The Barnes Family

Serving in Siem Reap, Campbodia

WE ARE SUPPORTING THE BARNES FAMILY with Global Interaction in Siem Reap Cambodia

Craig & Kim Barnes with their 4 children Henry (12), Amaya(11) and twins, Elodie and Reuben(8) are living in Siem Reap, Cambodia. They work with Global Interaction so that the Good News of Jesus can be lived out and spoken to the Khmer people in ways that make sense to them in their culture.

Why then did they uproot their family and go to live in Cambodia? 

Kim says, “A few years ago I watched a movie where the main character was challenged to say “Yes” to everything for a whole year. When we said “Yes” to God He very quickly took us out of our comfort zone and out of the places where we weren’t living for His glory. 

We were living a very comfortable life with good careers, a house in a great location and good schools picked out for our children. We saw the life of success and security that we were building for ourselves but couldn’t ignore the niggling feeling that there must be something more to life than just being comfortable. We began asking God seriously what else He had for us. As we began to say “Yes” to Him he took us out of our comfort zone step by step. 

First it was selling our house then it was leaving our jobs and moving interstate so Craig could study aquaculture (hugely out of his comfort zone!) Perhaps the hardest “Yes” was moving our family into an interstate residential Bible College. We lived in a very international community and I had to learn to constantly say “Yes” to God even when we didn’t always feel like it. Then we spent the next stage of our lives travelling around in a caravan, part time, with our 4 kids,  speaking to churches.

Over and over our lives have been transformed by saying,  “ Yes” to God.”

What are they doing now?

They have been living in Cambodia for more than 2 years

They live in a village on the outskirts of Siem Reap and have been spending most of their time getting to know the Khmer culture and language. This means having regular meetings with their Language Nurturer and a lot of hard work to learn the words and grammar. Then so they can practice they spend the rest of their time just connecting with people in the local markets, their home, neighbours and friends homes and through a whole range of community events and festivals.

Knowing the language and culture is critical if they are to share their faith in a way that the Khmer people understand in their own culture. This is a slow but rewarding experience and God is working in beautiful ways in the lives of peoples who often live in fear of evil spirits.

Their children Henry, Amaya. And twins Reuben & Elodie are attending an international School in Siem Reap 

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