Jabez Expedition: Building Connections
November 6 to 15, 2014
It was a night of thrill and excitement when Joab, Ate Tess, touched down in Siem Reap, Cambodia is also known as Kingdom of Cambodia, it is located in the southern portion of Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. Upon arrival, we started hearing a different language that gave us a feeling of being lost in translation again. We are thankful to Ate Remz and Kuya Michael who welcomed us and allowed us to stay in their place. They are both Filipino missionaries based in Siem Reap, who are helping the Khmer children in literacy and constructing deep wells for the communities. The next morning, we went on to Kampong Thom to meet up with Dr. Felipe Castro, a missionary doctor based in Kampong Thom. He heads Bileg Solid Rock Missions which includes children’s home, a school, and church as their ministry. He also teaches 12 local pastors to be more equipped and trained in the Bible. They also have 4 community outreaches, and one newly constructed mission hospital- the first in Kampong Thom Province. Their ministry is undeniably enormous but having only 8 volunteer workers and some translators, it’s really impossible for them to finish the task of spreading the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ to the Khmer people.
Establishing partnership between MAP and Bileg Solid Rock Missions was one of our objectives for that trip. After we saw the whole picture of their ministry, we were overwhelmed by the task that is yet to be done.
We felt the burden that Dr. Castro and all of his staff were carrying. I am also humbled by the fact that God is using ordinary people for His extraordinary works, plans, and purpose. With the burden that we all shared, by faith, we decided to push Operation Samaria 2015 in Cambodia. We will mobilize medical students, nursing students and other mission minded workers to be exposed in the work of Bileg Solid Rock Missions with the very intention of helping the missionaries and reaching out to the Khmer People. We also took the opportunity to minister to the field missionaries by helping them in their household chores like washing the dishes, cooking and cleaning the house.
While we were there, we also took the opportunity to pray for the patients in the hospital. We also assisted in the post-operative wound care of the locals who undergone surgical operations through Medical Ministries International (MMI). As we assess the healthcare delivery system in Cambodia we found out that it was really devastating. They don’t have licensed doctors and nurses to take care of them in a professional manner. Medicines may be cheap but the healthcare delivery system renders poor quality of care. Health centers may be present in every town but there are no trained village health workers that can assist the community people if they needed help. Indeed, community development programs and primary health care is a need for these people. They need to be educated, trained and equipped to be able to help their own people. How I long to see this nation be transformed through Christ’s love and Holistic Care.
Our visit will never be complete without community immersion. We intentionally visited some of their community outreaches and immersed ourselves with the people. We were able to get to know more about their lifestyle and beliefs. During our community visits I learned that the Cambodian’s love to live a simple life. They value family relationships and the decisions of the elderly and their husbands.
But like everyone else, they desire to live in abundance and that is the very reason why they are working hard for the future of their family. They are very eager to learn new things especially about development.
After a few days in Kampong Thom, we travelled to Phnom Penh, and Gg our friend who is a Filipina welcomed us to their home. Our objective in PP is to meet Dr. Yim Yaren, a Human Resource Development of World Vision-Cambodia and Dr. Lai, a member of Healthcare Christian Fellowship-Cambodia (HCF). We had arranged to meet and have a wonderful dinner-fellowship. We talk about the conditions of the Christian churches in Cambodia and I realized that the churches in Cambodia need to be challenged in brining the gospel to their own people. We also talked about missions mobilization and how can we engage different churches to be more actively involved in the advancement of God’s Kingdom among the Khmer. I’ve invited them also to join us in the upcoming Kairos Course that will be conducted in January 2015 by the Philippine Kairos Team led by Kuya Efren Q.
During our stay there we also had fellowship with the Zipagan’s. They are both Filipino missionary who are working among the local pastors in Kampot Province. Ptr. Jojo, trains and equips Khmer pastor to be more effective and excellent in explaining Bible doctrines. We are also establishing partnership between them with the vision of training their people in Primary Health Care.
In conclusion, I humbly proclaim God’s grace and mercy for all of our undertakings while we were in Cambodia. Surely we know that our task and purpose is not yet finished, it’s just starting. Our commitment to bring better health care in Cambodia will always remain in our hearts. We will commit to mobilize more healthcare professionals and mission-minded workers to be exposed in the field. We will continue to pray and earnestly seek God’s direction for Medical Ambassadors Philippines in expanding the ministry of reconciliation among the Khmer People in Cambodia.
To God be the glory!
Paul Emmanuel Bañas
MAP Inc - Mobilization and Partnership Development
November 6 to 15, 2014
It was a night of thrill and excitement when Joab, Ate Tess, touched down in Siem Reap, Cambodia is also known as Kingdom of Cambodia, it is located in the southern portion of Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. Upon arrival, we started hearing a different language that gave us a feeling of being lost in translation again. We are thankful to Ate Remz and Kuya Michael who welcomed us and allowed us to stay in their place. They are both Filipino missionaries based in Siem Reap, who are helping the Khmer children in literacy and constructing deep wells for the communities. The next morning, we went on to Kampong Thom to meet up with Dr. Felipe Castro, a missionary doctor based in Kampong Thom. He heads Bileg Solid Rock Missions which includes children’s home, a school, and church as their ministry. He also teaches 12 local pastors to be more equipped and trained in the Bible. They also have 4 community outreaches, and one newly constructed mission hospital- the first in Kampong Thom Province. Their ministry is undeniably enormous but having only 8 volunteer workers and some translators, it’s really impossible for them to finish the task of spreading the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ to the Khmer people.
Establishing partnership between MAP and Bileg Solid Rock Missions was one of our objectives for that trip. After we saw the whole picture of their ministry, we were overwhelmed by the task that is yet to be done.
We felt the burden that Dr. Castro and all of his staff were carrying. I am also humbled by the fact that God is using ordinary people for His extraordinary works, plans, and purpose. With the burden that we all shared, by faith, we decided to push Operation Samaria 2015 in Cambodia. We will mobilize medical students, nursing students and other mission minded workers to be exposed in the work of Bileg Solid Rock Missions with the very intention of helping the missionaries and reaching out to the Khmer People. We also took the opportunity to minister to the field missionaries by helping them in their household chores like washing the dishes, cooking and cleaning the house.
While we were there, we also took the opportunity to pray for the patients in the hospital. We also assisted in the post-operative wound care of the locals who undergone surgical operations through Medical Ministries International (MMI). As we assess the healthcare delivery system in Cambodia we found out that it was really devastating. They don’t have licensed doctors and nurses to take care of them in a professional manner. Medicines may be cheap but the healthcare delivery system renders poor quality of care. Health centers may be present in every town but there are no trained village health workers that can assist the community people if they needed help. Indeed, community development programs and primary health care is a need for these people. They need to be educated, trained and equipped to be able to help their own people. How I long to see this nation be transformed through Christ’s love and Holistic Care.
Our visit will never be complete without community immersion. We intentionally visited some of their community outreaches and immersed ourselves with the people. We were able to get to know more about their lifestyle and beliefs. During our community visits I learned that the Cambodian’s love to live a simple life. They value family relationships and the decisions of the elderly and their husbands.
But like everyone else, they desire to live in abundance and that is the very reason why they are working hard for the future of their family. They are very eager to learn new things especially about development.
After a few days in Kampong Thom, we travelled to Phnom Penh, and Gg our friend who is a Filipina welcomed us to their home. Our objective in PP is to meet Dr. Yim Yaren, a Human Resource Development of World Vision-Cambodia and Dr. Lai, a member of Healthcare Christian Fellowship-Cambodia (HCF). We had arranged to meet and have a wonderful dinner-fellowship. We talk about the conditions of the Christian churches in Cambodia and I realized that the churches in Cambodia need to be challenged in brining the gospel to their own people. We also talked about missions mobilization and how can we engage different churches to be more actively involved in the advancement of God’s Kingdom among the Khmer. I’ve invited them also to join us in the upcoming Kairos Course that will be conducted in January 2015 by the Philippine Kairos Team led by Kuya Efren Q.
During our stay there we also had fellowship with the Zipagan’s. They are both Filipino missionary who are working among the local pastors in Kampot Province. Ptr. Jojo, trains and equips Khmer pastor to be more effective and excellent in explaining Bible doctrines. We are also establishing partnership between them with the vision of training their people in Primary Health Care.
In conclusion, I humbly proclaim God’s grace and mercy for all of our undertakings while we were in Cambodia. Surely we know that our task and purpose is not yet finished, it’s just starting. Our commitment to bring better health care in Cambodia will always remain in our hearts. We will commit to mobilize more healthcare professionals and mission-minded workers to be exposed in the field. We will continue to pray and earnestly seek God’s direction for Medical Ambassadors Philippines in expanding the ministry of reconciliation among the Khmer People in Cambodia.
To God be the glory!
Paul Emmanuel Bañas
MAP Inc - Mobilization and Partnership Development
