Jeremy, a servant of God and [one who is sent by] Jesus Christ

To my true brothers and sisters and mothers in a common faith:

Grace and peace from God the father and Christ Jesus our savior

[From Titus 1:1,4]

Preparing for Senegal

In my last update I shared that I will be heading to Senegal in 2027. Plans are starting to come together more solidly now, and I have a rough budget for my living expenses. It looks like my cost of living will be substantially higher in Senegal. It looks like I will need to raise another $3,000 in monthly support (doubling my current level of support), and $10,000 more in up-front expenses in order to reach the target recommended by the EMI staff in Senegal. I’m going to talk with the Senegal office soon, and maybe reduce some of those numbers, but no matter what, I’ll have to raise more support before I go to Senegal in January.

I’ve already started working on that. I trust that God will provide what he knows I need (not necessarily what I think I need), but I don’t know what that will look like yet. I am a little nervous, since I cannot meet with friends in Canada face-to-face like I did when preparing for Cambodia. Please pray with me in this process, and tell me if your church, or someone you know, might be interested in connecting with me.

Evangelism

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been learning more about evangelism, and taking action to share the gospel with non-Christians around me. This isn’t a natural strength of mine so its stretching me in hard ways, but I understand that God wants all of us to boldly be witnesses, and the only way for me to improve is to practice.

I am also preparing a program for our Construction Managers to evangelize to the workers on our active construction sites. This has been a goal at EMI for a while, but no one has taken the lead on pushing it forward before, so I’m stepping into untested waters. Please pray for wisdom for me as I plan how to share the gospel with groups of Buddhist construction workers, and as I train some of our Cambodian staff to boldly evangelize too.

Project Updates

This month we finally finished the biggest design phase for the church I’ve been helping design for the past 10 months. My role is done, and construction should be starting in full soon!

In a few weeks, I’ll be starting a new seminary course about the Apostle’s Creed, learning why the creed says what it says, and what challenges the Church was facing at that time in history.

And in a month or so, I’m probably flying to Kazakhstan and/or Kyrgyzstan to do structural inspections of some school buildings to help their owner, Quality Schools International, decide where to allocate their resources. I’m very excited about this, because rehabilitating existing buildings is something I’m passionate about, for the sake of sustainably caring for God’s creation.

Prayer Requests

Thank you for praying for my sleep, my insomnia has improved a lot.

As I said, please pray for me as I start raising financial support. I know God will provide, but sometimes it’s easy to get distracted by worldly fears.

Pray for guidance in my evangelism efforts, that God would give me the right words to say at the right time, and give me boldness with wisdom.

Pray for Izel, the traveller who’s asking “is it wrong that I want to understand the things I don’t understand” about the spiritual world, who I’m talking to as I write this letter.

I’m looking forward to seeing many of you in Edmonton when I come home to visit at Christmas, before going to Senegal. But for the time being, I am very thankful that I still have 3 more months in Cambodia.

Grace and Peace

Jeremy

Jeremy, a servant of Christ Jesus,

To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are praying for me in Canada:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Big News!

It feels like it’s been a long time since my last update! And I have some BIG news to share! As you may know, My 18 months in Cambodia are coming to an end this December, and next year I will be sent to one of our organization’s other offices.

I recently found out that my second office will be Senegal!

This is not what I was expecting, but I am excited anyways, because I know that if this is God’s plan, then he has amazing things planned for me there.

Senegal’s official language is French, so right now I’m trying to learn French better than I was taught in the Alberta school system.

It is a Muslim nation, so I am studying some apologetics for Muslims (shoutout to my friend Sharu who recently published a book on the topic)

And it uses European engineering codes, so I’m starting to study the differences between Eurocode, America’s code (used in Cambodia), and the Canadian code I was actually taught in school.

Life and Ministry Updates

My main project of the past 9 months, a new building for International Christian Fellowship church, is moving forward to construction in September, and I’m very excited to see my thousands of hours of work become a physical building used to worship God.

In June and July, I’ve been taking a seminary course on leadership in non-profit orgs. One fascinating thing I learned is that leadership values are wildly different in different cultures: North America is very task-oriented, we like our deadlines and specific goals, and our leaders reflect that. But many cultures around the world are “high-context” ones that value relationships and other abstract concepts more than getting work done on schedule. And as someone working cross-culturally, it’s crucial for me to understand the diverse values of the people around me.

EMI’s international Creation Care team recently released a report on biblical stewardship within the built environment. If you are interested in sustainability, climate change initiatives, engineering, or architecture, you are welcome to read the report! I thought it was really interesting, and right now I’m processing how we can apply the values in Cambodia, where sustainability is rarely discussed.

In other news, not long ago, our office received a mysterious package in the mail. There was no sender, no note, no information except that it was clearly meant for our office. And inside the box, there were AT LEAST ONE THOUSAND RUBBER DUCKS! But no note from the mystery sender.

Naturally, we quickly covered the entire office with ducks, and not much work was done that afternoon.

The next day, the mystery was solved when EMI South Africa’s director sent a message asking if we liked their gift. Thus, opening up the prospect of more international pranks.

I hope to keep you updated when we decide how to respond.

Prayer Requests

I have been having trouble sleeping lately. I had insomnia when I was younger, and it seems that it’s coming back. Please pray for good rest for me so that I can do my best work to glorify God, and so that I have time and energy to spend in prayer each morning.

Next month, the fellows will be focusing on evangelism. Please pray for fruitfulness for us, and good learning experience, since evangelism is not one of my strengths.

I don’t have any concrete info yet, but it looks like the cost of living in Senegal is a bit higher than Cambodia. So please pray that I will continue to trust in God to provide for my needs.

I’m looking forward to seeing many of you in Edmonton when I come home to visit at Christmas, before going to Senegal. But for the time being, I am very thankful that I still have 5 more months in Cambodia.

Grace and Peace

Jeremy

The youth to the beloved Church in Alberta, whom I love in truth.

Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul. [from 3 John 1-2]

Life Updates

I have a long-term roommate now! Another EMI fellow, Samuel from Uganda, arrived in Cambodia at the start of March, and he’ll stay with me until we both leave in December. It has been an adjustment for me to share the space with another person - especially the tiny kitchen, which we both use regularly - but the blessings outweigh the challenges. Samuel’s introduced me to some tasty Ugandan dishes, he’s challenged me to stay accountable with how I use my time at home, and we have been able to start a habit of devotional time together every night.

And just before Samuel arrived, the office had our annual staff retreat, where we could get to know each other better and take a break from work. Doing fun things like sand castle competitions, board games, and a fashion show (which I somehow ended up in).

We closed off one of my projects, Baby Jared Bridge, a few weeks ago, but without a satisfying end. Because of the remoteness and complexity of the project, our client has not yet been able to find a local contractor who’s interested in constructing it.

My other major project, International Christian Fellowship church, is still ongoing, and running pretty smoothly on my end.

I also got to be a part of a small structural assessment project for a local Christian medical center last month, helping them to look at options for renovations. 100,000 people are served by Hebron Medical Centre every year, and they are trying to upgrade their facilities so that they can meet more needs more effectively.

In a smaller way, this month I also helped on some other projects by doing Quality Control for the designs of a Christian radio broadcast center, the director’s house for a missionary training campus, and as-built drawings for a university dormitory.

Another role I’ve been given in the office is the leader of one of our discipleship groups. We meet every Friday morning for 2 hours and have had fruitful conversations about everything from theology of mission to complementarianism to how to use resources like biblehub.com to find answers to our questions about the Bible.

Prayer Requests

Probably a common prayer request across thee globe right now, that since the United States started their war with Iran, fuel prices have shot way up, and that’s having a huge impact on the economy here. Please pray for God to provide for Cambodians who are struggling to meet their needs now, and pray for wisdom for me to know how I can best support them

Last update, I asked for prayer for my health, and I am thankful that since then, I haven’t been seriously sick once. However, two weeks ago I got a nasty cut on my foot while playing soccer, and it looks like it’s going to take a long time to heal. So please pray for protection from infections, and that this injury won’t hinder my mental health while it keeps me away from my normal hobbies like soccer and climbing.

Also pray for me and Samuel, that we would continue to learn better how to serve and support each other, and mesh well together as roommates.

Finally, please pray for Baby Jared Bridge, that God will provide the right contractor for the project.

Thank you,

Jeremy

Jeremy, called by the will of God to serve in Cambodia

To my supporters, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. [from 1 Corinthians 1:1-3]

Life Updates

I feel very blessed by the people, the opportunities, and the work God has put in my life right now.

I realized I forgot to say anything about my work in my last letter, so I’ll start with that:

1. I am still working on the International Christian Fellowship Church campus, the team is making good progress but it’s a big project and there’s still lots to do.

2. The design of Baby Jared Bridge is close to done now. But because of the remote location and steep slopes, construction will be a lot more expensive than the client hospital anticipated, so we are praying that God will provide the necessary funding.

3. Soon I will be starting on a new project - inspecting the structural safety of an existing hospital. I don’t know any other details yet, but I’m excited to get more experience in this area, because I think inspecting and rehabilitating existing structures is important to sustainably care for God’s creation.

4. Recently, our project development team shared updates from a lot of our old clients, and it was impactful to hear the real effect that our work is having, even some projects that I personally worked on in the past (see picture below).

About a month ago, I started my next class in the fellowship program: we are taking the Perspectives course online together. I’m still not quite sure what to think of this course, but it’s certainly thought-provoking. So far, the class has been building a Biblical basis for missions: what the Christian “mission” is, what the Bible tells us about our role and God’s role, and how we can glorify God by spreading the gospel to every tongue, tribe, and nation.

Aside from my job, there have been lots of other blessing too.

I sent my last letter just a few weeks before Christmas, my first Christmas away from my family, and I was worried about loneliness, but some friends of mine let me spend the holidays with their family, and it ended up being a very restful time for me, full of books and board games and food and laughter. I feel like I’ve become an extension of their family - the kids even call me “Boo” (Khmer for Uncle) Jeremy.

I’m also blessed to be able to serve at my church’s youth group here, and although I still miss my Central Baptist youth boys (Hi if any of you are reading this!), my new youth group here is lots of fun too.

Over the past 6 weeks, I’ve been able to host 2 different visitors from the US - one was a previous EMI intern who came for a wedding, and the other was a structural engineering volunteer who came to share some of his experience with earthquake engineering. And starting in March, I get to host a Ugandan EMI Fellow who will work in the Cambodia office for several months.

Prayer Requests

Thank you for praying about the conflict between Thailand and Cambodia. A new ceasefire came into place at the end of December, and it has been holding since then. By God’s grace, tensions are easing.

Please pray for my physical health. It feels like I’ve been sick almost non-stop for the past 2 months, first with a cold, then food poisoning, then another cold, and now more food poisoning.

Thank you,

Jeremy

Jeremy, called by the will of God to serve in Cambodia

To my supporters, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. [from 1 Corinthians 1:1-3]

Life Updates

Wow this has been a full two months since my last update!
Some highlights were celebrating Canadian thanksgiving and American thanksgiving and now preparing for Christmas. And taking a short vacation to Da Lat, Vietnam with my coworkers, and spending lots of time with friends: playing board games, soccer, going rock climbing, and worshiping God.
Along with all of that, I am working in the office, and doing part-time language studies, and doing my first seminary course: Hermeneutics (How to interpret the Bible).

Doing this online class has been a lot of work - a lot more reading and writing than I’m used to, but I’m very thankful for the things that I’ve learned. I feel much more equipped to read a Bible passage and confidently interpret the original meaning, and how it should apply to my life today. My main project was to do a Biblical exegesis on 1 John 1:5-7, and present it to my coworkers at the office. My key points focused on fellowship with God, and fellowship with each other, and my applications were that to walk in the light and have fellowship with one another, we need to:

1. Get serious about discipleship groups and prayer times

2. Listen well

3. Laugh with others

4. Hold your friends accountable

5. Speak up when you need help

Prayer Requests

Please continue to pray for Cambodia and Thailand. On December 8, after weeks of tense negotiations, the fighting resumed, due to political turmoil in the Thai government. With heavy fighting along the border, hundreds of thousands of people are fleeing the border provinces in both countries.
Thankfully, the fighting is still limited to the borders, and that is not expected to change, so it does not directly affect me in Phnom Penh, but two of my coworkers have had to leave work to help their family evacuate, and there is still a military draft scheduled to start in January, threatening to take my Khmer coworkers and friends.

Please pray for peace between the two nations, and for peace in the hearts of Cambodians. Especially that Khmer Christians would be able to dwell on God’s gift over Christmas, despite the fear and uncertainty about the future. And pray for unity of God’s people across all borders.

And please pray for my emotional and spiritual health. I was in a long-distance relationship that ended recently, and since then, I have had trouble replacing that emotional connection with healthy things.

Thank you,

Jeremy

Jeremy, a servant of Jesus Christ

To those who through the righteousness of our God and saviour Jesus Christ have been called to support me.

Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. [from 2 Peter 1:1-2]

Life Updates

By God’s grace, this is an update of praise. There have been a few challenges, but God brought me through them.

The main thing that has occupied my time lately is language school. And I am very pleased to say that 2 months of classes have helped me a lot. I returned to the office on October 9th, but I’ll still be continuing language classes for 2 afternoons each week until Christmas. My first project back in the office is to offer support on the design of Baby Jared and Sandra Bridge: a 200 metre suspended bridge in Papua New Guinea, connecting tribes in the highlands to a hospital across the river.

Aside from Khmer class, spiritual development has been my other focus. I shared in my last update that I was having trouble spending authentic time with God, but now I’ve found a better balance between coursework and personal time. I got to read Here and Now by Henri Nouwen and With by Skye Jethani, and do devotionals on a variety of spiritual disciplines. But my favourite part was getting the chance to memorize some scripture. I never expected to get so much joy out of being able to meditate on a passage while walking around or driving my motorbike or going to sleep. And how powerful it is to call some passage to mind in response to sadness, or joy, or temptations, or wonder. This is a new passion for me that I hope to practice regularly.

Prayer Requests

Please continue to pray for Cambodia and Thailand, because tensions are still high right now. We are thankful that physical attacks have not continued.

I had some challenges with my Canadian bank cards recently, which made it challenging to transfer my salary to Cambodia (Since I am paid by EMI in Canada). But I am thankful that earlier this week, I found a workaround with the help of a Canadian friend who has been in Cambodia for 26 years.

Praise God with me that I am doing well spiritually, emotionally, and physically.

I am celebrating that I am learning to live life With God (as Skye Jethani puts it) and I am becoming more and more aware of God’s presence with me throughout every day.

On October 20, I start my first seminary course - Biblical Interpretation. Please pray that I can work diligently, and maintain a healthy balance between all my activities.

Thank you,

Jeremy

Jeremy, a servant of Christ Jesus by the will of God,

To my faithful brothers and sisters in Canada: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. [Colossians 1:1-2]

Life Updates

This month I started full-time language school, and also started spiritual development activities as part of the fellowship program.

Language school is going well: it’s stretching parts of my brain that I haven’t used much in a while, but thankfully the pace is manageable because much of the curriculum is refreshing what I learned last year. My hope is that by the end of next month, I will be able to hold some basic conversations in Khmer at a normal talking speed.

The spiritual development times have proven to be more of a challenge, though. My weekly meetings with the other fellows, Sreyheng and Peak, have been wonderful: we had good conversations about solitude, service, and prayer, and got to know each other better. But we’re also encouraged to read books, and do guided devotionals daily, and I am starting to feel burdened by the emotionally heavy workload. It’s tempting to give in to the lie that I’m struggling because I’m spending “too much” time with God. But in reality, I’m just learning the lesson that every Christian scholar probably learns early on: when Bible study becomes an academic obligation, it’s very difficult to authentically spend that time focused on God.

One friend who has gone through this struggle told me that if I can’t get to a point where my study time is fully focused on God instead of checking off an academic to-do list, then I should make sure I have personal time with God that’s completely separate from my formal studies. So that’s my goal for now.

I’m also happy to share that I have bought a motorbike, and after a month of driving around, I feel comfortable in the wild traffic of Phnom Penh.

Prayer Requests

Thank you for praying over the situation between Thailand and Cambodia. Praise God that border tensions have decreased over the past month, and peace talks are progressing. Please continue to pray that the conflict will end.

Please also pray for my co-workers Becca, and Chris, and Chris’s son Kasen. All of whom recently tested positive for dengue fever from mosquito bites. With medical care, the fever isn’t fatal, but it is extremely unpleasant and lasts for about 2 weeks. Also pray for protection from mosquitos for the rest of us. And healing from other cold viruses that are going around right now.

Finally, please pray for me, that I would be able to intentionally isolate my time with God and keep it separate from my studies, so that I can experience and enjoy God’s presence more.

Thank you,

Jeremy

Jeremy, a servant of Jesus Christ by the grace of God

To my encouragers

Grace to you and peace from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ. [Ephesians 1:2]

Jumping right back in

I’m happy to share that I arrived safely in Phnom Penh on Sunday morning, moved into my new apartment, and bought some necessities with some help.

The next day, I was back in the office and its almost like I never left! My supervisor put me right to work designing a steel warehouse and advising for a timber school in Papua New Guinea, as well as training some other new staff on some procedures I developed last year. I also got to play the cajon for our office’s Friday worship time, and will be playing on my church’s worship team next Sunday.

It has been wonderful to see so many familiar faces, as well as some new ones around the office and in my other communities.

Coming up, I will be starting 2 months of full-time language classes on August 4. And soon, I will start meeting regularly with EMI’s other fellows, who I’ll be taking seminary classes with. I am also currently searching for a motorbike to buy.

The Geopolitics

If you watch the news regularly, you may have heard about recent conflict between Cambodia and Thailand. There has been tension over the past few months, and this week it escalated to violent military clashes along the border including missiles and fighter jets. Factual details are hard to come by, but there are at least 30 dead already, and many polarized citizens on both sides are celebrating the violence

I want to assure you that I am safe: the fighting is directed at disputed borders, and my city, Phnom Penh, is very far from those.

However, the Cambodian government has announced a draft of men aged 18-30 that may take many of my Khmer coworkers and friends if nothing changes before January.

Please pray for wisdom and humility for the leaders of each country to de-escalate and re-open channels of negotiation.

Please pray for protection for those people living along the borders.

And please pray for God’s comfort and peace over my Cambodian friends.

On a personal note, please pray for God to help me find a comfortable balance between rest and work.

Thank you,

Jeremy

Beloved friends,

God has blessed me so much through all of you. I thank God for your support and encouragement, and pray that God helps me to work diligently so that I deserve my wages.

The News

For just under 4 months, I have been meeting one-on-one with friends and family, sharing about my last trip, and talking about what's next, raising support so that I can do EMI's 2-year fellowship program and return to Cambodia for 18 months. And the reception I've received has been OVERWHELMING!

Earlier this week, I officially reached my financial goal in one-time donations and monthly commitments. I am so thankful that God has made everything go so smoothly, reinforcing my confidence in this as God's plan for me.

What's Coming Up

In the months before I leave,

• I will continue to meet with friends and family to talk about prayer and financial support so that, God willing, I will have a buffer for unforeseen expenses.

• I will get up to date on APEGA records - preparing my application to be a Professional Engineer in Alberta.

• I will review my Khmer language notes.

• I will spend time with friends and family, enjoying and valuing my time in Canada.

• And I will pray, and read my Bible and other books, preparing myself emotionally and spiritually for this journey.

Ways to Pray

I want to thank you for praying for me as I worked out two of the more stressful details of returning to Cambodia:

1. My flights are booked! On July 18th, I will be flying Edmonton > Vancouver > Taipei > Phnom Penh.

2. My housing is confirmed! I will be taking over the apartment of a friend who's leaving Cambodia just before I arrive. This is a huge blessing, because the friend is leaving furnishings and supplies behind for me. The apartment also has a seconf bedroom, and I am excited at the potential opportunity to host shorter-term missionaries in my home. 

Praise God that those two questions are resolved!

Before I leave, please pray that God would give me the discipline and presence of mind to use my time at home to the fullest. It is all too easy to let the days go by without appreciating what I have here.

Please also pray that God would give me the courage to continue facing hard questions about myself and reflectiong on my history, so that I can heal my mind and outgrow unwanted lustful desires.

Thank you for supporting me, I could not do this without your prayer and encouragement.

Jeremy

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. -Philippians 1:2-5

Recent events

My internship wrapped up in December and I've been back in Edmonton for just over a month now. Thank you all SO MUCH for praying with me and following along on my journey last year. I've been holding off writing this letter because I was waiting for a piece of news that I'll share further down.

But first, I have a confession to make.

Every one of my letters last year focused on all the good, exciting, life-giving stuff that happened, and I worry that I made it sound like there were few or no bad parts, but there were. So that was dishonest to you, who wanted to pray for me.

The truth is, there were times when I felt lonely, and I was far from a "perfect missionary" (There's no such thing, by the way). I regularly struggled with lust, and often gave into temptations to view pornography despite the efforts I've been making for years to put that sin to death in me.

Sometimes I feel like I'm not good enough to serve God, I am broken, and I shouldn't be overseas. But each time, the Bible reminds me that God LOVES to use broken people. And that gave me the confidence I needed to keep moving and follow God's will and apply for a longer term with EMI.

So What's Next?

God, in his grace, has let me be accepted for EMI's 2 year fellowship program!

EMI's goal for the fellowship program is to raise up the next generation of Christian design professionals to be professionally competent and spiritually mature.

For my fellowship, starting in August 2025, I will spend about 32 hours per week doing office work similar to my internship, as well as (the part I'm REALLY excited about) 10-20 hours per week of spiritual development including theological seminary courses, and mission and outreach training. The first half of my fellowship will be back in the Cambodia office with all of the friends I made last year, and for the second half I will start a new adventure, most likely working in EMI's Uganda office.

So I have seven months before I start. But this isn't a vacation, I have lots to do in the meantime:

• As soon as I hear more specific details about my fellowship, I will begin spending a lot of time raising support

• I am auditing some structural engineering graduate courses at UofA to keep my mind engaged and learn more about design methods used in developing countries

• I am working on my P.Eng application to be a certified engineer in Alberta, and also taking steps towards a P.E. - the equivalent certification in the U.S.

• I am hoping to briefly apprentice as a concreter at some point, to give me a more holistic understanding of concrete construction.

• I am practicing caring for myself spiritually and mentally: intentionally connecting with friends, improving habits of bible reading and praying, and trying to outgrow bad habits related to lust.

Thank you for reading and praying,

- Jeremy

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. -Philippians 1:2-5

Recent Events

A lot has happened since I last wrote! I don’t know where to start.

I’ve been reading through the Pentateuch recently, and I’m drawing some parallels between the Israelites wandering in the wilderness uncertain about God’s plan, and myself: wandering around different parts of Cambodia, and wandering through emotional turmoil. More on that later.

Our office finished and submitted our design for the water treatment plant, a hospital expansion in Angola, Africa (in collaboration with the EMI South Africa office), a medical center south of Phnom Penh, an aircraft hangar for missionaries in remote Papua New Guinea, and a few other projects that I was not involved in.

Most recently, I travelled to the northern province of Preah Vihear with my co-workers, Marin and Sovann, to spend a week hacking our way through jungle and swamp while surveying a 20 hectare plot of land for Overland Mission, an international organization that is establishing a new training center for missionaries to the least-reached communities in Cambodia. The director, Marlin, and his wife are two of the nicest people I’ve ever met.

Our office also had our bi-annual International Day of Prayer; a full work-day dedicated to time with God, which I was able to help organize this time.

I had the opportunity to explore the city of Battambang with some friends, and visit the YWAM base there, which might be the nicest YWAM base in the world aside from Hawaii. Petram designed their new gym, and will potentially help to further expand the campus in coming years.

I also got to go to the mountains of Kampot for a retreat with a friend’s church, where I got to explore beautiful mountains while having fellowship with Khmer youth and young adults that I wouldn’t otherwise have much opportunity to interact with.

And last week my parents blessed me by coming to visit Cambodia. I am so thankful for their support and encouragement and the quality time we spent together. For part of the time, we went to one of Cambodia’s tropical islands, Koh Rong Sanloem, and got to experience one of the wonders of God’s creation: phosphorescent plankton glowing in the water at night!

(Oops, this turned into an ad for Cambodian tourism. I’m not sorry - you should all come.)

How God is working in my life

As I was praying about what to write, God told me that I need to talk about my last relationship now.

You might know that I was engaged last year, and that we broke up just over a year ago, in large part because of my own failings and the pain that I caused. Unsurprisingly, the past year has been very painful as I recover and try to move forward. Sometimes I still miss her, wish she was here with me, or feel shame for my mistakes and ongoing struggles, or resentment for her mistakes.

I don’t have some big break-through or anything to share today. But I can say that I am grateful that God has been caring for me and working in me and helping me heal, and I am thankful for all of the people that God has put in my life here in Cambodia who are walking alongside me in this; several mentors who have struggled with and overcome the same temptations that I deal with, and others who can encourage me and care for me through painful moments.

I know that God walked with Skye and I in our relationship, and I know that He walked with each of us through the breakup, and used all of it for good, to teach us and strengthen us and prepare us for His purposes. And I am trusting God to continue training me to be an effective servant for His kingdom, and maybe someday to be ready for a spouse.

Thank you for reading and praying,

- Jeremy

September 5, 2024: Ancient Temples and Airplane Hangars

Recent events

I can’t believe it’s September already! My life has been so full that I’m having trouble finding good opportunities to pause and reflect. Here are some updates, though:

Almost a month ago, I had the opportunity to go to the city of Siem Reap to visit Angkor Wat and other ancient temples. The ancient stone engineering and architecture was beautiful and impressive, but the thing that stood out most to me was an altar in a hindu temple with an inscription that my Cambodian friend translated as “dedicated to the unknown god.” That immediately reminded me of Paul’s evangelism in Athens:

I think it’s amazing that on the other side of the planet, 1000 years apart, the Greeks and the Khmer used almost the exact same wording (translation notwithstanding) to recognize that there is a power in this universe beyond their knowledge, which they wish to honour.

The week after Siem Reap, work began to get much more busy for me, with more responsibilities and tighter deadlines. Some of the larger projects that I’ve worked on recently are:

• Designing a water storage tank for a water treatment plant serving 17 communities, which was just issued for construction

• Designing and drafting some trusses for a hospital in South Africa, as a collaboration with the EMI South Africa office

• Reviewing and modifying the design for a small aircraft hangar in a village in Papua New Guinea, for an organization that works as the first point of contact with missionaries in remote mountain villages without road access

• Developing and running a training program to teach some co-workers how to do quality control checks on the drawings we produce, making sure that everything issued by us is accurate and professional.

Outside of work, I have been given the opportunity to start serving on worship teams at my church by playing the cajon. I have very little experience with it, but everyone is very supportive as I learn the instrument

How I've seen God moving in Cambodia

In this letter I would like to highlight the lives and ministries of a few interesting people I have gotten to know in Cambodia.

One person I’m very thankful to have as a mentor is Colin. He came to Cambodia from Canada 7 years ago with his wife when she got a job working at EMI, but had no idea what he would do on the other side of the world. But God always has a plan, and whatever someone’s talents are, God has a way to use them, so Colin was able to use his experience growing up around farm equipment to start a moto mechanic shop. I’m always encouraged by how thoughtful and careful he is with how he runs his shop; recently he has shared about how he’s trying to equip his Cambodian employees to be leaders, able to organize their own bible studies and discipleship times, able to run the shop without him around, and hopefully gain the confidence to start their own moto shops eventually if they want to.

Another person who has been super impactful at Petram is Neth. In 2017, he became EMI’s first employee in Cambodia. He helped the office get established, and now does all of our IT, and a variety of other administrative work. Neth also happens to be one of the lead singers and guitarists for Life Band - the Cambodian equivalent of Hillsong Worship. If you love listening to worship songs in other languages to appreciate how God crosses all cultural borders, like me, check out Neth singing a Khmer song he wrote. Our office is very blessed to have him and many other very talented musicians to lead our worship times, (and spontaneously sing praise songs during the work day).

And third, is a man named Jeff, who used to be a professional board game designer in Canada, but now lives here in Cambodia and works for Action Cambodia, an organization that translates theology resources into Khmer, and supports Cambodian Christians to write original Khmer bible commentaries, because none of those exist right now, and anyone who wants to seriously study God’s word must first learn English. As someone who loves studying the Bible, and reading in general, I am very excited that this ministry exists.

There are so many other amazing people and amazing ministries here, but I don’t have the time to write about them all.

Thank you for reading and praying,

- Jeremy

A Reflection of Subversive Mission

This section is for my thoughts on Christian global mission, and how I fit in. Don’t feel obliged to read all of my ramblings. I won’t be offended if you skip this.

In my first week at EMI, all the new staff went through a training session about Christian mission and humanitarianism, and some of the ways it has gone very wrong in recent history;

• We talked about foreign aid organizations bringing mass amounts of food to villages in Africa, putting local vendors out of business, then cutting the aid program, leaving the village with less food than it started with.

• We also talked about missionaries trying to spread the gospel without understanding cultural nuances, and unknowingly teaching the locals that Judas Iscariot was the hero of the story.
  
  

A few days later, I had the opportunity to take a deep dive into ethics with the director of EMI Cambodia, and was glad to learn about some of the intentional ways that EMI practices good mission.

• EMI Cambodia is locally known as Petram, which is registered as a for-profit entity. This has allowed the office to hire local staff (who make up 70% of the office), and pay them competitive salary, as opposed to other EMI offices which are entirely staffed by people who are able to raise their own financial support.

• Petram is also thoughtful about what type of projects we take on. As a rule, Petram will not design orphanages, because they have observed that once an orphanage exists in a community, impoverished families will sometimes give young kids away, or even abandon them on the street, knowing that the orphanage will rescue them. If an organization comes to Petram asking to build an orphanage, Petram encourages them to shift to focus to a facility that can equip families to resolve domestic challenges and care for their own children  

• Petram also refuses to build anything that “promotes death.” And they mean this in a very holistic sense. For example, Buddhist pagodas can serve a community in good ways, and one could argue that by building them, Petram could build  a relationship and open a path for evangelism, but they ultimately proclaim a gospel that is not the Truth, and will lead to eternal Death.
  
  

All of that was very valuable and interesting, but what prompted me to write a newsletter update about this is the book I just finished reading called Subversive Mission.

The premise of the book is that I, as a westerner doing ministry in another culture, need to recognize and accept the fact that I am, and will always be, an outsider to the culture. I could live in Cambodia for 20 years, but that won’t change my identity - I’ll never understand what it means to be Cambodian as well as someone who grew up here. And nothing can change my privilege - if war were to break out (not that it will, just an example), I will always have the option to retreat back to friends and family in Canada.

Craig Greenfield then went on to argue that westerners shouldn’t try to take an “insider” role such as local entrepreneur, leader of a movement, or even pastor of a local church. This is for several reasons:

1. Outsiders will never have as full an understanding of the local culture and customs compared to insiders

2. If an outsider is the one coming up with an initial idea for a project, making most of the important decisions for a ministry, or leading a church day-to-day, then the locals will never feel like they have true ownership, and it could sustain the (untrue) belief that westerners are necessary for making good things happen

3. Empowering locals to be leaders will strengthen the whole community’s sense of self-esteem, creativity, ownership, and independence
   
   

I’ve been reflecting a lot on what that means for me in my context as an engineer, and I’ve come to the conclusion that although many EMI offices have western managers and directors, and I think I would enjoy progressing to an upper leadership role in EMI, I should instead do whatever I can to elevate local co-workers to leadership positions, and as long as I am living and serving in another culture, my role should be in the background, using my skills to support but not ultimately to lead.

That has been a hard truth for me to accept. In the past, I have always assumed that if there is an open door for a way to serve, God wants me to step through it. But this book helped me to understand that I need to use a lot more wisdom and discernment, even when a seemingly amazing opportunity comes my way.

The last major point that stood out to me from the book is the unfair power dynamic that is created when westerners come into another culture but don’t or won’t speak the language, so local ministry partners are forced to speak english if they want to work together. This is compounded by the fact that white people are typically more strong-willed/argumentative than most of the world, so once a westerner comes to your country with a big idea, its almost impossible to explain confidently (in broken english) any issues that exist with the westerners’ plan.

This convicted me to double down on my efforts to learn to speak Khmer, just when I was starting to get frustrated and lose hope of making more progress. Please pray that I wouldn’t forget this conviction, and that I’d be diligent in my practice.

Thank you for reading and praying,

- Jeremy

How God is Working

So far in the office I’ve already seen God’s design in my life here; On my first day of work, EMI also launched a brand new 3D modelling team, using Tekla - a building modelling software that no one in the office has any experience with. Except that I used Tekla extensively at my last job, and in a university club last year, so I’ve been able to help the new team familiarize themselves with the software.

Next week, I will start work on my first actual project: creating structural drawings for a new training building for an organization that teaches useful skills to women trying to leave the sex industry.

My walk with Jesus

In my walk with God, it is clear that he is renewing my spirit as I’m building Christ-centered relationships, and trying to pay attention to God’s guidance.

I am no longer feeling the same restlessness that I had before leaving Canada, and I am finding it much easier to recognize God’s voice in my day-to-day life.

Lately, however, I have been feeling frustrated and inadequate because I’m not learning the language as quickly as I would like, and because I am unfamiliar with, and slow to learn the design codes that EMI Cambodia uses (American and European standards instead of Canadian). Through this internal struggle, God has been reminding me that his love for me does not depend on my success. Cambodia is where God wants me to be right now, and God knows exactly what I’m capable of. God knows that I’m trying my best, and regardless of the outcome, I am following God’s plan.