CRM - Empowering Leaders
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (CAMBODIA)
ABOUT OUR TEAM
1. What kind of community do you have?
2. How are you contributing toward reaching unreached peoples?
3. Do you do church planting?
4. Is CRM also working in Cambodia?
ABOUT CAMBODIA
5. Is Cambodia a safe place to live?
6. What does Cambodia look like?
7. What does Poverty look like in Cambodia?
8. What are Cambodia's most urgent needs as a country?
9. How do you cope with attitudes of entitlement?
10. What assets do Cambodians have to offer to God's kingdom?
Answers to Frequently asked questions...
1) What kind of community do you have?
While our ministries and responsibilities are varied, we operate as a team. We accomplish this by meeting together once a week for common prayer, study, and encouragement. We also have monthly Action-Reflection meetings and monthly business meetings.
2) How are you contributing toward reaching unreached
peoples?
There is an existing Church in Cambodia that is highly effective in evangelizing other Khmer. Therefore, while valuing evangelism, we focus most of our energies toward training, teaching, and prophetically calling the Cambodian Church to pay special attention to the poor in their midst. In addition, one of our central long-term goals is to see Cambodian Christians sent to the nations, including unreached peoples.
As a team, we believe strongly that the church is God's primary vehicle through which he distributes his power and blessings. Having stated that, we have learned the hard way that we can be more effective in church planting by staying out of the driver's seat. Since there is an existing church, we seek to come alongside indigenous church planters to encourage and support them. Because we live in a culture of aid and handouts, it is our belief that churches must be started by Cambodians.
4) Is CRM also working in Cambodia? If so, how are
they different?
CRM and InnerCHANGE both have staff in Phnom Penh. While both CRM and InnerCHANGE focus on leadership development for the Church, we have slightly different DNA. In addition to the common missional calling, InnerCHANGE staff are also committed to living out our contemplative and prophetic callings among the poor
5) Is Cambodia a safe place to live?
Once upon a time, but not too long ago, it wasn't safe to be away from home after sunset. However, Cambodia has changed dramatically since then. A growing economy and revived village networks have both made daily life much safer. Of course, walking with the poor is inherently risky. Exposure to drug abuse, broken relationships, social isolation, and deprivation that comes with poverty all express themselves in unpredictable ways. Thankfully, we have the support systems to navigate these challenges.
6) What does Cambodia look like?
Cambodia is slightly smaller than Texas and is comprised mostly of flat plains cut down the middle by the Mekong River. The Southwest and Northwest of the country are heavily forested and lightly populated, while most Cambodians live near the two centers of Battambang and Phnom Penh. History has not treated all Cambodians equally. During the years from 1975 to 1979, those in the Northwest found sanctuary in Thailand and consequentially that area represents the Diaspora. Those in the Southeast fled the other way to Vietnam, where they formed the roots of the current governing parties. Those in central Cambodia suffered the least in the Killing Fields because they were located the farthest away from urban centers, and therefore kept on doing life as they have done for centuries. More than 90% Cambodians are ethnic Khmer while the rest are neatly divided into minority groups of Cham (Muslim), mountainous peoples (animistic) and city-dwelling populations from Vietnam and other neighboring countries.
7) What does Poverty look like in Cambodia?
As in many African countries, poverty in Cambodia is diverse and complicated. It registers on the United Nations fifty least developed countries with a GNP of US $2,500 (2005 estimate) [1] and average income of US $290 [2]. Poverty in Cambodia is much more than just economics. For the average family living outside the cities (which is most), life is stark but bearable as long as there is no crisis. When there is a crisis, poverty bears it's teeth. In the cities, on the other hand, those who make it are living slightly below the comfort line, while those who don't (at least half) are often in desperation. Other forms of poverty that are least addressed are lack of educational opportunities and untreated mental trauma from decades past.
8) What are Cambodia's most urgent needs as a country?
High on the list are prostitution (primarily on the Thai border) and other forms of trafficking. Education and programs that empower Cambodians to take initiative are underfunded and mismanaged. Among believers, an urgent need is cooperation and examples of humility amongst their own because of the culture's bias toward hierarchy and a lack of discipleship.
9) How do you cope with attitudes of entitlement?
This is perhaps our greatest challenge. Cambodia receives much of its income from aid that is given freely yet wears on the dignity of her people. Our philosophy is to come alongside people and walk with them, so as to understand the root of their problems before giving them anything. But every day, well-traveled paths are full of requests for help or aid. Like the Bible story of Peter and the lame man, a spirit of generosity will often succeed where giving money fails, because it acknowledges the person, not the need.
10) What assets do Cambodians have to offer to God's
kingdom?
In a strange twist of God's economy, poverty can become a strength. It is our
hope and dream that Cambodians will recover from their traumatic experiences in
a way that will give them power to help others in difficult situations in the
future. Cambodia has a rich tradition of spirituality, which has been brought
out but not limited to the Buddhist tradition. If this spirituality were redeemed, it would soar. There is an awareness of loss in regards to community, and the church offers promises of restoration where others do not. Cambodia also has rich cultural forms, and many have done well in capturing these expressions in worship.