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The Lord told Jeremiah to go to the potter's shop where pots and jars are made [18:2]. If Jeremiah had lived in Cambodia, he would have been told to go to the basket shop where all kinds and shapes of baskets and mats and containers are made. But just as Jeremiah found a potter would "re-throw" a defective pot, a basket weaver will remake the basket until the weaver is satisfied. |
| The Lord told Jeremiah that the Israelite people were like clay in the potter's hand and they were being molded and shaped into a useful and pleasing design by the Lord, who was the Potter. The word of the Lord in Cambodia is that the people of faith in Cambodia are being woven into various congregations and networks and structures that are both pleasing and useful to the Lord. The Lord is the Basket Weaver. |  |
| The Cambodian people have often felt the forces of
destruction. It has come in many forms and from many different sources.
Cambodia has experienced it as a nation and in each individual's experience.
Even the young people born after the Khmer Rouge period have continued to
experience the chaos, the lack of trust, and the meager opportunities for
education left as their inheritance.
For the United Methodists in Cambodia, the first result of the Master Basket Weaver was the weaving together of believers into individual congregations. The refugees who had become Christians in the camps or in their new countries of refuge then came back to Cambodia from the United States, or Switzerland, or France and started congregations in a wide variety of places where their family and friends were living. Some of these congregations grew and they started other new congregations as well. For years, all of these efforts were supported and nourished by the Cambodian congregations and other supporting Methodist congregations in the countries of refuge. But the Master Basket Weaver was also working with the Methodist Church in Korea, the Singapore Mission Society, and the World Federation of Chinese Methodist Churches to weave effective ministries in Cambodia. These ministries not only included developing congregations but school programs for general education, language classes, and sports programs. In this last year, these and the United Methodist ministries were registered with the Royal Government of Cambodia as the Cambodia Christian Methodist Association. So individual efforts are becoming a joint work for all Methodist groups in Cambodia. |
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Sovandy has a wonderful home with a big family: Sarom, his wife, four sons age two to eleven, Sarom's mother, two of Sarom's brothers, and a daughter of one of those brothers. Each member makes a unique and enriching contribution to the home and family and, in the process, to the recovery and healing of Cambodia. Part of the witness of this family in the community is that Sarom's father was killed in 1991 in this very home because he was a Christian. Yet Sovandy, in spite of the threat of persecution, answered the call to ministry and helped to establish the present church. Sarom's is also a strong witness in her own right. Sovandy spends two days per month in Phnom Penh, where he and other coordinators are hammering out what it means to be the Methodist Church in Cambodia. When he is at home, he visits each of the four churches in his province to assist the local pastors in this growing church. (While I was in Svay Rieng, Sovandy went to the Ministry of Cults and Religion to register two new churches that are forming; so now there are six.) On Saturdays, he brings all the pastors together to teach evangelism, ministry for children, church administration, and pastoral care. Every morning, four to seven of the church members living in the community meet at the church for Bible study. They are studying II Kings now, one chapter a day. They each read a verse around the circle and then discuss the key verse to remember. They sing some hymns and pray. How inspiring it is to think of this wonderful example of faithful Christians' daily witness, a shining light spreading out to all the community. While I was there, Sovandy had to go back to Phnom Penh for the Pastors' School, so he left one of his pastors, Saroeum, in charge of my schedule. Saroeum would teach me Khmer as we flew along on his motorcycle. Even though he was teaching me, he always called me "Teacher." Each day we would go to one of the churches and visit the members with the pastor, evangelize new homes, or conduct worship services. These pastors really work hard, so it is no wonder that the church is growing so fast in Cambodia! |
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Rath Tina is 10 years old and lives in Svay Rieng. He carefully drew this picture of a typical house in the village. It is tall because it is, of course, from a child's perspective. The houses are painted bright colors sometimes, like this. Sometimes families have a television set that they can watch using power from a large battery. (Fifteen percent of Cambodian households have electricity.) The houses are built up on stilts because formerly there were tigers and other wild animals in Cambodia and because during the rainy season the land often floods. Many homes experienced flood waters for up to two months last year and the people can show you the watermarks on their homes. |
One afternoon, Sokha, a young woman of the
church, came to me and said in gestures: "Come and visit my home."
We walked out over the ridges between the rice fields, maybe a kilometer.
Her home was immaculately enclosed in a saw palmetto hedge with a house
on stilts, palm-woven walls, thatched roof, two cows, a pig, a cat, a dog,
chickens, ducks, and a hand-pump well. Her mother graciously invited me
to a supper of rice, fried eggs, dried fish, a lovely spicy sauce, and fruit.
I had a person interpreting a little, so we enjoyed a lively conversation
through supper. The moon came up and we walked back to Sovandy's house,
visiting other friends' homes on the way. It had been an evening full of
God's grace.
During the week, the pastors blessed two new homes that had been built,
both for widows with children, both Christian homes. One was a house that
was built almost completely that day. In the evening, we climbed up into
the house, and as the sun went down, we sang and worshiped our God, who
is rebuilding Cambodia |
| The contributors to this article
are United Methodist missionaries serving in Cambodia: Warren and Jo Harbert,
Joseph and Marilyn Sovann Chan, Ariel and Mike Collins, and Anne Kolbe.
Text and photographs copyright 2001 by New World Outlook: The Mission Magazine of The United Methodist Church. Used by Permission. For reprint permission, contact New World Outlook by E-mail at nwo@gbgm-umc.org. |
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