. Everything he takes needs to fit on the moto.

Bedtime the night before he leaves always involves an extra-long wrestling session with Zachary and Samuel.

A few days before he goes, people start dropping by the house with things they want to send with Scott – either for the two missionary ladies living on the Lao border or for different Kavet people Scott will visit. This trip, the truck has filled up fast!! He drives our truck two hours north towards the Lao border to the town of Siem Pang. Then, Scott parks the truck at the YWAM house there and transfers himself and his things onto a moto. Once on the moto, he crosses the river on a ferry and then makes the rest of the trip by moto.

Once the car is loaded, Scott grabs his bag and is ready to leave. (That is my little rickshaw in the back .  I don’t do motos, so this is the family wagon when he is away .  )

Last hugs are given to everyone…

… and off he goes!

Once at the YWAM house of our two missionary colleagues in Siem Pang, the truck is parked, and goods are transferred to the moto.

Scott wears long-sleeved shirts, even in the heat, because they protect him from sunburn on the long rides. Our friends’ house is a short ride to the river, and then the river is crossed on a ferry like this. Once the river is crossed, all the roads are dirt, and motos or rough “cow-tractors” are used for transportation.

Once in the village, studies are taught at night and during the day. Each day Scott travels to a new village. He usually makes these trips with one or two Kavet believers. This past year, our YWAM teammate, Alli Blair, began joining some of these trips as well. She is a jewel of a woman, who first began working with Cambodians in Thai refugee camps in the 1980’s. She went on to move to Burundi in the 1990s, where she spent the next 20+ years. Feeling like she was getting “too comfortable”, she asked God where he would like her. At a young 70 years old, and in the middle of COVID-19, she found herself back in Cambodia, working with the Kavet and learning a new language!

Leading an evening Bible study.

Praying with and for all who come looking to meet with Jesus.

From the young….

…. to the old.

Jesus loves the Kavet, is at work among them, and we are grateful to be part of his team, bringing his light and hope and freedom.

Thank you for praying, thank you for sending us, and thank you for joining me today on our little mini-journey into, “Kavet-land” (as we affectionately call it . )

May God richly bless you this new year with his joy, his peace, his love, and his unchanging faithfulness, no matter what winds of change blow around you.

Much love,

Andrea, for the Swards

And everyone is happy to welcome Daddy home upon his return!!

The post Sward Family January 2024 Newsletter first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

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 efm@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 here. 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.