Discipleship can Change the World - literally!

New Life Fellowship, our church in Phnom Penh, Cambodia has been built over the years through discipleship, it's something that I've learned, can literally change the world.

Think about two people, the first person makes it their goal to disciple 3,000 people per day, every day for 30 years. The person who does this will reach a total of 32 million people. That is a huge number and very commendable, but it is certainly not something that is sustainable for 30 years. Just the idea of finding 3,000 different people every day is staggering.

Now, think about doing it a different way. The second person makes it their goal to disciple only one person per year. They spend an entire year with just this one person. Then, in the second year, they spend it discipling a different person, while the person from the first year also begins to disciple another person too. Then, in the third year, everyone disciples one more different person. If this is done and sustained for 30 years, over one billion - one billion! - people can be reached, all through multiplication. And if only 6 Christians started this today, we could change the entire world in our generation.

This type of discipleship is all about relationships. Jesus is our model, and his example was living life with his disciples and teaching them in the every day situations that they met. Sometimes he taught them, sometimes he showed them, sometimes they did things together, and sometimes he sent them out. But in everything that he did, he did it for the purpose of investing into these 12 to change the world for the Kingdom of God. It's amazing to think that He had faith in God and faith in these 12 to change the world. However, as Disciples of God, He has this same faith in us.

Technology Today

Many centuries ago, when missionaries would leave their home countries and travel to the mission field, they would do so with a heart of dedication and commitment. They would board steamer ships and sail weeks or even months to get to their destination. Popular stories tell of missionaries who would board these ships with all of their belongings packed in caskets because they didn't expect that they would be coming back. This was due to medical conditions and the cost of travel. But in spite of all this, they  left with an unwavering spirit and a heart of commitment to their Savior and Lord.

It is said that the Church in Africa and other countries around the world was literally built on the bones of countless missionaries and martyrs."

Also, in demonstrating his commitment to the work of the Gospel, C.T. Studd said, "If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for him."

We are deeply indebted to these missionaries who have paved the way for missionaries today and it is their example that inspires us in our ministry in Cambodia.

Today, however, technology has changed the method of missions. Through things like radio, television and cell phones, the Good News can be communicated across restrictive government lines. E-mail and internet makes communication next to instantaneous. And vehicles such as airliners speed up the travel from one continent to another so much so that now the trip can be made in a matter of hours rather than weeks or months.

One technology that we have used recently has been an internet-based computer program called Skype. Skype is a program in which we can view live video and audio of each other through the internet. This is great for communication, but since we've been here, we've been able to maintain our relationships with our friends back in Cambodia. We have even set up times where we can study together with our interns. Once, we had a devotional time together, and another time, we studied a lesson together - with them using their computer in Cambodia and us using our computer in Canada.

The devotional time was amazing, we prayed together, spent time studying Psalm 24 and sharing each other's prayer needs all through the computers! The second time we studied, I had a terrible headache and I figured that it was going to be difficult to teach. So, at the beginning, I asked all of the interns to pray for me. Obviously, they couldn't put their hands on me, but I really felt God touch my body while they prayed. After they prayed for me, I felt dramatically better and I was able to teach for the rest of the time with very little pain!

This time is a great time to be a missionary and we are blessed to be able to take advantage of all of the advances in technology that we have in this day and age.

Portland to Hamilton

Well, we had a great first week in North America and the kids are doing great. Our first week was in Portland (where Angie's parents are). On Sunday of last week, we had a great connection night. It was a time where we could share with the church about what we have been up to in Cambodia and how God is working in people's lives. It was so exciting for us to tell about how God is growing his kingdom in Cambodia.

Also, during the first week, we were able to attend the MFI conference. It was a great time to receive from some great men and women of God, be challenged spiritually and meet up with some great friends.

After the conference, we flew to Hamilton to visit Jason's parents. One of the things that really refreshes us spiritually is visiting our home churches. City Bible Church and Living Hope Christian Assembly are places where we always receive through the worship, the word and the friendships that we have here. It always reminds us of our church in Cambodia since the worship is so anointed and is so filled with the Holy Spirit.

It is also a joy to spend time with family. Today in Hamilton was such a beautiful autumn day. We took all the kids to the local park where they played and played. Then, we topped it off with a trip to Tim Horton's. Now, tonight, Caleb is spending the night at his cousins house, so I sure hope that they are having fun and getting some sleep. :) We are so thankful for this time that we can spend time with family and make new memories.

Tomorrow is going to be another great day too. It's Thanksgiving here in Canada, so we are going to have some more family time, as well as some delicious food including turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes.

Have a blessed Thanksgiving!

Jason & Angie

From Phnom Penh to Portland

Well, we arrived in Portland safe and sound yesterday afternoon. Our travels took us from Phnom Penh to Seoul, South Korea to Tokyo, Japan (an unexpected stop for us, but fortunately not unexpected for the pilot). From Tokyo, we flew to Los Angeles, CA and then up to Portland. Including the stops and layovers, it was a total of about 28 hours worth of travel.

The kids did pretty good considering the duration of the trip, but Caleb did get sick a couple of times on the flights. And he's doing better now. Now, we just have to get adjusted to the time difference. As I sit writing this, it's 5:30 in the morning and Emma and Caleb have been up for a while now. Thankfully Justus is still sleeping, so he may be the most quickly adjusted.

We don't have a lot planned for these first couple of days, so it will likely just consist of getting adjusted and rested. Then, we'll start into things this weekend.

We're so excited that we're here now and we're so excited that we'll be seeing you all in this next little while.

God bless you!

Jason