The Christmas Youth Program in Sisophon

Here are some photos from the Regional Christmas Youth Program back in December that some of our 9th graders from Battrang School attended.

Down at the farm...

Photos from Battrang Middle School

Rice fields are usually burned to make the soil easier to plow in the summer...or to catch mice and rats

The students are proud of the Bush Yardlong Beans! Thanks ECHO!

Preparing bamboo to make a stand for bucket drip irrigation

Students busy in the garden

Relaxing in the rice straw pile


This bucket drip irrgation system uses a $10 kit, an old 5 gallon bucket and a stand.
One kit can water 30 meters (100 feet) of vegetables.
We set this up this week.

Digging a channel to bury the pipe for a simple suction pump
to pump water 20 meters from the pond to the jar in garden

It's coming together! If anything involves water or building

something, you can bet David will be around

(the student without a shirt on).

Moving the jar to the right spot

And we have water! Woo Hoo! So simple, yet so amazing.

Regional Church Conference

Feb 2-4 was the KEC (Khmer Evangelical Church) regional conference. Representatives from all the KEC churches in the Northwest of Cambodia attended the 3 day conference at the Eden retreat center in T'mol Kohl. I went with the Strongs, Sharon and Kandi (C&MA missionary in Poipet) for the last day of the conference. They invited us, the missionaries, to come up and share about the ministries we are involved in. This was my first time speaking Khmer in front of 80 Cambodians and I was nervous! I just shared that I have been in Cambodia 2 and a half years and that I am teaching agriculture at the Battrang Middle School. I asked them to pray for us because we want to share Christ with our students. My teammates shared about their minstries as well (much more fluently than I was able to!). During the break, people came to talk to me about the school and agriculture class. It was encouraging and a man in the government in the Poipet area seemed interested in coming to the school to see what we are teaching.

After the break, a Cambodian American pastor shared from the Word of God about tithes and offerings. He spoke from passages about the Levite priests and how they were to give back to the Lord 10% of what they received from their inheritance. He also spoke on other passages, like Malachi 3:8-10 and 2 Corinthians 8:2, and encouraged the pastors and church members at the conference to be faithful in giving to the Lord.

After the conference ended, we ate together and I got to eat some vegetables that I have never tried before in Cambodia. We had steamed sesbania flowers and fresh neem flowers and a few other vegetables that I didn't know. All of them were really bitter, but that means they're are really good for you according to the Khmer!

On the way back to Battambang, we were able to bring back about 18 people in the Strong's truck and I got to sit in the back of the truck Cambodian style! It was a good experience and even more fun when we got a flat tire and the guys changed the tire while us ladies got to sit in the shade. =)

Please pray for the churches in Cambodia to be faithful to the Lord and to be vessels of his grace to the nonbelievers around them. Pray that their faith will be strong and they will continue to grow in the knowledge and grace of our Lord Jesus!

Our Creator God

We are already in the 4th month of teaching agriculture at the middle school in Battrang village. Praise God that the garden continues to improve, that the students water the garden and that the students come to class! One of the nice things about the tropics is that there is a lot of organic matter available. We are blessed in this area of Cambodia to have an abundance of rice straw from the rice harvest. We use the rice straw in our compost and use it to mulch our plants, thereby returning the nutrients the rice plant took from the soil and reducing fertilizer input. We recently taught about mulch and how in nature there is usually a protective covering on the soil, whether it is growing plants or decaying leaves. We told the students that when God created the world, he made it with purpose and created the soil to be protected by this blanket. Mulch keeps the soil moist, can encourage microorganisms, can add nutrients to the soil, keeps the soil cooler, reduces weeds, reduces erosion, and more! We did a demonstration in the garden by taking a watering can and simulating rain on bare soil and on mulched soil and then comparing what happened. It is the dry season now in Cambodia and will be until May, so we will also be looking at other ways to conserve water, at simple and appropriate ways to irrigate and at some crops that grow better in dry climates.

Thank you for your prayers while my teaching counterpart has been away on home assignment. He and his family return at the beginning of March and I am looking forward to their return. Praise God also that we now have funding for this year to teach at the school!


The moringa business continues to grow and God always seems to provide leaves and seeds and other material just when we need them. The Moringa for Health products are now being sold at a few specialty shops, in addition to being sold from the Strong’s house and the CAMA office in Phnom Penh. The team is working on a new product: moringa tea! Please pray for the business to be an effective ministry for the Cambodians it employs and also for those who buy the product. The CAMA team continues to teach people about how to make the powder and about the health benefits of this amazing tree that our amazing God has provided, even the people along the road that we stop to buy moringa seeds or leaves from!


I recently returned from a prayer retreat with CAMA Services in Phnom Penh and we looked at the life of David. Thanks to God for this time of refreshing!


Blessings in Christ!

My friend Michelle married Jun on January 2nd!