Christian Ministry in Cambodia

There seem to be quite a few Christian ministries in the area of Phnom Penh where I'm staying. Actually there seem to be quite a few more Christians than Í'd expected. There seems to be a tremendous spiritual hunger here, and people are really searching for a spiritual connection. That means that Christian ministries are doing great work and it also means that groups like the Mormons are also gathering large numbers of people, too.

First thing this morning I met with Narin and Quenie, who pastor the church I attended on Sunday. They wanted some input on starting an Adult Bible School and mentioned that most of their people are new believers. I suggested that their first class needs to be one about basic discipleship, and that those who complete this course can be the leaders of the next one. I gave Narin a copy of Dr. Boice's Foundations of the Christian Faith and assured him that his job is to preach and teach the Word of God and that other things in the church can be done by others who are gifted to do them.

The other night I had supper with Professor S.K. Lee of Hang Dao (or however you spell it!)University in Korea, a Christian university, that the provincial government in one of the northern provinces here has invited to build a similar university there. The governement has even donated the land on which to build it. They have the land for 70 years and it must be retuned to the government if they fail to build the university. Said Professor Lee, "If we can't build a university in 70 years we don't deserve the land." He also pointed out that there are 600 Korean missionaries working in Cambodia. That rather took me aback. Wherever I've gone in the world, I've found Korean missionaries doing great work.

Today I visited two more businesses that have been established for women at risk. The first was another restaurant, Cafe Yejj, which buys organic produce from local farmers outside of Phnom Penh (in a country where you need to be very careful what you eat!) and produces really creative, tasty, beautifully presented meals, including some fabulous vegetarian entrees. They even make vegetable juices from organic produce--and I thought I was going to have to give up juicing for the duration of this trip! This business was begun by a British couple who also established a school for computer repair. though I expect that not all their students are women.

Ken explained a bit about the "women at risk". Sometimes they are kidnapped, sometimes poor families are promised that their daughter will be trained for a job and allow her to go with the exploiters. other times poor families just sell their daughters to have money to live on. In any case, human trafficking is a very ugly reality in this part of the world.

Then I went off to "The Pampering Room" where they offer pampering services: manicures, pedicures, shoulder rubs, foot rubs, shampoo and blowdry. Each service cost about $2.00 US, which is a significant amount of money here, and gives some of the women a trade by which to earn their living. I had a manicure, my first professional one.

Tomorrow I hope to have lunch with the two women who run White Lotus, the organization that rescues women at risk.