Partnerships in the Gospel

Our AIM Friends Ratanak and Yosef

A picture of Kimsin and Gannaya from CEF Cambodia teaching the morning VBS lesson.

One of the many blessings we have experienced on this trip is the local Cambodian partnerships that God has given us as a team. We could not accomplish much if it were not for these different partnerships. We are grateful for the two young men: Ratanak (yes what a name) and Yosef who are currently in a discipleship training program for pastors by AIM4Asia Founder Moses Seth. Both Ratanak and Yosef are sons of pastors and they were assigned to help us out at Svay Pak since they have spent a lot of time ministering in that community. They both have different gifts yet work so well together. Yosef helps us with the bible story time and leads the kids in worship in our afternoon sessions. He is very talented and has a natural ability to connect with the kids. Ratanak stands at the door and welcomes the kids and monitors the kids behaviour while we are doing our activities. He also ensures that Rahab House is kept clean and each afternoon any one of us on the team will follow his lead as he will go outside of the centre and pick up the garbage that is littered all around the front of the building. The kids also notice his servant heart and some of them will offer to pick up the garbage as well.

Yesterday Ratanak, Yosef and I along with three little tour guides who were no more than 3 feet tall led us along the narrow alley ways in Svay Pak to deliver a little lunch packet to one of the little girls who had attended the VBS in the morning session but left early as she had a bruise on her head. I had taken her home with some of the other little ones earlier that morning which gave me the perfect opportunity to pray for her and the two other girls who directed my path to her home. When we all got to the little shack where the family lived Ratanak took the opportunity to pray for the family and also to let them know about the VBS at Rahab House and to invite them to the church service that has started there. It was such a precious moment for me as God was using all of us in different ways to be His salt and light.

Our other partners have been the team from Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) in Cambodia. The teams from CEF have had an amazing ability to engage the kids and to manage their unruly behaviour in such a way that the kids calm down and participate in all the praise and worship and listen to the bible lesson. We have also noticed what a blessing that CEF is for Josef and Ratanak as there has been indirect mentoring going on as both young men observe how the CEF workers lead the kids in the morning activities. IN some sense I cannot help but wonder that our main purpose for this VBS is really to connect the AIM workers with our CEF friends. God has used that particular partnership to enhance the program and allowed all of us to gain a greater understanding of how to minster to kids in this context.