CHURCH PLANTING
A DISTINCT IDENTITY
Tim and Wendy Maddocks began church planting in the Siem Reap town in 1992 while Tim worked for the Adventist Development and Relief Agency as a development project manager. Prak Heng and his family were some of the fruit of that church planting work. Tim and Wendy selected Heng and his family to assist them in the next church plant which was to be in Sombua, west of the Siem Reap town in the neighborhood of what is now Wat Preah Yesu. By the time the first Lay training program began in the middle of 1998, some 16 people had been baptized from the local community surrounding Wat Preah Yesu, and beyond. Nine of these new Christians joined the first lay training program in preparation for going out on new church plants. At the end of the first Lay Training program in December 1998, SALT Ministries was ready to begin 9 new church plants while continuing the church plant at Sombua. These church plants were made possible by a grant from ASI a laymen’s ministry based in the United States.
Today there are 13 groups meeting that have their origins from that original project. SALT Ministries funds 1 full-time Bible worker to continue the spread of the Gospel in Siem Reap town. The aim is to strengthen the Siem Reap town congregation originally started by Tim and Wendy in 1992.
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STORY
Buntha is one of those people especially called by God to reach a special group of people in a special way. Born in the mountains in the north east of Cambodia to a father from the Jarai tribal group and a mother from the Tampuon tribal group, Buntha grew up speaking three languages, Jarai, Tampuon and Khmer. In his early twenties Buntha became a Christian and a member of a protestant Sunday keeping church. Being somewhat of a natural linguist, he began learning English with the Seventh-day Adventist Global Mission Pioneers in his local town (This team of pioneers attended the SALT Ministries Lay training program before beginning church planting. in Ratanakiri). It was not long before Buntha had accepted the 7th day as the true Sabbath and was baptised into the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He immediately asked to attend the SALT Ministries Lay Training program some 500 kilometers away in Siem Reap. He proved himself to be a keen Bible student. While at the training he fell in love with a young Khmer girl by the name of Lay. They were married before the end of the training and headed for Buntha's village to begin church planting among the Tampuon tribal group. Buntha proved himself to be a gifted evangelist quickly establishing two worship groups and bringing two Sunday groups into the Sabbath truth.
Lay became pregnant, but lost the baby at 7 months after a heavy fall when her bicycle slid on the slippery road while she was out visiting interests. In March, 2003, the first fruits of their ministry received baptism in the bueatiful volcanic lake known as Yeak Luon.
In his desire to reach tribal people further away, Buntha set up a small grassroots training center where he could bring in interested people from the distantly scattered hill tribe groups to introduce them to Jesus and send them back as ambassadors for Christ. The center, made from bush materials, opened for its first 6 week training in Janaury 2004.
It is exciting to see how rapidly the Gospel is spreading amongst the hill-tribe people in Ratankiri province.
BUNTHA'S STORY
Tu tried everything to get well, but only deteriorated further in health. As a last resort she turned to God. Born in Varin District, Siem Reap Province, Tu had married a local boy and they had one son, Duk. Tu was a pretty girl before she got sick and lost weight. She had been to the local Shaman's for healing, and called the local itinerant doctors. Tu had spent everything she had but things were getting worse. She had heard that at the Christian church in Svay Sor, people had been healed so as a last resort she tried there. Guon and Tay, the local family who have been church planting in Svay Sor for 6 years, welcomed her into their home and ministered to her with prayer and sought advice from Wendy, who dispensed some antibiotics incase the problem was an STD. One Sabbath morning at 6:00am, Tim set out from home for the grueling 2 hour off rode ride to worship with the Svay Sor group, arriving just in time to join the nearly 40 members and interests worship our Lord. After the service the usual medical consultations began at which time Tim met Tu for the first time. Not being a doctor, Tim guessed her problem was TB and asked for her and her son, Duk, to come to Wat Preah Yesu for a better diagnosis from Wendy. On arrival Tu was hospitalized as she was too weak to sit up. During her hospital visit she was diagnosed as HIV+, as was her son, and latter her husband. When Tu was strong enough Tu returned to Wat Preah Yesu where she could receive support while trying to recover. She was given TB drugs as well as Anti-Retro-viral drugs by the hospital. She began a slow recovery but would have her down days when she would need intravenous fluid. Tu's husband refused to believe he was HIV + as he appeared to be in very good health. Seeing his emaciated 25 year old wife making little progress in recovery, he decided to abandon her and take another wife. This action will almost certainly lead to another HIV+ infection.
After several months stay at Wat Preah Yesu, Tu took a turn for the worst and needed hospitalization again. In a western country you would call an ambulance and this process would be very simple. Not here in Cambodia. Tu was lifted onto Tim's motorbike and Wendy sat behind her to keep her from falling off. Half hour latter she was at the hospital. Tu died the following morning. A sad story with a joyful ending. Tu had seen the love of Jesus in action and had given her life to Jesus. She did not receive the physical healing she had hoped for, but had received something better, spiritual healing that she had never dreamed was available. Tim talked with Tu in the hospital the night before she died. Her breathing was labored and she was in a lot of pain, but her hope was running high. Tu knew she was going to die, but she also knew that Jesus is the Resurrection and the life and that he who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. Tu went to sleep with the hope of the resurrection. Her name does not show up on baptismal statistics but it is written in God's Book of Life.
We could end the story here, but it has some more interesting details that you may like to know. The day before Tu died we had sent word for her parents to come quickly. Tu died at 5:00 am the following morning. The hospital gave us until 2:00pm to get the corpse from their un-refrigerated mortuary. By 1:30 pm Tu's parents had not arrived. Heng, the church Pastor and Tim consulted as to what to do, deciding to bring the body back to Wat Preah Yesu and have a burial ceremony in the afternoon. Heng organized the transportation of the body while Tim and a group of orphans prepared the burial site in the Wat Preah Yesu cemetery. The funeral ceremony got under way at 4:30pm. About 4:40 pm Tu's parents arrived and requested a cremation so they could take the ashes back to their district. At a moments notice the funeral was suspended until further notice and all able hands were called upon to assist with collecting firewood from around Wat Preah Yesu and to re-design the burial site into a cremation site. By 7:30 pm the funeral was restarted. the cremation was started with a bang. No body had remembered to buy kerosene to get the fire going nice and hot, so we opted for petrol instead. It was a little too volatile and before it could soak in, the fumes had ignited from the flame of a kerosene lamp and for a moment their was a ball of fire and then no fire at all. Eventually the wood did catch a light and the bones were collected at 1:00am in the morning. A successful funeral, but one that left extreme exhaustion for the participants.
Duk, Tu's son is doing well in the orphanage. He is receiving Anti-Retro-Viral treatment from the Angkor Children's Hospital. Duk will grow up in a Christian home at Wat Preah Yesu and if he chooses to walk with Jesus, be re-united with his mother on the day that Jesus comes again. Guon and Tay's witness as church planters has resulted in the expansion of family of God. With out them, Tu and Duk would never of heard of Jesus.
TU'S STORY
29THÂ OF MAY, 2004
SPECIAL FEATURE
The 29th of May, 2004, was a super special Sabbath when 25 people were baptized at Wat Preah Yesu. These people were the most recent fruits of the SALT Ministries Church Planting work. It was also exciting to see over 50 people come forward to commit their lives to Jesus and future Baptism.
MAP
Places in Cambodia where Seventh-day Adventist Lay-people whom have completed the 4 month Lay-training course at Wat Preah Yesu are sharing the Love of God
