There is a quote on our office wall that says "God put me on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things...Right now I'm so far behind...I'll never die." This pretty much sums up our feelings as we begin this New Year. December of 1995 was a blur of activity for our family here in Thailand. We apologize for not getting out Christmas greetings to all of you but as this news update will explain we were in the midst of making some major decisions concerning our minis try here in Southeast Asia.
As they say in Hollywood, let's cut to the chase and then do the explaining. On December 22nd Ky and I were appointed to be the Assemblies of God Country Coordinators for Cambodia. We will officially be assuming these responsibilities on February 1st and will be moving to the capital city, Phnom Penh in the middle of February. We realize this change will come as a surprise to most of you and to be perfectly honest it has been a bigger one for us. We have been busy and fully engaged in ministry, projects, administration and life here in Thailand and as we write this news update we are still grappling with how this change will affect our lives.
In addition to managing the AGMF business affairs, Ky has found time to work with putting together a Parent Teacher Organization at Daniel's school, teach Sunday School, organize a Children's Christmas play at our International Christian Assembly in Bangkok and keep our household functioning smoothly in continually chaotic Bangkok. Bill worked with the AP 2000 Media office, the Thailand national church and the Pen A sia office in research and special projects.
As with most of you, the time leading up to the year end holiday season was full of meetings, ministry and madness. Bill had planned for several months to make a trip into Vietnam and Cambodia in early December with our Asia Pacific Field Director, Bob Houlihan and Pen Asia Area Director, Ron Maddux. This trip coincided with special services for our general superintendent in Vietnam, Paul Ai and the dedication of the new Randy Dorsey Memorial Bible School in Cambodia on D ecember 6th. This dedication in Cambodia was a very special event and we helped to coordinate the logistics for 40 guests from the US participating in several days of ministry in Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia.
Cambodia is a nation that has suffered greatly over the past twenty years. Towards the end of the Vietnam war, Cambodia became a staging ground for US bombardment of the advancing troops of North Vietnam into the South. After a rapid with drawal of US forces in April 1975, Cambodia fell under the shadow of Pol Pot the genocidal ruler of the Khmer Rouge. From 1975 to 1978, Cambodia was known internationally as the "Killing Fields." It is estimated that between one and two million Khmer people were ruthlessly killed as the Khmer Rouge set out to destroy the fabric of Cambodian society. Actually all educated people were killed, the goal of Pol Pot was to reduce Cambodia to a totally agrarian society under th e authoritarian rule of the K.R.
The invasion of the Vietnamese Army in 1980 stopped the slaughter but not the suffering of the Khmer people. The country remained while many of the world's developing countries advanced through the 80's. As a result of this decade of war , the "economic miracle" of Thailand and her other Asian neighbors completely bypassed Cambodia. When the Assemblies of God entered the country in 1989, Cambodia was in a shambles. The once beautiful Phnom Penh, known before as the Pari s of the Orient, was a "non functional" city.
But God had not overlooked Cambodia. As the Assemblies of God and many other Christian organizations responded to the challenge of helping Cambodia in the early 1990's, many opportunities for ministry began to emerge. As we worked here in Thailand, we were aware that God was doing a great thing in our neighbor to the East. However, I was unprepared for the impact this nation was to have on my heart when I made my first trip to the country in December.
It is hard to describe the impact a holocaust can have on a country. In Cambodia nearly every citizen over the age of fifteen has lost a family member in the "killing fields" or the ensuing war. My heart was broken as I visited the Tol Sa leng prison where thousands of people were tortured to death in central Phnom Penh. To look into the eyes of the Khmer people today is to see the shadows of a horror most of us will never know. Although I had read about and studied the tr agedy of the country, the impact of actually being in the country deeply touched my spirit.
Over the past five years God has helped the Assemblies of God to accomplish many things in this land. Humanitarian ministries were begun with the construction of two orphanages and an elementary school in three separate provinces. Our Eng lish language center at the Faculty of Medicine in Phnom Penh teaches over 550 students annually free of charge. A General Council of the Assemblies of God has been founded to oversee 18 national churches and preaching points in addition to the Dorsey Memorial Bible Institute, which this year has graduated its first class of 14 students. We also have constructed and continue to operate one primary health clinic and two district hospitals in rural areas. The combined fiel d staff of the Assemblies of God is now approximately 50 people and is the largest international missionary organization in Cambodia.
Over the past several weeks, as we discussed the needs of Cambodia with our Field Director and Area Director, it became apparent that the current and future needs of the country would require a fulltime country coordinator to work with th e numerous Cambodia government ministries, provide logistical support and services for our projects and people and to work in the overall leadership of this growing field of service.
After much prayer and consultation with our leadership, Ky and I made a second trip into the country in late December and made our decision to transfer our assignment and residence to Cambodia. We are both excited about the potential of m inistry in the country and grateful for the opportunity to be asked to lead and serve such a strong team of people already laboring to effect the destiny of this country.
As you can understand, it is with mixed emotions that we will be making this move to Cambodia. Thailand has been our adopted home and we have worked hard to learn its culture, language, and people to be effective in ministry here. Howeve r we feel very confident about this upcoming move to Cambodia. We are looking forward to the opportunities to be involved again in compassion ministries, direct evangelism and in the areas of leadership development both with our missionar ies and national workers. We know that "starting over" again in a new country will present us with a fresh set of challenges. As we go into Cambodia we realize that the years we have served here in Thailand have helped to better prepare u s for the ministry that awaits us in Cambodia.
The Prevette Report is published quarterly as a ministry update of Assemblies of God missionaries Bill and Ky Prevette. This newsletter is sent free of charge and may be duplicated in any quantity. Our intention is to encourage and info rm our supporters and friends of ministries and developments in Southeast Asia.
For more information, call: (662) 732-0151 or Fax: (662) 732-0168
e-mail: 73571.3661@compuserve.com
Address update effective Feb 20:
| Bill, Ky and Daniel Prevette Assembles of God - PO Box 130 Phnom Penh Cambodia (for letters only) | Bill, Ky and Daniel Prevette PO Box 202 - Phrakanong PO Bangkok 10110 Thailand (for all parcels) |
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