On the 8^th of March Ps. Craig Ireland and myself set off for the Kingdom of Cambodia. Making an overnight stop in Kuala Lumpur we arrived in the tourist capital of Cambodia the province of Siem Reap.

While planning the trip, our main concern as always was the preaching of the word which we planned to do through gospel tracts and where possible through preaching. In conjunction with this we also wanted to find local pastors with whom we could do future missions, with the long term goal of establishing a church plant in the Kingdom of Cambodia.

Our first day on the ground we spent running errands to prepare for the trip. We purchased rice and some gospel tracts to hold us over till the next day when we would receive our order of 17,500 tracts from Phnom Penh. Riding the tuk tuk into the city centre just as the sun was setting to grab some dinner the first day. It was a great feeling to be back in the country that I fell in love with the year before. The people, the culture, the sights and the smells all gave me a peace. The people in Cambodia are generally very friendly people. Much friendlier than other parts of southern Asia which I’ve been to and it holds a special place in my heart for missions.

The next few days saw us going door to door in villages around the main province. For those people who have never been to Cambodia it is a completely different witnessing encounter than what you would experience in the west. The major difference being that people invite you into their homes! You simply walk through the gate and say hello and they are pulling up chairs for you to sit on and asking what you would like to tell them. So we utilised these opportunities and, through local pastors acting as our interpreters, we were able to share and hold conversations with families about the saving grace that is the Gospel. As always God was gracious towards us in supplying us with some workers for the field. A few of these gentlemen were from a local youth group and were a tremendous help. Not so much in helping us communicate, but they themselves were enthusiastic about tracting and sharing the Gospel. While they didn’t speak a whole lot of English it was encouraging to see the spirit with which they approached evangelism.

After a few days we decided we were not making enough progress in getting through our tracts. So while we went and preached in the villages during the day we also decided to hit the city at night to help us get out more tracts in a shorter space of time. We continued to do this at night when it was possible – some nights we even got out 1000-1500 in one evening.

Day 5 saw us heading by mini-bus to another village an hour and a half away. It was the home village of the pastor who was helping us on this leg of the trip. There we were met with seats of honour in a tent that had been especially erected for the meeting. It was a bit awkward because we came to serve the people of Cambodia and it wasn’t what we were expecting, but never the less we took turns preaching the gospel to the 50 or so villagers who had gathered.

That night we were taken to this market of sorts in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere. We drove for around 20-30min along this road till we saw a great number of people just sitting on the side of the road with small wares and food stalls. We got out and just started handing out tracts as fast as we could. There were so many people that Craig and I split up taking a strip of road each. When we met back at the van Craig had met a young lady and her sister, who were Christians, and wanted to hand out tracts for us. They took about 400-500 tracts just themselves to distribute which they did with amazing speed.

(I’ll just take a moment to comment on this occurrence because I think it’s worth noting, that this is the second time on mission trips that I’ve been on, that God has provided labourers for the field in this way. The Lord is always able to spread His gospel. It’s been my great privilege to witness Him doing so in this way. That without prompting a stranger appears out of nowhere and through the simple act of working alongside of us has brought such great joy and encouragement to our hearts.)

Two nights later we were visiting an internet cafe and Craig received an email from some unknown person for us to come and do ministry with their Pastor. So we gave the number a call and met up with a Ps Timothy. It was a promising meeting so we agreed to come and help him with some ministry after we got back from Kampong Cham (we had already made plans to go there and meet an old friend). This night was also particularly special because we found some English speaking Cambodians to witness to and we were verbally abused by a westerner for proselytizing to the people. All in all we were lifted in our spirits as God had blessed us with the honour of sharing His gospel and the privilege to be persecuted for it.

The next day we caught a bus to Kampong Cham province to meet a friend we had met on a previous trip – and more importantly to keep a promise. You see last year when we came to Cambodia we met a group of monks in a province called Skun, after a lengthy discussion about the bible and religion the monk asked Ps. Craig for a bible. We didn’t have one at the time so Craig promised that he would bring him one. So one year later we travelled to Skun to try and find the monastery we had visited. After a couple of hours of walking through villages, woods, fields and eventually piggy backing on the pushbike of a local, we arrived. Standing in the middle of the monastery we waited. We were hoping that a monk would come out to greet us, but after an hour of waiting none came. Not giving up hope and trusting that God had brought us there, we left a bible and some tracts on a bench in plain view for them to find. We pray that they received the gospel.

Our last full day in Cambodia we spent sharing the gospel in villages. We were taken around by a missionary from Faroe Islands. He is a volunteer that works for Ps. Timothy. We prayed for the people and anointed a young gentleman with oil and prayed that God would heal him.  He has a condition which the doctors do not know how to treat. It seems to be causing a hardening of the muscles and consequently he spends a lot of time in a wheel chair and has difficulty breathing. That day between myself and Ps. Craig taught and preached to five english and computer classes and held a church service at one of the villages.

With the trip at an end we travelled home leaving the remainder of the tracts that weren’t used with Ps. Timothy for distribution or for when we return. Looking back over the trip it was a long 12 days. We accomplished a lot of work in both preaching the gospel and planning for the future. Cambodia is most certainly a special place. One, if God allows, I will return to and hope to minister to for years to come.

Please pray for the church in Cambodia. Pray that the local church would keep its eyes on Jesus and not succumb to pressure to idolize wealth here on earth. Pray that God would provide the workers for the field of Cambodia that they would be skilled with the Gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit and with humble hearts to serve their people with all humility. Also pray for the government, that Christians would be allowed the freedom to preach the gospel and live in peace.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I also want to give a huge thank you to all the people who gave financially and prayed for us while we were away. You have no idea how much of an impact you will have made until you reach eternity. I hope it gave you some insight into what we did while we were over there and the mission work that you’ve been supporting.  I wasn’t able to cover everything for brevities sake such as visits to orphanages and slums. But if you have any questions please feel free to email me at:

doctrineunderground@gmail.com

Many Blessings in Jesus Christ

-Patrick

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel…”

http://www.hopechristianchurch.com.au

http://www.doctrineunderground.com

Here’s a fun little ditty…

Gotta give credit where credits due…here’s the link to these guys website giving a full breakdown of the lyrics and what they mean…

http://thekingdomcome.com/explaining_refpolka

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing is a Christian hymn composed by the 18th century Methodist pastor and hymnist Robert Robinson. He was born 27 September 1735 in Swaffham, Norfolk, England. Robinson’s wi­dowed mo­ther sent him to Lon­don at 14, to learn the trade of bar­ber and hair dress­er. How­ev­er, after hearing a Methodist sermon he turned from his life of recklessness and hooliganism and be­came a Methodist min­is­ter. He lat­er moved to the Bapt­ist church and pas­tored in Cam­bridge, Eng­land.

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.

Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Hither by Thy help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it;
Seal it for Thy courts above.

Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it;
Seal it for Thy courts above.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee:
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it;
Seal it for Thy courts above.

One of the great mystics of our recent age A.W. Tozer’s “The Root of Righteousness” gives a taste of the relationship that he had with our great Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

The book is a collection of essays from Tozer over the span of about five years. Originally published in ‘The Alliance Weekly’ as editorials they are now found in this tome. It offers the reader some of the most amazing insights into the way a man of God lived and walked with his saviour. While not a personal devotion series, the book deals with such a broad range of topics for the Christian from ‘The Entertainment God’ to ‘The Whole Life Must Pray’

No matter the spritual need, much is to be found in this book. Finding it hard to live like a Christian? Read ‘God is easy to live with’, going through a dry patch? ‘Understanding those Dry Spells’. Wherever you are in your Christian walk, investing some time and energy into learning from a man who knew God will benefit you greatly. Being short essays you don’t have to spend hours to get something out of it. Perhaps reading the book as a devotional would be helpful for you. However you read the book, A.W. Tozer has a gift to both encourage and reprove with great skill.

The Root Of Righteousness leaves the reader with a great sense of encountering God. Writing with such great depth and weightiness that is not found in many writers of the modern era Tozer’s works echo the puritans who would labour over the precise wording and use of a phrase for maximum effect. And now you can enjoy the fruit of that labour in the Root of Righteousness. This book is for any Christian wishing to grow in their walk with God.

Just wanted to take a moment to give a quick recommendation for a book. The book is Concise Theology by J.I. Packer and if you haven’t got it already its a handy little book to have on the shelf whenever you want the traditional reformed view on things. While Packer’s language can sometimes be a bit hard to understand, because he writes in a much older fashion, the book is still worthwhile as all his statements are well referenced and researched from the scriptures. Another side note, I don’t know what its selling for at your local bookstore but I think my local is selling it for around $10 which is a bargain as far as I’m concerned when it comes to books on theology. So I imagine it will be quite cheap where you are too.

-Patrick McConnell

‘I am not ashamed of the Gospel….’

Sorry to anyone wondering why there hasn’t been any update to the blog in well over a month, well because I kinda got busy with work and secondly with planning and going on a mission trip! The trip was to Cambodia to the tourist capitol of Siem Reap. Heres a few photo’s to tide you over until I’ve written the full review and posted it online. Needless to say the Gospel was preached and God was glorified!

Teaching an english class. These classes are used quite effectively to not only teach english but to then preach the Gospel to the locals. Apparently if you’re willing to teach an english class you will have many eager ears come to listen to you.

Preaching the Gospel

Giving out colourful wrist bands to slum kids

A comprehensive mission report will be along soon!

It came up as part of a recent conversation that repentance was not necessary to be saved, but was simply a work of the Holy Spirit in the act of sanctification after the initial salvation. To which I would like to disagree. Repentance is the act, coupled with faith, by which we enter into the grace of God.

I’ve had this view countered by Luke 23:39-43, stating that we see the criminal on the cross being saved who simply falls on the mercy of Jesus to save him. I would like to point out however in our accounts of the two criminals from Matthew 27:44 and Mark 15:32 we see this criminal mocking and reviling Jesus. For him to then turn to Jesus in Luke 23 shows a change of heart that can un-mistakenly be identified as repentance of his former hatred towards Jesus.

This aside…

Repentance is a concept that each person coming to Christ must be confronted with. Much like the man building the tower in Luke 14:28-33 anyone who comes to Christ for salvation must first reckon the cost of losing all of his pet sins to the cross. Any gospel presentation that does not include a call to repentance seems to be deficient and possibly misleading.

We’re shown biblical examples of preaching in John the Baptist in Matthew 3:2, Peter in Acts 2:38 both calling men to repentance. A pattern followed by biblical preachers throughout the centuries.

Be careful of men who would offer the blessings of grace without repentance. These men are only filling their churches with the unconverted, who by one trick or another have come to receive something without the desire to relinquish their sin.

Just thought that it was a moving song and video clip. Let it remind us that the Lord is never far from us and that He is our refuge and our strength. That His sovereign hand has purpose in everything that He does, in natural disasters and abundant and apparent blessings. May you keep in your prayers those who are in Haiti, and those who are suffering around the world. That God would be glorified by the lives of His followers in their response to any and all circumstances.

The book ‘Revolution in World Missions’ is  written by K.P. Yohannan and is the story of how he has come from humble beginnings in India to running the largely successful  missions organisation ‘Gospel for Asia’. It outlines the need for native missionaries to be sent to their own people to preach the gospel and how it is not only the most cost effective form of evangelism but is proving to be highly effective in leading people to Christ. I won’t give  a long review for this one except to recommend you get a hold of the book. And here’s the best part. Its FREE. Click Here

There’s no gimmick here, no fine print. They will send you, free of charge, a copy of the book. I hope you find that it provokes you to not only care about missions overseas but in your own back yard. And please if you enjoyed the book and want to get involved please sign up to sponsor a native missionary, its the same cost as most child sponsor programs and will greatly effect the lives of so many people through the preaching of the gospel.

- Patrick McConnell

FREE BOOK CLICK HERE

Gospel for Asia - http://www.gfa.org/

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