Over the last month I have been holding my breath.  Each morning the TV programming has begun, not with the national anthem, but with a edict from the government basically banning Christianity in Cambodia.  I remember back in 1994 when the door for the gospel was opened in Cambodia by the signing of the new constitution guaranteeing religious freedom.  For the first time in the history of Cambodia (in over 2000 years) there was religious freedom!  We knew it could not possibly last.  We purposely prepared our ministry in way that effectively treated Cambodian Church as an "Underground" illegal church, trying to not draw attention to ourselves, yet work as much as we possibly could in this time of freedom. 

 Last night the door of freedom was slammed shut.  It doesn't work to hold my breath anymore, please join me in praying for Cambodia and the government officials.  Last night, Hillsongs and Delirious? and Joyce Meyer ministries was preparing to hold a massive concert in Phnom Penh. For those of you who don't know Hillsongs and Delirious? are probably the biggest worship bands in the Christian world and Joyce Meyers is a US based teacher/ evangelist. They have spent millions of dollars in Cambodia over the last month to assist in humanitarian projects.  All of it was building to last night and this weekend.  In such a corrupt country like Cambodia, usually the presence of millions of dollars will get you anything!  After playing cat and mouse for a week over the location of the concert.  Last night they got permission for a local theater.  However, as it was about to begin the Military Police surrounded the facility and prevented the concert from going on.  There are only a handful of people in Cambodia (very high) who have the authority to call in the Military Police (The Military Police in Cambodia operates like a private army and enforcer of the ruling political party, they are a completely separate entity to the Cambodian military or police).

Most of the church leaders of Cambodia have been against this public attempt at mass evangelism, but what happens to the concert will adversely affect the ENTIRE BODY OF CHRIST in Cambodia! So, we want to pray that this can be solved in a good way. It is Christians that are the primary source of assistance to Cambodia.  Christians provide free health-care across the nation, most orphanages and humanitarian projects are run by Christians, and there have been about 4,000 churches started in Cambodia since 1994.  Most of these churches are "technically illegal" because in order to get permission for a church you have to get permission from 7 levels of the government.  All 7 levels are manned by Buddhist clergy or Buddhist officials. (You can imagine how hard it is to get 7 different levels of Buddhist officials to give permission for a Christian church!! -- This is the communist idea of Religious Freedom)

Hit and run evangelism (mass evangelism conducted by foreigners) rarely works and is mostly hype.  However, this is going to effect the church over the long run.  We need your prayers for the church in Cambodia now!

Trust me, holding your breath will not work.  Please pray for Cambodia and the future of our freedom to express our religious beliefs in Cambodia.  While we are to respect the authority of the government, the growth of the church (God's representatives on earth) will not be stopped.  We will continue!

Steve