Cambodia Bible Education Centre

We feel so blessed to have the opportunity to return to Cambodia and the growing ecclesia here in Phnom Penh. Each time we arrive we receive such a warm welcome and we feel this is our 'home away from home'. The ecclesia here continues to grow and alongside the newly baptised members we see the 'older' ones becoming more confident and stronger in their faith. We all need encouragement in our walk and we feel so encouraged here by the love and fellowship from our brothers and sisters. This weekend the BEC is hosting another outreach study program for many of the longtime contacts and also for people who are just coming know God. Our theme this weekend is the life of Christ, his early years, his teachings, his miracles, his death and resurrection. On Sunday morning we will have a final session to consolidate the teaching and also a time for questions and discussions. It is such a wonderful opportunity to give a whole weekend to people who have difficulty in getting to the...

When we first planned to visit Cambodia, three and a half weeks seemed like quite a long time to be away from home. Asia was a complete unknown for us, but everyone I met who had been here was full of encouragement and persuasion for us to come. Now as we are at the end of our visit, I can only agree wholeheartedly with them. From our very first tuk tuk ride from the airport to the BEC, however, we knew that we were in no ordinary place and that life for the next few weeks would be anything but dull. As Kerren mentioned last blog, the tabernacle was the main area we had intended to focus on, but it was not long before we were drawn into other activities and looking at other areas of scripture with both the residents of the dorm, and the brethren and sisters. The other subjects covered at the dorm besides the tabernacle were powerpoint presentations on The Hope for an Unstable World, which dealt with earthquakes and why God allows earthquakes to happen; and The Hope of Israel, ...

Firstly, sorry everyone for the lack of blogs! It has been my ‘turn’ for the last 3 weeks, which I have managed to promptly forget about at the close of each Tuesday fieldworker meeting. So, the events of the last few weeks... Firstly, we said goodbye to Jess P who was here for what felt like a very fast 3 months. I still get asked when I go to LCDI, “Where is your sister-in-law?” and upon explanation “Oh, I miss her! When is she coming back?” (So no pressure Jess, but when are you coming back?:) ) Next, my parents, (Dan and Ros), arrived for their 3 week visit, bringing with them all the way from Australia a scale model of the tabernacle. We held our Saturday night Seminar at the dorm on the tabernacle, then held two more sessions for the ecclesia on the Sunday afternoon/evening, with an ecclesial dinner in between. On Sunday we ran through Exodus 40, setting up the tabernacle in the order Moses was commanded, learning about what the furniture represented as we set it up. Ever...

During this trip I have come to realise the enormity of language, and how language can act as a barrier or a never ending topic of conversation when living in another country. As mentioned in a previous blog I found it to be a great blessing for me to have several native English speakers living at the BEC when I arrived, as it made the transition into life and routine here so much easier for me. I have a very poor grasp of even basic Khmer language, and as I speak too quickly and I also have a Queensland Australian accent, so my speech can often be difficult for many of the locals (I am attempting to remember to try and speak at a more reasonable pace). Now that I have picked up a few Khmer basics it is amazing see the different reactions an attempt (even a poor one) at speaking the local lingo has upon the person to whom I address. Many are most often pleasantly surprised that a foreigner not only knows a handful of Khmer words, but would attempt to employ them, and the use of a ‘hel...

We (Dan and I) are now approaching the half way mark of our six month stay and, as always in Cambodia, time is flying. The last few weeks have seen the weather escalate from (what I deem to be) a pleasant Brisbane summer heat to a ridiculously sizzling ‘I’m going to come up with every excuse I can not to go outside,’ HOT. This has, however, also brought with it the first true storm for what will soon become this years Wet Season. The best view point for these extremely noisy, incredibly fast downpours is the BEC rooftop, and it was here that Dan, Jess and I gathered to watch the first of such storms. In a matter of minutes the water was flowing down the street below. Since stars are definitely not aplenty in the city of Phnom Penh, I love to watch these storms to remind myself of God’s greatness and amazing power. As the skies light up and the thunder rolls around you, you cannot but feel the power of the words, “Be still and know that I am God.” Last weekend we held our monthly Outrea...

It amazes me to think that I have been in Cambodia for just over a month. There has been many changes over this time; Steve and Lynn have left for Australia, while and Mikki and Tamar have left for more travelling adventures in Vietnam and South Africa. It was a real blessing have them all living at the BEC when I arrived, as it made the transition into life and routine of the BEC so much easier for me. I have a very very poor grasp of even basic Khmer language (people have said to me ‘Jess why do you hate my language?’), and I speak too fast in English for many of the locals (I am attempting to remember to speak slower, but not always successfully), so to have a few native speakers for the first few weeks was very reassuring. (I have picked up a few Khmer basics, enough to know how to say hello, how are you, I am fine, thanks and to also know when Daniel or Saroun are telling each other or others they are bad workers, or they don’t like each other’s faces, which by all accounts is pre...

In other happy news we had the wonderful opportunity to witness the baptism of Bro. Rottana, and as it was the first baptism I had witnessed in Cambodia or outside of Australia for that matter, I was interested to see what local ‘flourishes’ there may be. I think that this was quiet an unusual circumstance, as it was two weeks before Khmer New Year (which goes for three days) and which many people go home to the provinces at least a week (if not two) before the event. Khmer New Year is celebrated with family and friends gatheri ng at someone’s house in the village and then proceeding with three days of Khmer dancing, eating and then more and more and more dancing. So this event coinciding along with the birthdays of two of the dormers and the baptism it was decided that a small celebratory event was in order. This consisted of a lovely dinner of fried rice, kebab skewers of various kinds of meat, and you guessed it Khmer dancing! There was karaoke earlier in the evening (but alas such ...