As I posted earlier, this month our mission is to search the city of Phnom Penh for ministries that AIM (Adventures in Missions) can partner with and send Racers to work with in the future. I am writing after two weeks, and this month has been amazing. God has been answering prayers and blessing our steps everywhere we go. I’m amazed at how God has been using our freedom, both in schedule and in travel, to lead us to people who can be a blessing and an encouragement to us as well as vice versa. For example, one of our teammates met an amazing couple who have a tremendous testimony and a life built upon tremendous faith. They were able to bless us with prayer, by sharing their stories of God moving, and yes, by letting us spend an afternoon in their apartments pool (I have no objections when God’s blessing looks like that!)
Over the next two weeks, I’d like to write about the ministries that Lauren (my searching partner) and I found here in the city. The first one being Cambodian New Generation.
CNG is based out of a church in the outer edge of Phnom Penh, pastored by Petros Oun Chhayvra “Peter”. While this is an organization constantly growing in it’s scope, our introduction was primarily with their local outreach programs.
CNG is located right next to a series of garment factories. These factories primarily employ young women who then must live off of very low salaries. Their website says this: “The smallest factory employs at least 500 young women, crowded together and working tirelessly up to 10-12 hour days to collect just a little more money to send to their families in the provinces or to make just enough to buy food or clothing for their young children.” These women and their children are trapped in a cycle where they have almost no opportunity to rise above their status and where their future probably continues to rest in factories.
This local church strives to reach out to these women in a number of ways, and offer the women counseling, bible studies, and worship services, among other things. The church also teach classes for the local children including bible studies, English classes, and (they are hoping) Karate.
Lauren and I with Jack and his wife
We had the awesome opportunity to connect with Horm Kosal “Jack” (the man in the picture above) to talk about this ministry, and he gave us a tour of the church during the nightly English classes.
These English classes are for people of all ages. The church is broken up into different classrooms based on age group. By teaching English, CNG is giving these children and women a chance to find a better job and a better life, as English is a huge asset in the professional workforce. However, teaching English still falls second to the greater purpose. The English curriculum includes Christian lessons and students learn the language through songs that praise God. Furthermore, one night a week the class does a Bible study. And so, through their English lessons, CNG is able to share the Gospel with the women and children who live in the area and who work in the factories.
I got to teach a classroom the song “Our God is So Big”. Children learn about God through their English lessons.
Teaching English songs
Here are some of the classrooms that we saw that day:
It is awesome to see how God is calling people to serve in different ways that spread His love and good news to all people in different walks of life around the world. I don’t know how to express it, but I fell in love with this ministry. Maybe I was blown away with their determination to reach the lost people around them. I think that what they are doing tells an amazing story.
Here is the website and Facebook page of CNG: http://cambodiannewgeneration.org, https://www.facebook.com/pages/CNG-ORG/615650811778425
Please pray for Cambodian New Generation and their outreach, and continue to pray that God will lead us into contact with more people who are share His heart and are following in His footsteps.
