Wow, I can't believe that the subject line is true! The past sixteen weeks have gone by so quickly, yet in other ways it is crazy to think of how much has happened during that time. This is probably my last update from on the ground in Cambodia as I will be leaving on Sunday back to Taiwan where I will spend a few days before returning home next week.

Thank you so much for your continued prayers. The past week has been so good. I spent a few days up in the Northwest corner of Cambodia near Thailand. The village was pretty far out and it was great to be in a place where there had been almost no previous seminars. Many of the places we have gone in Cambodia the people have already had some previous training, while this is wonderful and shows that the nation is being reached, my heart is to go to places where the people are without training. So I loved being out in the village again, especially after spending the last few weeks in the crazy city of Saigon. I love the villages, eating with the pastors, living with the people. It is just so wonderful to be able to share in their life and minister with them. This one was special because it is the first seminar in Cambodia I have been a part of where the local church was taking care of all financial arrangements. It was so wonderful to see them caring for their own believers and not expecting the westerner to pay for everything. Again, the joy of working in a remote area with no previous western seminars.

Many of the pastors came from great distances even though it is the rainy season and the roads are in terrible condition. One rode his motorcycle 90km on muddy, pot-hole filled, village roads, another walked for four hours in mud past his ankles to be able to come. They all arrived the morning of the first day of the seminar and I couldn't believe that they were ready to study for six hours after traveling like that. I was shocked that about fifty people turned up, we thought that because of the rain, few would be able to come. Many of them had been up at around three or four in the morning to begin traveling to the church. Yet they were so hungry for the word of God.

This was a short two-day seminar, so I taught them how to study the Bible using the letter of Philemon and it was awesome to see this letter come alive to them and see them begin to think critically about the Bible and begin to grasp how to not just read it, but study it. Most of these men and women had not been to school in many, many years, if ever, so it was amazing to see them starting to understand how to study for the first time. I love watching their faces as they discuss the Bible and are able to come up with answers to my questions. For most, it is the first time they have actually tried to understand what the Bible says and how to apply it to their life and not just looked at a single verse or simply repeated what they had already been told.

Thank you so much for your continued prayers. The past week has been so good. I spent a few days up in the Northwest corner of Cambodia near Thailand. The village was pretty far out and it was great to be in a place where there had been almost no previous seminars. Many of the places we have gone in Cambodia the people have already had some previous training, while this is wonderful and shows that the nation is being reached, my heart is to go to places where the people are without training. So I loved being out in the village again, especially after spending the last few weeks in the crazy city of Saigon. I love the villages, eating with the pastors, living with the people. It is just so wonderful to be able to share in their life and minister with them. This one was special because it is the first seminar in Cambodia I have been a part of where the local church was taking care of all financial arrangements. It was so wonderful to see them caring for their own believers and not expecting the westerner to pay for everything. Again, the joy of working in a remote area with no previous western seminars.

Many of the pastors came from great distances even though it is the rainy season and the roads are in terrible condition. One rode his motorcycle 90km on muddy, pot-hole filled, village roads, another walked for four hours in mud past his ankles to be able to come. They all arrived the morning of the first day of the seminar and I couldn't believe that they were ready to study for six hours after traveling like that. I was shocked that about fifty people turned up, we thought that because of the rain, few would be able to come. Many of them had been up at around three or four in the morning to begin traveling to the church. Yet they were so hungry for the word of God.

This was a short two-day seminar, so I taught them how to study the Bible using the letter of Philemon and it was awesome to see this letter come alive to them and see them begin to think critically about the Bible and begin to grasp how to not just read it, but study it. Most of these men and women had not been to school in many, many years, if ever, so it was amazing to see them starting to understand how to study for the first time. I love watching their faces as they discuss the Bible and are able to come up with answers to my questions. For most, it is the first time they have actually tried to understand what the Bible says and how to apply it to their life and not just looked at a single verse or simply repeated what they had already been told.

I loved this group and it was very hard to leave because I see they are so hungry. Also, it is humbling to work with a group of believers like this who have gone through so much suffering in their lives and are serving God at a very high cost. They are truly living by faith, relying upon God to provide for their families as they serve the Lord.

On Thursday night I was confronted again with the reality of living in Cambodia. They wanted to show a movie for all the children. The church is also an orphanage with about thirty children. So the movie begins and I freak out. The children are between four and thirteen and they start playing the Passion of the Christ! I assumed the pastor had not seen it before and went and told the pastor that this is a very violent, bloody movie and might be too intense for young children. His answer again humbled me, he told me that these children have seen much worse from seeing videos about the Khmer Rouge and they hear the stories of what happened to their parents and relatives under Pol Pot all the time. He said, They are not like western children." They had already seen the movie two or three times and the children loved the movie!

One final note from the seminar that I would like to ask for you to pray for. There is a woman there named Sreyroth, I have attached her picture, and she has been a Christian now for one month. Now she is receiving intense persecution from all her family and neighbors and she kept asking me question after question about what to do. But more importantly, her husband is very antagonistic and is mocking her every day and is sometimes violent. She was begging me to pray for her husband, asking me to pray for him every day. She can live with the persecution, but all she wants is to see her husband's heart change. She is about two months pregnant with their first child and was holding back tears as she told me she is scared to see her child born into an abusive home. I prayed for her and was very touched by her situation and promised her that I would have many other people pray for her as well. So please pray for Sreyroth and her husband named Koun. Pray that God would strengthen Sreyroth's faith, soften Koun's heart and allow their new baby to grow up in a Christ-centered home.

I loved this group and it was very hard to leave because I see they are so hungry. Also, it is humbling to work with a group of believers like this who have gone through so much suffering in their lives and are serving God at a very high cost. They are truly living by faith, relying upon God to provide for their families as they serve the Lord.

On Thursday night I was confronted again with the reality of living in Cambodia. They wanted to show a movie for all the children. The church is also an orphanage with about thirty children. So the movie begins and I freak out. The children are between four and thirteen and they start playing the Passion of the Christ! I assumed the pastor had not seen it before and went and told the pastor that this is a very violent, bloody movie and might be too intense for young children. His answer again humbled me, he told me that these children have seen much worse from seeing videos about the Khmer Rouge and they hear the stories of what happened to their parents and relatives under Pol Pot all the time. He said, "They are not like western children." They had already seen the movie two or three times and the children loved the movie!

One final note from the seminar that I would like to ask for you to pray for. There is a woman there named Sreyroth, I have attached her picture, and she has been a Christian now for one month. Now she is receiving intense persecution from all her family and neighbors and she kept asking me question after question about what to do. But more importantly, her husband is very antagonistic and is mocking her every day and is sometimes violent. She was begging me to pray for her husband, asking me to pray for him every day. She can live with the persecution, but all she wants is to see her husband's heart change. She is about two months pregnant with their first child and was holding back tears as she told me she is scared to see her child born into an abusive home. I prayed for her and was very touched by her situation and promised her that I would have many other people pray for her as well. So please pray for Sreyroth and her husband named Koun. Pray that God would strengthen Sreyroth's faith, soften Koun's heart and allow their new baby to grow up in a Christ-centered home.

So that was last week, but this week I am back in Phnom Penh working with a Leadership Training School here of fourteen students between twenty and thirty years old. This is one of the most fun groups I have ever worked with because all of them are ready to give their entire lives to ministry. Most of them are educated, have received quite a bit of training and being prepared for a lifetime of ministry. I have now had two days with them and they are very bright and eager to learn. One of the best parts is just living in the same house with all of them. We stay up late at night just talking about their struggles and I get to encourage them. The other night I just worshipped with some of them for a few hours. I am loving being here and it is going to be hard to leave them on Sunday to return to Taiwan.

One last God story. If you remember a month ago in Siem Reap I wrote about our translator who even though he was a DTS (Discipleship Training School) leader, didn't like to read the Bible, but after our seminar he got excited about studying the Bible. Well, he is the leader of the leadership school that I am now teaching at. After the week with us in Siem Reap, he decided he wanted to get more Bible training so he applied and has been accepted to the School of Biblical Studies (SBS) in Montana. This is the same Bible School that I went to. He will be heading to Montana in September for the Bible School there! I am so excited and it is even cooler because I will be there for the first month that he is there before I head to Africa. God is so Good!

So, in just over a week from today I will be back home. I will have about one month at home before heading to Montana to staff the next Titus Project Training there and then lead a team of teachers back to Africa.

I have a month at home and would love to meet with any of you who would like to get together during that time to thank you in person for your support. Please send me an email if you would like to get together and we can arrange a time.

So that was last week, but this week I am back in Phnom Penh working with a Leadership Training School here of fourteen students between twenty and thirty years old. This is one of the most fun groups I have ever worked with because all of them are ready to give their entire lives to ministry. Most of them are educated, have received quite a bit of training and being prepared for a lifetime of ministry. I have now had two days with them and they are very bright and eager to learn. One of the best parts is just living in the same house with all of them. We stay up late at night just talking about their struggles and I get to encourage them. The other night I just worshipped with some of them for a few hours. I am loving being here and it is going to be hard to leave them on Sunday to return to Taiwan.

One last God story. If you remember a month ago in Siem Reap I wrote about our translator who even though he was a DTS (Discipleship Training School) leader, didn't like to read the Bible, but after our seminar he got excited about studying the Bible. Well, he is the leader of the leadership school that I am now teaching at. After the week with us in Siem Reap, he decided he wanted to get more Bible training so he applied and has been accepted to the School of Biblical Studies (SBS) in Montana. This is the same Bible School that I went to. He will be heading to Montana in September for the Bible School there! I am so excited and it is even cooler because I will be there for the first month that he is there before I head to Africa. God is so Good!

So, in just over a week from today I will be back home. I will have about one month at home before heading to Montana to staff the next Titus Project Training there and then lead a team of teachers back to Africa.

Thank you again for all your support and please continue to pray: - First please ask the Lord how you should pray and pray accordingly. - Please pray for Sreyroth and her husband Koun as mentioned above. - Please pray for God's anointing this week on the students to learn and on me to be able to communicate to them the Truth's of God's Word. - Please pray for the students to get a deeper passion for the Word of God. - Please pray for my health and safety as I travel back to the states.

Thank you, James