Written by Paul and Susan Lee

God’s Faithfulness

It has been twelve years since we started our mission in Cambodia. During that time God has been raising up Khmer pastors, and church leaders, and all their wives, who are equally gifted and devoted to the ministry. These ten Khmer families along with the MTW Cambodia team minister together in nine church plants with over 250 brothers and sisters worshipping and growing in these churches both in the villages of Cambodia as well as the capital city, Phnom Penh.

God has also been building up the next generation of the Khmer Church through the evangelism and discipleship of over 130 high school and university students in these local churches.

The ministry extends to Family Clinic, a Cambodian medical clinic jointly established by MTW Cambodia. This clinic represents 30 Khmer medical staff and 1000s of patients in the communities of the local churches we partner with, many of whom hear the gospel and are prayed over.

The mission also engages in partnership with anti-trafficking organizations in caring for and encouraging survivors of sex-trafficking. Our team, along with the local church, teach bible studies and provide a church community that accepts and embraces these girls, teaching them that they are valued by God and by their brothers and sisters.

Often the fruit of the ministry has been in spite of our weaknesses and our inadequacies but God has been gracious. He has been present and has opening doors in unplanned and unexpected ways. An integral part of his grace and provision has been our partnership with you. God has been working through your prayers, your visits, and your support to establish his church in Cambodia. We are so very grateful for your partnership in the Gospel in Cambodia.

God’s Movement

Now as we look forward to the next twelve years of our mission, we have been asking the question, “how can we continue to grow in our partnership with the Khmer Church that furthers our vision to see a church planting movement in sustainable ways?”

As we have dreamed and prayed together as a team and in partnership with our Khmer brothers and sisters we have envisioned a new multipurpose building where missionaries and the Khmer church can minister together. It would be one integrated space where

1) Khmer Christian Church (KCC) can worship and reach out to its community.

2) We can provide dorms for students coming from village churches to reside and grow in their faith while attending university or vocational training.

3) We can provide dorms for young women who have graduated from the transition program of anti-trafficking organizations with whom we partner.

4) The Cambodian Presbyterian Association (CPA) can meet and plan.

5) Classes can be held for theological education for both pastors and university students.

6) The MTW Cambodia team can meet and worship together.

7) The Worship Institute can train worship leaders and compose/produce new Khmer praise music for churches throughout the country.

8) The Church Planting Institute can produce videos to help equip and mentor church leaders. 
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8_hXjt0MC4-1l1-J_34WpA/featured
https://www.facebook.com/dhcministry

The construction of this building would immediately address the challenge of sustainability. Rental prices have been far outpacing living costs and wages and this has made it difficult to stay rooted in one community. Surging rents have forced churches to relocate to more affordable areas, leaving communities that the churches have invested in. Not just the church but also our team has had to move due to rental costs as well. This has meant that the church plants and our team have been constantly on the move and separate from each other.

Constructing a building would remove the need to rent and would provide sustainability for Khmer Christian Church and the MTW Cambodia team. Instead of rental fees, funds could be used to provide for a more lasting presence in the local communities we reside and minister in.

It would also address the challenge of partnering with our Khmer brothers and sisters as we can deepen our relationship as we pray, fellowship, and minister together to advance the kingdom in Cambodia.

Would you prayerfully consider partnering with us as we seek to build the Khmer Mission Center? We seek your prayers and your support.

Donation Link: https://mtw.org/projects/khmer-christian-church-mtw-ministry-p0390

This post is written by John Lee

This is one of our student’s essays for English class with us about her experience during Covid-19. Chandara is in 12th grade this year. She has studied with us since 4th grade.

The post below was written by Danielle. She was a member of the Exilic Church team that came in February, 2020.

This past February, a group of eight of us from Exilic Presbyterian Church in NYC had the privilege of traveling to Cambodia for a weeklong short-term mission trip. This was my second visit; I had been out to see them the year prior as well, as part of Exilic’s vision trip.  

When we arrived, we had been expecting to act as a relief team, of sorts. During the preparation for our trip, God had really placed upon our hearts a desire to encourage the MTW team: to come alongside them, to befriend them, and, for one week, to take on some of what they had on their plates. We practiced skits and prepared worship songs; we wrote discussion questions and designed lesson plans; we brainstormed ideas for crafts, for games, for icebreakers, for tutorials. We wanted to encourage the team, but we also wanted to be genuinely useful. For myself, I knew that our week’s worth of contributions would be a drop in the bucket when compared to the months and years that the long-term missionaries had spent in the field… but I hoped that everything we had prepared would, at the very least, go as planned. 

Well, God is so good at putting everything into the right perspective. Within the first couple days of arriving, we sat down with MTW missionaries Paul and Tim, who gave us an orientation on the organization, the Cambodia team, their mission, and their work. As Paul ran us through the team’s stated core principles, I was struck by one in particular: “Relationships over results.” 

Paul explained that in the mission field, it was sometimes easy to fall into the trap of focusing on quantitative outcomes or scale, especially when communicating with supporters or communities back home. He reminded us that ultimately, missions is God’s work, not ours — His to control, His to attend to, and His to prosper. Remembering this helps to shift the focus away from analyzing results and towards building relationships, whether with Khmer pastors, local church members, partner organizations, or non-believing neighbors. 

Immediately, I felt challenged to reframe my approach to our purpose and contribution as a short-term team. Ultimately, we were there not just to carry out pre-drawn agenda items, but to witness the work God is completing in Cambodia through MTW and its national partners, and to fellowship with and bring encouragement to His people. And it’s true that the most unforgettable part of our trip were the new relationships and friendships we created while we were there.  

We were blessed to spend time with warm-hearted Sovanny, an MTW Cambodia staff member, whose story highlighted the way in which a chance encounter with a missionary could, over time, grow into a faithful relationship with Christ. We got to hang out with our friend Orchea, whom we met last year — both his English and his guitar skills now three times as good! Watching him lead worship at Redemption in Christ Church (RCC) in Phnom Penh, while remembering how his story began with Pastor Luke and Sokha in Angk’jeay Village, served as a powerful testament to God’s faithfulness. We brought praise teams from all three MTW church plants in Phnom Penh together for workshops, giving us the chance to learn from one another and trade songs in both languages. In Angk’jeay Village, we made countless young friends, ranging from four to 17 years of age. They kept us laughing, had us beat in a game of basketball, and got us dancing to the hottest tracks in Cambodia. At the Family Clinic run by Dr. Mark and Dr. Nara, the women on our team gathered with a group of women doctors and staff to read the Word, share our testimonies, and pray for one another. We spent an entire afternoon with the missionaries’ children, playing games, going to the park, and bonding over an abundance of snacks. And during an evening with university students, we shared the joys and worries that occupied our daily lives, discovering how much we all had in common: school to study for, family lives to tend to, careers to advance… But also: A good and gracious God, who is the same in Cambodia as He is in New York. 

Which reminds me of another thing Paul said to us during our trip. Upon our return, he wisely counseled, we should keep in mind that for this season, God has called our team to serve in New York City — just as he and his family have been called to serve in Phnom Penh. As members of a single body, we each have our roles to play. 

That’s right, I realized. We were so incredibly blessed to have spent one week in fellowship with these amazing missionaries. How much more encouraging to know that we are faithfully supporting one another as co-laborers, through prayer and love, the other 51 weeks of the year? To know that we can celebrate together and suffer with one another. To know that we can reach out and rely on one another. To know that God is being faithful not only here, where I am called, but also on the other side of the world, where my brothers and sisters have been called. For though not all of us call ourselves missionaries, we are all living with a mission. 

It’s been almost one month since our return from Cambodia. In that short period, so much has changed. We nearly didn’t get on that plane to Phnom Penh due to the first murmurings of the coronavirus. Now, I find myself self-isolating in my own apartment. Uncertainty fills the air. My neighbors and I wonder how long we’ll have to spend our lives alone and separate, confined to our small corners of the world. Similar changes have unfolded all over the world, Cambodia included. More than ever, I am so grateful to have a God who cannot be confined, who is watching not only over this city, and this earth, but also over entire galaxies, beyond what we could ever conceive. All-powerful, all-knowing, and all love. What a comfort to know that together, we serve such a God.

Jay came on a joint short-term team with Christ Central Southern CA and Christ Central SF.

Hello, my name is Jay Go, and I was one of the members of Christ Central of Southern California (CCSC) that was able to go to Cambodia this summer to support some of the long-term missionaries there. I was also one of the beneficiaries of Pastor Luke and Sokha’s hospitality, as I stayed with them in their home along with 7 other teammates from our church and Christ Central San Francisco.

I am certain the Lord’s pursuit of me started years before I recognized it, but I was able to see a glimpse of the great grace of Jesus Christ 7 years ago when I entered the workforce. The Lord graciously crushed me, and began the work of making me question the vanity of life and the reality of Christ. Since then, I have been a part of CCSC, and have only heard about missions thru conversations and sermons. This would be my first short term missions trip.

The trip helped form my current perception of missions and the church. I spent more time in the 2 weeks in Cambodia talking and thinking about missions than my entire life previously. The experience shed some light on the challenge of overseas missions that I have never known. Previously, I would say and think that all Christians are missionaries. While I still think this is true, there are challenges I saw that long term overseas missionaries faced that I never realized, with many more challenges that I am sure I am ignorant of. I can see no real motivation for fame, riches, or esteem in an endeavor like this. It was indeed an encouragement to me though, to realize how missionaries around the world pursued those who do not know the Lord, just like Jesus did with me.

This trip to Cambodia was sobering, challenging, and encouraging.

Being in a developing nation was sobering. As I thought about the living conditions, the humidity, the critters, the corruption , the state of healthcare, the nation’s history in relation to the Khmer Rouge – it all weighed heavy on me. As I reviewed my journal thoughts, I remembered writing that I know that theologically, spiritual death is the worst condition to be in, though suffering in this life is not to be diminished either (eg. Job). I was challenged as I thought it was even more painful to be in a place of poverty, and on top of that, to not know Christ. But what about the inverse – to know Christ and still be in a place of poverty. How would this compare to someone living in more comfort, and knowing Christ? I know the ‘right’ answer is that having Christ is all one needs. Yet it was challenging to think that having Christ and comfort was better – as the comfort (which very well may be a blessing from God) can also be a distraction, as the reliance on the Lord may be diminished.

The trip did challenge me to re-arrange my priorities, and I hope these challenges stick with me. One way the trip did this was exposing my warped view of vocation. I noticed in the past how I would be jealous if other engineers received more esteeming projects. This jealousy almost seems trivial now. Unfortunately, I am almost certain that I will continue to foolishly coveting these things. The perspective change that I am seeing, as assisted in my recent reading in ‘Don’t Waste your Life’, is to focus on blessing people thru my vocation. Trust in the Lord’s provision, and aim to be a blessing. I hope I will learn and live this out.

It was incredibly encouraging to hear testimonies of the people being saved, and desiring to share the gospel with their family and friends, despite the relationships that have separated because of them accepting Christ. It floored me to hear how a number of people desired to become missionaries themselves. The redemptive work of the Lord was encouraging as it seemed to be everywhere – in the hospital where Mark works, in the house of Luke and Sokha (their home was literally a light in the village), and in the work of the lives of the students. 

There are two specific stories that I wanted to share to close this blog post:

 “Value of short term missions: story of Acts 26:28”

Before we left, there was a part of me that was doubtful of the value of short term missions. During our missions training, I found myself wondering if we would be more of a burden versus a blessing for the missionaries. A few days into our time in the village, we were having our evening debriefing, and I shared my thoughts on how we are here for such a small period of time, and how we are just seeing a snapshop of years of work done by the missionaries. In response, one of our teammates, Ryan, shared an image of watering seeds (I understood it as blessing others) that was helpful to me. He shared that we do not know who will water the seeds – and while sometimes one may simply be providing a drop of water, the Lord can use even that, and Ryan wanted to be a part of it. Ryan’s resolve was to simply be a blessing in whatever way he can. While this did give me more peace about the value of our time there, the following morning’s reading astounded to me. My reading was in Acts, and it went over the exchange between Paul and King Agrippa.  

Verse 28, 29: And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?” And Paul said, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am—except for these chains.”

Reading this was chilling that morning… whether short or long, Paul’s endeavor was that others would be like him. The thoughts in my head right now, are that it is only the Lord who provides the blessing. We ought to aim to be a blessing, but whether it is short or long, brilliant or mundane, it is simply the Lord. I recall Pastor Simon, our team leader, sharing about his time in seminary and that the Lord uses us ‘despite’ who we are, not because of who we are. I am seeing more and more how this is true in my life. As time passed, I saw the Lord working mutual blessings between the missionaries and the team, and I grew in my respect for short term missions.

            “Rejoicing in our salvation” 

Pastor Simon shared a message on Luke 10:20 – where Jesus shared to his followers that they ought not to rejoice in the fact that spirits submitted to them, but that their names are written in heaven. As the days passed, I so wanted Luke and Sokha to witness the blessing of seeing their students and people in their community come to Christ – essentially the fruit of their labor. As I felt the weight of the challenges of their ministry, this desire grew in me. Some time later, I heard Pastor Luke recalling this message. And he shared how his premier joy ought to be that he is saved. 

At this point in my trip, I was growing in my esteem for overseas missionaries. Hearing this really ‘leveled’ the playing field. While that esteem and respect is still there, the exchange reminded me that all who are saved can be joyful in any circumstance. It is not the fruit of our hands that we can be primarily joyful about, nor anything that we can showcase to God that we may be doing for His name’s sake – but our primary joy ought to be in the fruit of Christ’s work in us. 

I am grateful for the privilege to have been part of the team this past summer – words are not enough to describe the experience, nor the blessings I’ve received from the missionaries and believers there. Thank you for taking the time to read thru my thoughts – may the Lord bless you richly, and be glorified in your life.

Phil came on a joint short-term team with Christ Central Southern CA and Christ Central SF.