Five Methodist and United Methodist churches operating missions in Cambodia have joined their efforts to work toward one Methodist church in Cambodia. Ron Tompkins writes about the new Cambodia initiative and tells how United Methodists have gotten involved in the growing mission.
A lay pastor attending
the pastors' school in Phnom Penh
Recent photos from the local pastors' training school-- a joint effort of the five missions-- show how much can be done when churches from all over the world converge in mission.
Construction of a new mission residence
The United Methodist Board of Global Ministries is spending $350,000 on a mission center in Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital-- $250,000 to purchase a "very versatile" property on a main throroughfare,
according to the Rev. ST Kimbrough Jr., associate general secretary for mission evangelism,
and $100,000 provided by the Women's Division for renovation and other related expenses.
The center will be used by several Methodist groups working in Cambodia, reflecting the cooperative relationship there among United Methodists from the United States, France and Switzerland, and Methodists from Korea and Singapore.
The United Methodist Mission Center will focus on services for women, youth and children.
Two major areas of emphasis will be community-based health care and training in small business and agriculture. An outreach ministry will address the widespread problem of AIDS. Plans also call for prenatal care, training in hygiene and sanitation, prevention counseling and treatment for cervical cancer,and health care and other services for the hundreds of street children in the city.
A girl sells birds outside a Buddhist temple in Phnom Penh. The birds will be released as part of a ritual. About 95 percent of Cambodia's people are Buddhist.
"Mission Center in Cambodia" is excerpted from a May 4, 1998 UMNS release by Linda Bloom
New World Outlook, July-August 1998 |
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Photos by Richard Lord. Unless otherwise noted, all photographs are copyright © The General Board of Global Ministries, The United Methodist Church and courtesy, New World Outlook magazine.
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