What is the Khmer Church?

Hello, friends!

Children's ministry in the province

While we were in Cambodia, we got to visit 4 different churches, each with their own personalities. We went to a house church with about 15-20 people meeting in a house where some students live. The crowd was mostly high school and college age, the worship was a mix of contemporary Khmer and English worship, and the energy was high. We also visited a very “western church” that had about 200 people, mood lighting, powerpoint, and met in a large building. We went to a local church that met in a building instead of a house and was more family oriented than the house church, although not as contemporary as the western church. We also got to visit a church in the province, which was 20 older folk meeting in a thatch hut behind a house, singing Khmer hymns while a cow grazed outside.

One of the questions that I had when we first arrived was, “What does it look like for the Khmer church to be the Khmer church?” With so much western influence form missionaries and such, it makes sense that the Khmer Christians would adopt what they had been taught. The question I had was whether or not that was ok. Didn’t the Khmer church need to find its own voice? Didn’t it need to contextualize to fit the culture?

A local family church after service

Our ride to church in the province

After experiencing these different church settings, my conclusion is this; it doesn’t matter so long as the Gospel is being preached. Just like in the US, every church has its pros and cons. The house church had energy and passion that can only come from youth. The western church had a production value that I could see being appealing to non-Christians. The local church had an emphasis on the community and families that showed a value for changing the world. The church in the province had a certain beauty in its simplicity, like getting back to the roots of the early church.

Either way, it was such a pleasure to worship with the Khmer people. I had the honor of giving a testimony during the service at the church in the province. One of the lines I used that God put on my heart was this: even though we like thousands of miles away, we worship the same God, and that makes us brothers and sisters.”

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

BACK TO HOME

We’re All in This Together

Hello, friends! 

One of the fun things that we got to do while we were in Cambodia was spend a few days visiting some of the other organizations that are working in Cambodia. The government in Cambodia is very open to Non-Government Organizations (NGO’s) coming in and doing humanitarian work and the world, especially missions organizations, have responded in kind. There are over 1000 NGO’s in Cambodia, working on a number of different levels, from human trafficking to education, to farming reform.

A woman making thread from palm leaves

We checked out a couple of different organizations doing different things. Daughters of Cambodia focuses on rescuing women from sex trafficking and training them in the food service industry. Agape international works with children, also rescuing them from human trafficking situations while also providing them with education and job training opportunities. Sak Saum works to build economically viable business in the provinces, teaching communities to make clothing, purses, jewelry, and other manufactured goods.

Agape International HQ

With each of the organizations that we visited, there was one thing I saw that spoke to me and one question I had that still nags at me. The praise is that each of these organization was dedicated not just to helping the Khmer people but on training them to work and sustain a living for themselves. This is crucial especially in terms of the women, men, and children who were rescued from human trafficking situations. Many times, families sell their children into a trafficking situation because they need the money. A person (man, woman, or child) may be forced work as a prostitute so she can support her family. If that person manages to escape slavery, the only place they have to return is home, which is where they were sold in the first place. The family still needs the money, so the individual may be forced back into slavery and the cycle continues. All of the organizations we saw in Cambodia were focused on after-care, providing economically sustainable work for those who are involved so the financial incentive for their families to traffic them is eliminated. It’s a beautiful way for NGO’s to be sure that the work they are doing is work that lasts.

Daughters of Cambodia

The question I still have is whether or not the models are economically sustainable since they are highly dependent upon western patronage. The meals being served at Daughters of Cambodia and the goods that are being sold via Sak Saum are way out of the price range of the Khmer people and have almost an exclusively western/foreign/ex-pat audience. This is the only way for these organizations to ensure that they can provide fair trade wages to those who are a part of the program. My concern is that it creates a sense of dependence on the ex-pat community by the Khmer people. I don’t know that there’s a way for these NGO’s to be serving the Khmer community as a whole in a more direct fashion but it was a question I had.

Sak Saum makes fair trade bags and clothing

Either way, it was such a blessing to see the body of Christ at work. We serve a wonderful God who cares about His people and also blesses them with giftings in entrepreneurship and hearts for mission. I am so thankful that I get to be a part of a body that creates such innovative solutions to the situation in Cambodia.

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

BACK TO HOME

The Dark Side

Hello, friends!

When we were first preparing for our trip, one way that Cambodia was described to us was as a country with great beauty as well as great brokenness. After spending a month there, I can say without a doubt that this is a true statement. There were so many beautiful people, scenes, and events that we were able to experience while we were there. We also saw a darker side of the country that reminded us that there is still much work to be done in the country.

Poverty is a huge problem in Cambodia. The average person in Cambodia makes about $2400 annually and many people, especially those in the provinces, live on less than a dollar or two per day. The poverty of the country shows itself in a number of different ways. There is the constant smell of trash and piles of garbage lining the street wherever you walk. There is the high unemployment rate, evidenced by lots of people, mostly men, just sitting outside their doors people watching wherever we traveled. What probably was the most bothersome for my soul though, was the children begging in the street.

Anytime you were stopped, whether it be riding in a tuk tuk or walking in the market, you could count on a number of children, usually between 18 months – 6 years old, coming up to you and asking for money. The boys, and sometimes the girls, are shirtless and their faces are dirty. Most are barefoot. Some will try to sell you something but most will just hold out their hands, asking you for money.

The most heartbreaking part about this is that we knew we couldn’t give them any money because we were pretty sure that they were being used as part of a “begging racket.” Unscrupulous people gather together children (oftentimes the children are sold by their parents) to beg on the streets. All the money they collect goes to the ring leader and the children are no better off than slaves. To give to the kids means to tell the ring leaders that the racket is working and they will continue to do so. Whenever we could we gave food instead of money so the kids would be able to eat but it broke our hearts to know that 1) these kids were being used and 2) that there wasn’t anything we could really do to help them.

I’ve already mentioned a bit about the sex trafficking that goes on in Cambodia but I would be remiss if I talked about the dark side of Cambodia and didn’t mention it. One night we went to the “KTV” (Karaoke TeleVision) strip of Phnom Penh to do a prayer walk. KTV’s are essentially brothels. Women, many of them trafficked, are dressed in revealing clothing and wait at the entrance of the KTV. For as little as $10, a man can hire an “escort” for the night. We can pretend that he just wants someone to sing the harmony in his karaoke duet but we all know the truth. The woman is being prostituted and he’s there for sex, not singing. As we walked along the KTV strip I was filled with a lot of emotions. There was sadness that there was such a blatant disregard for human dignity. There was anger that my people (being men) created such a market for this trade. There was discouragement at the thought that this isn’t something that is going to be solved in a day. There was a sense of disbelief that this wasn’t just a thing for women but also for young men and for children as well. There was a whole lot happening in that one prayer walk.

One thing that I want to mention was that there was also a spiritual dark side while we were in Cambodia. Cambodia has a history of Hinduism as well as Buddhism and is a very spiritually heavy country. On the one hand, that is a good thing because it allowed us to easily have conversations with students about what they believe. On the other hand, the opposition that we faced was real and it was strong. There were a few instances where we had to do some serious prayer ministry for team members who were being attacked spiritually while they slept. There were other instances when we visited temples around and we could feel an evil spiritual presence so strong that we had to leave the building. There were monks and idols everywhere we walked. It was a spiritually draining time.

My honest belief is that our God is greater. Our God is someone who can conquer any force, spiritual or earthly, that tries to keep His people from Him. There is hope and I believe that God can turn the country because he is God and that’s what he does. But, I don’t want to pretend that there won’t be a real battle and that there is real brokenness in Cambodia. That is why I will continue to pray for the country. I will pray for its people. I will pray against the spiritual forces that are oppressing and trapping its people. And I will pray that God will come it his full power to bring his kingdom to the Kingdom of Cambodia.

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

BACK TO HOME

English Camp!

Hello, friends!

Teaching English at NUM

For two weeks of our trip, our plan was to hold an English Camp at the student center where we were staying. Students would pay $3 for the week and we would teach them English from 8-3 each day. Lunch would be provided and the hope is that the local staff would be able to build relationships with the students who came while the team taught English.

Guess what didn’t go according to plan? =0).

The Sunday before English Camp was going to start we had a powwow to assess the situation. At that point we had no students sign up (which was not out of the ordinary for the culture) for English Camp. We honestly had no idea what to do because the next morning we were either going to have zero students, 30 students, or somewhere in between. We decided that if there weren’t enough students at the student center Monday morning for it to make sense to have 10 staff there, half the team was going to “go mobile” and try and recruit folk on campus at one of the universities.

Teaching English Camp at the Student Center

Monday morning came and by 9am we had 2 students. It was time to go mobile. I took 2 students and one of the local staff (Chamroeun) to the National University of Management (Chamroeun’s alma mater). Megan took another student and another local staff (Nuth) to Royal University of Law and Economics (RULE) which was really close to the student center. The rest of the team stayed at the student center in case more students came in the afternoon. 

Honestly, our start wasn’t great but English Camp was definitely a success. The Student Center ended up with 8 students come the first week and although fewer students came the second week and there were some team tensions, by the end the students and team were both encouraged. RUL

Go Team NUM!

E ended up being a closed door (we were not allowed on campus) but NUM was a total blessing. We met nearly 100 students and got contact information for all of them. The administrators were super welcoming and even offered to give us a classroom next year if we come again. The local staff built great relationships with different students and some non-Christian students even came to a prayer meeting the local staff had.

I’m so thankful that God continued to bless us through English Camp. It didn’t go as planned but maybe those we just our plans. =0).

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

BACK TO HOME