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Holistic ministry A youth hostel, a farm, a meal program and English classes. For members of the Lutheran Church in Cambodia (LCC), these are safe places and spaces where they can bear witness to God’s redeeming love. Lutherans in Cambodia have two similarities


with those in Russia: they are a minority group and live with heartbreaking memories—for them, the devastating rule of the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s. In this mostly Buddhist context, direct evangelism isn’t as effective, said Daniel Orn, a founding pastor of the church. “The majority of people look at the Christians as believers who are indoctrinated by a Western religion,” he added. Instead, Orn said the LCC hopes to attract


people to the faith through the caring, Christian way its members live and through its holistic, innovative ministries like its hostel project and congregation in Phnom Penh. The hostel met a critical need because the


LCC’s first congregation in Kruos Village had a few university students who needed a place to live. The church first rented a home to six students at an affordable rate. By 2012 the hostel ministry had grown so much that the LCC was able to purchase three three-story units that house 60 students and include space for worship and fellowship, said Adam Erickson, an ELCA missionary in Cambodia with his wife Sarah. Now the hostel has a congregation of 65


members aged 19 through 30 that represents 10 of Cambodia’s 25 provinces. Most are university students like Sareoun Chum, a young adult leader and hostel volunteer. For Chum,


it’s easy to serve God but hard to know if he is making a difference. Yet the connections he makes through the hostel ministry bring him excitement: “I know I have a good relationship with other students to exchange experiences.” Chum also appreciates that his church not


only “works with the soul” but also focuses on serving the poor. One example is an agriculture ministry, also founded by the Kruos Village congregation, where villagers receive training so they can grow produce in their gardens to eat and sell at the local market. The program also provides chickens, which helps families buy meat to supplement their diet. Ultimately, the ministry has helped the village become more food secure, Erickson said. With approximately 253 baptized members,


two congregations, multiple ministries and big dreams, the “LCC is a young growing ministry full of enthusiasm,” Erickson said. Founded in 2010, the LCC is a product


of the Lutheran Church in Singapore’s mission work—a denomination founded by the Lutheran Church in America, an ELCA predecessor. Although it relies on outside funding from the ELCA and the Singapore church, Orn said the LCC aims to be self- sufficient by 2035. Its other goal is “to send missionaries to


serve to restore Christians in Europe in the next 20 to 30 years,” Orn said. “[In the future] we hope to see Christians, either directly from the LCC or other churches, involved and making an impact in the government. If the majority of government leaders are Christian, the hope of improving the country’s situation is high.”


Two graduates of the university in Phnom Penh, Cambodia (center), are blessed during worship as they prepare to return home. During their studies they attended a Lutheran hostel congregation, a ministry of the Lutheran Church in Cambodia.


Photo: Y. Franklin Ishida 18 JULY 2016


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