Hello and welcome
to Jesus for Asia Now.
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I'm Natalie Wood and today
I have my husband Jon with me.
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And we will be talking
with our friend Tim Maddocks
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who is a missionary in Cambodia.
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Welcome, Tim, to the show.
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So nice to have you here,
and what did you just say?
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I said hello. Okay.
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In which language?
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Cambodian or the Khmer language.
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Excellent. Can you teach us?
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Very good. Thank you. Okay.
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So how long have
you been in Cambodia?
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I went to Cambodia in 1992.
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And how did you
choose going to Cambodia?
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All right, God
actually chose for me.
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We had decided to join
ADRA and the development work,
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and ADRA offered me a position
in Africa or in Cambodia.
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Wendy, my wife and I
had both sided for Africa,
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but left the choice to God
and He sent us to Cambodia.
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Okay, so when
you got to Cambodia,
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was it beautiful
tropical paradise?
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Cambodia had been through
years and years of civil war,
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and it was still
coming out of that.
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There is still a civil war
going on at the time in 1992.
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It was really
in quite a bad way.
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Wow.
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Now you talk about a civil war,
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but this was the home of
the killing fields and Pol Pot,
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so it was pretty traumatic.
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Yeah, they wiped out about
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a quarter of the
population of Cambodia
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during the war years.
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Wow! Wow!
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That's hard to even imagine.
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Yeah, it's hard to find someone
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who wasn't affected
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in a very close personal way by.
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Yeah. And you
took your family there?
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God's choice.
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Not only did I
take my family there,
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but all my family
is still there with me
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25 years later.
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Hey, well, we want to
get more into your story.
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We have some
pictures to share also.
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But you started
out working with ADRA,
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and now you are doing
something completely different,
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so what happened there?
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While we were working with ADRA,
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we were also church planting
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because immediately
when I arrived in Siem Reap,
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I realized I was probably
the only Christian in the town,
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so I had a
greater responsibility
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than just helping rice farmers
improve their rice yields.
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So we began
church planting in town
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and during that period of
time God began to speak to me
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and ask me to
work full-time for Him
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doing church planting
and training church planters,
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and church leaders.
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And so, in 1996,
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we began what we
call SALT Ministries
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and we moved away
from working with ADRA
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to working full-time for God
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and God has kept us
in that work ever since.
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Okay, so you
said, you moved away
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from working for ADRA.
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Now with ADRA,
were you a volunteer?
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Or were you being paid or...
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I was being paid and although
the salary wasn't super high,
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I had free
housing, free electricity,
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free use of a vehicle.
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Working for God full-time?
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What does that look
like as far as your wages
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so to speak?
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Well, I got my last
paycheck, December 31, 1995.
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So working for
God meant trusting Him
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to supply all our needs.
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He also told me
to use all the funds
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that we had saved
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to get the work started
that He was asking us to do.
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Right. So you had to buy land.
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So what kind of land
are you talking about?
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A little place for one
house, you said houses?
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So God impressed us
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that we should
build a training center
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and so we needed a classroom,
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we needed accommodation
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for students and their families,
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and I felt about 20
acres would be about right.
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And so we've...
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God impressed me
where to buy the land.
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It was like the
worst of worst land
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as far as farming was concerned.
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And so, the farmers
were willing to sell it,
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which was a good thing.
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And after buying it,
then God spoke to me again
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and said, "Expand the land."
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And it's like, "Well,
we don't have much money
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and we've already
spent a chunk of it
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buying the first part of land.
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We have to develop it
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and you want me
to buy more land."
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So I ask God,
"To give me a sign"
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and that was to
show me in the Bible,
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and so I took a
Bible and let it full open
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and put my finger on a text
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without looking at
what the text said,
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and then brought the
Bible and read it, and it said,
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"Expand the borders."
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And I did this four
times and each time the intent
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that it takes was to enlarge.
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And so I said, "Okay, God,
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I understand this is Your will."
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And we went ahead
and bought more land
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to make a total of 42 acres.
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Okay.
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So the first picture we have
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is of your first
house there on the property?
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Okay, describe to us
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what this house is
that we are seeing here?
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Well, this is a typical
house for the poor people.
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And this house actually
cost about $300 to build.
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And it took local people about
three days to put together.
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And the reason we did this
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was because God had told us
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that He wanted us to
live like the local people.
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And so we started living
like the poorest of the poor.
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And this was a way
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I think that God wanted
to help the local people see
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that we were there to help them,
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not to exploit them.
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Okay, so your
house was made of grass?
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Palm leaves,
bamboo, and wooden poles.
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And where was Wendy's kitchen?
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Wendy's kitchen was
right beside the steps.
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The steps just behind
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where we are
standing and so it's outside,
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and it was just a little
clay cooking pot type thing.
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Stove thing.
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You put your fire
wood in and lit it up,
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and put the saucepan on top.
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And, yeah, she was very gracious
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in being subject to such
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difficult conditions for cooking
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but she did a good job.
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How old were your
sons when you went?
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When we went to Cambodia,
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Shannon was
almost one year of age
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and Caleb is three and a half.
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So here in this picture,
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Caleb's seven and
Shannon's four and a half.
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Wow.
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So they have grown up
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their whole lives
in Cambodia basically?
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Pretty much, yes.
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And they speak
the language fluently,
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they read and write
the language as well.
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So when I say the word,
home, you think of Australia?
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Home is where my pillow is.
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No, home is
there for me Cambodia.
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But also knowing it's
where God wants me to be.
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So you chose to
live in this house
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so that you could become
more like the local people.
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What kind of
ministry you would call that?
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We call that an
incarnational ministry.
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So becoming like the people
that you are working with.
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And the purpose of that is...
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So that they will accept you,
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so that they will see that
you are not better than them,
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that you appreciate
their way of living.
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To remove as
many obstacles to them
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seeing the gospel as possible.
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That's right, yeah.
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Okay, so it's the dangerous area
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that you moved into,
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away from the
downtown part of the city.
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Lot of people were
robbed at gunpoint.
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Have you had that experience?
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Yes, one night about
nine o'clock at night,
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we heard a disturbance outside
this little thatched house.
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And as I went out
with a flash light
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to see what it was
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and there were three
AK-47 rifles pointing at me.
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Whoa! Whoa!
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So what did you do?
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I stepped back in the doorway
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'cause I didn't want them
getting into the one room house
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where my kids and my wife was.
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They asked for money.
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And so my wife gave them money
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she had which was
very small amount,
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Cambodian money
and they looked at it
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as in the light that
was coming through the door
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and threw it
back into the house,
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so they were obviously upset.
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At that point one of
them stepped out to me
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and he put the gun just here,
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and so I am looking
down the black barrel,
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and I can see the angry face,
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and I can see his
finger was on the trigger.
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So what happened next?
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I began to think about
the fact that I was gonna die.
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Yeah.
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And as I thought about it,
the thought came to my mind,
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"Do I really believe
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that I am saved by
the blood of Jesus?"
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And as I thought about that,
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the answer was emphatically yes.
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And God just filled
my heart with this warm
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sense of joy and peace,
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that's a really
hard thing to describe.
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So, in this moment
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where I think I am about to die,
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I am in this
euphoric sense of joy.
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Were you
smiling? I have no idea.
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I think things like that
they just happen so fast,
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the brain's
working at light speed,
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and it seems like a long
time but it wasn't long time.
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Wow.
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So you have this sense of
peace and what happens next?
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One of the three guys
steps up to the one with the gun
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and pushes him over.
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He must have thought
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he was really going
to pull the trigger,
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and the guy
stumbled and dropped the gun.
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And as he got up,
he grabbed the gun
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by the barrel and swung
it and hit me in the leg
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with the steel
handle that was on the gun.
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Wow! Should
have broken your leg?
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So did that... Yeah,
what happened to your leg?
00:10:01.60\00:10:04.00
Well, it should
have broken my leg,
00:10:04.00\00:10:05.03
my legs are really skinny.
00:10:05.03\00:10:07.14
But, and he hit me
with quite a lot of force
00:10:07.14\00:10:09.77
but it was as if my legs
were cemented to the floor,
00:10:09.77\00:10:13.27
there was no
damage to the bones.
00:10:13.27\00:10:14.84
I did have a dent in the muscle
for quite some time after that.
00:10:14.84\00:10:18.61
But, I then said to them,
"I will get you some money."
00:10:18.61\00:10:22.08
And I walked across the house,
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Wendy, my wife
stepped into the doorway
00:10:24.35\00:10:26.25
to keep them out
00:10:26.25\00:10:28.19
and I had two bundles of
money there in the house,
00:10:28.19\00:10:32.56
one was about $18
in Cambodian money
00:10:32.56\00:10:36.13
and the other was
$1,000 in the US money.
00:10:36.13\00:10:38.73
That's what they
were going after.
00:10:38.73\00:10:40.60
Well, I figured they didn't know
00:10:40.60\00:10:42.27
I had $1,000 in there.
00:10:42.27\00:10:44.24
Because normally I
wouldn't have a $1,000
00:10:44.24\00:10:46.14
but that day I got
money out of the bank
00:10:46.14\00:10:47.91
to buy wood to build houses
for our lay training program
00:10:47.91\00:10:51.31
and I wasn't
able to buy the wood.
00:10:51.31\00:10:53.05
And I couldn't put the
money back in the bank,
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so I had to have it
with me in the house.
00:10:55.28\00:10:58.95
So I figured, well,
they don't know it's here so
00:10:58.95\00:11:01.29
and it's God's money,
00:11:01.29\00:11:02.26
so I am gonna give
them the smaller bundle,
00:11:02.26\00:11:04.43
and so I handed that
out through the door to them
00:11:04.43\00:11:06.90
and they looked at it,
disappeared into the darkness.
00:11:06.90\00:11:09.36
Wow! Wow!
00:11:09.36\00:11:11.23
That must have been quite
intense for you and Wendy.
00:11:11.23\00:11:13.23
What did you do next?
00:11:13.23\00:11:14.44
We got down on
our knees and prayed,
00:11:14.44\00:11:16.44
thanking God for His protection.
00:11:16.44\00:11:18.21
Yeah.
00:11:18.21\00:11:19.27
You might ask me,
00:11:19.27\00:11:20.84
why did God
allow that to happen?
00:11:20.84\00:11:24.11
And that was a good
question. Thank you.
00:11:24.11\00:11:26.95
My wife had just been talking
just before they came and said,
00:11:26.95\00:11:31.85
"It's important
for us to experience
00:11:31.85\00:11:34.29
what the local
people experience."
00:11:34.29\00:11:36.76
And one of the
things they experienced
00:11:36.76\00:11:38.23
and really feared was
being robbed at gunpoint,
00:11:38.23\00:11:40.90
and so just 30 seconds
later this event happens.
00:11:40.90\00:11:45.80
I don't think God engineered it,
00:11:45.80\00:11:47.70
I think it was a
satanic thing but God used it.
00:11:47.70\00:11:52.54
And the local
people fully expected us
00:11:52.54\00:11:55.44
to pack up your family and leave
00:11:55.44\00:11:58.35
but we didn't, we
just carried on trusting
00:11:58.35\00:12:00.98
that God would protect us.
00:12:00.98\00:12:03.12
And that broke down a lot
of barriers in our community.
00:12:03.12\00:12:07.26
And they began to accept
us as part of their community
00:12:07.26\00:12:10.03
because we were willing
to put up with the things
00:12:10.03\00:12:11.93
that their
community had to put up with.
00:12:11.93\00:12:13.53
Wow! Amazing.
00:12:13.53\00:12:15.30
And so then, out of
that came your church plant?
00:12:15.30\00:12:18.80
That was a significant point
00:12:18.80\00:12:20.24
in helping our
church plant move forward.
00:12:20.24\00:12:22.44
Amazing. Wow.
00:12:22.44\00:12:23.47
So how long did you
live in the first house,
00:12:23.47\00:12:25.11
the grass house?
00:12:25.11\00:12:26.14
We lived in the
grass house for one year.
00:12:26.14\00:12:28.08
Okay. And then
you built a new house?
00:12:28.08\00:12:30.11
Yes, we built a
two story wooden house
00:12:30.11\00:12:32.05
like what the
more wealthy people
00:12:32.05\00:12:33.98
in the village lived in.
00:12:33.98\00:12:35.45
Okay, describe that to us,
00:12:35.45\00:12:37.22
are there
screens on the windows?
00:12:37.22\00:12:38.49
No, you're not having
screens on the windows.
00:12:38.49\00:12:40.42
No screens, it has shutters.
00:12:40.42\00:12:42.96
It's not lined inside.
00:12:42.96\00:12:44.89
We did have one glass window
that looked into our bird cage
00:12:44.89\00:12:48.50
so we can enjoy our parrots
00:12:48.50\00:12:49.96
and they couldn't
fly into the house.
00:12:49.96\00:12:51.53
Did you have an inside toilet?
00:12:51.53\00:12:53.27
In this house, yes.
00:12:53.27\00:12:54.60
We had built the toilet inside.
00:12:54.60\00:12:56.40
Okay. And the kitchen?
00:12:56.40\00:12:57.84
Kitchen was downstairs,
was a very small kitchen,
00:12:57.84\00:13:01.34
but it was much
better than the kitchen
00:13:01.34\00:13:03.51
Wendy have had in
the previous house.
00:13:03.51\00:13:05.08
She thought it was luxurious.
00:13:05.08\00:13:06.25
It was covered and how did Wendy
00:13:06.25\00:13:07.78
do the washing in these houses?
00:13:07.78\00:13:10.02
Well, outside the house
we had a ring well, and so...
00:13:10.02\00:13:13.22
What's a ring well?
00:13:13.22\00:13:14.29
It's a concrete, a
well with concrete rings
00:13:14.29\00:13:17.39
going down into the ground.
00:13:17.39\00:13:18.93
And so... So you lift the water?
00:13:18.93\00:13:20.40
Yeah, we have
rope tied to bucket
00:13:20.40\00:13:22.20
and just throw the
bucket in and pull it up.
00:13:22.20\00:13:24.80
She had some bowls
to pull the water in
00:13:24.80\00:13:26.67
and then she washed by hand.
00:13:26.67\00:13:28.47
Wow! Okay.
00:13:28.47\00:13:29.54
And then how
did she dry clothes?
00:13:29.54\00:13:31.81
Hang it up in the line. Okay.
00:13:31.81\00:13:33.64
So it's sort of, you
would wring out the clothes
00:13:33.64\00:13:35.78
and then take them
and shake them out,
00:13:35.78\00:13:37.68
hang them up.
00:13:37.68\00:13:38.75
Yeah.
00:13:38.75\00:13:39.85
So as far as bathing,
00:13:39.85\00:13:40.92
I mean you didn't
have the indoor shower
00:13:40.92\00:13:42.28
at the first house
00:13:42.28\00:13:43.39
and you had the bathroom
inside at the second house,
00:13:43.39\00:13:46.05
but what happened with bathing?
00:13:46.05\00:13:47.76
The bath time was really fun
00:13:47.76\00:13:48.82
'cause we could
bath us as a family,
00:13:48.82\00:13:51.26
because you bathe
outside in the open,
00:13:51.26\00:13:53.93
everybody can see.
00:13:53.93\00:13:55.20
So you have to
dress modestly enough
00:13:55.20\00:13:56.87
so that, yeah,
you are not exposed.
00:13:56.87\00:13:59.57
And so we used to
have baths as a family
00:13:59.57\00:14:01.70
and we have conversations
when we're taking a bath
00:14:01.70\00:14:04.51
and it was actually
a really happy time.
00:14:04.51\00:14:06.44
So then while you
are at this house,
00:14:06.44\00:14:08.01
what was your main mission task?
00:14:08.01\00:14:10.35
I mean, God put you on
this land for a purpose?
00:14:10.35\00:14:13.55
God's main task first
was to train laypeople
00:14:13.55\00:14:17.62
to be leaders in local churches,
00:14:17.62\00:14:19.95
and to go out and
start new churches.
00:14:19.95\00:14:22.12
Okay, so describe
the church at that time,
00:14:22.12\00:14:24.69
the church of Cambodia?
00:14:24.69\00:14:26.26
In 1992, when I arrived,
there was basically no church.
00:14:26.26\00:14:30.77
So there was just a
handful of people meeting
00:14:30.77\00:14:33.34
in the capital city, Phnom Penh.
00:14:33.34\00:14:35.90
But there were people returning
00:14:35.90\00:14:37.44
from the refugee
camps in Thailand
00:14:37.44\00:14:39.57
who would become
Christian, become Adventist
00:14:39.57\00:14:41.84
and some of them had
been trained to be leaders.
00:14:41.84\00:14:44.75
So they were coming
in and they were sent out
00:14:44.75\00:14:48.88
to start new
churches in different cities
00:14:48.88\00:14:51.15
around the country.
00:14:51.15\00:14:52.52
And because of the trouble
00:14:52.52\00:14:55.69
that the country
had been through,
00:14:55.69\00:14:57.63
a lot of people
were looking for hope,
00:14:57.63\00:15:00.16
and so we found that many
people returning to Christ
00:15:00.16\00:15:02.96
when they heard the good
news of salvation through Jesus.
00:15:02.96\00:15:06.57
But these people are
coming out of a Buddhist mindset
00:15:06.57\00:15:10.31
and often poorly educated,
00:15:10.31\00:15:12.91
and so it's a huge
leap to become an Adventist.
00:15:12.91\00:15:17.75
And so they needed time
and they needed teaching.
00:15:17.75\00:15:22.15
So our lay training program
00:15:22.15\00:15:23.85
that was four months
long live in program.
00:15:23.85\00:15:26.89
Was opportunity to
deepen their faith in God
00:15:26.89\00:15:29.72
and deepen their
understanding of the Bible
00:15:29.72\00:15:32.26
and prepare them to go
out and share with others.
00:15:32.26\00:15:35.03
So how many four months
training programs did you do?
00:15:35.03\00:15:38.53
We did 12 over a ten year period
00:15:38.53\00:15:41.64
and about 400 people attended.
00:15:41.64\00:15:43.71
Okay, so then that
was training people
00:15:43.71\00:15:46.41
to go back into other areas,
00:15:46.41\00:15:48.11
do you have any stories about
any of these church planters
00:15:48.11\00:15:51.28
that you would like to share?
00:15:51.28\00:15:52.78
There were three young people
00:15:52.78\00:15:54.08
that came to
one of our trainings
00:15:54.08\00:15:55.75
and they were Cambodian.
00:15:55.75\00:15:57.59
And at the end of the
training, the mission,
00:15:57.59\00:16:00.66
the Cambodia Adventist mission
using global mission funds
00:16:00.66\00:16:04.26
from the General
Conference sent them way up
00:16:04.26\00:16:06.56
into the
northeast of the country
00:16:06.56\00:16:08.36
to a province called Ratanakiri.
00:16:08.36\00:16:11.63
And they were
witnessing to Cambodian people
00:16:11.63\00:16:14.84
but a lot of tribal people
00:16:14.84\00:16:17.21
as well as there's
quite a number of different
00:16:17.21\00:16:18.84
tribal groups up in that area.
00:16:18.84\00:16:20.94
And they brought a number
of tribal people to Jesus.
00:16:20.94\00:16:24.35
One of those tribal people
then came and trained also.
00:16:24.35\00:16:28.28
And then he went back
00:16:28.28\00:16:29.82
and started
sharing with his people.
00:16:29.82\00:16:32.09
And this picture
that we see here,
00:16:32.09\00:16:34.29
this is a picture of
one of his worship groups
00:16:34.29\00:16:38.53
which I was
blessed to be able to visit
00:16:38.53\00:16:41.20
and also to
baptize about 20 people
00:16:41.20\00:16:43.53
that have come to know
Christ from his tribal group.
00:16:43.53\00:16:45.97
And they were the
first people from that tribe
00:16:45.97\00:16:47.70
to be baptized the
Seventh-day Adventist.
00:16:47.70\00:16:49.80
Wow. So the church
really grew quickly?
00:16:49.80\00:16:52.27
The church was
growing very quickly
00:16:52.27\00:16:53.61
like 500-600 people a year.
00:16:53.61\00:16:56.08
What's Wendy doing aside
00:16:56.08\00:16:57.38
from washing clothes
and pounding out the meals?
00:16:57.38\00:17:01.58
What was she
doing during this time?
00:17:01.58\00:17:03.08
She was home
schooling our children,
00:17:03.08\00:17:05.29
and then she was
running a medical clinic,
00:17:05.29\00:17:08.02
and she was
also teaching health,
00:17:08.02\00:17:10.56
and how to reach children
00:17:10.56\00:17:13.06
with the gospel
to our lay trainees,
00:17:13.06\00:17:14.86
so she was very busy also.
00:17:14.86\00:17:16.77
Yeah. Does she have
like medical training?
00:17:16.77\00:17:19.23
She did a three year
diploma in podiatry foot care,
00:17:19.23\00:17:23.71
and so she had
basic medical training.
00:17:23.71\00:17:26.41
But she read books
00:17:26.41\00:17:28.94
and she couldn't find the answer
00:17:28.94\00:17:31.41
to someone's illness,
00:17:31.41\00:17:32.48
she took him to
doctor or hospital
00:17:32.48\00:17:34.82
and learned from the doctor,
00:17:34.82\00:17:36.62
and then was able to treat
that illness in the future.
00:17:36.62\00:17:39.99
She also taught
herself midwifery
00:17:39.99\00:17:42.92
and has
delivered over 55 babies.
00:17:42.92\00:17:45.26
Wow! So this clinic, is
that still running today?
00:17:45.26\00:17:48.43
It ran for just four years.
00:17:48.43\00:17:50.43
The government
asked us to close it
00:17:50.43\00:17:52.27
because we weren't
qualified medical people.
00:17:52.27\00:17:57.04
We didn't have agreement
with them to operate it,
00:17:57.04\00:18:00.34
but in that four years
she treated about 6,000 people
00:18:00.34\00:18:04.25
and it really helped to
break down barriers as well
00:18:04.25\00:18:07.42
because people saw that
we were there to help them.
00:18:07.42\00:18:09.55
Right. Wow.
00:18:09.55\00:18:10.82
So describe what's
happening in this picture?
00:18:10.82\00:18:12.72
This picture is a
picture of a baby dedication.
00:18:12.72\00:18:15.59
Now, although I'm a biologist
and teacher by training,
00:18:15.59\00:18:19.73
God had told me, he
wanted me to be a pastor
00:18:19.73\00:18:21.73
and I just couldn't understand
00:18:21.73\00:18:22.96
how that was
going to be possible.
00:18:22.96\00:18:24.97
But these days I
do a lot of pastoring
00:18:24.97\00:18:27.70
and here I am in a
home doing a baby dedication
00:18:27.70\00:18:30.94
for actually two families.
00:18:30.94\00:18:32.44
Here we have an
aunty and her niece
00:18:32.44\00:18:35.58
being dedicated
at the same time.
00:18:35.58\00:18:39.98
Wow, that's amazing.
00:18:39.98\00:18:41.12
So it truly is God
qualifies the called.
00:18:41.12\00:18:43.99
That's right, yeah.
00:18:43.99\00:18:45.15
Okay, so then you also got
involved with church planting
00:18:45.15\00:18:48.16
on your own property?
00:18:48.16\00:18:49.86
God had asked us
to plant a church
00:18:49.86\00:18:51.73
in our local community
00:18:51.73\00:18:52.99
because there
weren't any Christians
00:18:52.99\00:18:54.30
in our local
community when we moved there.
00:18:54.30\00:18:56.93
And that church has grown
00:18:56.93\00:19:00.40
and so here we have our
current church building.
00:19:00.40\00:19:03.00
We started building this in 1998
00:19:03.00\00:19:05.74
and we completed
it in the year 2002,
00:19:05.74\00:19:09.54
took us a while to get it done.
00:19:09.54\00:19:12.01
It's a unique design.
00:19:12.01\00:19:13.95
We thought that we
should use a design
00:19:13.95\00:19:18.02
that local people identify
it as a building for worship.
00:19:18.02\00:19:21.89
And so I looked
at Buddha's temples
00:19:21.89\00:19:23.93
and selected one,
00:19:23.93\00:19:26.23
made some modifications
00:19:26.23\00:19:28.16
and then we built that building,
00:19:28.16\00:19:29.90
and so this is what we have.
00:19:29.90\00:19:31.70
Inside there is no chairs.
00:19:31.70\00:19:34.00
The Buddhist
religion and in their culture
00:19:34.00\00:19:36.57
have a lot of really
respectful things built in.
00:19:36.57\00:19:40.98
One of them is that
when people come to worship,
00:19:40.98\00:19:44.21
they take their shoes off
before they enter the building.
00:19:44.21\00:19:46.45
Kind of like Moses
before the burning bush?
00:19:46.45\00:19:49.08
Yeah, exactly. Okay.
00:19:49.08\00:19:50.42
And they also sit on the floor.
00:19:50.42\00:19:54.06
They won't sit in
the lotus position,
00:19:54.06\00:19:56.09
the position that you
see Buddhist sitting in
00:19:56.09\00:19:58.36
because that would be
showing disrespect to Buddha.
00:19:58.36\00:20:01.56
So they sit with their
legs folded to the side,
00:20:01.56\00:20:04.63
and so to them
00:20:04.63\00:20:06.50
this is a respectful position
to be in during worship.
00:20:06.50\00:20:10.57
And that's
beautiful because in the Bible
00:20:10.57\00:20:12.94
we find that people were down
on the floor worshipping God,
00:20:12.94\00:20:16.98
and so we decided we
would adopt that for our church.
00:20:16.98\00:20:19.75
It has a couple
of other advantages,
00:20:19.75\00:20:21.85
you don't have to buy chairs
00:20:21.85\00:20:24.49
and you can get twice as
many people in the building.
00:20:24.49\00:20:28.09
So you were
doing church planting
00:20:28.09\00:20:29.86
for quite a while or
church planter training?
00:20:29.86\00:20:33.29
We were doing church planting
00:20:33.29\00:20:34.73
and church planter
training simultaneously.
00:20:34.73\00:20:37.47
So our church planter
trainees were helping us
00:20:37.47\00:20:40.10
with our local church plant.
00:20:40.10\00:20:41.47
Excellent.
00:20:41.47\00:20:42.60
And God had you start out
another project at that time?
00:20:42.60\00:20:46.94
After the first training
we asked one of our trainees,
00:20:46.94\00:20:49.88
a local lady
00:20:49.88\00:20:51.18
who had had three
years of education
00:20:51.18\00:20:54.05
to start teaching school.
00:20:54.05\00:20:56.69
There were a lot of
children in our community
00:20:56.69\00:20:58.72
who were too poor to go
to the government school,
00:20:58.72\00:21:01.16
and so they weren't getting
any literacy training at all.
00:21:01.16\00:21:04.63
So we allocated a
small veranda area
00:21:04.63\00:21:08.00
for her to use as
classroom and to teach kids
00:21:08.00\00:21:10.73
from the poorest of the poor.
00:21:10.73\00:21:12.77
And she started when
we were about 20 students,
00:21:12.77\00:21:16.14
but it became clear very soon
00:21:16.14\00:21:18.91
that God had much bigger
plans for this tiny school,
00:21:18.91\00:21:22.31
and over the years it grew
00:21:22.31\00:21:23.78
into a
kindergarten to grade 12 school.
00:21:23.78\00:21:26.75
And we teach in English
00:21:26.75\00:21:28.38
and we teach in
the Khmer language,
00:21:28.38\00:21:30.75
we teach a lot of
vocational subjects as well.
00:21:30.75\00:21:33.59
Well, the primary
goal of the school
00:21:33.59\00:21:35.82
is to prepare our young people
to be missionaries for Christ.
00:21:35.82\00:21:39.36
How many students do you
have attending the school
00:21:39.36\00:21:41.00
at this point?
00:21:41.00\00:21:42.10
In our main school we have 310,
00:21:42.10\00:21:44.47
but we also have a couple of
very small satellite schools,
00:21:44.47\00:21:47.27
so we have about 20 more
kids between those two schools.
00:21:47.27\00:21:50.34
Amazing. So here is
one of your classrooms?
00:21:50.34\00:21:52.97
This is the year 12 students.
And what is this building?
00:21:52.97\00:21:57.58
This building is a
dormitory and cafeteria.
00:21:57.58\00:22:00.35
Very early on in
our school's history,
00:22:00.35\00:22:04.19
church members began asking me,
00:22:04.19\00:22:06.09
can they send their
children to our school
00:22:06.09\00:22:07.96
but they lived way
off in the country side.
00:22:07.96\00:22:11.03
And so we accepted a
small number of kids, boys,
00:22:11.03\00:22:14.73
basically we let the boys sleep
wherever we could find a space
00:22:14.73\00:22:18.00
and the girls
slept with the lady
00:22:18.00\00:22:19.83
we hired as a cook
to cook food for them.
00:22:19.83\00:22:23.10
But it just kept
growing and growing
00:22:23.10\00:22:24.74
and then became an obvious need
00:22:24.74\00:22:26.44
to have a proper place for them.
00:22:26.44\00:22:28.54
And through the
Collegedale Church,
00:22:28.54\00:22:31.65
we were blessed to receive money
00:22:31.65\00:22:33.88
and help to get
started on this building,
00:22:33.88\00:22:37.12
and today there are 80
children in the dormitory.
00:22:37.12\00:22:41.22
And most of them pay about
00:22:41.22\00:22:45.13
20%, 25% of what it
cost us to keep them,
00:22:45.13\00:22:49.16
but that's as much as
their families can pay
00:22:49.16\00:22:52.63
and so we depend on
God to provide the rest.
00:22:52.63\00:22:56.81
So you have a girls'
dormitory on one side,
00:22:56.81\00:22:59.27
boys' dormitory on the other,
and a cafeteria in the middle?
00:22:59.27\00:23:02.61
That's correct. Yeah. Yes.
00:23:02.61\00:23:04.41
This building
looks kind of unique?
00:23:04.41\00:23:07.15
Yeah, I have to thank
you for this building.
00:23:07.15\00:23:10.69
It was you that inspired us
to get into the media ministry,
00:23:10.69\00:23:15.12
and I went and met you
up in Chiang Mai one time
00:23:15.12\00:23:18.89
and asked for the
plans for the building.
00:23:18.89\00:23:20.80
You were building there,
took them back to Siem Reap
00:23:20.80\00:23:23.80
and modified them a little bit,
00:23:23.80\00:23:25.57
and went ahead and
build our own media center.
00:23:25.57\00:23:29.24
Wow. So this is a TV
studio, offices, editing base?
00:23:29.24\00:23:32.81
Yeah, we record videos in here.
00:23:32.81\00:23:36.11
We translate
E.G. White books here,
00:23:36.11\00:23:39.08
and we use it as our
administrative office
00:23:39.08\00:23:42.08
as well for our ministry.
00:23:42.08\00:23:43.82
Oh, it's neat to
see what's going on
00:23:43.82\00:23:45.49
and we want to
see your family also.
00:23:45.49\00:23:47.46
So would you share with us
00:23:47.46\00:23:48.52
who these people are
that we are looking at?
00:23:48.52\00:23:50.46
Yeah, this is my
beautiful wife, Wendy.
00:23:50.46\00:23:53.26
Together with our
granddaughter Clara
00:23:53.26\00:23:56.03
and Clara is the
daughter of Caleb and Survan,
00:23:56.03\00:24:02.07
and here we have Shannon,
00:24:02.07\00:24:04.61
my younger son
and his wife Sriya.
00:24:04.61\00:24:08.04
Sriya grew up in the orphanage
00:24:08.04\00:24:10.35
and she is now the
director of the orphanage.
00:24:10.35\00:24:14.12
So she has a real good grasp
on what it's like to live there,
00:24:14.12\00:24:18.15
and so she has
real heart for the kids,
00:24:18.15\00:24:22.12
but she also
understands the challenges
00:24:22.12\00:24:23.93
that the parents go through
00:24:23.93\00:24:25.13
because she gave
them lots of challenges
00:24:25.13\00:24:26.83
what she would say.
00:24:26.83\00:24:27.86
Shannon developed a
passion for pathfinders
00:24:30.87\00:24:33.10
as he was growing up,
00:24:33.10\00:24:34.60
eventually became leader
of our local pathfinder club,
00:24:34.60\00:24:38.27
and the Cambodia
Adventist mission
00:24:38.27\00:24:40.31
has appointed him as
00:24:40.31\00:24:41.61
honoree pathfinder
leader for the country.
00:24:41.61\00:24:44.25
So I pay his salary
00:24:44.25\00:24:47.48
but about half of his time
00:24:47.48\00:24:48.72
is spent working on materials
00:24:48.72\00:24:50.62
to help advance
pathfinders throughout Cambodia.
00:24:50.62\00:24:54.06
So you lived in that two
storey house for 17 years.
00:24:54.06\00:24:57.69
Why would you
ever want to leave?
00:24:57.69\00:24:59.46
The reason we chose the
site for that two storey house
00:24:59.46\00:25:01.76
was it was a nice
high piece of land,
00:25:01.76\00:25:04.00
but it had lots of
termite hills on it,
00:25:04.00\00:25:07.04
and we flattened
the termite hills
00:25:07.04\00:25:09.70
and built the house.
00:25:09.70\00:25:12.24
It took the termites
17 years to fight back,
00:25:12.24\00:25:15.78
but finally they
managed to get into our house
00:25:15.78\00:25:19.41
and to eat out a
number of the main columns
00:25:19.41\00:25:21.95
that held the house.
00:25:21.95\00:25:23.02
So there were
four columns out of 12
00:25:23.02\00:25:24.82
that you could just pass
your hand right through it.
00:25:24.82\00:25:27.32
Oh, boy!
00:25:27.32\00:25:28.36
And it was looking very unsafe
00:25:28.36\00:25:31.39
so we decided
before it collapsed on us
00:25:31.39\00:25:33.46
that we would demolish
it and we build a new home.
00:25:33.46\00:25:36.40
That's a really good idea.
00:25:36.40\00:25:39.10
And so this new home
is made out of cement?
00:25:39.10\00:25:41.34
This is brick and cement
and hopefully termite proof.
00:25:41.34\00:25:45.71
And it's a very
unique kind of home.
00:25:45.71\00:25:48.71
Yeah, our community has
changed in the last 22 years.
00:25:48.71\00:25:52.68
So from being
extremely poor community
00:25:52.68\00:25:55.55
the town has
grown up and grown out
00:25:55.55\00:25:58.39
and now reached us,
00:25:58.39\00:25:59.75
so we have middle class
people living in our community
00:25:59.75\00:26:02.22
that had two storey
houses with air conditioning
00:26:02.22\00:26:04.73
and cars parked in the garage.
00:26:04.73\00:26:07.40
So we decided that it was time
00:26:07.40\00:26:08.80
that we moved up
with our community
00:26:08.80\00:26:12.43
and so we built something
00:26:12.43\00:26:14.14
that was more modern
and easier to live in,
00:26:14.14\00:26:21.14
but we really
wanted to have a place
00:26:21.14\00:26:24.25
where we just felt at peace.
00:26:24.25\00:26:27.32
And we both love the outdoors,
00:26:27.32\00:26:29.55
and so we decided
we would build a house
00:26:29.55\00:26:31.69
that had the outdoors inside.
00:26:31.69\00:26:34.96
So we put large sky
lights into the roof,
00:26:34.96\00:26:38.46
left a hole right in
the middle of the roof
00:26:38.46\00:26:40.43
so that rain could come in
00:26:40.43\00:26:41.96
and then we built a garden
down in the center of our house.
00:26:41.96\00:26:44.03
We have a fish
pond and a water pool.
00:26:44.03\00:26:45.33
And a water pool, yeah.
00:26:45.33\00:26:46.70
Now you said your
degree and university was...
00:26:46.70\00:26:49.84
In biology.
00:26:49.84\00:26:50.87
In biology, so that
interest is coming back now.
00:26:50.87\00:26:53.81
That's right, yeah.
00:26:53.81\00:26:54.88
So what is it that's
driving the economy of this area
00:26:54.88\00:26:57.91
that you are in?
00:26:57.91\00:26:59.38
We are about six miles
from a very famous temple
00:26:59.38\00:27:02.45
called Angkor Wat.
00:27:02.45\00:27:03.69
Okay.
00:27:03.69\00:27:04.79
And tourist is
streaming into Siem Reap to see
00:27:04.79\00:27:07.36
this 12th century temple.
00:27:07.36\00:27:11.86
And we get
about two million plus
00:27:11.86\00:27:15.73
tourists a year
coming into the city.
00:27:15.73\00:27:18.70
So, of course, that's a lot
of money flowing into the city,
00:27:18.70\00:27:22.20
and that's spurring the growth
and development of our city.
00:27:22.20\00:27:27.14
Well, Tim, I know that you
have more stories to share.
00:27:27.14\00:27:30.18
Thank you for sharing with us,
00:27:30.18\00:27:32.05
and we would
like to let you know
00:27:32.05\00:27:33.82
that we are
doing another episode
00:27:33.82\00:27:35.25
with Tim to
capture more of the stories
00:27:35.25\00:27:37.62
and specifically
what God is challenging
00:27:37.62\00:27:40.16
Tim and Wendy with to reach out
00:27:40.16\00:27:41.96
to these tourists that
are coming to their area.
00:27:41.96\00:27:44.56
I'll just let you know,
it's called butterfly paradise,
00:27:44.56\00:27:46.93
and you won't want to miss
00:27:46.93\00:27:48.03
the pictures and
video that are coming.
00:27:48.03\00:27:50.67
If you would like to be
a part of this ministry,
00:27:50.67\00:27:53.13
please send your tax deductible
love gifts to Jesus For Asia,
00:27:53.13\00:27:56.67
PO Box 1221,
Collegedale, Tennessee 37315.
00:27:56.67\00:28:02.24
Call us at (423) 413-7321.
00:28:02.24\00:28:06.18
Or visit our
website at Jesus4asia.org.
00:28:06.18\00:28:09.95
May God richly bless you
00:28:09.95\00:28:11.45
until we see you next
time on Jesus for Asia Now.
00:28:11.45\00:28:14.49