Cambodia update – Thursday morning

So, this is the first time I’ve had a chance to sit down and write an update since Sunday afternoon! So, here’s a brief summary, in case you’re interested…

We spent Monday morning with Ruth Withers. Ruth is a member of Hope Church Harrogate, currently living in Phnom Penh. She did an outstanding job helping to organise and facilitate our time in the city. Thank you Ruth!

We also got to spend some more time with Phally, who leads the eldership team at Liberty Family Church in Phnom Penh, which was really good. On Monday afternoon, we saw our good friend Setan Lee. It was Setan that we first got to know here it was lovely to see him again, get his input on what we are up to and here what he is doing currently.

Tuesday morning saw us catch a flight up to Siem Reap, where we have spent the last few days. On Tuesday evening, we had a meal with Scott & Judi Price and their son Jayden. An American family living in Siem Reap, I have got to know Scott & Judi over recent years and it was great to catch up, here what is happening with them and update them as to our plans in Siem Reap.

On Wednesday, we saw Ronald Castillo, who together with his wife, Cynthia, leads Victory Church Siem Reap. It is always good to see him, and he was a great encouragement to us, and hopefully us to him too! On Wednesday evening, we went along to their worship evening where there was a great sense of the presence of God. So good to worship together!

And that brings us to this morning! We are off shortly to see a school that Sam wants to look at for his children and then we are meeting with another British family who are missionaries in Siem Reap. Then it will be time to start the long journey home! I’m very much looking forward to seeing Sarah and the kids. Phone and video calls are great, but they don’t replace being present. I’d love to bring them here one day!

It has been a short but very full trip. It has been great to re-connect with friends in both Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. It has been a privilege to encourage and help the leaders in Liberty Family Church, and it has been exciting to make progress in our plans for a ChristCentral church plant in Siem Reap. Maybe God is calling you to be part of this? Maybe He is putting Cambodia on your heart and stirring you about being part of a team to help plant a new church here. If you want to chat more, please get in touch!

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Cambodia – Sunday afternoon update

So, it’s Sunday afternoon and I thought it might be worth updating you as to our weekend!

After arriving on Friday evening, we were met at our hotel by Ruth Withers. Ruth is a member of Hope Church Harrogate in the UK and is in Cambodia serving the church here. She has been a great blessing to us in helping to arrange our trip! (Thank you Ruth!)

Sam and I spent yesterday. (Saturday) morning with two of the elders of Liberty Family Church in Phnom Penh. It was so good to see Phally and Sdam once again and hear about what God is saying to them at the moment. Hopefully, we were able to be an encouragement to them and strengthen their faith for what is ahead for the church in this new year. Sadly, their third elder, Narith was unable to join us due to work commitments, so we missed him!

Saturday evening was a meal at Ruth’s home with some of the Westerners in the church, to meet them and encourage them in what they are doing here. Sam brought a great word from the Bible, I had some prophetic words for people and we prayed for them. Together with fantastic food, this was a great evening!

This morning, we were with Liberty Family Church in Phnom Penh, where I was preaching. I preached on the subject of encouragement and “encouraged” the church to encourage one another in God. Again, we were able to pray for some people. I was very grateful to Sdam for translating for me!

Sam brought a great prophetic word over one of their worship leaders and encouraged her in what God was saying to her.

Tomorrow, we are meeting with some more people and then off to Siem Reap on Tuesday morning. Thank you for praying for us – it is much appreciated!

Cambodia trip – January 2019

I am currently sitting in Bangkok Airport waiting for the final leg of our journey into Phnom Penh. It has been suggested to me that I resurrect my blog to update friends and any interested parties on my trip to Cambodia this January. So, here goes!

I’m heading to Cambodia, to Phnom Penh and Siem Reap to visit Liberty Family Church in Phnom Penh and to re-connect with friends in Siem Reap. I’m travelling with Sam Little from Macclesfield (UK). Sam, his wife Abi and their kids are hoping to move to Siem Reap around January next year to begin the process of starting a new church there, working with the ChristCentral team.

I’m very much looking forward to meeting up with the leaders and members of Liberty Family Church in Phnom Penh. It’s a couple of years since I was last there (when we appointed the eldership team) and so I am keen to see what’s been happening and how they are doing. Primarily, the church works with the Catalyst team within Newfrontiers, but we also have a role to play in encouraging the church and serving the Catalyst leaders responsible for working with them. We are meeting with the eldership team tomorrow and I am preaching at the church on Sunday. We are also hoping to meet up with our good friend Setan Lee, who first introduced us to what God was doing in his native country.

Next week, we travel up to Siem Reap to re-connect with friends there and for Sam to do some groundwork on looking at accommodation and schools. It will be good to see people again!

If you want something to pray for, please pray that we would be a blessing to the church in Phnom Penh and that we would be able to help them take some strategic decisions. Also, please pray that God would clearly guide us around decisions needed to be made in Siem Reap. Finally, please pray for our respective families back home – for Abi and their kids and for Sarah and ours. Thank you!

A review of North 2011

Over August Bank Holiday weekend, 2,500 people gathered in North Yorkshire for North 2011. We went as a church and had a good number of people staying both on and off site. Despite generous amounts of rain and mud, the weekend was a resounding success. Such a powerful sense of God’s presence and power; outstanding preaching from Terry Virgo, Guy Miller and Jeremy Simpkins; inspiring worship; excellent kids and youth events and a great time away with friends, old and new. Once again, Paul Mogford (Jubilee Church Teesside) and his amazing team served us outstandingly well, by turning a working farm into a venue fit for such a momentous gathering.

In addition to the powerful preaching, God also spoke to us through some very significant prophetic words. Including, being shaped like clay in the potters hands, with North no longer being a holiday camp, but a boot camp where God was raising up an apostolic army!

On the first evening, Jeremy set the tone for the weekend by setting out the key distinctives of the North team and our sphere:

• Being Friends enjoying God together
• Building Churches empowered by Word and Spirit
• Advancing The Kingdom, transforming the world
• Reaching Nations, making disciples

You can watch a video of us as a team discussing these distinctives here:

Terry wonderfully served us, with 3 morning preaches from Ezra, which culminated in taking an offering which currently stands at £132,000! A very tangible example of how North was moving.

Guy Miller brought a challenging word to us, to believe God for significant growth, and he could see us becoming like a runway at an international airport with many thousands of people coming and going. He felt God challenge us to have the nations firmly in our sights and to dream bigger dreams. Guy’s presence and chemistry with us was also a very tangible foretaste of how the new emerging apostolic teams can and would work together in the future.

North 2011 was so much more than just a weekend conference – it felt like God was fashioning us together, building an Apostolic people, an army who can advance His church and His Kingdom across the nations of the world!

You can download all the main sessions and the videos shown over the weekend from www.north2011.com

(This article was written for and first appeared on www.newfrontiersuk.org)