Aligning vision, goals and strategy is perplexing at best. What do effective partnerships look like? Mutual respect and trust are foundational in every relationship. How do you build trust and relationships that can withstand the difficulties of doing ministry together? These are the questions we wrestle with as we serve God together.

Since I was first introduced to the five young leaders of the newly formed Khmer Presbyterian Fellowship (KPF) I have listened to their visions and witnessed firsthand how they are seeking to accomplish their ministry goals. Through many trips and hours spent riding rough and dusty roads from village to village, I have been exposed to the challenges of wedding Western initiatives with the desires and needs of the Cambodian church. By sitting together—at times in a makeshift shelter consisting of a canvas tarp for a floor, and poles holding up the thatched palm shade, and at others times in a clean, expensive Western restaurant in downtown Phnom Penh—friendships have been forged as we take the time to understand each other. In the midst of conflict and misunderstanding, by listening to each other we have grown in our ability to demonstrate respect and love in tangible ways. Debriefing after every encounter is vital to this process.

Ministry across borders and cultures calls for the alignment of the partnering entities. In the case of KPF, this entails churches and groups from other countries that want to do ministry with them. My role as liaison is to assist them to accomplish their goals. By engaging in ministry with both sides of the partnership I hope to earn the right to share my perspective. In this way, my commitment to holistic, evangelistic outreach, which results in added value and the effective use of resources, may then become a part of their shared vision. My hope is that the goals of both parties will be met. To accomplish this, I focus most of my time on building relationships by spending a lot of time with them. From this, we identified the need for a leadership retreat. Through face-to-face discussions and exchanging of emails, the budget, venue, date, and  agenda were worked out. I then began to look for funding and invited a team from the Philippines called Destiny Ministries.

On June 21, twenty-six of us boarded a bus for the four-hour bus ride to a low-cost beach resort in Sihanoukville. Twenty-one KPF members—young and old, male and female, from four different provinces—joined five people Destiny Ministries and me. Because the retreat site was far from their villages, many came the night before and stayed with friends Phnom Penh. Our time together included worship, reports, four extended teaching sessions, prayer, singing, testimonies, all group meals, beachside recreation, special music, a tour of the area, and time to hangout and relax.

The sessions were led by the three main KPF leaders—Vanara (Phnom Penh), Socheat, (Kampong Cham), and Sarourn—together with me and Paul Yadoa, the leader of Destiny Ministries. During two of the sessions I taught from Genesis 12-17 on the life of Abraham. During the other two sessions Paul taught about the importance of intimacy with God. A significant amount of time was used during the fourth session to minister to the spiritual needs of those present. We returned to Phnom Penh the afternoon of the 23rd, and the next day we debriefed with Sarourn and the Destiny team members.

Feedback

Everyone expressed gratitude for the retreat. They all said that God had blessed them and that they felt encouraged, inspired, and cared for. Through the modeling, teaching ministry of Destiny they learned how to pray and access God’s resources to minister to each other. The three main leaders of KPF expressed how important it was for them to be ministered to. They specifically mentioned the need to share their confidential burdens and struggles. Individual time alone provided them with this opportunity. They also said that it was very important for the leaders from the remote villages to spend time with each other.
In the future we’ll hold split sessions for youth and older leaders. The village leaders would appreciate more time for Khmer singing and dancing.

Other developments

Long-term tensions between the three leaders seemed to dissipate during the retreat. While in Phnom Penh I spent time going over the need for the three of them to spend time praying and encouraging each other. We also talked about the need for them to develop a shared vision and ministry goals. I gave them some suggestions and examples to illustrate how they might do this. Under Sarourn’s leadership, a new church development has been launched in his neighborhood. One form of outreach is teaching students how to play the keyboard. The new church is called “Light of Life.” In addition to ministry in Kmapong Cham and outlying areas, Socheat is also doing prison ministry.

Partnering in Christ,

Paul Friesen
Regional Liaison for Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam

The 2007 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 105