Greetings from the church in Siem Reap!
It's always an honor to report of the work of Christ here in Cambodia to all my supporters back home in America. My family and I thank you for your love and support.
In this particular report, I would like to focus on my main work, which is IBISR (International BIble Institute of Siem Reap). It has been such a blessing for me not only to be able to teach at this school, but also play a role as the director of this humble school. Many lives have been changed for the better because of this program. We have developed faithful men who are able to teach other faithful men what they've learned (2 Tim 2:2).
We are currently on our 3rd class since its inception back in 2008. We have continuously striven to improve and adapt our program to meet the needs of the Cambodian people as well as our goals for Christ. We think we have the right curriculum program by formulating the "Work/Study Program" as a part of the curriculum. This program has helped us to focus and put priority on the local church in Siem Reap instead of the village churches outside of Siem Reap.
Before, as a part of our program, we sent students out on the weekend to the villages to gain experience and preach to the poor villagers because we thought that the students who came from the villages would go back and teach at their village once they graduated. But, we found out that rarely does that happen. Either the villagers won’t accept the newly graduated preacher back in their home village or the newly graduated preacher won’t go back to his humble background because he's been 'spoiled' by the 'city' life. If we continue in this cycle, we will never be autonomous. It will always end up being a 'show' for the brethren. They will be 'playing' church instead of really converting to Christ and living the Christian lifestyle.
That's what we want to eradicate with our program at IBISR. We want to build 'gold, silver, and precious stones, not wood, hay and stubble' (1 Cor 3:9-15) through our program. We ask that you continue to keep us in your prayers, especially for the school's program in developing strong faithful leaders to grow the church here in Cambodia.
Phanat
To see Phanat’s report with pictures, please click here.