A Tour of Sak Saum

Take a tour of Sak Saum with international and national directors, Ginny and Theavy.Recently we had the opportunity to put together a short video for one of our advocates, Origin Coffee. We have talked about them in the past -- they sell our product in their coffee shop and give us their coffee bags which we then ship here to Cambodia to use in several of our designs. They recently celebrated their one year anniversary and we were pleased to share about Sak Saum's ministry with all the individuals who have been a part of their business venture over the last year.

We hope all of you will enjoy this tour of Sak Saum. As you will see, we are growing and busy! Enjoy...

To view the video, click here.

Next week look forward to an update on our latest team to come visit -- Rockford First. A powerful time for our girls that we can't wait to share with you!

Love and Marriage...

Happy New Year! Sak Saum began 2012 with a wonderful celebration -- the wedding of one of our Sak Saum girls to a member of In His Steps' staff. On December 31, Sana and Sokura pledged before family and friends to love, serve and honor each other.

Sana was one of the first girls to be a part of Sak Saum several years ago. Though she is no longer in our program, she has her own sewing machine and continues to sew for us from her home. Her husband, Sokura, serves as a teacher and worship leader for In His Steps Cambodia in Saang. 

Before we share a few pictures from the big day, we want to share with you why a Christian marriage is so significant here in Cambodia. Unlike the West, marriage is often more of a financial negotiation than a pledge of love and commitment. Sadly it is not uncommon for parents to push their children to marry for monetary reasons and for children to agree simply to remove the pressure they feel from their family. Marriage is no small undertaking when started on the best of terms -- it is certainly not ideal in these circumstances. Many of these relationships quickly take a turn for the worse and are crippled by adultery and abandonment. We believe that healthy, loving marriage to the person of one's choosing is a key factor in stopping the destruction of families in Cambodia. Naturally we are excited to see two young people fall in love and marry for that reason.

Sana and Sokura also chose to have a Christian ceremony. A Cambodian wedding is typically steeped in Buddhist traditions and sacrifices. Many young Christian couples will simply go along with these rituals to appease their families and then try to "start fresh" with a Christian foundation after the ceremony is over. As you can probably imagine, it is difficult to celebrate your commitment to each other and your desire to model Christian marriage when that union is started under Buddhist rituals. Sana and Sokura kept the beautiful aspects of Cambodian tradition but started their life together under the banner of Christ. We are thankful!

Our hope is that God will continue to raise up young couples in our midst who desire to walk with God and teach their children to do likewise. It is not a quick fix to many of the problems we see daily but it is the type of change which will take root and spread over time. Please pray for Sana and Sokura as they navigate their first year of marriage. We hope you enjoy a few pictures of their special day below.

Early in the morning, close friends and family gather for the fruit walk. Here fruit waits to be carried to the bride's family.

The groom's family presents the bride's family with a blessing of fruit.

Beginning the ceremony...

Enjoying the ceremony...

The bride and groom wash each other's feet as well as their parents' feet.

Eric Hanson, co-director of In HIs Steps, teaches on marriage and prays over the couple.

Theavy, Sak Saum's national director, and her son.

Even the youngest came dressed in their best.

Eric and Ginny Hanson with Sana and Sokura

Happy to be married!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Sak Saum!

We hope you had a wonderful Christmas and are excited to ring in the new year! This holiday season was a busy one for Sak Saum thanks to so many of you. Your home parties, church sales and online purchases have been such a blessing as we bring 2011 to a close.

We also loved hearing stories of Sak Saum Christmas gifts being given and received. We are thankful we helped make the holidays for you and your loved ones a bit more special. As you know, the heart of Christmas isn't about presents -- wallets, scarves and bags. (though we do love those things!) It's about Jesus, the son of God who gave of his own life so that we might live abundantly. And that is the heart of Sak Saum as well -- seeing lives restored and blessed. Our prayer for 2012 is that our girls will give to others out of what they have received. This is the spirit of Christmas that is intended to be lived year round.

Every year, In His Steps (our umbrella ministry) hosts a Christmas program in Saang. There are dramas, songs, dances, lucky draws (door prizes) and a message about the true meaning of Christmas. It is a powerful event for the community. For the program this year, the Sak Saum girls prepared a drama about being set free by God's love. We hope you will take time to read In His Steps' blog and view the video highlighting the Christmas program. To do so click here.

We close the blog this time with a few pictures of our annual Christmas gift exchange. The girls drew names and surprised each other with presents. Fun times!

Teddy bears were a popular gift this year.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Meet a Sak Saum Girl: An Interview with Hung

Every so often, we want to introduce you to a Sak Saum girl. After all, they are the heartbeat of this ministry and the reason we do what we do! It is a privilege to introduce you to Hung. As a part of Sak Saum for the last three years, she has grown tremendously into a beautiful young lady and one of our most skilled sewers.

One of our favorite stories which reflects the transformation in her life happened recently. Before Hung became a part of Sak Saum, she agreed to enter into debt bondage at a local garment factory under the pressure of her family. Hung is an orphan and she carried the responsibility of helping provide for her siblings. (Little teaching moment: We have discovered that people have many different definitions of orphan! Webster's dictionary defines an orphan as a child who has lost both parents through death. This is the definition that Sak Saum uses as well. If we refer to an orphan and their family, we define family as siblings, aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc.) When her brother pushed her to take out a loan to finance his business, she agreed. Once the garment factory held a debt against her, the interest skyrocketed making it impossible for her to leave. Around the same time, her siblings were also interested in the possibility of her marrying a local boy. Again, the desired end result would be money for the family. The boy's family, however, had no interest, citing Hung's lack of skill, money and value. Sadly, this is often the way marriages are arranged in Cambodia -- as a business contract and nothing more.

Sak Saum paid Hung's debt to the factory and set her free. In fact, Hung often describes herself as a bird set free from a cage. How awesome! And the boy? Well recently his family came to Hung. They told her they see that she has skill and a good job. They were now interested in the benefit she could bring to their family through marriage. Hung's response? "I was just as valuable then as I am now. I am not interested." Yes! That is TRUTH and the power of a changed life in action.

Hung is leading the new Sak Saum Freedom Facility which we recently blogged about. We hope you will enjoy her interview below.

Name: Hung Khut

Brothers and Sisters: 2 brothers, 5 sisters – Hung is the second oldest.

How has Sak Saum changed your life?

I have hope and freedom. Sak Saum gave me a changed life and has given me a good family who loves me. I knows I am loved and cared for. I also have a place to help other people.

What do you love about helping other people?

I love being able to care about them and tell them about God. 

What changes do you see in yourself as a result of being a part of Sak Saum? 

I have changed a lot. Before I was angry, didn’t trust anyone and only trusted myself. I didn’t care about other people. When people would try to teach me, I couldn’t learn or remember. I also didn't like to share about my life – the hurtful parts.

Now, I have love from people and can open my heart to people -- I can receive from others. Now I can trust others, help others, spend time in groups with others. Before I just wanted to be by myself. I have also learned how to forgive a lot and I am no longer angry. I feel I have things in my life that I can give. I now want to give more than I take.

What do you hope for your future?

I want more and more people to know God. I want to keep growing in God more and more. And I want to help the people around me grow.

How does you feel about the new Sak Saum Freedom Facility?

It’s good! I am happy because I can give skills to the Saang people. I can work with Christians and non-christians and help them know God. I am excited to love others with God’s love. When Sak Saum works all together and loves each other, they will see God and want to know Him.

Sak Saum Thanksgiving Highlights

So this holiday season has been the busiest yet for Sak Saum. With our wholesale business increasing in volume and clientele and our home parties ramping up for Christmas shopping, we have found ourselves barely keeping our heads above water. Don't get us wrong -- we aren't complaining! This is a great problem to have. We are so thankful that Sak Saum is self-sustaining and that God has opened such fantastic doors and introduced our product to so many.

As we enter the holiday season and anticipate the end of the year, it is fun to think through some highlights of the past 12 months. Here are just a few things Sak Saum is thankful for this year along with a couple of prayer points as we finish 2011.

Sak Saum Vocational Training Center

We started 2011 crammed into two buildings in Phnom Penh. It was evident that God was growing Sak Saum both in ministry and business -- we needed more space. Thanks to the generosity of Pearl Aliance and John and Lisa Bevere, we were able to realize a long-term dream of building a vocational training center in Saang. Our girls love living and working in this community, giving back to others what they have received themselves. Such an exciting and beautiful gift to Sak Saum!

Punh working at her machine in the VTC.

Human Trafficking Outreaches

After we made the move to Saang, we began to pray and work toward another God-given idea -- human trafficking seminars. The Saang community is known to be high-risk for trafficking and much of it is due to a lack of understanding and education. Theavy and the girls desire to change that by bringing information and help to rural villages. With the government's permission, we have been able to host several seminars in communities that desperately need revelation. In fact, one of our newer girls came to our ministry as a result of a seminar -- it is incredible to see God shining light into darkness.

Local villagers learning about human trafficking...

Malaysia

During the summer, Ginny, our international director, began to sense the Lord leading Sak Saum to look at helping Cambodians in Malaysia. Many Cambodians are trafficked to Malaysia each year and then, when rescued, are reintegrated back to their country. Sak Saum has connected with a shelter in Kuala Lumpur that helps Cambodians and several trips have been made there to get to know the girls and share with them about Sak Saum. We now have several girls who are a part of our ministry as a result of this effort. It is encouraging to see these girls come from places of extreme brokenness and desperation to find hope again -- the heartbeat of Sak Saum!

One of our newest girls from Malaysia.

Sak Saum Freedom Facility

This is our latest project that is now in full swing! We opened a sewing facility in Saang that offers a caring, fair trade work environment for local sewers. Our desire is that they will help us meet our international product demand and that we can bring empowerment and change to the community through job creation and modeling a new way of employment. Garment factories are often the first step in trafficking. We believe the Freedom Facility will offer individuals a future that these factories cannot. We are excited about this latest development and thankful for the doors God continues to open.

The Sak Saum Freedom Facility.

Looking Toward 2012

As we anticipate 2012, we have a few areas for which we would welcome your prayers.

Volunteers

Sak Saum is growing at a rapid rate for which we are so very thankful. We truly believe it is God who is the head of our ministry -- we want to follow His lead. As one of our volunteer staff said the other day, "There is enough work here for 10 people." True enough. So it is with that reality in mind that we ask you to pray with us for more volunteer staff and interns to come and serve in 2012. We specifically need people with a longer term (at least a one year commitment) vision in mind.

If you are interested or know someone who is, please email Ginny for more details and next steps.

New Girls and Growth

We have added a number of new girls to the ministry over the last six months. We are excited about this but also know that this means growing pains as well. Please pray for wisdom, revelation and a greater capacity to minister for those who are involved in the training, discipleship and healing of these women. Pray for their continued adjustment to Sak Saum and an eagerness to receive God's restoration for their lives.

Empowerment for the Cambodian People

In everything that we do, we try to think about how we can best serve the Cambodian people. We want to see them empowered in a changed life so that they can share the same with others. As we make decisions about Sak Saum's ministry and business, pray that we will continue to be led by the Holy Spirit to know what is best for them. And pray that we will continue to be the hands and feet of Jesus to the broken, oppressed and disenfranchised -- the ones that are rarely seen but deeply loved.

We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We are so very thankful for YOU. Your care, support and advocacy for Sak Saum are a rich blessing to us. Be blessed this holiday season.

Until next time!