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Monday, July 12, 2010

Highlights from the 12th Pioneer District Conference

Dear Prayer partners and friends,

We thank everyone for the unending prayer supports. Investing in us and for the Cambodian Church is a ministry of sacrifice. Following are highlights or rather a report summary of the 12th pioneer District conference but also some insights to have a glimpse of what lies ahead.
PASSION REKINDLED
“Rekindling our Passion for Ministry” was the theme of the conference. We had been praying that God would visit us and that once again the fire of God in our souls will be set ablaze. The goal of having two nights’ revival services during the conference is to have our passion for God and for ministry refreshed. Although our expectation was not met, we understand that God is the author of revival and therefore we cannot put Him in a box based on our preconceived ideas, biases, and tradition. In our tradition, we were expecting for a fiery preacher with a bombastic style of delivery. We expected someone who would invite people at the altar for prayer. What we expected was the opposite. The speaker was humorous, had a gentle voice, and with a monotonous diction. The speaker obviously does not have the tradition of inviting people at the altar for commitment or prayer. Although what we expected was different from the actual situation, the message he brought remains in the mind of our pastors. While the speaker didn’t speak on how we can rekindle our passion for ministry, he did encourage the pastors to live according to God’s plan--in everything God has a plan for every problems and trials, thus we should say “this is good.”! We gave God the praise, for the messages he imparted.
The first day of the conference was formally opened by Dr. Romeo Caringal, our Asia Director and Mission Director, as he gave a message on Rekindling the Fire Within. We thank Dr. Caringal not only his messages but his presence and chairmanship throughout the conference.
Greg preached a challenging message on Friday morning on our theme, Rekindling Our Passion for Ministry. He stressed that a passion for ministry is the outflow of one’s passion for God. Therefore, passion for ministry starts with our passion for God. Being a typical Wesleyan preacher himsel, at the end of his message he began inviting people to come forward. We have an extended prayer time at the altar as we ended the service. Many of the pastors were in tears realizing that their passion for ministry has been diminishing. Following the prayer time at the altar, there was a sense of joy in the atmosphere as people began talking to one another freely. The schedule was suspended as we proceeded immediately with an early break time. We give God the glory.

REPORTS UPGRADED
Through the hard work of the three missionary families, pastor Titus, and others, planning, preparing documents, reports, and other information, we had a better conference report this year. We were able to create a conference packet or folder that includes all reports and documents that allowed us to have an organized reporting.
This year, we decided to give a Certificate of Ministerial Assignment to every stationed pastor as a proof of that they are bona fide pastor of the Wesleyan church. The certificate also validates their appointment to a specific local church assigned by the conference. In the coming Sundays, as the DBA chair, Greg will be traveling to every church and formally give the certificate to the pastors during worship services.
For peace and security purposes a letter from the National Church office to all commune chiefs where our churches located must be written and permission from the commune chiefs must be obtained for our stationed pastors.
This year, we required pastors to sign a contract agreement with the national Church. The contract agreement shows a proof that pastors will do their best in the ministry according to the Wesleyan Church Discipline. The contract outlines the rules governing the church property and that living in the property does not transfer ownership to the pastors.

We presented a gold plated plaque of recognition to Rev. Kung Kimsan for his 6 years faithful and loyal devotion to the church as District Superintendent. The joy in his face glow even when a momentarily brown out disrupted the ceremony. He was so joyful that he sang a special song and later called his wife and sang another song together.

WESLEYAN DISCIPLINE COMPLETED
After working tirelessly on the Wesleyan Discipline during the previous months, Greg has finally completed the disicpline and we now have an unofficial and unedited copy. Due to time constraints though, the Khmer translation of the Discipline has yet to be completed. During the conference, we presented some sections of the Discipline that has been translated into Khmer for ratification. The editing, revising, and amending of the Discipline has yet to be done in the coming months but its ratification has already established. There will be more sections to ratify as the Khmer translation progress. The Goal is to complete the Khmer translation by the end of 2010.

NEW DBA ELECTED
The new DBA members has been elected and were also appointed as zone leaders: Pastor Kung Kimsan (Zone 1); Pastor Tor Rasmey (Zone 2); Pastor Meng Hong (Zone 3); Pastor Nuv Sopeak (Zone 4), Pastor Romdenh Chamnol (Titus) (DBA Secretary) and Ptr. Hourng, Vandy (WBI President) as ex-officio member, in addition to the three missionary family representative (Greg as the chairman, Tim Gallant and Chet Quinn).


PASTORS STATIONED
On Pastoral assignment, most pastors remain where they are the previous years with the exception of three. Since pastor Kung Kimsan, the former DS chose to step down, he must go back to where his heart is--pastoring a local church and therefore was assigned at Good News Wesleyan Church, Phnom Penh. The new DBA assigned pastor Sethon to his home place, Boeng Krom. Pastor Romdenh Chamnol (Titus) was also assigned in Kampong Spue -- the DBA have confidence that the church will soon thrive under the leadership of Pastor Titus.
Other pastors are without assignment due to the financial challenges we are facing. Shortly, the DBA will make it sure that the list of unstationed pastors will be identified whether a leave of absence must be applied or license will be extended.

FAITH CHALLENGED
Giving the pastors their last pay and will have no more salary from this month forward, was heart breaking. We have come to this stage where there is no more support to give to our pastors. The “No Support” phase in the history of the church is quite a challenge to our pastors because not a single church can afford to support its own pastor. While we believe God is the provider and that the minister of the Gospel should live by the Gospel, it is difficult to live by. Thus the bi-vocational minister policy that has been approved during the Conference last year is still in place this year.
On top of the 'no salary' problem, many of the pastors have standing Motorcycle fund loans a total of almost $7,000. The difficulty arising in the collection of loans was identified. Also how the pastors pay back their loans pose a big challenge because they have no more salary from the national church, unless they have work outside the church. Despite this, the pastors who have standing loans agreed unanimously that they will pay their loan not lower than $10 monthly. During this conference, the treasurer released all funds available including the pastors Pension and Medical fund. Getting their pension plan before their retirement age has been approved due to the current urgent need.

CONCLUSION
Those of us who are in leadership are looking beyond the horisons with renewed hope. A hope that is not based on a fatalistic attitude but a a realistic outlook towards a positive outcome. To move forward with passion, we must move from vision to action. This is our response!

Your prayers are our strength. You partnership is our success.

Together We can Accomplish the Impossible!
Greg, Resie, Aleeyah and Esher