Pastor Nhem Nivath, head of the Cambodian Baptist Union has a problem. His country is one of the poorest countries in the world. People don’t have a lot of material things and there is another dominant world religion that rules the religious scene. The Baptist World Alliance lists the Cambodian Baptist Union as having 260 churches with a grand total of 7,895 members. Recently a group of people traveled to Cambodia to assist local believers conduct an evangelism effort among schools, house groups, rural villages and public places. The group coming to help numbered about 30 people and they had to rely on translators for their work. You’re probably thinking it was a total bust. How can 30 foreigners hope to have any lasting results in a foreign culture? Isn’t evangelism done best when the message is spoken by a native speaker? I’m such a cynic when it comes to stuff like this.  As one that’s done translation work, I remember how difficult it can be when trying to interpret examples from one culture to another.

Well, according to Cyndi, a reliable friend who lives in another country in SE Asia, it went much better than anyone connected to the project could have imagined. In the end over 5,000 people made public professions of faith in Christ. Some of the helpers were staying on a bit longer and helping to rent trucks to transport people to lakes and rivers for baptism events. It’s been a while since I’ve heard about “trucking people” to their baptism. Pastor Nivath asks for prayer support. He says they need help in teaching these new converts about the ABCs of the Christian Faith. He asks for help with transport for evangelists/pastors (2 motorcycles) and for some support for pastors trying to disciple the rookies. It seems like they have their hands full…full of unexpected blessings.