Dear Leslie,
We are so grateful to Smith Family Foundation for your partnership with us in walking alongside vulnerable children around the world!
I’d like to share the story of Kimhong - an Alongsider in Cambodia who started at 17 and is now aged 23. Kimhong has risen through the leadership levels since becoming an Alongsider - first as an Area Rep, and she has now recently become a Movement Coordinator herself. That means that Kimhong oversees a whole province of Cambodia, with her own Area Reps that she is responsible for, and more than 140 Alongsiders and little brothers/sisters – each walking alongside one “little brother” or “little sister” in their own community over multiple years. They are working through the comic book discipleship curriculum together.
When Kimhong first started as an 18 year old Area Rep she was completing her final year of High School and sitting exams for university entrance, while visiting pastors and churches in her spare time to spread the vision of reaching out to vulnerable children. At first many of the pastors were unwilling to listen. But as they saw the fruit in the churches that were participating, one by one she won them over.
This is a photo of Kimhong (left) with her own “little sister” (Mei) who has now become an Alongsider herself. Mei’s “little sister” is on the right. This is multi-generational discipleship at its best.
Globally, Alongsiders has now grown to more than 42,000 children and young people in the movement. We are focussed on 30 countries, and rather than adding new countries we are currently adding new movements in existing countries in order to take advantage of economies of scale and with a goal of Saturation (reaching as many vulnerable children in one place as possible). For example, in Rwanda there are now more than 8000 Alongsiders in 7 different Alongsiders discipleship movements. We recently started our first movement in Latin America (Venezuela) and we are praying that God will bring workers for the harvest.
Your support for printing the discipleship materials and subsidizing our annual training camps is bearing much fruit.
Thanks again and heaps of blessings,
Craig Greenfield
Founder and Global Director
Alongsiders International