Posted by Brian Jose.

Chan Thon (that's him on the left of the photo) is a former gangster our church team met in Posat,Cambodia in May. His life had been transformed by Jesus, and after meeting our team during our all-day teaching, he asked if we could lead him through a study on baptism that evening.  

"This was a very beautiful message", he said, after we were finished. "I had never understood the meaning of baptism before."

The next day, the church walked down the dusty road to the local river, and I had the privilege of baptising him. 

The day after that, Chan Thon left us, along with his pregnant wife, for his home province of Battambang, off to start a church. He had been persecuted there -- locked in bird cages for hours in the hot sun by local soldiers -- Battambang was always a Khmer Rouge hotbed.  But he knew he had to go.   As the photo shows, already Chan Thon is baptising others as the church grows despite persecution and poverty in Cambodia.  He'd never be accepted by a Western agency -- not enough training, not a Christian long enough. But Radstock partner Bunna Yin with Breakthrough Ministries Cambodia is mentoring this young church planter as he learns on the job.  Is this a model for you to adopt in your church, perhaps?