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Work of Your Hand News - November 2018
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Darren and I have seen Cambodia change a lot in the past 13 years. The first 10 years, we witnessed striking poverty and were sickened as we saw young women and even children being openly trafficked. But as the years progressed, we saw economic advances, increased level of education, the improved roads and many new high rise buildings. There were many Christian NGO’s that came to help the Khmer people. So in the last 3.5 years while we were living in the country, we noticed an opening of hearts for God.
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When we say we are Christians, the Khmer city folk like us! In fact, last year in a predominately Buddhist country, there was a historic first time government session with 2500 church leaders to visit and talk to HunSen, the country’s prime minister, in which he told the believers that he would appeal to all religions in Cambodia not to harass Christians and that he appreciated how they were helping. It was a fun time where the church leaders wanted selfies with him and it began a relationship. In May of this year, the prime minister invited Christian leaders to a dinner. It was a large formal event. It was a sign that the government was accepting the Christian belief and community.
These are signs that God is providing opportunity for His work to grow. In 1975 there was an estimated 10,000 believers but after the Pol Pot regime ended when approximately 2 million people were tragically murdered, there were only an estimated 200 Christian left alive in Cambodia. But God was at work. Many came to faith in the refugee camps in Thailand between 1980 and 1990. Many of these people have become pastors and the people we are working with. Many were formerly Khmer Rouge.
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Sra'aem is a city located in Cambodia near the Thailand and Laos borders. Being a border town, many of the people work for the military. There is a new church which was dedicated last year, but its story is particularly inspiring. My understanding is that about three years ago, God called Suzanna, a Cambodian who fled to the States during the Pol Pot era, to return to Cambodia. While she was there she had a meal with a lady who was a wife to a high ranking military officer. This lady was puzzled why Suzanna prayed before her meal and began asking questions. At first Suzanna was afraid, this was a high ranking military official’s wife but felt God leading her to share her love for Jesus. So she did. This lady became a believer. Her husband used to drink constantly and abuse his family and those below him but his wife’s changed behavior intrigued him and he too became a believer had a total change of heart, and the whole military unit noticed.
Since then numerous people came to faith. In November 2016, there were 145 people who became believers and were baptized. Currently there is an estimated 300 believers that are attending the new church. The story is fascinating in many respects because the pastors who came to baptize them were also once Khmer Rouge military men and had become believers in droves at the Thai refugee camps, and now here they were back in their own country, baptizing many other military families.
One of my favourite verses is Romans 8:28 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (NASB). Currently Cambodia is estimated said to have 400,000 believers. Wouldn’t it be cool if there could be 2 million who came to Christ and surpassed the number of people that were killed during the Khmer Rouge!
These are exciting times in Cambodia. By now many of you have heard that we will be changing the relationship with the C&MA from a fully funded, International Worker to an unfunded Global Alliance Professional.This is because our vision for vocational ministries differed from the vision the Canadian country leaders had for Cambodia. Although this step is scary for us, it’s unfathomable to not follow God’s call especially when we see that the field is so ripe. We believe many people are seeking fulfillment through economic advancement. That is why we feel vocational ministries is a great way to reach those who are searching. Our hope is that many will come to Christ while engaging in vocational training. So we will be going back in Jan 2019 to continue our work in Cambodia under Work of Your Hand.
The biggest change this will bring is that we now need to raise our own financial support to do this work in the future, but here is some Good News:
- Work of Your Hand is a Canadian Charity that can provide annual tax receipts for donations.
- This just in...
Would you consider providing a one time or monthly donation to Work of Your Hand during the last two months of this year to help maximize our plans for 2019? You can consider donating through the instructions found by clicking this button:
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If you are in the Calgary area and are interested in hearing about the plans we have for the future then please consider joining us from 6:30-9:00pm on Nov 23 at Foothills Alliance Church for our annual DIGNIFY fundraiser. You can purchase $10 tickets for this event by clicking this button:
EARLY BIRD PRIZE (GIVEN OUT AT THE EVENT)
If you purchase your event tickets before Nov. 20, then name will be entered for a door prize set of tickets for two to see the Calgary Flames Host the Colorado Avalanche on Jan 9, 2019 @ 7:30pm in Calgary!
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While we did not anticipate that we would be making this change at the beginning of 2018, we are excited about what 2019 and beyond will mean for all of us at Work of Your Hand. We will be sharing about our work at other events in Alberta between now and the end of the year – consider stopping by to visit, hear about our work and do some early Christmas shopping in support of the poor in SE Asia:
| Date (2018) |
Time |
Name |
Location |
| Sun Nov 11 |
9:00, 11:00am |
Cochrane Alliance Church |
902 Glenbow Drive
Cochrane, AB |
| Friday Nov 16 |
Setup at 4:00
Evening 6-9 |
First Alliance International Weekend |
12345 40 St SE, Calgary, AB |
Sat/Sun
Nov 17/18 |
6:30pm,
9:00, 11:00am |
Foothills Alliance Church |
333 Edgepark Blvd NW
Calgary, AB |
| Fri Nov 23 |
6:30 - 9:00pm |
Dignify Event at Foothills Alliance |
333 Edgepark Blvd NW
Calgary, AB |
| Sun Nov 25 |
9:15, 11:00am |
Harvest Hills Alliance Church |
10099 Harvest Hills Blvd NW
Calgary, AB |
| Thu Nov 29 |
9:00am – 12:00pm |
Daybreak Annual Christmas Market |
333 Edgepark Blvd NW
Calgary, AB |
Fri Nov 30
Sat Dec 1 |
4:00-8:00pm
9:00am – 3:00pm |
Harvest Hills Christmas Craft Fair |
10099 Harvest Hills Blvd NW
Calgary, AB |
| Sun Dec 2 |
10:30am |
Rocky Mountain Alliance Church |
Rocky Mountain House |
| Fri Dec 7 |
10:15am |
Prairie College – Chapel |
Three Hills, AB |
| Sun, Dec 16 |
11:00am |
First Lutheran Church |
7102 14 Ave SW, Calgary, AB T3H 4G7 |
Blessings,
Darren & Minako Polischuk
Co-Founders of Work of Your Hand
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