Scene from a Cambodian house church
If that headline throws you a bit, imagine being in the Cambodian school where Khmer Rouge soldiers actually threw infants up in the air to be shot by other soldiers. Such horror was commonplace in Cambodia during the reign of the communists who conquered that unhappy nation in the wake of the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam.
Examiner contributor Paul Chesser files his latest update on his mission trip to Southeast Asia from Phnom Penh and other points in Cambodia. Balancing his description of the memorials to those who died in the incredible barbarity that gripped Cambodia is the joy Paul witnessed, especially among children, during his day with colleagues Tim and Chris:
“We were greeted at the airport by our friend Vibol, who is Indochina director for the Bible League. We rode in a Toyota pickup that seats five (again, no American models on the roads), with another Bible League worker, Moy, as our driver.
“We arrived at Vibol’s home where he leads a house church — but today Tim would preach. We were led to an open-air upper room above the main home, with a wood plank floor and two oscillating fans to cool a congregation of about 40 people of all ages.
“The seats were stackable plastic lawn chairs you usually see on American porches. As we exited the truck we were greeted in the front yard by several children starting their Sunday school lessons. They had beautiful smiles and a lot of enthusiasm.”
You can read Paul’s full update here.
UPDATE: YouTube of Cambodian Worship Service
Paul sends this link to a YouTube clip of a Cambodian worship service. I don’t think it’s the same house church in which Paul and his mission colleagues worshipped earlier this week, but the Spirit is the same.
UPDATE: Paul Reports Great Things
Here’s Paul’s third update and it sounds like good things are happenning.
UPDATE: Headed for Laos
Paul and company are wrapping up their work in Cambodia and Vietnam and are heading for Laos. In the meantime, here is Paul’s latest update. That’s Paul with a Vietnamese boy on the border of Cambodia and Vietnam in the photo below.
And here’s another update from Paul. I think he’s having much more success in accessing the Internet than perhaps he expected before leaving on this mission trip.
Interesting, too, to see the differences among the churches in Southeast Asian, as Paul is encountering them. As he explains in this passage from his latest update, he expected the situation in Vietnam to be different than he found it.
The church leaders he met in Vietnam seemed to be significantly further along than those in Cambodia, despite facing what appears to be many more restrictions on their activities:
“I don’t think it has anything to do with intelligence. Our conference with leaders just outside of Saigon was composed almost entirely of house church planters, and they evangelize. They are not shy. But they have to know their stuff because they are restricted in what they can do. They are allowed to walk up to people on the street and talk to them, but they cannot distribute printed material or other media. They cannot carry around a Bible openly.
“But they can meet in church buildings, if the government has approved them. Some churches you see here even have the words “Evangelical Church” on their signs. The Christian and Missionary Alliance, probably the most prevalent Protestant denomination in the country, has more than 500 churches in Vietnam. Christians can worship, sing loudly, and preach as long as they have been recognized. The problems arise when they start speaking against the government. But why do you need to do that if all you are trying to do is persuade them that they need Jesus Christ?”
Historically, the great thing about Paul’s last observation is that when people know Jesus Christ, they know there can be no such thing as an absolute ruler on Earth. No King, dictator, religious denomination or political party is the ultimate source of truth.
And from that recognition comes the fundamental basis of political, religious, social and economic liberty. Ideas – and religious faith is nothing if not an idea about who we are, why we are here and why we and the universe exist – do have consequences, eternally and temporally.
UPDATE: Vietnam’s memorial
Paul and his comrades took a side trip to one of the tunnel complexes created by the Viet Cong during the War inVietnam. Lots of photos accompany Paul’s commentary on what they saw. Warning! If you are a Vietnam vet, you may find this post difficult to read because Paul does an excellent job of pointing out how the memorial is essentially nothing more than a paen to the communist conquerors of South Vietnam.
Christianity
Jesus
God
Freedom of Religion
Faith
Christ
The Gospel
Religion
Missionaries
