The conference begins

After a very nice breakfast of freshly made omelett and toast with tea to drink we left the hotel by tuctuc. Travelling on the roads in the city always feels chaotic and uncontrolled and today was no exception. There were people, bikes, mopeds, tuctucs cars and lorries, all going in different directions - usually at the same time. The ride took about 30 minutes and took us to a part of town I have not been to before. There is also here the usual mix of affluence and abject poverty co-existing and clear for all to see. There is so much poverty here that it is not possible to hide it away or legislate against it was we do in the west.

 

 

 

There are over a hundred church leaders gathered for three days of teaching, discussion and planning. As with all gatherings of Christians, the day began with some excellent worship led by students from the dormitory which Normisjon runs here in the capital.

 

 

The church leaders who are gathered reflect the society in general here with the majority being young. The country still struggles With the after-effects of the Khmer Rouge genocide. T he four years they were in power during the 1970’s saw almost a whole generation wiped in those few years.

 

 

The lunch was very tasty, traditional Khmer cuisine eaten outside in the shade. In conversation with one of the pastors he shared with me that one of the problems he faces in his area is the ever present threat of starvation. This is not a real problem for most of us church leaders in the west. The church in the west is in danger of over-eating both spiritually and literally while the churches in countries like Cambodia is hunger both spiritually and literally.

 

The theme of these next three days is discipleship. What was a disciple in Jesus’ day and what does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus today? I shared with the conference that a disciple is not what you do but who you are. Whether we are aware of it or not we are all followers of something or someone. Being a Christian is about who you choose to follow. You can’t follow someone unless you are going the same way as them. It is easy to see that we cannot follow Jesus and at the same time go our own way. I touched on the truth that following Jesus is a way of being, it’s who we are. I will be going deeper into it in a teaching session this evening (using Matt 4. 18-22). We are both disciples and leaders at the same time. Jesus sent us into the world as his disciples but with a mandate to amongst other things, make disciples (see Matt 28. 16-20). Who are you following and who’s following you?