Cambodian Baptists seek partnerships

Sep 3, 2010
By Mark Kelly

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Baptist Press)--God has blessed Baptist work in Cambodia -- with 304 churches started since 1993 -- but partnership is needed for the work to move forward, the president of Cambodia's Baptist Union said.

Nivath Nhem, who was re-elected in 2010 for a second five-year term as president of the Cambodia Baptist Union, traveled to the United States in August to explore prospects for church-to-church partnerships that would help advance a visionary plan to start 1,621 new congregations in next five years. He was hosted by Albert W. Wardin Jr., emeritus professor of history at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn.

"We want to see every person in Cambodia accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord," Nhem told Baptist Press in a mid-August interview. "The goal of the Cambodia Baptist Union is to reach Cambodia with the Gospel of Jesus Christ by planting churches throughout Cambodia."

Nhem led Cambodia's congregations to set a goal of reaching all 13,871 villages in the country and has challenged each church to reach that goal by starting a new church each year. He also has led them to establish goals of expanding the union's program of pastor training and starting general education schools for the nation's children.

"We need partners if the work is going to move forward," Nhem said. "We know these goals are inspiration from the Lord. There is openness to the Gospel in our country right now. We cannot delay because the door may close at any time. We must take advantage of this openness, but we need partners to do that."

Like neighboring Vietnam and Laos, Cambodia has a communist government and is traditionally Buddhist, but right now Cambodia is the country that is more open, Nhem said.

"Cambodia is more soft than hard," Nhem said. "The people are more open to the Gospel. There are some restrictions on our work, but the Baptist union is recognized by the government."

Thavy Nhem, a believer who is a member of Cambodia's parliament, helped start Baptist work in the country and still is an adviser to the Baptist union, which was organized in 1995. The union has had a strong emphasis on church planting since its inception, and now has churches in 17 provinces of the country's 24 provinces. Its 304 congregations have 13,238 members, and 50 of them have permanent facilities. The union operates pastor training schools in the capital, Phnom Penh, and two provinces, and wants to expand the training to five provinces in the next five years.

"We want to see the church grow and be established all over Cambodia. We want to see believers and churches be a blessing for Cambodia," Nhem said. "Our mission is for Cambodia to know that Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God, that He is salvation when people accept Him as their Lord and Savior.

"If anyone feels led by the Spirit of God," Nhem said, "we invite them to partner with us."

In the meantime, Nhem requested prayer for the Baptist union's plans in starting churches and schools, and that they would be able to establish the physical facilities needed for progress. He also requested prayer for adequate finances and for the Lord to lead congregations into five-year church-to-church partnerships.
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Mark Kelly is an assistant editor with Baptist Press. Nivath Nhem can be contacted by e-mail at cbcambodia@yahoo.com. The Cambodia Baptist Union on the Internet at
www.cambodiabaptistunion.com.

I love Cambodia ... if only I can reveal my name without fearing for my security

As the sun rises over the Mekong River in Cambodia, Joshua McFadden (name changed for security reasons) treks to an isolated fishing village to build relationships.

'I love Cambodia,' college grad says

Apr 11, 2007
by Dea Davidson*
(*Names changed for security reasons)
Baptist Press

SOUTHEAST ASIA (BP)--Even before he's fully awake, Joshua McFadden* knows he's not in Kentucky anymore.

Roosters crowing, babies crying and his neighbors pumping water from the well outside his bedroom window remind the recent college grad that he's in Cambodia. So do the thatched-roof homes on stilts he passes as he bikes down the red dirt road to a Cambodian-style outdoor diner. Yet, as he wolfs down breakfast and endures teasing by the older village women, he is thankful God brought him to Southeast Asia.

"I love my job. I love these people. I love Cambodia. I love my life," McFadden says. "I know it sounds sappy, but it's true. When I'm riding my bike through a village and say, 'Hi,' to all the kids, it's a daily revival. How often do you go through a village and everyone speaks to you?"

McFadden's interest in sharing Christ internationally sharpened as a result of trips to Cambodia and China in college, but he can see how God started working on him back in the fourth grade. That year, his Sunday School teacher, a short-term missionary journeyman just back from Kenya, brought carved rhinoceroses and tribal masks to class and helped make sharing Christ come alive. That teacher, Randy Jacobs*, is now McFadden's team leader in Cambodia.

McFadden has learned a lot since he stepped off the plane in August 2006 – not only about fitting in with a different people group but also the importance of helping them physically as well as spiritually.

"It's really important for Christian people to do development work in addition to evangelism to catch the vision for really changing a place," McFadden says. "I just hope I am able to portray to them someone who genuinely cares about their needs. If we totally ignore the dire situation and physical concerns, it's not responsible on our part as Christians."

McFadden and his team minister to the Cambodian people first by providing water filters, locating cleaner water sources, providing medical education and creating educational videos. Within his team, McFadden is taking a key role in animal husbandry and agricultural programs. As he helps his neighbors raise healthier goats and pigs and produce better crops, he builds relationships that give him opportunity to share his testimony.

While McFadden loves the work he is doing now, he is excited about plans to move to a more remote village on his own. That village, accessible only by ferry across the Mekong River, has no electricity, running water or concrete buildings. By choosing to live among these isolated Buddhist people, he hopes to show them that happiness in life comes not through rituals or things but through a God they have never heard about.

At the end of his two-year term in Cambodia, McFadden hopes he will have helped change the lives of some Cambodians, but more importantly, his life will have changed.

"It's one of my biggest hopes that I'll be different when I go home," McFadden says. "I love my life in America, but I want to go back and be different so I don't get pulled back into American culture. I think it would be the way Jesus would live on earth."