Cambodia

More from Bruce Carlton's visit. I wrote the following in an email to some partners of ours who have a heart for Cambodia.

When Bruce and his family arrived in Cambodia, he was the first IMB missionary in post-Khmer Cambodia. He discovered a few house churches, one had a group of Chinese immigrants. It just so happened that he has spent the previous few years in Hong Kong learning Chinese so he began to teach them and teach English as a cover. Many times while teaching English, he presented the gospel. After about a year, he went back to the U.S. for a year, then returned to Cambodia, this time determined to reach the Khmer people that the Lord had laid on his heart.

A man sought him out and asked Bruce if he remembered who he was. Bruce didn’t, so the man told him he was one of his English students. He’d accepted Jesus and had about 12 others he was discipling. Problem was, he didn’t know what to do next, but he wanted to start more house churches like his.

Bruce had an English copy of a church-planting manual. He took that manual and got with his language tutor and translated the first chapter. Then he taught this man the principles in the chapter. The man took the chapter and the principles and taught the 12. On and on this went for 12 weeks. Then they worked to figure out how to replicate the learning and the Cambodians began planting house churches. Bruce worked with the leaders, discipling and teaching them.

Over the course of six years they planted 43 churches. At that time Bruce and his family went back to the U.S. for a year. The entire year, they wrestled with being in the U.S. and with thoughts of being “needed” back in Cambodia. Then he got a letter that said the 43 had become 76.

He spent the next year in India. His wife was ill all year and they, again, wrestled with whether they should be in Cambodia. He got a letter that year, the 76 had become 123.

And on and on it has grown. He’s actually written a book about it. Amazing, huh?