Mission Spotlight: Battambang, Cambodia
Current situation:
Problem 1 – There are only (probably less than) three thousand Adventists in Cambodia. Among the three thousand, the number of committed, converted Christians is fewer.
Problem 2 – Cambodia Mission has total of 19 “pastors.”
Among them, only 8 received long-term training. Many of them learned about Jesus at the refugee camp. After the war between 1968 and 1989 newly converts went straight into ministry without adequate preparation or mentorship. Basically, whoever volunteered from the refugee camp were given a job as a church leader and unfortunately some thought of their work merely as a paid job. I don’t want to say anything negative about my colleagues here because God has dedicated, sincere workers everywhere. I am thankful to have wonderful friends here. It is very unfortunate that we have so few pastors in Cambodia to begin with, that the actions of the handful who lack integrity and their repercussions are felt immediately and drastically. We need more dedicated workers.
Problem 3 – Majority of the two to three thousand membership on book are poor. Strangely, people bring money and to pagodas, but people expect to get money and rice from church. Many people view church as a place for only poor people.
Our aim:
Goal 1 – Plant God-centered, structured, focused, loving Church
A. Make Battambang City Church to be a model church for Cambodia.
i. God-centered – Ground people in the Word of God. Each person to have personal experience with God and have personal devotional life.
ii. Structured – Jesus as the head, all members as part of His body. A well-functioning church board, active lay involvement.
iii. Focused – All members working toward one goal of glorifying Jesus. Total member involvement as described by Elder Ted Wilson where resources and vocations are only the means to the end goal of saving souls.
iv. Loving – Only love can awaken love. Love is best shown by personal interaction. Meet people’s needs.
B. Do evangelism in a way that works best for the Cambodian culture and show it as a model.
i. Jesus’ method of evangelism done within Cambodia’s cultural context.
ii. Share and multiply throughout the country.
C. Retain members through discipleship.
i. Plant people into God’s church.
Goal 2 – Bridge the gap of rich and poor through Urban Center of Influence (UCI), a city mission center.
A. Education Center
i. Language Schools – Almost everyone wants to learn English. Many people want to learn Korean to work in Korea or at a Korean company in Cambodia. There is a high demand for learning second language to get ahead in school and job.
ii. Music School – Middle and upper class families want more education: music, taekwondo, art, etc. Our center is the only music school in the entire city.
iii. Children’s Library (Reading Club) – In conjunction with language and music school, we aim to open an English library, especially geared toward children.
iv. After-school Program – We offer free tutoring classes for Cambodian language reading and writing, English for beginners, math, art and music. Many children drop out of school for various reasons: parents want them to help collecting recyclables, they don’t have enough money to pay under-the-table fees at public school, flunked grade, sick, don’t care, etc. The After-school Program is a separate entity from the General Conference UCI and relies on private donations.
B. Vegetarian Restaurant
i. This will be the very first clean vegetarian restaurant in the city. There are two other vegetarian restaurants in town and they do very well, but they’re not for the faint of heart/stomach…
ii. Create a neutral, welcoming meeting place, especially for those who may be opposed to Christianity.
iii. Teach healthful lifestyle.
iv. Generate income for the UCI.
C. Gym
i. It may sound strange to have a gym literally above the church, but gym has a lot of potential to draw the upper social class. We want to attract people in a healthy way. The need is definitely present. Many people are interested in learning a better, healthier way of life. We will offer exercise classes without loud techno beats.
ii. Teach healthful lifestyle
D. Medical and Dental Clinic
i. Tried and true right arm of the gospel work, we need medical professionals to run a medical and/or dental clinic. In the future we pray there will be an Adventist hospital in Cambodia. The need is great.
Goal 3 – Make disciples. Teach.
A. Bible Training School – UCI and the Church call out to and teach lost sheep. We plan to start a small training school to teach newly converted people and equip them to become Bible teachers. It will start out as a small missionary training school and eventually grow into a larger scale Missionary College. We are currently raising funds to purchase a large piece of land for the Missionary College. This is a long-term goal.
Goal 4 – Bridge gap between west and east, and north east and south east.
A. One of the reasons for us being here is to tell you about God’s vineyard in Cambodia. Whether you are reading this in the US, Korea, or other parts of the world, you can be sure God wants all of us to go forward with the gospel to the end of the world. We are here to help you to help us reach the to world ☺
Ways you can help:
1. Pray! When we think of the work that lies ahead of us, it’s daunting. But when we think of God who spoke the world into existence and breathed life into us, nothing is impossible. Pray with us for Cambodia. Cambodia needs your prayers.
2. Come! Usually it starts with one short visit. One visit leads to a longer, steadier commitment. Unless you come and see for yourself, it’ll always feel like a mission story from far distance. My friend, it’s a small world and Jesus is coming soon. We're not that far away from you ☺ Please come visit us and see how you can be involved in the work. We need faithful workers!
3. Send! Send skilled workers, send books, send medical supplies, school supplies, and money always goes far here. We used to spend $30 on a date for the two of us in the US. Here we feed fifty kids with that amount! Money goes far here. A student can go to school for just a few hundred dollars a semester. Imagine, you can change a person’s whole course of life with just a few hundred dollars!
We need of another vehicle.
We need English children’s books.
We need funding for the After-school Program.
We need medical professionals.
We need a gym teacher.
We need Bible teachers.
We need English, Japanese, Chinese, Korean language teachers.
We need music teachers.
We need horticulture teachers.
We need skilled builders.
We need vegetarian cooks.
If you have a skill unlisted here and would like to help, please write us. We need faithful, consecrated workers.
4. Share! Please talk to your friends about Cambodia. I know there are workers out there waiting to hear the invitation.
If you are interested in giving a donation you can choose one of the following ways: Wire the funds to ASAP Ministries bank account:
Bank Name: CHEMICAL BANK
Address: 9190 U.S. Highway 31, Berrien Springs, MI 49103-1652
Phone: USA (269) 471-7749
Account No.: 4520046477
Routing Number: 072410013
*Please email Amy at ASAP Ministries and notify her of the amount of fund you have wired for Battambang Project. Her email address is amy.montevilla@asapministries.org
or
Send the check to:
ASAP Ministries
P.O. Box 84
Berrien Springs, MI 49103-0084
* please make a note that your donation is for Battambang Project. Thank you!
We thank you always for your prayer and support! Maranatha!
Thank you for partnering with us to reach the world to hasten Jesus’ return. Maranatha!
Love, MC, Abby, Michael and Joshua Shin
