Project Amount: $16,400

Field Description: Most of the educated Cambodians were killed during the Pol Pot regime in the late 1970s. There is a vacuum of leadership in every area of the country. It is the desire of LCMS World Mission to train committed Christian leaders so that they can move into positions of leadership, both in the public arena and in the church. Less than 1 percent of its Cambodia’s population looks to Christ for forgiveness. There are opportunities everywhere for us to share the message of God’s love.

The Open Gate Fellowship is an independent Christian group made up of a mother congregation in Phnom Penh and now more than a dozen other congregations and preaching stations/cell groups. Its membership has grown to more than 3,000 souls, and continues to grow every year because of their bold evangelistic outreach. The purpose of this project is to continue our support of The Open Gate Fellowship as it seeks to develop its future leaders and institutions, and we therefore support it through financial support, providing volunteers and trainers for its day care, Kindergarten, ESL and computer training centers, and providing leadership training seminars. These seminars now also include our Lutheran friends at Trinity Lutheran Church in Battambang and the local Lutheran Hour Ministry.

In February, the first leadership workshop was held at Trinity Lutheran Church. They met to learn about the basic Lutheran principles of interpreting scripture. LCMS World Mission missionary Charles Groth led the three-day workshop. Using active group-centered teaching, principles were taught and then readily applied to sections of God’s Word. The goal is that these leaders will be enabled to share what they have learned with other leaders in their area. Since there are limited resources available in the Khmer language, the idea of parallel passages and study notes would have to be taught in English. How wonderful to find out during the workshop that the New Testament of the English study Bible that was being used is now available in Khmer. These New Testaments were purchased and the men began to make use of these tools in their own language. The excitement of delving deeper into God’s Word was contagious.

Workshops like this feed the Ablaze! goal as they deepen the understanding of the Word that forms the basis for sharing. Events like this put leaders together to strengthen their resolution to reach out to others in neighboring villages and communities. The time together gave leaders a chance to share their outreach methods and encourage each other in a land where Christians are a very small minority. The men asked that in the next workshop a time be slated for such outreach to the Battambang community.

These men are truly Ablaze! with willingness and excitement to set the world on fire with the message of salvation in Jesus Christ. One participant told of leaving comfort in Australia because he felt God’s call to His people in Cambodia. Others told of difficult past experiences that helped them focus on the hope they have to share in Jesus as their Savior. The workshop ended with a focus on the Ablaze! outreach movement and the men sang, “Cambodia for Christ.”

During this same time, LCMS World Mission missionary Jeanette Groth worked with the English and Bible teachers. Here is her account of that experience:

“We put together four lessons for them to share in the next weeks. It was exciting to hear that one teacher had given out coloring sheets that showed a picture of a child praying under a tree. She explained that she wanted the children to hang this in their home to remind them that they could pray anywhere at anytime. Truly God’s Word influenced her life as she shared with them this important Bible truth.

I also had a small workshop for the English Teachers at the Open Gate Christian Fellowship in Phnom Penh. It was a busy Saturday morning as we prepared lessons and worked on activities to make our English classes more exciting. These English classes are bridges to relationships that bring young people to hear about Jesus from these Christian teachers.”

Contact person: Rev. Charles Groth

Training Nationals in Cambodia

Group Study in Battambang