wfn.org | Methodists to open mission center in Cambodia

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

May 4, 1998	Contact: Linda Bloom·(212) 870-3803·New York
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NEW YORK (UMNS) - To serve a growing ministry in Cambodia, the United
Methodist Board of Global Ministries is spending $350,000 on a mission
center in Phnom Penh, the Southeast Asian country's capital. 

The funds, approved at the board's semi-annual meeting in April, will be
used to purchase a "very versatile" property on a main thoroughfare in
Phnom Penh, according to the Rev. S.T. Kimbrough Jr., associate general
secretary for mission evangelism.

He said he hopes to have the center open within a year. The purchase
cost of $250,000 received general board approval. Another $100,000 in
renovation and other related expenses will be provided by the Women's
Division.

The mission center will be used by Methodist groups working in Cambodia,
reflecting the cooperative relationship there among United Methodists
from the United States, France and Switzerland, and Methodists from
Korea and Singapore.

The project marks the first time this century "that this many bodies
from the Methodist connection have very intentionally said 'we will
cooperate together,' " Kimbrough said. "It certainly should be a model
for the future."

The Korean Methodists have 40 congregations in Cambodia, the U.S. United
Methodists have 13, the Swiss and French United Methodists, 7, and the
Singapore Methodists, 1. Congregations average between 30 and 40 people.

The Singapore Methodists have bought an old hotel and turned it into a
school, Kimbrough said. The Korean Methodists have a small center
offering space for pastor training and worship.

To complement those ministries, the United Methodist Mission Center will
focus on services for women, youth and children. Two major areas of
emphasis will be community-based health care and training in small
business and agriculture.

An outreach ministry will address the problem of AIDS, which Kimbrough
said is rampant in Cambodia. Plans also call for prevention counseling
and treatment referral to address the high rate of cervical cancer.
Other areas of focus will be prenatal care, training in hygiene and
sanitation, and health care and other services for the hundreds of
street children in the city.

In February, about 100 pastors and laity from the various Methodist
groups came together for a two-week "pastors' school" in Phnom Penh.
Written liturgies and a hymn sampler were provided in the Khmer
language.

"It's the very first opportunity of study that they've had," Kimbrough
said.

Just as important was the opportunity to connect, he said. "The
establishment of that kind of a community...in a country that is 98
percent Buddhist, is very important."

While attending the school, mission leaders realized a central
coordinating committee should be formed to handle future work and the
direction of mission in Cambodia. The eight-member committee, chosen
from the four groups, includes Pitou Lay and Joseph Chan, Board of
Global Ministries missionaries. 

United Methodist News Service
(615)742-5470
Releases and photos also available at
http://www.umc.org/umns/