Cambodia Bible Education Centre

My journey began as most of mine do - with about 4 hours of frenzied bag packing. It was a trip of firsts for me; my first trip to Cambodia and my first time doing mission work. I was a little intimidated by the prospect of meeting new people and not knowing exactly what would be expected of me while I was there. Several friends assured me it would all be fine but it was still a nervous time for me. When I arrived in Phnom Penh I was met by Bro. Vitou and his wonderful wife Dany along with the real authority of the BEC- baby Jesse. During my stay I was fortunate to have the opportunity to see a lot of the tourist sites including Angkor Wat and Sihanoukville. I was immersed in the culture of the country by meeting and building relationships with the locals. I met other fieldworkers from all different places yet all preaching the same message. I witnessed 5 baptisms in the 4 weeks I spent there. I was given the greatest opportunities to teach that I have ever had with the most rec...

Two weekends ago was the King’s Birthday long weekend in Cambodia and we had the blessing of hosting a bible weekend at the BEC in Phnom Penh. Bro Andy and Sis Denise Pitcher from the Enfield Ecclesia in Adelaide came over to lead the studies and share the weekend with us. It was such an uplifting weekend with bro and sis from all over Cambodia coming to attend and join in the fun and fellowship. Bro Andy’s studies were all based on the Psalms and the links to 1 Samuel and what was going on in the time of David’s life when he wrote specific Psalms. They were really interesting studies, and I particularly enjoyed them as I have been doing 1 Samuel with one of my classes. We also did a lot of singing straight from the Psalms (here’s a link to a video I uploaded to facebook… As the Deer ) The weekend started with a big dinner of Friday night followed by a welcome evening and the first study. Vitou, was unfortunately out of action for the weekend after having his tonsi...

Well this one has been a long time coming!! Benton and I have been here in beautiful, stinking hot, Cambodia for 2 ½ months now, and sadly have only 1 ½ weeks left until our time here is up. For me, it was a return visit; an opportunity to see familiar faces, visit some favourite places and continue building on what I had already learnt from this incredible place. But for Brenton, it has been an adventure of firsts! And together, it has been one of the best adventures we could have been blessed with to share and always remember. Our three months started on the 13 th of March, the day after two of our younger cousins in Australia were baptised. It was such an exciting start to our journey! Somewhat naively, we arrived in Cambodia ready to face 3 of the hottest months of the year – good job us!! Our greatest respect and gratitude go out to the person who invented air-conditioning!! The other field workers that were here when we arrived were Verity Van Rooyen (Aus), Rachel Shaw...

Two years ago we had the privilege of being field-workers based in Phnom Penh and returned to Australia energized by the enthusiasm of the students and the warmth of our Cambodian brothers and sisters. We have just had the opportunity   to visit Sihanoukville for 2 months and would like to share some of our experiences. The first thing to note is that there is   a small (currently 4 members) but   busy ecclesia that is urgently in need of any support you can provide. Despite its small size the ecclesia manages   3 Sunday schools - one in Sihanoukville and the other   two in the province about 1 hour away in different directions. In addition to this,   at the BEC student classes are held 6 days a week,   as well as Bible Class, Sisters Class, Seminars and Worship Meetings. It amazing that   they can cope at times when there are no fieldworkers available.   So more volunteers   are needed please! The ecclesia receives support ...

It is now one month that fieldworkers from the Phnom Penh BEC have been back teaching at LCDI (Leadership Character Development Institute).  Located about 45 minutes moto ride from the BEC, LCDI is a non-government education project that offers free English lessons, and leadership development (hence the name) classes to its resident students. These students come from poor families and for a lot if not all of them this has meant they haven’t had the chance to properly go through the schooling system. Fieldworkers to Cambodia from yesteryear would be familiar with LCDI and a quick google search reveals a blog Michael Hewitt ran during involvement there in 2010. Our first trip back there saw Vitou, Dany, little Jessica, Ratana and all of us fieldworkers take a van out there.  The road out of Phnom Penh that leads to LCDI is currently undergoing significant roadworks and as such the going was slow and bumpy at times. Once we arrived we were greeted by about 25 enthusiastic stu...

It's amazing that you can go to a new country only knowing the one person you're travelling with and then within days feel totally and completely at home in a building you've never been in before and with people you've never met before.  But that's the Cambodia BEC experience! It's life changing, it's hilariously fun and it brings a whole new meaning to 'brothers and sisters in Christ'. I came to Cambodia with my big brother, Tim and I was scared, overwhelmed and had a terrible sleep the first night or two because I lay awake wondering how I was suppose to teach English and the Bible to people whose first language wasn't English.  I even cried to  myself quietly hoping my roomies couldn't hear me, but some advice I received before I left Australia for Cambodia was  'pray always' (thanks to Ben Topham for that Facebook comment on my mum's photo of me and Tim ready to go) and so I prayed to God who blessed me with the oppo...

On the 15 th of January 2016 Jess, Tim, Carolyn and I hopped on a night bus heading to Siem Reap! We were quite excited and apprehensive for what lay before us on the night bus. It was a restless nights sleep snuggled up against one another and waking often to swerving, screaming and toilet stops.   At 6am the following morning we made it in 4 pieces and went straight to the TLJ bakery. Jess was disappointed with the lack of peppermint tea, but the bakery goods were much enjoyed.   With the arrival of Loy came further joy. Then it was off to BEC Siem Reap to settle in, rest, meet the brothers and sisters and last but not least the Siem Reap BEC babies, Cushy and Jackie (puppies!!!!).     On Sunday morning Carolyn, Jess and I Tuktuked with brother Veasna to his village, to teach Sunday school. I taught the kids the letter Y, and then Carolyn taught them about Daniel and the Lions Den, which was followed by making lion puppet...