A New Adventure Awaits

A quick update summary:

• In February God very clearly called us to Cambodia – then the door seemed to slam closed.
• Mollie successfully completed BBSM Third Year as we left for the UK we continued to navigate lots of uncertainty and a really uncomfortable transition with our family not knowing what was next.
• We welcomed our beautiful daughter Abigail into the world she gives us so much Joy and is so loved!
• The Cambodia door miraculously re-opened again and Iris Global have asked us to help serve and co-direct the team out there.
• God seems to have confirmed He is calling us back out there in many ways including dreams and speaking through the children and some friends and mentors.
• We will continue the trafficking prevention work and programmes already happening but we also have a huge heart and vision to plant house churches in the slums and raise up local leaders who can raise up leaders after them transforming communities from the inside out.
• For the last couple of months Steve has been having some issues with his health including fatigue. We recently spoke to the doctor and she has referred him back to the neurosurgeon who operated on him in 2015. Please join us in praying for the all clear and for full healing in Jesus name.
• The roles in Cambodia are completely voluntary. We are currently about 70% funded on a monthly basis so far and are believing for full pledged provision before we go out there. Please Pray for us! If you would be interested in finding out more about how you can join in and partner with God's work out there click here.​

Our Journey this Year
 
Final Year at Bethel ( BSSM)
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Since our last update I (Mollie) have completed my third year of ministry school and have interned for an incredible couple ; Ruth & Steve Moore who oversee BSSM Online. I have had the privilege of learning how God is not limited by a screen and had an awesome year watching people be transformed by an online school. I had the chance to be involved in mentoring students from all around the world and walking some through inner-healing and freedom journeys. I have had the chance also to help lead a group ministering to the homeless camps and missionaries from around the world. It has been stretching but wonderful and I feel I have grown so much. Steve was able to do another year with Michael Brodeur who is one of the most incredible leaders in church leadership and planting and had the chance to also mentor students and oversee a church plant focused on women rescued from trafficking in the Philippines (via zoom).

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We have also had the joy of watching the children grow so much and see them develop into such caring and kind kids who are such big encouragers and who love Jesus! We are all so incredible grateful for our time at Bethel/ BSSM and want to thank everyone who has been part of it ! We have been forever impacted and changed by everything we have received and feel so much more equipped to step into the ministry God has for us next. We are excited to pour out all we have received and learned. ​

A gift from Heaven

In July we were  delighted to welcome our daughter Abigail into our family. She has been such a joy to our hearts and is so loved and doted upon by her big brother and sister and the rest of her family, God is so wonderfully good. ​

A Renewed Call
 
Since leaving Cambodia 4 years ago we have dreamt of returning and knew in our hearts we would but every year we asked God we felt Him say “not yet”
 
In February this year during a worship meting I (Mollie) very clearly heard the Lord ask me, “Will you lay America down and pick up Cambodia again?” Through tears of grief and joy I said “yes” and then after a couple of days we were invited by the Iris Global leadership to go back to Cambodia to help serve the team there.

​Around this time I was also reminded of a vision I had the previous year (before being pregnant) of having a little baby on my knee and travelling in a tuk-tuk (Cambodian taxi) with loads of suitcases - which to me seemed to mean we would be moving back once we had another baby.

We were already a few months pregnant in February and we began to get filled with joy and excitement for a return to the nation that is so dear to our hearts.
 
Then in March the door seemed to very firmly slam shut, and we were pretty shocked and disappointed. Through events that we couldn’t control on the ground in Cambodia our return was seemingly blocked, and we both were heartbroken and confused.
 
In the months after I graduated from my final year of Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry and then we left America for the UK in May.

​Waiting on God
 
This transition out of America has been our most difficult so far. It’s honestly not always easy following God and His leadings from continent to continent and it’s not always comfortable waiting on His timings especially in this season of having small children, not having our own home and waiting on God in the midst of seemingly regular disappointments and closed doors. 

​However even in all of the discomfort and uncertainty Jesus has truly been so faithful to us. It’s a lot easier to experience the comfort of the comforter when you are going through discomfort! This stretching process has helped us to know Him even more deeply than ever before.
 
He is so worthy, faithful and we have complete trust that He is good! 
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It was in these times of pressing into God that He reminded us of what He had clearly spoken earlier in the year and through a series of events the Cambodia door that we thought was closed God had miraculously made open again.
 
We really prayed and asked many trusted leaders in our lives about what we should do and laid out a fleece to God to see if we should be returning. We asked the children to pray too as we feel it’s important, they are as involved with this process as much as possible. 

Returning to Cambodia.
 
At the beginning of October, after many confirmations, we made our decision to return and will be helping to lead the ministry that we helped to establish for the five years we were in Cambodia (now called The Mission Worldwide). We have the full support of Iris Global and will be returning as co-directors of the ministry with another missionary couple and a local leader.
 
We are so excited to see all God has been building since we left and how we can support and serve the incredible Cambodian team who have been serving so faithfully through the challenges of Covid and other transitions they have navigated so well.  We also look forward to reuniting with our friends and family in Cambodia who we love and have missed greatly. We also have a long term vision to plant house churches in the slums and raise up local leaders who can raise up leaders after them transforming communities from the inside out for the long term.
 
We could potentially fly back to our new home in Phnom Penh as early as January! But this could change depending on some circumstances mentioned below. As it stands now Covid restrictions are easing up as most of the city (over 99%) has been immunised. We are praying things continue to open up for us and that we have no issues returning!

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Where We Are At Now
 
Over the next couple of months we are going to be raising support. We have about 15% of our monthly expenses covered and in order to get there we need more monthly partners to join with us in the work. It’s a bit of a bigger personal jump of faith going out as a family of 5 rather than before when it was just the two of us and a little baby. However, we feel confident in our provider! We would love to share more about this with you if you are interested or if you would like to partner with us and the work we are doing you can find out more here.
 
We are also preparing our hearts as it has been a huge transition from USA to UK and now to Cambodia. We feel very blessed to have some incredible mentors in our lives who we hope to connect with lots over the next few months. We will also be language learning and preparing our prayer support team and all the other admin involved with moving across the world 😂. 
 
Steve has been having some fatigue over the last few months so we are just making sure there is nothing underlying these symptoms and he is focusing on getting as healthy as possible before we go. We will be meeting with his neurosurgeon from 6 years ago to make sure everything is fine before we leave. Please pray for continued improvement in his health.

How You can be Involved. ​

We cannot do this alone and want to invite you to consider being part of the support team for our little family of world changers. If you would like to be part of our team ; in prayer, in finances or if you would like to come to Cambodia either for a short term visit or a long term stay then please click here or email us at stevebrown@irisglobal.org for more information.

How You can Pray:

• Full health over Steve ; as he has been struggling with fatigue and pray for the “all clear” from his neurosurgeon ( from his operation 6 years ago) who he we will be meeting in the next few weeks.

 

• The hearts of our children; that they would feel the closeness and security of the Lord in the transition.

 

• We would raise 100% of the monthly financial support needed (we are currently at about 40%) and also have a solid group of prayer partners covering us as we go.

 

• All the logistics e.g. visas, flights, home, school, vehicle would fall into place as God goes before us.

 

• The grace for language learning and re-adapting back to life in Cambodia.

 

• Our families in England as we prepare to say goodbye

 

• Our team in Cambodia and the amazing people who are impacted by them.

 

• Strategies from heaven and the Holy Spirit wisdom in walking them out.​​

Thank you so much! We very much love and appreciate you all!!!