You can help Nang La bring the light of Jesus to the neglected Kavet ethnic minority.

“No more literacy teaching for you! If you teach, I will leave you!” I felt crushed and betrayed. As usual, my husband was drunk and violent. I was 16 years old. He was 21. I had been a literacy teacher for four years. When we married two years ago, my husband had agreed that I would continue to teach. However, he was not interested in reading or writing. When we moved from my parents’ house to his family’s compound, I was no longer protected by my parents. I realised that marrying someone I did not know well when I was so young was a big mistake.

Through him all things were created

In 2009, YWAM literacy project staff first visited our village and asked if anyone wanted to learn to read and write. To everyone’s surprise, my grandfather volunteered to start literacy classes in our village. He was 80 years old.

My grandfather wanted all his children and grandchildren to learn to read and write but he encouraged his grandchildren, mostly girls, to become teachers. My older cousins became teachers but one by one they all married and their husbands stopped them teaching. I took over my cousin Noy’s class when I was only 12. Teacher training was pure joy for me. I met teachers from other villages and learned about the God who created all things.

When I was 14, I also married. While we lived with my parents, I continued to teach. But when we set up our own home in his family’s compound, my husband stopped me teaching. For four long years there were no literacy classes in our village. However, the teacher trainers did not forget me. They continued to visit and pray with me.

He is light and life

Fed up with my husband’s drinking, abuse and violence, I took my baby daughter and moved back to my parents’ house. My husband decided to follow me and built a big wooden house for us next door. I told him I was going back to teaching, and was surprised when he agreed.

One night, my husband drank so much that he didn’t know what he was doing. His cousins found him unconscious in the Sekong River. They dragged him from the river and carried him home. When he regained consciousness, they confronted him. “You are still young and you are ruining your life!” He knew they were right. He decided to stop drinking alcohol and has not touched a drop since!

God has answered my prayers and turned my family around. My husband is a new person. After this miracle, I feel like a new person too. I am sure you can see it in my face. I asked my mother for permission to become a Christian. She said “No. You would be the only believer in the village and I need you to help me make offerings to the spirits.”

Recently, I was selected as the women’s representative for my village, largely thanks to the leadership skills I gained through teacher training and teaching.

Please pray that my family will let me take the step of publicly following Jesus.

Nang La lives in Lun Village, Siem Pang District, Stung Treng Province, northeastern Cambodia.

You can help prepare Bible college graduates like Desint Filsanti Bunga to bring healing and hope to the broken hearted.

I was born into a poor family in which the traditional roles were reversed. Every day, my mother worked to support us while my father stayed at home. My father was always drinking. He strongly desired a son. As a daughter I disappointed him. I felt unwanted, unloved and rejected.

When I was five years old, my mother died and I went to live with people who where not my family. I was abused and threatened. When I was eight, I was sexually harassed. I began to fear and distrust all men. I felt broken, worthless, and filled with shame. I felt invisible.

He restores my soul

In 2014, an older Christian woman, who had also been abused, told me how God had healed her. Through her testimony, I understood the love of Jesus in a deep and personal way. She told me that I am neither forgotten nor forsaken. She told me that Jesus loved me enough to die on the cross for me. This truth broke the chains of rejection and fear. Everything changed. Without hesitation, I gave my life fully to Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. In Jesus, I found the love I had been searching for all my life. Jesus gave me an identity, wholeness and hope.

While working at a Christian school in Bandung, I was required to teach from a biblical perspective and integrate Scripture into every subject. This experience stirred in me a deeper calling. I realised that I wanted to study theology seriously, to grow not only for myself but to serve others.

The Bandung Theological Seminary has been more than just a place to deepen my understanding of Scripture. It has provided a space for healing, growth and spiritual formation. As a member of this community, I learned to trust and build healthy relationships, to see myself as God sees me and to allow the Holy Spirit to redeem my pain and suffering.

He guides me along the right paths

While working on my thesis about trauma, books were not just academic resources. They also became instruments of healing. Books helped me discover the heart of God for the broken and how Jesus is present in our pain. Through reading, I found a language for my wounds and formed a theology of suffering. Authors who had also walked through dark valleys became my companions and guides.

I dream of serving Jesus by accompanying and discipling young women who have experienced rejection or abuse like I have. I want to listen to their stories and show them that Jesus can restore even the most broken heart. I know there will be challenges—disappointments, emotional burdens, spiritual warfare and cultural resistance—but I trust that the God who called me will sustain me.

Please pray that I will remain faithful, grow in grace and wisdom and serve the broken hearted with compassion and truth. Please pray that my life might reflect the healing love of Jesus.

Desint Filsanti Bunga graduated from Bandung Theological Seminary with a bachelor degree in theology.

You can help equip graduates like Perlyn Mae Cinto to faithfully serve a growing church.

I entered the seminary, not of my own desire, but because of my father’s unfulfilled dream to be a priest.

My parents always took me to church. My father was a lay minister. I was active in the youth group. I became a lay reader and learned to play the guitar so I could join the music team. My week wasn’t complete without going to church.

Lean not on your own understanding

At St Andrew’s Theological Seminary in Manila, I encountered a lot of difficulties. I studied in my second language with people from diverse social and cultural backgrounds. Seminary life is intense and I was often sick. There were times when I felt like giving up. I stumbled and fell. I made wrong decisions. Yet, because there were people who believed in me, helping me stand firm in crises and guiding me, I continued my journey.

Courses in pastoral care and preaching provided me with a framework and practical tools. I learned how to resolve conflicts and counsel people through crisis. I learned how to prepare and structure a sermon that is both faithful to Scripture and engaging for a modern audience. I learned the importance of self-care to avoid burnout.

During my years at St Andrew’s, I was sent to serve in different churches. I enjoyed every part of my field experience. This made me wonder. Might this really be God’s calling for me after all?

Trust in the Lord with all your heart

I was surprised to complete my studies and hesitant to take the final exams and seek ordination. How was I supposed to face lots of people and preach to them and lead them? However, priests in our church saw my potential. With their persistent prayers and encouragement, I decided to push through, and give it a try.

He will make your paths straight

I expect that serving Jesus and his people will be challenging. Living far away from home and spending less time with my family will be a sacrifice. How will I remain calm while navigating relationships and conflict in the church? How will I stay humble and teachable under criticism?

During my training, books moulded me and deepened my understanding of my vocation. While I may have finished my academic journey, I still need books. Books will be my primary means of lifelong learning and intellectual refreshment. They are voices outside my own immediate context and time. They will be mentors on my shelf, opening my eyes with ideas I haven’t considered. This will be vital for maintaining a posture of humility.

Please pray that the Holy Spirit, will guide, equip and empower me to face every challenge with faithfulness, wisdom and endurance.

Perlyn Mae Cinto graduated from St Andrew’s Theological Seminary with a bachelor of theology degree.

One recent Saturday morning, I was back at my local Parkrun. As usual, at the finish line I was greeted by Frank. “How was Cambodia?”

“Exciting!” I told Frank that I had spent two weeks in the forests of northeast Cambodia. I visited Christian literacy teachers and teacher trainers working among the Kavet people. I was inspired by their dedication and enthusiasm. I attended their classes and ate in their homes. I saw how they were empowering individuals, transforming villages and elevating an entire ethnic minority.

“And sobering.” The Kavet people suffer from malnutrition. The men are five feet tall and the average life expectancy is 45 years. The Kavet are subsistence farmers. They hunt and gather fruit and nuts in the forest. In clearings, they cultivate rice and cashew trees. They raise pigs, ducks and chickens, but can’t afford to eat them. They sacrifice their live animals to appease the spirits. The Kavet people are paralysed by fear and chaos, and tormented by spirits, ghosts and bad dreams.

Frank’s eyes widened. “That’s appalling! What can be done about it?”

I hesitated. In my mind there was a clatter of falling dominoes. My conviction surprised me as much as it surprised Frank. “Unless they believe that Jesus rose from the dead, nothing can be done.”

…

On Easter Sunday I visited a Kavet church. On a bamboo platform beneath the house next to the church, a woman lay dying. Mourners gathered. The village shaman had been summoned.

As I was making myself as comfortable as I could on the timber floor, someone whispered in my ear, “Can you preach?”

I got to my feet and stood next to my two interpreters. One interpreter translated from English to Khmer. The other translated from Khmer to Kavet. I introduced myself and prepared to preach as the story of the women at the tomb from Luke 24:1–12 was read in Khmer and retold in Kavet. Together, we walked through the passage.

“Jesus is risen! Today, I want to share with you three gifts of the resurrection.”

My interpreters conferred and then looked at me. “Can we say ‘fruit’ instead of ‘gifts’?”

“Of course. That’s much better. Here are three fruits of the resurrection!”

“First, because Jesus is risen we do not need to fear death. Jesus conquered death. Jesus is alive. Where Jesus has gone, we will follow. Jesus has prepared a place for us and is waiting for us.”

Next door, people began to wail. The neighbour had died.

“Second, because Jesus is risen, we do not need to fear dead people or spirits. Through him all things were made. Jesus has been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Jesus is more powerful than the spirits. Jesus is Lord. Jesus is the boss of everything.”

“Third, because Jesus is risen, we are never alone. Jesus is alive. Jesus is the perfect friend. Jesus knows the worst about us but loves us just the same. Jesus promised to be with us always.”

“Are there any questions?”

Yes, there were.

“Who made the evil spirits?”

“If I am a Christian, why are ghosts still so terrifying?”

“Every night, I have bad dreams. What is God trying to tell me? Should I obey the dreams?”

…

This is the natural state of humanity. The only reason Frank and I are not tormented by spirits, ghosts and bad dreams is because we have ancestors who believed that Jesus rose from the dead. And that changed everything.

Today, in the West, we enjoy the residual fruits of the gospel. But, as every gardener knows, there are no fruits without roots. If we do not believe that Jesus rose from the dead, this is not sustainable. Indeed, the epidemics of anxiety, addiction, loneliness and tribalism gripping Western societies suggest that we are rapidly returning to a pre-Christian culture of fear and chaos.

Our project partners believe that Jesus rose from the dead. And that is changing everything.

Michael Collie is the National Director of SparkLit. Please pray that he will encourage our partners with fresh stores of joy, creativity and wisdom.

You can help Mok Sophanny communicate the saving grace of Jesus to a new generation.

I was born in December 1979, nine months after the defeat of Pol Pot.

I grew up in a land without books. The Khmer Rouge had burned every book. They killed every teacher. They closed every school.

When I was ten, I began working with my father. During the rainy season, we rose at 3 am to take our buffalos out to graze before ploughing the rice fields. We finished before dawn and avoided the heat of the day. In the dry season, I followed my father to the coffee shop where he reminisced with other war veterans. Their stories of escape and survival transported me to distant events and places.

Our neighbour had the only radio in our village. At midday, I begged him to turn up the volume so I could hear the serialised book reading. Our school had few books. My friends and I would borrow a book and sit together under a tree to read it. We took it in turns to read aloud until we finished the book.

My favourite subject was geography. I dreamed of travelling and exploring the world. In order to become a pilot, I concentrated on mathematics and physics. However, during my final year at school I realised that no matter how hard I studied, flying would remain a fantasy.

Surprised by joy

At university in Phnom Penh I studied literature. I ­graduated with a degree in literature and a diploma in ­pedagogy. I began teaching Khmer and English literature at a secondary school in Siem Reap. I love teaching. Awakening young minds to the power of words and stories is thrilling.

During the school holidays, a friend got me a job teaching foreigners the Khmer language. Cambodia was in ruins and our future was bleak. Why did these foreigners want to live in my country and learn my language? I watched them closely. I was envious of their joy and sense of purpose. I confronted them: “Why have you come to my country?” The foreigners had come to Cambodia to tell me how much Jesus loves me. I was gripped by the good news and overwhelmed by this same joy and purpose.

Powered by purpose

I have always kept a journal but now I have something to write about. My people are hungry for hope. Believers need to grow and mature. Without firm foundations we are so easily deceived and swayed.

This year, at a Fount of Wisdom workshop for writers conducted by Michael Collie, I learned how to write from the heart for young readers. I learned to write with empathy and grace. I now have the opportunity to help write a series of books for teenagers about sex, friendship, vocation and relating to parents.

Please pray that the Holy Spirit will use these books to show young people the joy and purpose that only Jesus can give.

Mok Sophanny lives in Siem Reap and has participated in two Fount of Wisdom writers’ workshops.