We ran our most recent seminars at the Townview Hotel in Phnom Penh. The hotel has a nice upper conference room and breakfast area we could use for lunch and discussion. We made all the normal preparations, putting an advertisement in the classifieds of the ‘Cambodia Daily’ and the ‘Rasmei Kampuchea’. The latter is a Khmer newspaper, but the advert in English stands out amongst the Khmer text for those who can read it. We emailed our list of contacts and called their mobiles. With over a hundred contacts, that can be time consuming, but it’s not as ‘telemarketeresque’ as it sounds. In Cambodia, people are actually glad to receive your call, especially about a Bible subject. Maybe that will change after they have been assaulted by constant ‘free’ holidays, phone companies and surveys. But so far, you almost always receive a polite and interested response. Most of our contacts come from attendees to previous seminars or those who call/email and ask to be kept informed. Our biggest problem has been our choice of phone network. The ‘016’ number allows you to add credit that lasts several months, but on the down side has poor connections to many other networks so often it is very hard to make a call to another mobile. Since all our contacts are using mobiles, this tends to take a while and the ‘failed call’ and ‘network busy’ messages can be a little frustrating.Having worked way through our contacts and received over 80 registrations we are pretty much prepared for the weekend ahead
The morning of the seminar, we rise early to prepare. Despite our clear instructions, inevitably students arrive at the house and we have to redirect them down the road to hotel. At 9:00am, the hotel is woefully under filled. We delay the first study and make conversation with those who have arrived on time, while one of us waits at the house for stragglers. The LCDI students have had Tuktuk problems and are running late. True to form, by 10am, empty seats are pretty scarce and we start off with our first study, entitled ‘Our problem, Sin’. James takes this session to address the group regarding the locus of sin and how sin and death has gripped the world since the beginning. He finishes his discussion by leading onto “Who is Jesus Christ?’ A quick
break for coffee and fruit and the students are back into it with Steve. Progressively as the session moves on, we get a few new students arriving. Lunch is a busy affair at the buffet as the LCDI students descend like ravenous hordes. Steve and Lauren are at the back of the room deep in discussion with a group of Nigerians and Kenyans who have come with one of our old contacts called ‘Tony’. Regulars at a branch of the AOG in Phnom Penh, they are actually familiar with their Bibles and so fairly serious discussion ensues.
Jonny takes over to the theme of ‘Eternal Life and the Kingdom of God’ by teaching about the nature and location of the Kingdom of God. He shows eternal life in the Kingdom as the reward for the righteous. I take the last session by emphasising the nature of ‘Truth’, showing the wide and narrow path and exhorting the listeners to be discerning and seek after the truth. The afternoon comes to a close and the contacts mostly stay for discussion with coffee before slowly ‘filtering’ away (excuse the pun J ).But not for long…the students are all aware that they need to be
at the riverside for the boat trip in an hour. The boat takes about 30-40 of us for an hour’s trip around the river which serves as a quite pleasant discussion time for the days activities and a social event that brings the students closer to us and closer to each other. The boat pulls into the shore and everyone begins to head home. We pack the LCDI students back into their Tuktuks and send them on their way, just as some fireworks shoot into the sky. We cross the road to enter the Veiyo Tonle, a restaurant that boasts a group of orphans that dance traditional Khmer dances to 
support their orphanage. The evening is loud and raucous, but over in a few hours and we head back to the flat to dissect our day.The next day is not quite as well attended as many students attend their churches for a worship service, but we have some new faces. A few new translators enter the fray and give Meng Him and rest. James begins with an excellent talk on the meaning of ‘Baptism’, concentrating on repentance and the informed decision to dedicate yourself to the Name of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Steve heads to the white board and follows up with a discussion about ‘Taking up your Cross’ before we break for lunch. We take the opportunity to get some photos at lunchtime and mix with the group before starting again with my talk on ‘Honesty and Righteousness’ in a Cambodian context. Addressing the issue of corruption and walking in love is
necessary in any society but seemingly a little more relevant when corruption is the norm to get ahead. Jonny finishes with an address on ‘Living by Faith’ before we call it a day.The students are enthused and more than one comment on how much they have enjoyed the time and the spiritual benefit they have gained.
We all arrive back at the house, pretty tired and drained from the constant activity and intense focus.
A meal out at ‘Chai Heng’ is just the ticket for me. Sadly, for the Armes, various dramas including lost wallets and engagements of first-borns make for a particularly emotional evening.
All in all, our seminar is a great success, with over 50-60 contacts attending over the two days, not including the 20 LCDI students who attended the whole seminar. These students are from generation 4 of LCDI, the group that has been attending our Sunday morning classes. Some of them are starting to get the idea of what it’s about. We have gained about 10-15 new contacts, some of which will come and study with us more regularly.God willing, our efforts will continue to be blessed in the next 6 months during Jonny and Melinda’s stay.
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