Jen Jewett - Cambodia

Iris Phom Penh, Cambodia

Jen Jewett's Bio:

Jen grew up in the small east coast city of Saint John, New Brunswick. She was brought up in a home with plenty of opportunities for camping trips and adventures with her family, fostering her love of travel from a very young age. This passion was further encouraged when Heidi Baker visited her church in 1998. She was only in Jr. High at the time but hearing Heidi’s stories of the African bush and all God was doing in Mozambique stuck with her in a way she never imagined; her heart was set on missions.

 Jen attended the Holy Given school of missions in Pemba, Mozambique in 2006 and returned to visit the Iris base again 2 years later. It was then that God began speaking to her about working to help combat human trafficking in Southeast Asia.
 
 In 2012 the opportunity came for Jen and a small team to travel to Cambodia on a scouting trip for the beginning stages of setting up Iris Cambodia. The vision of Iris Cambodia was everything God had been speaking to her of and preparing her for, so in January 2013, she made the permanent move to Phnom Penh.

Since then, Jen has worked in various capacities, from leading outreach teams teaching children and families about trafficking prevention to working on media for Iris Cambodia. Jen's most recent venture is opening a cafe to provide a safe work space and hands on business training for the Cambodian people. Her heart is to see the Cambodian people empowered to rise in ways that bring true change and transformation to their nation through discipleship and skills training. She is passionate about building strong and healthy community spaces where people can heal, grow and thrive. She believes that a nation is changed first through a personal encounter with Jesus, and from there, true lasting transformation affecting cities and Nations can grow.
 
 Jen plans on being in Cambodia until she is old and grey, and she’s excited to have you along for the journey!