UBS Special Report #22, Cambodia -- May 2000

Cambodia is struggling to return to an open and developing society. For three decades, and especially during the Pol Pot regime from 1975-1979, the Khmer people have lived through perilous times.

They have faced starvation, persecution, and have witnessed the massacre of friends and family – many were wrongly accused of spying for the CIA in order to justify tortures and killing.

Speak openly

It is only in the last few years that Cambodians have been able to speak openly of their Christian faith. But, remarkably, the churches are growing fast, and many young people are showing an interest in the Gospel.

People are coming to faith from the need to fill the spiritual void created by years of oppression and brutality. The churches are now reaping the harvest of those terrible years with the help of a powerful new evangelistic tool: the new Khmer Bible, known as Today’s Khmer Version (TKV), published in June 1998 by the Bible Society in Cambodia (BSC).

Young

The BSC is a relatively young organisation, although there was a Khmer Bible Society in Phnom Penh prior to 1975 which was overseen by the UBS. This work was forced to close when Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge army took control of Phnom Penh.

A Cambodian woman catches a lift on a bicycle taxi along the Mekong river in Phnom Penh

But only since the coalition government was established in 1993 has it been possible to re-organise Bible work. Initially overseen by Nora Lucero from the Philippines, the Bible Society office grew to its present state.

Now, Yos Em Sithan is the Executive Secretary of the BSC, and she, and her staff of six, are kept busy supplying the demands for Scriptures.

Cambodia is traditionally a Buddhist country with many young men becoming priests. A large segment of its economy is based upon the cultivation of crops such as rice and the use of the great Mekong river to irrigate the surrounding land.

Beggars

But the economy has not picked up sufficiently to be able to meet all the country’s needs, and a significant amount of food and medical aid comes through non-governmental organisations.

Beggars are frequently seen in the city, but the most serious poverty can be encountered only a few miles into the surrounding countryside. There, to own a bicycle gives the owner a glorified status, and cars are a rare luxury.

The UBS asked Susanna Burton, a freelance photojournalist from New Zealand, to collect information, stories, and testimonies about the use of the new Khmer Bible and the growth of the churches in Cambodia.

During her short visit, Miss Burton discovered that not only is the Cambodian church alive and well, but many churches are concentrating on the study of the Word of God.

They see knowledge of the Bible as fundamental to the deepening of the Christian experience in their members, most of whom have only recently come to faith. (SR 22/1 - 5.00) [PHOTOS]

Population: 11,400,000

Religion: Buddhists (95%); Muslim (2.2%); Chinese folk-religionist (1.2%); Christians (0.4%); Other (1.2%)

History: Cambodia’s recent history has been violent and its politics complex:

1953 – Cambodia wins independence from France, under King Norodom Sihanouk.

1964 – Underground Marxist movement, known as the Khmer Rouge, becomes active.

1970 – Royal government overthrown during a right–wing coup d’état under Lt-General Lon Nol. Sihanouk forced to flee. Khmer Rouge moves against the new government. By now Cambodia is embroiled in the Vietnam war.

1975 – Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge seizes power from General Nol, forcing the population into rural communes, rounding up and murdering intellectuals, and eliminating all foreign influence.

1989 – Vietnamese forces withdraw, and a new communist government is established. Khmer Rouge violence and unrest continues.

1993 – National elections held, boycotted by Khmer Rouge. Shaky coalition formed between King Sihanouk and Cambodian People’s Party. Conflict continues, and another coup follows shortly.

1998 – National elections result in a more stable coalition government. Cambodia’s government is democratically elected, with a limited monarchy. (SR 22/2 - 5.00) [PHOTOS]

Communist Spy Challenged by Prodigal Son Story

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — “I felt the joy of the Lord as soon as I entered Christ Church and was greeted by their radiant pastor, Barnabas Mam. I found it hard to fight back tears of joy as I joined the contagious worship.

Many people had copies of the new translation of the Khmer Bible which was made available last year by the Bible Society. Mr Mam is a strong supporter of the Bible Society and is a member of the Society’s board.

Challenged

Knowing that these people often live very difficult lives in Cambodia, without the comfort, conveniences and choices we have in the developed world, I felt challenged, as a Westerner, by their faith and contentment in God.

I was not able to learn much about the hardships Mr Mam had suffered under Pol Pot. For him, what was foremost in his heart was to share the good things the Lord has done and is doing among his people in Cambodia today.

Influence

I did hear of the wide sphere of influence this respected pastor has now, and how his faith and joy have led many to find and accept Jesus as their Saviour. One of these is Kom Sar Nat, whom Mr Mam calls his adopted son.

When the Vietnamese chased the Khmer Rouge out of Cambodia, Kom Sar Nat found himself in the same Thai refugee camp as Mr Mam. The pastor has the heart of an evangelist; already, there in the camp a church was established and growing.

Kom Sar Nat remembers well the first sermon that spoke to him. It was about giving an offering to God. If you do not have money you can give your service, your strength and your prayers: there is always something to give thanks for.

Refugee camps

Mr Mam was in the Thai refugee camps from 1985 to 1993. When Kom Sar Nat was able to return to his village in Cambodia, he soon found that he was the only Christian. He read his Bible each day to help him overcome opposition and persecution, especially from his family.

At that time the Bible was a real encouragement for him. But he missed other believers, and he missed worshipping in a church, and this was one of the reasons he moved to Phnom Penh. In the capital, Kom Sar Nat was reunited with Mr Mam, his former pastor, and he was able to begin worshipping with other believers. Now he is like the pastor’s adopted son.

Dramatic

Mr Mam was not always such an evangelist. In fact, his conversion was a dramatic about-turn in his life. In 1972 he was a communist, and was sent as a spy to the first big evangelistic outreach held in Cambodia. The speaker was Dr Stanley Mooneyham, the World Vision President.

When he preached on the theme of the prodigal son, Mr Mam was moved by the message. He was also very much impressed by the interpreter, Son Sonne, the Bible Society representative in Cambodia at that time. Mr Mam asked God if he could become like Son Sonne.

Fulfilled

Mr Mam’s request was fulfilled by God, and he went on to become an interpreter for many Christian outreaches and organisations, just like the man he had so greatly admired.

The pastor finds the new Bible translation in modern Khmer very helpful because it is easier to understand and teach from than the older edition. This is especially true for new believers who are very much on his heart. He says that teaching the Word of God is the key to his church’s growth.

Mr Mam has divided his membership into small units called cells, and each Saturday the cell leaders get together for two hours to go over his key notes for the coming Sunday’s message. Then they base their Bible study on the sermon and ask the cell members what part of the Sunday message was most challenging and life-changing.

Focus

In this way the Bible is the focus of their learning – it is expounded on the Sunday and discussed and developed at the weekly cell meetings. Mr Mam says that he has seen people’s lives changed by living the Bible message.

In fact, the Bible is so important to him that he spent US $1,000 to provide 200 copies of the new Khmer Bible for people in his satellite churches. Fortunately, this outlay was sponsored by a gift from the Training of Timothy Projects, a division of World Vision International, which helps to fund growing churches.

Chai Pothere Mam is the pastor’s daughter. Although brought up as a Christian, Chai Pothere Mam did not really believe until she began studying the Bible in Bible School. She started with the old Khmer version but is now pleased to have her own copy of the new translation in modern Khmer.

“I prefer this new Bible edition because it is easier to use with new believers,” she says. She finds it is helpful in teaching Bible classes.” (SR 22/3 - 5.00) [PHOTOS]

Village’s Open Door

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Kang Sovannary lived in a small Cambodian village next door to the village chief. The chief was a Buddhist and his father was the village high priest; but they had a friend who was a Christian preacher.

Often this friend would come to visit, and the chief would obligingly invite all the neighbours into his home to listen to what the man had to say.

Reticent

Kang Sovannary was one of those who listened attentively. How many people believed in Jesus she does not know, because Buddhists are traditionally reticent and would not confess it to avoid hurting their relations. But she was convicted and believed.

Kang Sovannary is not sure whether her parents are secret believers because they have allowed her to move to Phnom Penh. Here she lives with the pastor and studies the Bible. They are pleased that Kang Sovannary is learning English and meeting Westerners through the New Life Bible School (NLBS).

The Rev Chuck McCane, Director of the NLBS, immediately knew she would be a serious student by all the writings that were in her Bible, and from the deep questions she asked.

Sewing

Kang Sovannary has taken a three-month Bible course, and plans to return to her village to help lead the new church there. She will also teach sewing to the women so that they can make a modest income.

Mr McCane gave Kang Sovannary a copy of the new translation of the Khmer modern language Bible. “This is a luxury people like Kang Sovannary just cannot afford,” he said. She cherished her new Bible and said that it would be very useful in her studies and when she was back in her village. (SR 22/4 - 5.00) [PHOTOS]

Sad End to First Bible Society
Operation in Cambodia

READING, England — In 1975 the Khmer Rouge forces were threatening Phnom Penh. People were being advised to flee the capital. Son Sonne, representative of the Khmer Bible Society, and his family had been given tickets for an Air Cambodge plane due to leave on April 15.

Unfortunately, Air Cambodge stopped its operations on April 13, and no other flights would take the passengers. For many years nothing was heard about what became of Son Sonne and his family. Then, in late 1979, little by little, information began to come out of what was then called Kampuchea.

Full story

It was some time before the full story was known, and even then, it was not possible to publish material relating to this sad period of Cambodia’s history.

Following the fall of Phnom Penh in mid-April 1975, Son Sonne, who was a respected church leader, evangelist and pastor, was with his family among the many thousands forcibly removed from the capital.

The Khmer Rouge rounded everyone up and herded them out “like captive slaves or prisoners of war” according to witnesses of the time.

Capsized

While crossing the Mekong river, Son Sonne’s family and another family were in the boat that was capsized due to a violent freak storm. By a miracle, they all survived and came to land, but they had been separated from other Christians. These Christians managed to regroup later and somehow, by God’s provision and by pretending ignorance, many of them came through the next four years of the Pol Pot persecution.

Died

Sadly, Son Sonne and most of his family died of starvation in the countryside some months later. A Christian brother wrote: “Many people died of disease on what became known as the path of death. Everybody in Phnom Penh had been driven out of the city.” Many did not have enough provisions to last more than a few days.

They found the countryside empty of food, and being townsfolk were ill-equipped to look after themselves. There was widespread famine, with children and adults alike suffering first from malnutrition and finally perishing from starvation.

By the end of the year thousands had died, and few survived to tell of their experiences. Those that did survive faced other threats.

Ignorant

“Hundreds in our area were taken out and clubbed to death: their bodies, all arms and legs, piled on top of each other,” read one account. “But still God preserved our families and brought us continuously into closer fellowship with Himself every day.”

“We left Phnom Penh as relatively ignorant Christians in the things of the Lord, but now we have returned with much experience in the grace of the Lord,” was what one group of Christians were able to report when they returned to Phnom Penh in 1979. There had been two evangelistic missions in 1972, and Son Sonne had acted as interpreter.

Packed

In what was said to be the first Christian mission of its kind, World Vision President Dr Stanley Mooneyham, related his messages to the themes of the specially-prepared Bible Society Selections. Every person in the packed conference hall and in the overflow area outside received a Scripture Selection.

It was after this first campaign that the 600 local churches involved in supporting the outreach witnessed their membership increasing three-fold. But the response following the November mission was even greater.

Rushed

Such was the interest generated by the Gospel campaigns at this time that the Bible Society had to quickly reprint the Khmer Bible for the follow-up ministry. The Bible Society rushed in special Gospel editions by ship up the Mekong river, and flew in French Scriptures for those who could read French.

Seeds

Many seeds were planted from this time that matured during the Pol Pot regime and afterwards, to bring forth fruit in the 1990s. Many of the churches in Cambodia today trace their origin back to this time.

Christians have said that the terrible trials of the late 1970s and 1980s have produced gold in the churches. Now the churches are witnessing a new revival, and the new translation of the Khmer Bible is playing a key part in this movement. (SR 22/5 - 5.00)

Young People Face Rejection
When They Choose Jesus

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — When she was only 13 years old, Sileng Somanea shattered the peace in her Buddhist family by becoming a believer in Christ.

Chan Ton, whose mother rejected her when she became a Christian

Even as a young girl, Sileng Somanea was afraid of sin and judgement and hungered for truth. She read the whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation, then decided Jesus would set her free from this fear.

War

Through the difficult war years, from 1975-79, she found no Christians and had no Bible. But she prayed every day and fed on the truths she had read earlier in the Bible. Sileng Somanea remembers Khmer Rouge soldiers coming in her direction.

Kill

She knew that they would kill her if they found her, simply because she was a Christian. She prayed desperately that God would send them in a different direction, and he did. The soldiers went a different way and she was able to stay hidden from them.

In 1983 she discovered a group of Christians and that was how she came to be baptised. They studied the Bible on Saturdays and Sundays.

Soon she was taking part in the church activities. She started by leading the singing in church. Now Sileng Somanea is responsible for teaching the women at their own Bible study, and works for World Vision as an accounts processor.

Sileng Somanea had been using the old Khmer Bible version until recently and had not yet heard of the new translation. She was very interested in it and the potential for teaching. The text makes it easy for Cambodians to understand because it is in modern language. Even children can read the new translation.

Sileng Somanea explained that Buddhists have a real awareness of sin. In fact, some regard the killing of a fly as a sin.

Hatred

But there is traditional fear and hatred of Christianity, and people who become Christians in Buddhist families suffer the opposition and rejection of their relatives, who feel that they are breaking with tradition for the sake of rebellion.

Relevance

It is hard for the elderly people to understand the relevance of Jesus unless they hear about the Bible’s message of salvation themselves and are moved by it. Then they almost always end up becoming Christians themselves.

Uncomfortable

Chan Thon had a similar experience. As a young girl, she was uncomfortable about her family religion and felt awkward burning incense at the temple. One afternoon a Dutch missionary came to a resting place near Chan Thon’s farm and started playing her guitar and singing songs.

Drawn

The children who were passing by were drawn to listen. Chan Thon was one of them. As soon as she heard the missionary talking about Jesus the Saviour of the world, who was the son of God the Creator, she believed.

Idols

It became a real problem with her family because she refused to worship idols. In fact, her mother, who has had seven husbands, refuses to recognise Chan Thon as her child anymore.

Married

But Chan Thon has found a new family and recently married a young Christian man she met at church. Chan Thon enjoys reading the Bible and gains great courage from it. She gave the example of Romans 8:38 where it says, “nothing can separate us from his [God’s] love.”

The opposite occurred with Samban, who had started coming to church to please her mother who had become a Christian. There she met Nora Catipon, the leader of the Assemblies of God (AOG) church in her area. Nora persuaded the young Samban to attend the Cambodia Bible Institute to learn more about the Bible.

Truth

It was through studying the Bible that Samban realised the truth of the Scriptures and believed in the Bible message in her own right. Now Samban wants to finish her Bible studies and become a missionary “anywhere where God would have me go,” she says.

Changed

She is happy that learning about the Bible has truly changed her life and her ideas. She now has a real purpose and knows that working in God’s service will be a real fulfilment for her.

Samban is pleased with the new translation of the Bible into modern Khmer. She says that it makes the Bible more accessible to people and especially young people. It also makes it easier to study. (SR 22/6 - 5.00) [PHOTOS]

Cambodia’s ‘Generation of Hope’

READING, England — A four-year UBS program aimed at training 500 young Cambodians in Bible knowledge and faith-sharing skills began operation last August.

Funded through the UBS initiative – Opportunity 21 – the ‘Generation of Hope’ program focuses on young people born since 1979 – most of Cambodia’s Christian population falls into this age group. But it is also this age group which holds the nation’s future in its hands.

Church leaders select young people from their congregation for participation in the program. These people then attend UBS workshops where they take part in Bible studies, and learn how to share their faith with others.

The new Khmer Bible is proving an invaluable tool in the training sessions. At the end of the workshop, each youth leader is given a big bag of Scriptures to take back to their church. Under the supervision of their church leadership, the youth leaders distribute the Scriptures to people in their village or neighbourhood.

The UBS aims to distribute 10,000 New Testaments, 10,000 audio tapes, 25,000 Portions, 100,000 New Reader Portions and 200,000 Selections through this program, and hopes to reach at least 50,000 families. (SR 22/7 - 5.00)

Please see World Report 344, page 20 for a report on the first workshop.

New Life Blooms at Bible Schools Students at the Cambodia Bible Institute

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — The New Life Bible School (NLBS) and the Cambodia Bible Institute (CBI) were set up by the New Life Foundation and the Assemblies of God (AOG) respectively.

Both schools offer students a grounding in Bible knowledge and how to teach it. There are short courses that last for three months or more, and longer courses that extend to at least a year.

Harvest

A grounding in theology is vital as the churches in Cambodia begin to reap the harvest sown both before and during the Pol Pot regime, and the years of uncertainty and communism which followed. Now that it is easier to worship openly, many people who were secretly Christians are coming to church and are no longer hiding their faith.

In addition to this, thanks largely to the witness of the many Christian aid organisations and the zeal of local evangelists, many new churches are being planted in the Cambodian countryside. It is now very important to train leaders to help people discover and live the Word of God.

Link

The recent UBS translation of the Bible into modern Khmer is one vital link in this growth, and both Bible schools were quick to see the importance of this translation, which they use in their teaching. In fact, AOG ordered 3,000 copies of the first print-run of the Today’s Khmer Version (TKV) Bible .

As well as using the new Bibles in the classroom, the two Bible schools also use them in evangelism, giving them to new Christians working in the rural areas. Most of these Bibles have to be given free because few people, especially in the rural areas, have sufficient funds to purchase their own copy, even at greatly subsidised prices.

Chea Kun Vireak, who was drawn to read the Bible through English lessons

It was the attraction of free English lessons that drew Chea Kun Vireak to the NLBS. Eric Dooley, a missionary from the USA, was handing out New Testaments to all students of Phnom Penh University. Then he invited them to attend lessons to learn English with him.

Chea Kun Vireak had already heard about Jesus from Christian fellow students, but had not really been interested. But English classes – now that was something different. He signed up and went to all of them, one hour a day, five days a week, for four months.

Invitation

Each lesson contained a Bible story before the English conversation. Then there was an invitation to attend church. One day, Chea Kun Vireak decided to go to see what Mr Dooley was always talking about, and that was the day he was finally drawn to Jesus. During the sermon Chea Kun Vireak was convicted of his own sin and knew deep inside that he needed Jesus.

After that he became excited about the Bible. Now he always reads the Bible before he begins his other university subjects. He is greatly inspired by John 14:6. He feels that only the Bible can give him real life and teach him the truth. He finds great inspiration in the new translation.

Gift

He has since become a teacher at the NLBS. Chea Kun Vireak has a great gift of teaching, and every day he has a class of between eight and 10 people who study the Bible with him.

He uses both versions of the Khmer Bible to go into things in depth and explain his topic. He supports himself also by doing translation work for a church and for a non-governmental organisation.

Joins in

Phearom at the NLBS is another university student who was drawn to Christ through English lessons. The Rev Chuck McCane taught one hour of English, then offered one hour of Bible study as an extra option. Phearom decided to stay and soon became a believer through hearing the Word of God.

His family was not pleased when he made the decision to follow Jesus. He found that part of the reason was that he was not spending enough time at home. Things have now changed and his mother not only lets him have a small Bible study group in her home, but often joins in.

Phearom leads a “Good News” group of six people, all part of the training by Pastor McCane to raise up new pastors and teachers for the churches. Eventually Phearom would like to start a church in the village where he was raised.

Infection

Myvera is 26 years old. As a three-month-old baby, he suffered from a severe infection of the jaw and mouth. Due to poor treatment – it was during the Pol Pot regime – his jaw has remained scarred. It was also at this time that his father died.

Myvera received an invitation to a youth meeting and, thinking it would be a combination of fun and maybe an opportunity to learn some English, he decided to go. At that time he was not the least bit interested in the Bible.

Foreigner

There he met Tim, a Christian foreigner, who offered to teach him English. Myvera jumped at the opportunity. Tim not only helped him to learn English, but he taught him from the Bible almost every night for a year. Finally, Christ’s words “whoever believes in me will be saved” really touched his heart.

Myvera decided to become a Christian. From there it was a natural step for him to continue studying the Bible. He enrolled in the NLBS, and hopes one day to become a church leader.

Rituals

He wants to help many others to understand the Gospel message, even though his family is not convinced of his newly-found faith. In fact, they still want him to perform the traditional religious rituals – things Myvera affirms he has left behind.

Ome Cheoun was left an orphan following the Pol Pot regime. His grandmother survived but her attempts to care for him had to be abandoned due to lack of income. Eventually, she reluctantly sent him to an orphanage.

Failure

But God can use what appears to be failure for his purposes, and it so happened that Ome Cheoun received Christian teaching he would otherwise not have had. The orphanage was run by the AOG, and the director, ‘Mr Kelly’ was said by the children to “teach Jesus day and night”.

Ome Cheoun thinks that was the reason most of the children there became Christians. That was more than eight years ago. Now, ‘Mr Kelly’ – Kelly Robinette – is director of the CBI, and Ome Cheoun is one of his students. He would like to become a pastor.

John Cottrell, one of the teachers at the CBI, had an interesting experience as a young man. He took a holiday to Yugoslavia which led to an amazing event. Another young man, Brad, had felt led to obey God’s leading, and he travelled from Munich to Yugoslavia feeling sure that at some point God wanted him to share the Gospel with someone there.

Presence

Mr Cottrell met Brad at the train station and Brad started telling him about his faith. “He just would not stop talking about Jesus,” Mr Cottrell said.

They took a train together, and John Cottrell remembers vividly God’s presence on that train. The following day he was baptised in the Adriatic Sea and shared wine and bread on the beach in celebration of the Lord’s Last Supper. That turned out to be a life-changing holiday and eventually, Mr Cottrell was guided to enter the ministry. (SR 22/8 - 5.00) [PHOTOS]

Faith in Adversity

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — In 1975, one week before Pol Pot took the country by force, Yos Em Sithan became a Christian after hearing her brother speak about how God had changed his life.

She gave her heart to God that day, not knowing that her simple faith as a new believer would sustain her through years of hunger, exhaustion and sorrow.

When Pol Pot came to power, her life, along with those of millions of others, was turned upside down

The country had already been embroiled in a civil war for some years when Yos Em Sithan turned to God, but when Pol Pot came to power, her life, along with those of millions of others, was turned upside down.

Forced out of Phnom Penh where she had been studying biology at university, Yos Em Sithan found herself working in the fields of a rural commune. There she would whisper a simple prayer: “Oh Jesus, help me.” Although she had never read the Bible, she had faith that God would hear her plea.

During the Pol Pot regime, thousands of people were forced into marriages arranged by the authorities. Yos Em Sithan was one of 170 people in her commune who were rounded up to participate in a mass marriage ceremony.

At the ceremony, names were called out in twos, and when the couple went forward, their hands were linked. They were then declared husband and wife.

Yos Em Sithan found herself married to a farmer called Mark Whatanah – a good man who helped her in her work, and who was a source of comfort and companionship through the dark years in the commune.

Many of these arranged marriages did not last after Pol Pot’s regime, but Yos Em Sithan is still with her husband today. She thanked God for giving her a good husband, and secretly shared her faith with him whenever they were not being watched by the soldiers.

When the Khmer Rouge reign of terror came to an end in 1979, a new communist government took control and freedom of movement was restored to the people of Cambodia.

Too late

But it was too late for four of Yos Em Sithan’s brothers and sisters who had died of exhaustion and illness in rural communes.

The new government sent Mark Whatanah to Cuba to study veterinary science. While in Cuba, he remembered his wife’s faith and joined a church. When he returned to Cambodia, he too was a committed Christian. But the communist government was intolerant of Christians, and believers were forced to meet in secret.

In 1988 Yos Em Sithan was given her first Bible, enabling her to read about the God who had been with her during all those difficult years in the commune. The Bible was her most precious possession, but she was forced to keep it hidden.

Every Sunday, Yos Em Sithan and her husband would walk through the streets of Phnom Penh with their Bibles wrapped up and hidden as they made their way to a secret worship service, conducted in a different house each week.

Whisper

There, they would join 60 other believers to listen to radio sermons from the Philippines and to whisper songs of worship.

In 1990, they were given permission to meet, but were followed by police each Sunday. In 1991, with the relaxing of laws for Christians, they were able to worship more openly.

Served

Yos Em Sithan has studied the Bible for four years with the Christian Missionary Alliance, and has worked with the UBS since February 1998. Having served on the committee for the translation of the new Khmer Bible from 1993 to 1996, she is now the Executive Secretary of the Bible Society. (SR 22/9 - 5.00) [PHOTOS]

New Bible: A ‘Real Tool’
for Evangelism

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Nora Catipon is a Filipino woman working in Phnom Penh with the Assemblies of God (AOG). Her skills as a Bible teacher have received a great boost recently by the arrival of the new Khmer modern language Bible.

“I have only been learning Khmer for the last four years, and so this new translation in simpler language makes things easier for me,” she says. “Even most of my Khmer students struggle with the old Bible version. Perhaps they would need a more classical education to be able to follow it with ease.”

Ms Catipon was raised in a Roman Catholic school in the Philippines. But despite this, she did not read the Bible, and found the religious teaching and rituals thoroughly uninteresting. At university she was given a New Testament by the Gideons, who were giving them out to students at the gates.

Room-mate

Because of her room-mate, Ms Catipon agreed to attend an AOG church service. She really enjoyed the singing, and from that time her hunger for the Bible grew. Through reading it she discovered that she needed to have a personal relationship with Christ – this seemed a new dimension to her, something she had not picked up in her religious upbringing.

Carries

Twenty years have passed since that time and she still carries that small Gideon Scripture wherever she goes: it is full of her writings and notes. Ms Catipon believes the new Khmer Bible translation has fulfilled a real need for Bible study.

“It brings the Scriptures and their message closer to people by using the language they use today,” she said. “I think it will be a real evangelistic tool and will make it easier for people to grasp the Gospel message.” (SR 22/10 - 5.00) [PHOTOS]

Former Smuggler Finds God

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Va Tong has trodden a long road to be where he is now: working with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) to help single mothers learn how to generate an income. And Va Tong is good at generating income, although he did not always do it legally.

Va Tong uses the new Khmer Bible when sharing his faith with others

As a young man, Va Tong helped his sister with her smuggling business. They brought beer from Thailand to Vietnam through Cambodia. To do this they had to bribe the authorities, and it was Va Tong’s job to take them out and get them drunk.

Alcoholic

The trouble was that he ended up drinking as much as they did and soon became an alcoholic. He was still a part-time student, and he was good at his studies.

He was proud of his knowledge, his intelligence and his ability to use logic. Although he has always felt like a Cambodian, Va Tong is really of Chinese origin. His old Chinese traditions had to be set aside during the Pol Pot regime when it was forbidden to speak any other language than Khmer.

But Va Tong’s logic had decided that religion was not for him, apart from appeasing the family by making some semblance of following the tradition of venerating the ancestors.

Va Tong had a friend in his study class who intrigued him because he prayed with closed eyes. Va Tong pestered this friend to tell him whom he was praying to, but his friend was reluctant to talk: he feared that Va Tong might be spying on him.

Finally, in 1990, to satisfy Va Tong’s curiosity, he agreed to take him to church, but only after they had seen the pastor together. During their two-hour interview, the pastor had to discern if Va Tong was a genuine seeker – such was the way of the underground church in those days.

Three weeks later, Va Tong became a believer and he was given an English NIV Bible by an American. He had asked God for revelation. One day, his sister told him he had been speaking the words of the Scriptures in his sleep. She thought he was going mad.

Secret

The new Khmer Bible was not yet available, and most people believed in secret. It has only been in the last few years that things have changed and it is possible now to worship more openly. Last year, Pastor Barnabas Mam gave Va Tong a copy of the new Khmer Bible.

Va Tong says that he really appreciates this new translation. Not only is it easy to read and understand for himself, but he loves to use it when telling others about his faith. (SR 22/11 - 5.00) [PHOTOS]

A Time for Healing

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — When Eang Channak arrived back in Phnom Penh after the fall of the Pol Pot regime in 1979 he was exhausted and ill from years of back-breaking work in a rural commune. He also felt empty and spiritually drained.

Born into a Christian family, Eang Channak had known the strength and hope in the Bible’s message. Isolated from it for so long during his time in the commune, he was desperate to read the Word of God which he felt would heal him from the terrible pain left by his experiences.

As soon as he could, he began to search for a Bible. None of his family had kept their Bibles because the Khmer Rouge killed anyone found with the Scriptures. For a long time the only source of comfort Eang Channak could find were the Christian radio broadcasts from the Philippines.

One day, however, he found an underground church which responded to his plea for a Bible. Today, he works for the Cambodia office of FEBC Radio – a Christian broadcaster based in the Philippines.

There are many other people in this wounded nation whose testimonies show that the Word of God heals, both spiritually and physically.

Stomach pains

Ros Si Von had such terrible pains in his stomach that he had to hold ice against it all day to dull the pain. His doctor diagnosed problems with his stomach, intestine, liver and lungs, and tried to treat him. But the pain would still not leave him.

Ros Si Von sold his car to pay for the treatment, and soon could not afford further medicines. By now he had lost all hope of ever being healed, and had resigned himself to a life of pain.

However, his Christian niece heard about her uncle’s suffering and asked her cell group to pray for him. She believed the Bible’s promise of healing through prayer, and soon Ros Si Von felt the pain ebbing away.

When he went back to the hospital for an X-ray, his doctor was amazed at what he saw – Ros Si Von had been almost completely healed of his illness. Ros Si Von and his whole family are now all committed Christians and are part of a cell group who meet regularly to study the Bible.

Busy

San Sung is another person who found God through his search for healing. This time, it was not San Sung who was ill, but his child. Although he was interested in attending his village church where the pastor preached about a man called Jesus, San Sung was too busy working in his fields.

But when his child became seriously ill for the third time, San Sung could not afford to pay for a doctor. He and his wife were forced to take the child to the Assemblies of God (AOG) hospital.

There they met a 15-year-old Cambodian who was interpreting for the American doctor. He told them about Jesus, and how he healed the sick, and San Sung and his wife were amazed. They immediately believed, and became Christians that day.

Recovered

Their child recovered from his illness, and San Sung is now a part-time student at the Cambodia Bible Institute.

As a child, Banan Houen fell out of a window. His injuries were serious and left him disabled. This made him an outcast, even amongst his own family. The accident had scarred him, physically and emotionally.

Meaning

When he was older, his search for meaning led him to become a monk in a Buddhist temple. But he still felt empty inside. One day his cousin invited him to come to church, and there he heard the Word of God for the first time. He suddenly felt accepted and loved, and gave his life to God. He now studies at the AOG Bible School and plans to become a church worker. (SR 22/12 - 5.00) [PHOTOS]

Failed Chicken Sacrifice
Led to Prayer of Faith

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Sprey Tuch was a quiet and gentle woman, so when she became violent late one night, her husband, Chhit Socheat, did not know what to do.

As she became more and more vicious in her behaviour, Chhit Socheat realised that his wife was possessed by an evil spirit.

Frightened

Frightened, he ran to fetch a spiritual healer, paying him a huge sum of money to come to his wife. The healer offered a sacrifice of boiled chicken to appease the spirits, but nothing worked. Sprey Tuch simply became even more aggressive.

For three long days Chhit Socheat watched in helpless terror as his gentle wife raged out of control. Finally, in desperation, he let a Christian man at his work come and pray over Sprey Tuch.

He remembers how this man whispered a quiet prayer of faith, and how his wife awoke peacefully, asking: “Why are all these people here?”

Experience

Having lived through this experience, Chhit Socheat and Sprey Tuch have become committed Christians. Through them, Chhit Socheat’s mother also believes. She relies on the Sunday sermons at church for her spiritual food because she cannot read. (SR 22/13 - 5.00) [PHOTOS]

Bible Study is Key to Church Growth

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Li Na had never had the chance to read the Bible, but she had formed an idea about Christianity by observing the behaviour of Christians around her. She was not impressed by what she saw.

She told her Christian sister of her observations, and was struck by her response. Her sister told her that she should look to the Bible to learn about Christ’s message, and not to people. Intrigued, she opened her sister’s Bible, and began to read. She read it from cover to cover, and by the end, she was ready to commit her life to God.

Important

Having experienced for herself the importance of reading the Bible, she now teaches children about the Bible, and continues to expand her knowledge of the Scriptures by attending Bible School.

Stories like these abound in Cambodia, and point to the important role that Bible reading plays in the growth of the church. Father François Ponchaud, one of the translators of the new Khmer Bible, is in no hurry to baptise people from other religions. He is convinced that people need to fully understand the Bible before being able to make a meaningful commitment.

Fr Ponchaud teaching one of his Bible study classes

In the Roman Catholic church where he preaches, the emphasis on Bible study has swelled the congregation to more than 700. Along with 13 other teachers, Father François offers classes on Sunday afternoons for adults, young people and children.

Well-attended

These are very well attended and students are encouraged to buy their own Bibles from outside the church building at a discounted price.

Tith Hieng only became a committed Christian when he read a Bible that his cousin had given him. He had heard about Jesus before, but it was after reading God’s Word that he fully understood Christianity.

Now an ordained Anglican priest, Tith Hieng encourages his congregation to study the Bible. He also takes Bible study classes for young boys.

Although Bibles are available for sale in most parts of the country, many Cambodian Christians cannot afford to buy one at the normal price. Without a Bible, believers often feel that they cannot grow in their faith. Similarly, without access to a Bible, people like Li Na and Tith Hieng do not have the chance to come to know God through his Word. (SR 22/14 - 5.00) [PHOTOS]

Reaping the Harvest The Gospel impacts Cambodia

A Growing Church