Koh Kong is the most southwestern province in Cambodia with a vast, undeveloped coastline and a rugged, largely inaccessible interior encompassing part of the Cardamon Mountains’ rainforest. The Koh Kong Bridge runs over the Kaoh Pao River, connecting Koh Kong with the Thai Border, and most of the population here are fishermen.
Pastors Are Hungry for the Word of God
Pastors Sokhun, Veansa and Joshua joined with Chhairith (Derek Prince Ministries translator) and I to form a team of five for this mission (unfortunately, pastor Vicheat, one of our DPM translators, and his family tested positive with Covid-19, and so he was not able to join us on this trip). We made a six-hour drive from Phnom Penh to reach the local church; the road conditions were very rough.
This time we connected with the Provincial Pastors’ Committee to help us organize the Derek Prince Ministries pastors’ seminar, and 35 pastors from different churches and denominations joined us. Some of them travelled a very long way - about 100km - and some came from a church in a forest. A number of pastors travelled one day earlier due to the road conditions being so challenging, making for very long hours on the road. We were very happy to see the commitment and hunger for God’s Word; the pastors’ committee asked us to come back more often because not many people are willing to travel to this region to bring Bible teaching.
We brought Derek Prince Ministries teaching materials for the local churches, focussing on four topics for this seminar: What’s So Important About the Cross?, Father God, Complete Salvation and You Matter to God. These pastors have not attended a seminar for several years and so their understanding is a little slow. Our team therefore spent a longer time with them to explain the teaching. We are now also interested in visiting a church in the forest to support and encourage the local pastor.
The Storm Does Not Stop Us
During our mission a storm came through, bringing rain for several days. Although it was very wet, we kept praising our Lord that the weather was cooling and we determined that nothing would stop us from sharing the Word of the Lord.
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Testimonial of Pastor Pisey
Pastor Pisey is a pastor who lives next to an island in the Koh Kong Province, and it took her three hours to travel to the seminar by motorbike. She shared with us that she had an accident while traveling to town with another youth. A car hit her from behind, seriously damaging her motorbike, and people thought she and the driver of the car were dead. They sent them to a provincial hospital, but pastor Pisey decided to leave the hospital the same day as she believed she was well under the protection of the Lord. However, the driver of the car needed to stay in hospital for a few days of treatment. Pastor Pisey said, with tears, that it was a miracle - she and the driver of the car should be dead, according to the situation, but she felt strongly that she was well.
There are many challenges in a person’s journey as they serve in the community; they go from one obstacle to another. One very important thing we need to remember is to keep trusting the Lord at all times and in every situation. The Lord is walking with us on this journey; His protection and peace are always with us, even in times of trouble.
