What do literacy classes, prayer meetings, a community garden, and planting or harvest ceremonies have in common? A village missionary team! These are a few of the activities that our village missionary teams do. So what is a village missionary team, and why am I talking about them?
It started in 2018 when a Pnong family asked Greg Timmins for Bible studies because they wanted to become Christians. Of course, missionaries are always excited to hear of people who want to know Jesus. Greg started traveling 45 minutes (more in the rainy season) to introduce them to the Savior. At first it was just this one family living in Dumchi village who were studying, but others were watching. They wanted to know what the spirits would do to this family for accepting Jesus. After enough time had passed and they knew it was safe to express interest, another family joined the studies and then another. These precious people wanted to learn more about how to live as Christians. But it was not easy for Greg to travel so far all the time to give the amount of daily-living guidance that was needed and desired.
Then came our first village missionary team: Ryan, a student missionary from the States, and Makra, a Christian young man from an Adventist school on the west side of Cambodia. They moved into a little wooden house in the village and spent time with the new believers, daily encouraging them, offering guidance and studying with them. The result? The little group of believers grew! They have formed a close-knit Christian community with hearts for sharing their love of Jesus with others.
Though the missionary team has had some transitions, this group has already welcomed several new believers who have dedicated their hearts to Christ. Now there are eight baptized members, two families ready for baptism, two more families studying for baptism and another family who just told the Dumchi group that they also want to follow Jesus and have their house and hearts dedicated to Christ and cleansed from spirit worship. We praise the Lord for the work He is doing in Dumchi village through the power of His Spirit and the dedication of young missionaries!
The team is not without support though. Each week the village workers gather for prayer, Bible study and brainstorming on how to support the new believers, guide them in their spiritual growth and encourage them to share their faith with others. This gives the missionary team on-going training and encouragement as they minister in the village.
But Dumchi is not the only village where people want someone to come and teach them how to live for Jesus. Others have told us that they want to have someone live close to them and show them the Way. Please join us in praying for dedicated young people willing to sacrifice comfort and convenience to share their love of Jesus in remote villages and for the financial support to send them.
If you would like to support a village missionary team, please mark your donation to our project “Village literacy and evangelism.” To become a student missionary, begin by going to www.afmonline.org and clicking on Serve.
