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Cambodia (MNN) ― In the Western world, $25 really can't buy much even at the grocery store. A gift of $25 might be helpful, but not life-changing.
In Cambodia, however, $25 can be the difference between poverty and comfort, life and death.
The World Hope International Adelphe program offers business training and microloans for women in several third world nations. The ministry recently reported two particular success stories within the program.
Sokheang is a young mother of two daughters. Before she connected with Adelphe, she was struggling to support her children. After attending a series of Adelphe business courses, however, she was approved for a $25 microloan.
The loan was enough for Sokheang to open a stand to sell goods. Within three months, she was able to repay her loan and take out a larger one to expand her business. Now, Sokheang is making enough income to pay her living expenses, send her girls to school, and save for future needs.
Christian Volunteer: 'There Is a Deep Fulfillment in Laying Your Life Down for Somebody Else'
By DAN HARRIS, ALMIN KARAMEHMEDOVIC, AUDE SOICHET and SIDNEY WRIGHT IV ABC News (USA)
SVAY PAK, Cambodia, March 21, 2010 — Clay Butler, a 27-year-old evangelical Christian from California, points to a group of children playing in the street and said, "I know kids in that group who are being trafficked. I know the situations, I know the brothels that they're in."
Butler runs a community center in the village of Svay Pak, the epicenter of Cambodia's raging child sex trafficking epidemic. It's a place where, on any given night, many of the children will be sold -- by their own parents -- for sex with strangers.
He is one of many American Christians who have come to this impoverished, war-ravaged country to protect some of the world's most vulnerable children.
"I think the most exciting part of Christianity is living it out," Butler said. "This stuff is not fun at all, but there is a deep fulfillment in laying your life down for somebody else."
Other Americans Christians are practicing an even more daring version of their faith. A group called the International Justice Mission regularly sends undercover agents into the brothels to gather video evidence. The group then works with local police to bust suspected sex tourists, oftentimes American men.
They also rescue child sex slaves like Bella, a 15-year-old who says she was forced by pimps to have sex every day.
Bella was sold into slavery by her mother. In Cambodia, it can be astonishingly easy to buy a child from the family. During a recent visit to Cambodia, ABC News was able to negotiate -- in broad daylight -- with the mother of a 15-year-old girl. The mother said she was willing to sell her daughter to a foreigner for marriage.
When asked how much it would cost, the mother answered, through a translator, "It's up to you."
In response to a question about whether her daughter had been with another man before, she said, "No, no, no. If you don't trust you can take her to the hospital& for a medical examination."
So why is it so easy to buy a child on the streets of Cambodia? Poverty is one explanation, but some Christians say the ghosts of history play a role.
Pastor Has Seen Cambodian Child Sold to Pay for Superficial Items
Cambodia endured a massive genocide in the 1970s, during which children were forced to spy on and even execute their parents -- and the educated and religious communities were nearly wiped out.
Pastor Don Brewster, who runs a shelter for former child sex slaves and works with Clay Butler, said he believes that Cambodia now suffers from a moral vacuum.
"These families will take a loan to buy a TV which they can never pay," Brewster said. "They can't feed themselves, never mind buy a TV, but they know, 'Hey, I've got my ace in the whole. I can sell my daughter.'"
Bella, the 15-year-old rescued by the International Justice Mission, is now staying at Pastor Brewster's shelter, where she said she is finally getting help.
Cambodia (MNN) ― In North America, it is estimated that there is one trained and competent Christian leader for every 1,300 people. In Asia, that ratio is 1:600,000. Because the pastors are the frontline advance of the Gospel, they need to be well grounded.
Asian Access (A2) Country Resource Person PoSan Ung has a heart for Cambodia where "the church in Cambodia is a very young church, I would say, still in nascent stage."
That presents its own conflict. Add to that official opposition. "There's a law out there that is against public evangelism. Then, for you to organize a public event, you need to apply for permission from the government, and that's tricky."
Cambodia is still struggling to heal from a bloody past. Mistrust has proven divisive, but through the training programs, unity has been growing stronger, and the foundation is being laid for kingdom building.
Having lived through the Cambodian Holocaust and grown up as a Cambodian refugee, Pastor Ung is uniquely in touch with the Cambodian experience and has forged ministry from it.
The leadership training program he and national director Pastor Meng Aun Hour launched creates a strategic network that encourages both awareness and the efforts among Cambodian churches.
Today, the training has been called a "diaspora ministry" back to Cambodia where Posan and others are teaching, supervising, and developing curricula to aid in the training of Cambodian pastors in Cambodia.
According to A2, the key to the effectiveness of their program is the careful selection of twelve emerging leaders on an annual basis. These leaders are then invited to be a part of a class that meets four times a year, for a week at a time, over a two-year period.
When the twelve meet together, they are working through an established curriculum that accelerates their growth as spiritual leaders, as well as organizational leaders.
The pastors are beginning to work together and share their resources. "They're able to visit each others' church and go on mission trips within Cambodia itself to the countryside together and train the church leaders in the provincial area. Within the capital, there is a fellowship of pastors."
As the risk of addiction fuelled Aids grows in Cambodia, Hosea Ministries and the Christian Response to Addictions in Cambodia (CRAC) project opened Hosea House on 20 February in Phnom Penh.
This first, inclusive, drug assessment centre to be opened in the country aims to reach out to both street kids and the growing numbers of rootless middle-class children caught in the drug trap.
Hosea House is working with children and families where drug or solvent abuse is a problem, including some of Cambodia’s estimated 20,000 street children. The children are contacted by outreach workers or simply turn up at the centre. They are then assessed as to the seriousness of their own, or their parent’s, drug or alcohol abuse and help options discussed.
A nurse is on hand to help any who are sick or malnourished and a full programme of rehabilitation activities and learning options are available. These are combined to help them rebuild their lives and embrace positive change.
The opening ceremony was attended by local community leaders, the Government’s Drugs Advisor and representatives of NGOs, missions, and city churches. The final cutting of the ribbon was performed by Patrick Prosser, Executive Director of Life For The World Trust (LFTW) who initiated the CRAC project in 2006.
Patrick commented: “As young people in Cambodia try to come to terms with their nation’s traumatic past, the poverty of many and divided broken families, they see drugs and glue as solutions to their problems. Sadly, drugs multiply their problems but now there is a programme which offers real hope that change and a new start in life are possible”.
The CRAC project, (a partner project of LFTW in the UK), has already trained more than 250 students on their Drug Foundation Course, including several pastors. Working under the umbrella of Hosea Ministries in Cambodia, in the future CRAC hopes to provide much needed ‘hands on’ drug training, using Hosea House as both a base and a model for good practice.
Parents craft nativity sets to help provide a living for their families. Kits are sold on Bright Hope's Web site. (BHI photo)
21 August, 2008
Cambodia (MNN) ― When HIV/AIDS hits, it's the end of "life as usual" for families in rural Cambodia.
Because of the mistaken belief that simply being near an infected person can cause contamination, many families face rejection. But there is a place to turn, thanks to Jumpah, a partner ministry of Bright Hope International.
Jumpah provides a community of homes where families take refuge. The ministry assists people in three areas. The Place of Peace houses and supports at least 16 families in which one or both of the parents are dying from HIV/AIDS. From there, the children are taken care of and promised a home at Garden of Joy. It's a home where orphans can stay until they are either taken in by another family member or ready to live on their own. Children are also enrolled in government schools where they have the invaluable opportunity to learn to read and write.
This ministry has a powerful witness for Christ. President of Bright Hope International Craig Dyer says, "When you're in this situation as families are, you're concerned about your kids. Here are these loving people coming alongside saying 'There's a loving God who cares about your life now and for eternity, and He cares about your children. When you pass away, we're going to take your children in.'"
In addition, Jumpah does community development projects in the areas of health, literacy, agriculture, and home care for other families living with HIV/AIDS.
Part of the ministry to parents is an opportunity for them to keep providing for their family as long as they are able. They do this by teaching parents how to craft a nativity set which they sell. It is available on Bright Hope's online store for about $22USD.
Dyer says the craft is simple, "but it's most meaningful, knowing that a family has been cared for. They're providing for themselves, and [others have] an opportunity to minister to them and encourage them in their walk with the Lord, in their journey towards eternity."
Despite the economic gains Cambodia has made after three decades of war, genocide and destruction, rural areas are still waiting to see the changes. Urban workers can make $50USD per month, whereas in rural areas people are often living on less than 50 cents a day. Jumpah and Bright Hope's partnership in this rural community are a stepping stone to see education and compassionate care transform a community socially and spiritually.
Setan Lee, leader of Kampuchea for Christ, with his wife, Randa. Photo courtesy Intercede International.
Saved from death, he became an instant evangelist. Six months later he was preaching to a church of 35,000.
by Alan Doerksen Christianity.ca
Setan Lee, miraculously saved from death in Cambodia’s Killing Fields, launched a church movement that grew to 35,000 in six months. He went on to develop Kampuchea for Christ, an indigenous mission that ministers to the spiritually needy people of Cambodia. In May 2008 Lee will visit seven Canadian cities to share his testimony and the story of Kampuchea for Christ.
In the late 1970s Lee was just 17 years old when the Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, seized control of the government in Cambodia and unleashed a reign of terror. Their rule lasted three years, eight months, but seemed like a thousand years for some who lived through it. Quickly cities were evacuated, and many educated people were killed.
Lee, a young medical student, had been planning to go to Paris to continue his studies. Instead, he and his family had to flee their home in an effort to escape to the border of Thailand.
On the way Lee witnessed people being lined up and shot. He was separated from his family and taken to a youth camp where he and others were forced to work in fields 20 hours a day. Lee saw friends being tortured, and one day was forced to watch a female friend being suffocated by a female Khmer Rouge member. Then Lee was led away and buried in the ground up to his neck and left to be bitten by insects and crabs. Somehow he survived.
Later when the Khmer Rouge found evidence of Lee’s schooling, he was taken blindfolded to be executed. At that critical time says Lee, he believed there had to be someone greater than Communism, so he prayed, “Lord of the universe, whoever you are, please spare my life. One thing I will do is be your witness.”
Suddenly someone asked the killers not kill him, but instead to bring him to his quarters. Because of his education Lee was spared certain death and asked to do agricultural planning work.
In late 1978 the Vietnamese were fighting the Khmer Rouge. Lee again set his sights on Thailand and searched intensely for his scattered family. Some of them were reunited, but not without grief. One of his older brothers had been killed. The family decided to escape Cambodia separately.
A mysterious messenger
As Lee crossed the jungle in search of freedom, he faced danger from landmines and had to step on dead bodies to avoid them. Suddenly a man came out of jungle and said, “I want to tell you about the Lord of the universe. His name is Jesus Christ. Jesus can save you and me now. One false step and our lives will be over. All you have to do is pray and accept Jesus now. Do you want that?”
Right on the spot, Lee prayed to accept Jesus into his life.
He recalls, “I was a totally different person. I had a lot of bitterness in my heart. I was a person with a lot of anger, the spirit of revenge in me. All of a sudden it just cleaned up—washed away.”
Amazingly, within a few hours, Lee found his family at Khao I Dang refugee camp across the border in Thailand. He also met a pastor there who encouraged him to share his faith with others in camp.
Lee became an instant missionary and led people to Christ every day. At the camp, Lee and others started a church with a few believers. The congregation grew to 35,000 in only six months.
One day when Lee was preaching, he got an eerie feeling. He then saw in the crowd the woman who had suffocated his friend. “I wanted to get revenge on her,” he recalls. “Right away I was praying in my spirit, ‘Lord take control of me.’ Instantly I felt compassion for that lady.” Instead of killing her, Lee forgave her. “She came, she cried, she prayed, and she disappeared. I have never seen her since.”
In the camp, Lee met and married Randa, another terrorized escapee.
Reflecting on the Killing Fields, Lee observes, “God allowed that to happen so that He could bring out people like myself as a broken person to come to a saving knowledge. Without that kind of experience, I might have never met the Lord. But because of that experience—through miraculous revelation—somehow He let me know that He is the Lord of the universe.”
Setan and Randa Lee immigrated to the U.S.A. in 1979. Twelve years later, when Cambodia’s borders finally opened, Setan returned to proclaim Christ to his own people. He headed up a Bible school in Phnom Penh before starting Kampuchea for Christ in 1995.
Beginning May 2, 2008, Lee will visit seven Canadian cities – Halifax, Moncton, Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver – to share his testimony and the story of the ministry at Kampuchea for Christ. His itinerary begins at Gateway Cambodia Conference in Fort Erie May 2 and 3. The Canada-wide Mission Cafe Evenings in each city will be hosted by Intercede International. For more details, visit the Intercede website: www.intercedenow.ca/missioncafes.php.
Endnotes
Kampuchea for Christ is an indigenous Christian ministry based in Cambodia that is assisted by Intercede International.
Alan Doerksen is the publications editor and production manager for Intercede International (formerly Christian Aid Mission), based in Fort Erie, Ontario.
Originally published in Mission Gateway, February 2008. The story has been adapted from the original version.
