Chantha, now a 33-year-old teacher in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, trusted  Christ while working as a housekeeper for a pastor and his family in Malaysia. They treated her with love and respect, and taught her to speak English. When she attended church with them, she heard the gospel and trusted Christ to forgive her sins. Later, she returned to Cambodia and became a school teacher. 

At a recent International School Project Dream Makers conference in Cambodia, she learned about life maps, a way for students and teachers to tell their life stories by drawing pictures of important events in their lives. It’s a powerful exercise that takes place at each conference. Teachers draw their life maps and share them with their small groups of teachers. 

Knowing most of her small group members were Buddhists, Chantha was concerned they might not understand her decision to follow Christ. She hesitatingly showed them her life map. The teachers in her group warmly embraced her and her story. 

On the last day of the conference, an official from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports gave a speech and invited some of the teachers to share their life maps. In front of the entire group, Chantha explained her life map. The government official complimented her for including her faith journey in her story and referred back to her story three more times as he finished his talk. 

Teachers in 30 countries around the world attend conferences like this one. They learn exercises — like making life maps — so they can better understand their own stories and talk to their students about morals and values. 

As you think of us over the next few weeks, please pray for safe travel and good connections with people. We plan to be at our Cru staff conference in Colorado July 18-26. On the way there and back, we plan to visit family members, friends and churches in Nebraska and surrounding states. We’ll be on the road from July 11 to August 3. And please let us know how we can pray for you.

— Anne Marie, for the Winzes —

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