A Call to Mission in Cambodia

A CALL TO MISSION IN CAMBODIA

What does it profit, my friends, if someone says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him?  If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit?  So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.    James 2:14-17

The power of the Holy Spirit is moving over this desperately poor land in Southeast Asia.  Although Buddhism is the religion of the majority in Cambodia, the number of Christians has advanced steadily, from a few hundred in the early 1990’s to over 100,000.  The majority are Methodist.  These churches were begun by Cambodian converts after a horrendous four-year reign of terror and genocide (1975-79).  Under Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, two million people died:  doctors, lawyers, engineers, teachers, government workers, and students were either shot or bludgeoned to death.  Others died of forced starvation or disease.  Homes, schools, hospitals, and other buildings were destroyed; land mines were laid, water contaminated, and roads either non-existent or not maintained.  The Khmer Rouge set child against parent, brother against sister; and trust was irretrievably broken.  Those who survived were filled with great despair.  Into this unspeakable tragedy came the Methodist missionaries to offer food, medicine, hope, and the power of the Holy Spirit to build trust.  The faith communities these missionaries founded have continued to grow, and lives are being changed.      

                                      FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD

A remarkable example of the power of the Holy Spirit to change lives was manifested at Chang Ha church.   During a recent visit, we sang, read scripture, and shared faith stories.  Chhouey, one of the village leaders, gave his testimony.   He related that for many years he had refused to have anything to do with Christianity or Christians.  Although Chhouey had been invited to attend church several times, he simply wasn’t interested.  Finally, a friend gave him a Bible.  “This looks like good paper for cigarettes”, he said to himself.  And so Chhouey tore out the pages, one by one, to roll his own tobacco --- until one day he chanced to read the page in front of him.  His eyes lit on a passage that read, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whosoever believes in him will not die but will have eternal life.”  A God who loved the world was not part of Chhouey’s background or belief system.  And yet, there was something about that passage that this village leader could not get out of his mind.  He began to read what remained of his Bible, then to ask questions and attend church.  Now Chhouey and his entire family are devout believers.  He is a faithful Christian who is able to feed himself and his family through the help of the church.

          HOW DO WE SAVE THE CHILDREN

Chhouey’s is a story of the power of the Holy Spirit to break through to an adult.  What about the children and the young people?  Seventy per cent of the population of Cambodia is under 30, and many of them are orphans or living with a single mother.  The city streets and the country roads are filled with children who lack even the basics.  Hunger, malnutrition, polluted water, and disease are ever present.  However, there is a fate far worse than hunger for children and youth whose parents lack the wherewithal to pay for uniforms and supplies so their children may attend school.  Further, teachers charge a “fee” for assigning and grading homework.  Without this, students cannot advance their skills.   And without these needed skills, young people are easy prey for criminals who offer respectable jobs away from home and then force them into sexual slavery.   The presence of the criminal element, run by large cartels, makes prostitution and sex trafficking profitable on a large scale.  We may not be able to confront the cartels directly, but we can help save these youth through the programs we support.  We can and do make a difference.

In rural areas, we fund pastor support for our sister churches.  The pastors feed the orphans and the destitute during the “hungry season” through rice banks that we help establish.  We provide seed money to finance livelihood projects such as mushroom growing and vegetable gardens so that single mothers can provide for their children.  We contribute to our own Methodist version of the heifer project, and we provide funds for vocational training in weaving, sewing, and engine repair.   We help pay for looms and sewing machines and engine repair equipment.  We subsidize water filters so that families can have clean water and avoid malaria, typhoid, and most particularly diarrhea, which are the leading killer of young children; 84% of all infant deaths can be traced to this disease.  

In the slum areas, orphanages, and dump site of Phnom Penh where Missionary Clara Biswas ministers, we send money so that babies can be born in the hospital ($25) rather than in the dirt of the hovels.  We provide for food and water filters here as well as in the rural areas.  We raise funds for orphan support and elementary education and help pay for school uniforms and supplies.  The cost for educating one orphan is only $10 per month, or $100 per year.  For the older orphans, we provide scholarships for secondary education, including computer training, as well as scholarships for vocational training in sewing, engine repair, cosmetology/haircutting, barbering, and restaurant and food management.

                                      WHAT MORE CAN WE DO?

Although we help fund Christian education for children in both rural and urban areas, the need far outpaces the ability to produce curricular resources.  There are never enough Sunday School materials for the young people who throng to the classes.  Children outnumber adults by a ratio of 4:1 in many of the churches.  We have a wonderful opportunity for evangelization by stepping up our assistance in this area.  We can also send teams to teach ESL (English as a Second Language) and put on Bible School programs.  Future plans include helping English teachers at Methodist schools develop better teaching methods.  In 2009, Toby Stalter will lead a teacher in-service training.  Such training will also help the teachers to improve their Sunday School programs, as gospel stories are often taught in English.   

Another opportunity for evangelization lies with the youth who are flocking to urban areas in search of employment in a rapidly expanding economy.  Unfortunately, the (mostly) foreign investors are getting richer and the Cambodians are getting poorer.  Yet, the cities are experiencing an influx of young people in ever-increasing numbers with limited skills and no place to go.  This situation will only continue to worsen in the coming years.  How can we help?   The answer is simple.  We must continue funding all of our current programs and increase support in others, especially in urban areas.  Our sister churches, Cheoung Prey and Khnar Tey, also have particular needs which we can address.   “The harvest is great, but the laborers are few…”

Cambodians still face almost insurmountable problems.   But they do not face these problems alone….  “For God so loved the world….” that he sent Clara Biswas to minister to the thousands of families who pick through garbage at the dump site; Beverly Barte to direct Christian education development and Emmanuel Barte to teach engine repair; Irene Mparutsa to direct community health and agricultural development; Esther Gitobu and Marilyn Chan to help with church growth…and Aldersgate to live out its commitment to its brothers and sisters in Cambodia by increasing its involvement. 

                                                                                      Juanita Csontos