Cambodia
Brian Jose recalls a trip which highlighted the opportunities - and challenges - for mission in Cambodia.
In a church building, in a remote village, 30 minutes down a dirt track in rural Cambodia, the leader prepared to call off the meeting. Built on stilts, and with no glass in the windows, their venue was no place to be in a tropical rainstorm. Then a man arrived with his family, all soaking wet. "Have you come to meet the foreigners?" he was asked. "No," said the man. "We have come to meet with God!"
The 'foreigners' were my wife and I, six fellow-members of Stopsley Baptist Church, UK, and Arvid Gogaj, pastor of a partner church in Durres, Albania. We were in Cambodia to encourage and train church planters and leaders. For Arvid and me it was a return visit, building on this three-way, multi-national partnership.
After teaching on a weekend conference, we travelled with local church planter, Bunna Yin. Bunna is following God's call, developing church-planting teams in every province. The gospel is being spread at an extraordinary rate in Cambodia, and the big challenge with so many recently converted is how to organise them into churches. There are issues of leadership. But that's a great challenge to have!
With Cambodia now an emerging democracy, there is less political opposition to the church, though much of the country remains Buddhist. The legacy of Pol Pot's genocide lingers, however: the average age is just 21. Poverty is still a major obstacle and many pastors are unpaid.
Bunna sees part of his role as helping people to become self-supporting, by growing rice or owning fish or goats. Stopsley are partners in this, but the Durres connection is vital. Arvid related really well with the Cambodians. As an Albanian, he knows what it's like for fledgling churches facing financial hardship and emerging from an oppressive regime.
Crucially, perhaps, those involved in planting churches are largely native Cambodians. Cultural sensitivity and following the local church's lead is at the heart of these partnerships. The exciting part for us is the growing partnership with Bunna and the church planters, who are working so sacrificially to build churches throughout Cambodia.
Contact us to find out more about churches connecting for mission in Cambodia.
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