Hamlins Study Khmer, Teach, Train
March 15, 2008
by Greg Hamlin
Note: Following is the Hamlins report for February; Greg and Sheila arrived in Cambodia in 2007.
SIEM REAP, Cambodia (BNc)- We baptized five souls in February; four are women from the village about an hour from us and the fifth is our house assistant whom we first met when he worked in the restaurant we frequented when we first arrived.
All are continuing to be very faithful in attendance. The women have been attending for about a year so they are pretty well grounded in the faith from the beginning. Hout, our helper, is an extremely diligent student and has been very eager to attend our Bible school as we get started. He will surely be in the first class. We have several other prospects to keep us busy.
Bible School to Start, Teaching Already
We say that we have not started this school yet. But I am teaching three hours per day Monday-Friday.
I have been teaching homiletics to a young Pentecostal pastor. We began with one hour, then he got more excited and asked for two hours per day. He is getting closer to obeying the gospel with each day that passes and more discouraged with his previous tutors who did not teach him the truth.
We are also taking Khmer language classes for one hour, five days a week.
I am teaching homiletics an hour daily to Phanat and Chann, my co-workers. They have had Bible training prior to coming here, but Chan in particular who is the local preacher in Siem Reap has had no preacher training. Phanat has had several expository preaching courses and is very good in the pulpit.
We plan continual in-service training for the staff. They will also teach different needed subjects as the time goes on.
We are continuing to teach the preacher’s wife and another sister, Aya, on Sunday afternoons. Neither of them speak English so Chann translates for us. We are teaching them to help them prepare to teach others.
Aya works with Phanat daily in translation work. They are putting several English Bible studies into Khmer. She is growing very fast as a Christian. (She was one those baptized this past month.)
Phanat is a Cambodian who grew up in Texas after the former destructive communist rule. He speaks Khmer fluently but can’t read or write. They are good co-workers — and we hope — may be newlyweds in year or two.
School to Form as NGO
We plan to start the School formally on June 1st. We are starting a process of forming a non-governmental organization (NGO) for education, with a view of moving gradually into fully accredited status in the Cambodian education system.
The fact that we’re not an NGO yet will not stop us from the beginning the School on time. We have several prospective students already requesting to be admitted and there are no shortage of prospects.
A limiting factor though will be living space for students. Our building is not yet completed. The second floor and third floor need to be finished, which of course takes money. We are working on the problem.
More Teaching in Local University
I have just been offered a part-time job in a local university teaching conversational English, giving me six more hours a week in teaching. I DID pray for God to let me teach here, didn’t I? See what happens when you ask for things in God’s service. I plan to use the book of Ecclesiastes as a text for the course.
We had an elder from Washington State, Joe Hicky, with us all of the month. He has been a long supporter of Chann. They worked in the village where most of our congregation lives to dig wells for the farmers. It was wonderful having him here; he is a great servant of Christ.
Sheila is working on developing a WBS program. She is getting assistance from Phanat who is offering the courses to his English classes in the university. She already has several students.
Teaching at Preachers’ Seminar
We went to Kampong Cham on Feb. 13-15 to teach for a preachers’ seminar. I taught the book of Romans in a full day to about fifty preachers and their wives. Sheila taught developing Christian habits and behavior, along with marriage to the women. All in all it was one of the most encouraging times we have had in a while.
Strikingly one of the most wonderful parts was an impromptu singing session with several Cambodian children and some of the adults. They sang their own Bible songs in English and Khmer (pronounced Khmai) and we all joined in praise together. One of those magic moments…
We bought a car, finally; no more tuk-tuks, at least for a while. It’s a 1991 Camry; mostly it runs and gets us to where we need to go. Can’t beat that. God gave us exactly what we need and when we needed it. Thanks!
Challenges on the Field
We plan to write from time to time on the subject of challenges we (or any missionaries) have on the field.
While trying to get our medicines to us recently, those “challenges” reared their ugly head. Our medicine can’t be obtained in this country, so in order to stay here we must find another way. We had the problem “solved” with our pharmacy in the U.S. before we left; you can guess already — it didn’t happen. (This was even before you get to this country, mind you!) Now we are without medicine and our health is already being affected. Nothing is easy on the any mission field; we didn’t say it is evil and we might want to leave, just not easy.
I wrote one letter recently in which I spoke about the myriad of problems that we go thru to spread the gospel to a country that is 95% Buddhist and, two generations back, has gone through a holocaust. Bear with us; we are reaching and helping to save people even though we can barely speak to anyone. You should see me trying to find someone to manufacture clothes line poles and screen doors, and then have him do the job, giving dimensions by sign language.
Nothing here is easy: no Wal-marts (horror of horrors!), no health insurance plans, no reliable doctors; if we get too sick to care for ourselves we will have to travel to Phnom Penh, six hours away, or even Bangkok, Thailand. None of these are fatal, just not America.
To do the volume of work we do we need a support group behind us, partners in our work serving God and getting the Word to this lost world. We need YOU to work with us.
Not complaining, just explaining. We here and rejoice everyday with contentment for the wonderful blessing. We pray this blessing for every brother and sister we have in the U.S. James 1:2-4 takes on a whole different meaning now. Rejoice with us.
God be with you and we pray that you be found faithful when Jesus comes, May He come quickly.
Greg Hamlin, Interim Director, International Bible Institute of Siem Reap
Preachers Create Powerful Illustration for Outreach
March 14, 2008
STUART, Fla. (BNc)- Recently, while listening to a report from a missionary who serves the Lord in Africa, I was somewhat discouraged to learn that the growth of the church in some areas of Africa had 
slowed dramatically.
What surprised me was not that some churches in Africa had slowed in their growth, but rather the common link that seemed to exist in most of those congregations.
That link, according to this missionary, was that they had hired preachers at those congregations, and the congregation had started depending upon the preacher for outreach and forgotten that outreach is a Christian thing, not a preacher thing.
He was certainly not opposed to having a hired preacher, nor am I, but it makes me wonder if sometimes the preacher becomes a crutch for the congregation.
This made me consider the congregation where I am privileged to serve the Lord, and wonder what simple ideas could be used to help motivate the congregation here to get involved in outreach efforts again rather than depending upon me.
The following is the description of a basic motivational program put together by myself and James Mayo, the preacher for the Jupiter-Tequesta church of Christ in Tequesta, Fla. Read more
Harding Students Help Arkansas Couple
March 13, 2008
SEARCY, Ark. (BNc)- A Harding University group is working to help pay medical expenses for an Arkansas couple.
The women’s social club Zeta Rho will host a dress sale to raise money for Steve and Elizabeth Rose of Searcy (formerly of Bald Knob).
A December car accident near Joy Mountain in Rose Bud seriously injured the couple and killed their two young children.
Zeta Rho has collected more than 125 formal and semi-formal dresses and gowns donated by students and community members and will sell them for $20-30. Purses and shoes will sell for $5-10. Many of the dresses are new or have only been worn once.
The goal is to raise $5,000, and all proceeds will go directly to the Rose family to help cover medical expenses.
The public is invited to the sale March 15 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. in Harding’s Hammon Room (Student Center 236).
Those who would like to donate dresses to the fund-raiser may drop them off at the same place March 14 from 2:30-5:30 p.m.
For more information or to donate items or funds, contact: Claire Dunnagan, Zeta Rho service director at (832) 465-6926 or by email: cdunnaga@harding.edu.
Saint Loses Home, Husband in Fire
March 12, 2008
by Dean and Barbara Kelly
HIGHLAND HOME, Ala. (BNc)- Last Saturday night, March 8, Mrs. Carrie Johnson, a faithful Christian at the Sugar Ridge congregation, lost her home and her husband to a house fire. Read more
Turning Pisco Upside Down
March 10, 2008
by Tim Hall
PISCO, Peru (BNc)- A major earthquake struck portions of southern Peru on August 15, 2007. One of the hardest hit areas was the village of Pisco.
Most houses in that town were lost, and people’s lives were literally turned upside down.
Faculty and students from the Inter-American Biblical Institute worked quickly to take water, food and other relief supplies to Pisco. This school, located in Lima, has not been long in existence, but is already making a difference in the region. These Christians came to a town that had no congregation of Christ. Their plan was to bring spiritual relief, in addition to the physical necessities. Read more
GA Updates Site with Hosted Store
March 7, 2008
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BNc)- The Gospel Advocate Company has refurbished its website with a new hosted web store to sell its books and magazines.
The company began using the homestead.com service, where it has a growing number of its books online.
The 2007-2008 GA Bookstore Catalog is also available in PDF format (4.3 mb) for download. Read more
Church Begins in Central Ga. County
March 6, 2008
JEFFERSONVILLE, Ga. (BNc)- A county in central Georgia now has a church meeting there for the first time.
Milton Sampson, a retired high school math teacher, initiated the effort and is preaching for the congregation.
Twiggs County is the geographical center of the state. Two families came together to begin meeting in January. Read more
Two Christians killed in Okla. plane crash
March 5, 2008
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (BNc)- Two Christians were among the five killed in a plane crash Tuesday soon after taking off from Wiley Post Airport.
Rick Sandoval and Tim Hartman were the pilots of the Cessna 500 Citation 1 which lost control after lifting off about 3:15 p.m. yesterday. All five occupants of the plane were killed. Read more
Harding Grad Wins Little Rock Marathon
March 3, 2008
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (BNc)- A Harding University graduate won the women’s category in the Little Rock Marathon on Sunday.
Hellen Rotich, a Kenyan living in Austin, Tex., won the women’s category for the sixth annual Little Rock Marathon held March 2 in the Arkansas capital. Read more
SUV Rams Store, Minister’s Daughter Injured
March 2, 2008
MARION, Ark. (BNc)- The daughter of an Arkansas minister was critically injured Saturday when an SUV rammed the store where she was shopping.
Michael R. Hughes, minister with the Marion, Ark., church of Christ, gave details of the accident and his daughter Patsy’s condition in an email March 1st. Read more
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