Cambodia Bible Education Centre

The BEC in Phnom Penh could be described as “hive of activity” after spending some time at the much quieter BEC in Chiang Mai, and living and working in Solo, Indonesia for a number of years. There is a long established ecclesia, Sunday school and youth group in Solo, but not a lot of active preaching work due to the restraints on preaching in the country.  When I arrived in Phnom    Penh on August 5th, I was the only fieldworker in residence, there having been a mass exodus a week or so before. However a few hours later, I was joined by seasoned Cambodia workers Steve and Lynne, who helped me find my way to the local supermarket etc. A few days later, we were joined by Sis Jackie Grieve, and the Barton family from QLD making 8 fieldworkers. Tuesday morning we had our first fieldworker meeting, and Bro Vitou told me I would teach 4 classes that day, so it was “straight to work”. My students at the BEC    were at various stages of instruction, from com...

Well here we are! From the Gold Coast and the Pacific to the South China Sea we start a new venture. Hesitations, misconceptions and disinclinations left behind as we encounter new challenges, people and places that shred our doubts and turn them into spiritual well being and wonder. Suddenly we have found energy and sparkle as we break new ground with familiar faces all around us. Brothers and sisters welcoming, encouraging and drawing out the light we pray will shine from our hearts and minds during our short, three month stay. Carried in our thoughts are the faces of brethren who sent us on our way with   prayers and their love. A final phone call from a co-worker from previous field trips – spurring us on with his gentle loving words. Our hearts grow stronger and our minds swell with ideas and plans, memories and experiences, sufferings and awe-inspiring joy as we remember how big our Heavenly Father can be in our lives and closeness to Christ that we ...

It was one of the few occasion where the person is soaked to the skin before they've even gone into the water. The day of Kunthea's baptism was warm and sunny, but came over with the afternoon/evening shower as usual at about  5pm ... just in time to saturate anyone without a raincoat on hand. Thankfully the shower passed in less than half an hour so we were still able to hold the baptism outside at the dorms. So Kunthea Chheung was baptised into the sin-covering name of our Lord Jesus Christ  on Saturday the 20th of July, witnessed by many of her new brothers and sisters, the dormers and her mother. The short ceremony, indicating a life-long dedication to God, was then followed by the usual Saturday  Night Seminar... but the seminar wasn't quite so “usual”... Our Bro Max spoke about the importance of names and what it means to take on the Name of Yahweh. He showed us that the High Priest had “Holiness to Yahweh” across his forehead, that any Israelite coul...

It is so wonderful to be back with our brothers and sisters in Phnom Penh, each time we are overwhelmed with the joy they show in welcoming us into this amazing corner of God’s vineyard. How blessed we are to have this relationship with each other and we urge each one of you to meditate on this single blessing for a moment because it is something that other people in the world do not experience unless they choose to follow God. To feel a part of this body no matter where we are in the world and to share a love for each other which knows no bounds is truly an inexpressible gift from our Father. We will stay in Phnom Penh until Monday and then embark on our journey to the Bible Education Centre in Sihanoukville, which will be home until the end of October. We feel excited and challenged by the prospects of living and teaching in “Snooky” (as Raju affectionately calls it :-) having spent a lot of time preparing at home for this time before leaving Australia. We a...

It’s time for me to write something to let you know what we have been doing here at the BEC. Things have been very busy with the number of students coming for instruction in Bible subjects and also for further study in the English language. English is so important for anyone who wishes to make a reasonable living; and other languages such as Korean, Japanese and Chinese can be just as important depending on where the individual is working for example. Brother Albert Cruz from the Philippines has been working in the recently established BEC in Sihanouk-ville. A young brother named Dy is stationed there permanently and when Albert traveled to the city he also took with him sister Pov to help maintain the household. Our BEC local manager, Vitou at Phnom Penh, decided it would be good to visit Albert to see how he was getting along and we had a most enjoyable time with him. So Dany, Vitou’s beautiful wife, Vitou and I made the journey down to the seaside town of Sihanouk-ville. The ...