Cambodia Bible Education Centre

If you ever feel that you've forgotten the power of the gospel, left it buried inadvertently under a multitude of word studies or forgotten the unsurpassed value of the hope it produces; go and teach it to children.  Preferably children who have never heard the message before.  Children like the 55 6-16 year-olds I teach on Wednesdays at the Leadership and Character Development Institute (LCDI).  The boarding school provides opportunities for poor and disadvantaged children to receive an education, which, according to Matthew 11:5, there is no better place to spread the good news. Simplify your words, forget the eloquent spiels you are accustomed to and bring to the surface the simplicity of the gospel truth.  "God loves you.  He wants to save you from death.  He wants to live forever with you.  That is what you were made for.  He loved you so much He sent His Son to save you."  As you speak these realities to their young hearts, you see mi...

Many people might think that a teacher’s job is over when you leave the classroom, but for most that’s not the case! Most teachers spend a lot of time outside the classroom grading papers and preparing for their next classes. For us fieldworkers at the BEC, not only do we spend some time in preparation, but it’s also an important part of our job to invest time in our relationships. Often, the BEC hosts dinner parties. Teachers also try to hang out with our student groups outside of class. This last Friday was one of the former. We had the opportunity to invite all our students to a dinner party at the BEC! In Cambodia, we love hanging out on rooftops. The more free and breezy, the better. Not only do we have our Thursday night bible class on the rooftop, but often we’ll have barbeques up there too! The vibe is super relaxed and friendly. This Friday, we invited everyone over to our rooftop for a short devotion on Psalm 23. We read the Psalm in English and Khmer (the Cambodian langu...

I don’t remember the rest of the lyrics to this song but it is definitely nice to be back in Cambodia again helping at the BECs after having to miss my annual trip in 2017.   This time around I focussed my attention on all the ecclesial activities and outreach efforts at the Bible Ed Centre in Siem Reap under the sure direction of Sister Loy.   However, I did manage to spend a few days in Phnom Penh catching up with friends old and new at the BEC and the girls’ dorm.   Sadly my month-long visit did not allow enough time for a trip to the BEC in Sihanoukville. The small ecclesia in Siem Reap has some wonderful things happening and could do with some long-term support for those thinking about coming to Cambodia as fieldworkers.   There is an enthusiastic group of twenty outreach students who have been attending monthly classes at the BEC for about three years.   Considering that they all have to travel quite far (2-3 hours) on their motos to attend these outr...

I travelled to Cambodia in June 2018 – this was my 4 th  visit to the country, and I'd managed to secure 4 weeks off work to stay this time. Having stayed one night in Phnom Penh I went to Sihanoukville on June 20 th  via a 6 hour bus journey; this seems to be getting better every visit due to the improving condition of the connecting road. I was met by some familiar faces, sister Chanthy, along with Chan and Kao at the BEC were very welcoming as usual. Not much has changed in the year since my last visit, the hall is well equipped to accommodate students and to encourage them to learn from God's word and is a great place for fellowship and study. Two months had passed since the last regular fieldworkers had left the BEC in Sihanoukville, so it took some time to inform students of the arrival of a new teacher. It was decided that a new Facebook page could be set up to invite students and interested people to the regular programme of Bible classes, seminars and lessons taking...

We travelled to Siem Reap on Saturday morning and stayed at the ecclesial house. On Saturday evening, we had worship with Loy, Daran and Sokhorn, Veasna and Soklin, and their families. Richard gave the exhort, translated by Sienghai. On Sunday, we travelled by bus to Kampong Thom and then to Rovieng. Because of the holiday weekend, Sophorn and Chantrea were there to visit family, so they invited us to visit. We spent time with them, and went to Sophorn’s land to plant some trees. It was good to see Sophea’s new baby as well. Others who live in Rovieng were away in Phnom Penh or busy with farm work. In the evening, we went back to Kampong Thom and stayed in a guest house. Monday was a public holiday, so Vichhem was not working. We met her in Kampong Thom town, along with Meas Savvy, his wife and son. We had drinks at a café and then went to a hammock restaurant by the lake for worship. Sienghai was chairman, Richard gave the exhort, and Pisey translated. Savvy and his wife are livi...

In February 2018 I arrived in Cambodia for my third mission trip.   Once again it is  a feeling of being home and happy to be back with my Cambodian family.  I made the journey to Siem Reap on my favourite bus Giant Ibis.   It is a long trip but looking at the familiar landscape it is nice to be here and going off to Siem Reap to visit the small ecclesia there.   Upon my arrival in Siem Reap Bro So Vesna was there to greet me and take me to the BEC with his tuk tuk.   He is a very safe and reliable driver.   So Vesna took me to the BEC  and Sis Loy arrived home soon after.   I am always thankful to God for the safe journey from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap.   On Sunday morning SIs Loy and I headed off to the village were Bro So Vesna lives with his wife Sis Lin and two young children.  The Sunday School is held at the home of So Vesna and Lin.  I was going to teach Sunday School and Loy was m...

Our family spent nine weeks in Cambodia in early 2018. At the time, our children were aged 10, 7 and 2. We spent 5 days at the Phnom Penh BEC when we arrived which was a good opportunity to get to know people and get a feel for what was happening. Then we spent one night visiting the farm on the way to the Sihanoukville BEC where we were based for 8 weeks. My parents were with us for the majority of our stay which was a huge blessing – not just because of the pleasure of their company, but also for their help with our kids and sharing the tasks of daily life. We were fortunate to be in Sihanoukville after many months of quite consistent fieldworker activity, so there were a number of classes up and running with about 25 students in total; although we would usually only see about 15 of them on any given day. The weekly routine for our stay included 5 English lessons between 4pm and 7:30pm Tuesday to Friday, a bible seminar for students on Saturday evening, Sunday School in the BE...