The Great Need of Christian Ministry
“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal not lover of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God…” II Timothy 3:1-4
Need of Christian Education
The Khmer Rouge destroyed every textbook, along with all school equipment and facilities. Education was condemned as “corrupt”; indoctrination programs that sought to instil Pol Pot’s ideology replaced schools. Anyone with a diploma was condemned as an “Intellectual” and sentenced to hard labour, or even execution. Before 1975, there were 20,000 teachers in Cambodia, nevertheless, by 1979 there were less than 5,000 left in the entire country. The rest had either perished under the Khmer Rough Regime or fled the county. Today, over 70% of public schools are in the Buddhists temples. Because of the shortage of classrooms, most classrooms have morning shifts and afternoon shifts, each class has over 50 students. Many poor parents cannot afford to enrol their children for education in public schools, students must pay bribes and superfluous costs. Children are raised seeing lawlessness such as corruption, greed and materialism and gaining from the exploitation of others.
They see injustice in the form of bribes as a source of income by law enforcement officers and the lack of value for family, children and women.
They see injustice in the form of bribes as a source of income by law enforcement officers and the lack of value for family, children and women.
Need of Family Ministry
In the family, women not only shoulder economic and all household responsibilities but they are faced with a great deal of tension and domestic violence. Some are abandoned by their husbands and some are divorced, but a large number of women are domestically abused and must tolerate polygamy practiced by their partners. The Khmer proverb states, “Men are gold and women are cloths. Gold can be washed, but cloths are stained.”
Today, the greatest ministry need in Cambodia is “Family Ministry” because Christian morals, values, and Godly parents do not exist in this culture. While most Christian organizations focus on holistic ministry to provide humanitarian aid, many denominations focus on training church leaders so more churches can be planted but with very little emphasis on the family. Pastors and Christians themselves are struggling to find sound biblical counselling for their own marriages and families. For this reason, children have no role model to follow and the concept of integrity, the value of the family and Christian moral standards are neglected.
Today, the greatest ministry need in Cambodia is “Family Ministry” because Christian morals, values, and Godly parents do not exist in this culture. While most Christian organizations focus on holistic ministry to provide humanitarian aid, many denominations focus on training church leaders so more churches can be planted but with very little emphasis on the family. Pastors and Christians themselves are struggling to find sound biblical counselling for their own marriages and families. For this reason, children have no role model to follow and the concept of integrity, the value of the family and Christian moral standards are neglected.