Two of the biggest challenges faced by the Cambodian church (and Cambodian society in general) are the extremely low level of general education (resulting in a functional illiteracy rate of more than 60%), and the young age of the Cambodian population (more than 50% of the population is under 15 years of age). In a culture of this kind, traditional western teaching styles become ineffective. Given these challenges, one of the most effective methods of communication is story telling. Troy and Lisa are partnering together with a well established ministry in the USA to use simple and effective Bible based story telling to teach Cambodia's children how they can walk with God in their lives today.
"Dan & Louie" is a children's program originally developed by Pastor Dan Betzer to teach Bible stories in a way that would capture the attention of children. The program features an older, wiser man, Dan, helping Louie, a ventriloquist dummy, by telling him Bible stories that illustrate a lesson or principle that he can apply to his situation. These programs have been amazingly successful with both children and their parents. The idea of an older person teaching and helping a child by telling them stories fits in perfectly with both the Cambodian culture, and with the Cambodian learning style.
In order to make "Dan & Louie" in Cambodia as effective as possible, some changes have been made. For example, Cambodia does not have ventriloquism, so Louie was changed to a real little boy. In addition, jokes, settings, and examples have been changed as well. Then the entire episode, including sound effects and music, is re-recorded from scratch in order to seamlessly blend in with Cambodian culture. The final program, called "Nara and Grandpa Choy" is then broadcast over a local FM radio station in Phnom Penh that reaches approximately 75% of the country!