the Duffy’s in Cambodia

Back to Cambodia
www.joshandjenny.org October 2009

The Cost of Missions (josh)

13
All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was
promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners
and nomads here on earth. 14 Obviously people who say such things are looking forward to a country
they can call their own. 15 If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone
back. 16 But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not
ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. (Hebrews 11:13-16 NLT)

Prayer requests:
 That our health would be
well.
 Committed prayer and
financial support.
 That our relationship with
Holy Spirit would deepen
and deepen.
 That we would pick up the
language quickly.
 That we would strive to
humbly serve the ministry
here in whatever capacity
they deem necessary.
 That our work would have
a lasting impact.
A life of missions can be,
at times, lonely and full of
reminiscing. “Goodbyes”
become so commonplace
and it seems like you are
always leaving family
and/or friends. That is the
price many of us pay for
serving God on the for-
eign field.
To me, nowhere on this
earth feels quite like
“home”. There are places
I stay for a time, but none
where I feel like I actu-
ally ‘rest’.
Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob are truly relatives
of those who also live like
this. We all have gone out
from the comfort of our
dwelling places, in search
of true obedience to God’s There is great sacrifice
calling for our lives. involved in a life of for-
eign missions, and I sup-
We have confessed that pose, that is why the re-
we are but aliens on this ward is so great. We may
planet, who are ulti- not all be called to come
mately searching for the to Cambodia, but we
residence which God will surely can all play a part
eternally provide for us.
in seeing the Great Com-
mission fulfilled.
I try not to think of home,
my friends, my family too In the words of John
much, because I might be Piper, “Go, send, or dis-
tempted to give foreign obey”.
missions up and return.
As it is though, We desire
a heavenly residence. The
writer of Hebrews says
that because of this, God
is not ashamed to be
called our God, and that
He has prepared some-
thing great for us.

What’s new at Cambodian Mission Outreach

-The CMO construction
project is within 2 mths of
completion. This means
that there will be plenty
of room for the elemen-
tary school, the English
school, the guesthouse,
and the New Life in
Christ church sanctuary!
- Approx 170 children are
enrolled in New Hope
School (elementary). Edu-
cation is provided, and
the future of Cambodia is
being trained in a Chris-
tian environment.
- The Saturday evening
Youth Program is hosting
well over 200 youth who
are enrolled in New Hope
English School (of which
Jenny & I are committed
to). Approx 70% of these
youth are unbelievers.
- Full-time staff have
been hired to help out
with the English school
and provide Spiritual
counsel to the youth en-
rolled. These staff are all
local Bible College gradu-
ates.
the Duffy’s in Cambodia (Oct/09) (pg2)

The "romance" of a missionary is often

made up of monotony and drudgery; there
often is no glamour in it; it doesn't stir a
man's spirit or blood. So don't come out to
be a missionary as an experiment, it is
useless and dangerous. Only come if you
feel you would rather die than not come.
Lord Wolsey was right: "A missionary ought
to be a fanatic or he encumbers the ground."
There are many trials and hardships.
Disappointments are numerous and the time
of learning the language is especially trying.
Don't come if you want to make a great
name or want to live long. Come if you feel
there is no greater honour, after living for
Christ, than to die for Him. That does the
trick in the end. It's not the flash in the pan
but the steady giving forth of light, it's
shining on and on that we need out here.
Our job is to make all hear the Word. God's
job is to give penetration to His Word.
(C.T. Studd)

www.joshandjenny.org
www.cambodiachurch.weebly.com

Trials of the Cambodian Christian (jenny)

To know the Christians of Cambodia, is to
know some of the cost of taking up one's
cross and following Christ. Some of us
rejoice in our decision to leave our parents
and family to venture out to far away lands
and bring the gospel to the unreached.
For some of the Cambodian youth, they
too have left their families, but there was
no 'missionary send off' or going away
party; but rather, an angry ultimatum:
choose Jesus or family.
Josh and I have a student who
refused to choose, insisting that family is
God-given, but the family insisted that as
long as their child followed Jesus, connec-
tion to the family would cease. As a result,
university may not be possible for this
student anymore, since all money for
schooling once came from the family.
It seems that to choose Christ, is
not just a matter of changing faith, but of
betraying Cambodian culture, which is
deeply rooted in Buddhism. There needs
to be no other reason for being Buddhist,
other than the fact that you are Cambo-
dian, and so to be anything else is to 'not
be Cambodian'.
When I asked some of the youth
what they had been through in regards to
their newfound faith and their family life,
mostly all of them had been rejected by
their family for a time. Some had parents
who would not longer call them 'son' or
'daughter', or even talk to their kids at all.
But for most of the youth I spoke with, this
lasted only for a season.
These young adults described to
me how the parents began to notice a
good change in their sons and daughters.
The parents became happy about the
improvement in their child's behaviour,
and although the parents certainly didn't
encourage or approve of their child's dedi-
cation to Jesus, the parents would no
longer chastise them for it, but instead just
'leave it alone.'
Some still sit on the fence between Bud-
dhism and Christianity; between family
and truth. Some know that Buddha cannot
help them and Jesus can, but they cannot
commit knowing that their families would
be so angry.
"I know that when I pray at the
Pagoda temple, nothing happens," a stu-
dent confided in me, "and I have so much
hurt in my heart. I know that God can help
me, but I am not free to choose my relig-
ion. My family chooses my religion, and so
I could only be Buddhist."
In the midst of crushed emo-
tions, troubling decisions and dedication
to the tradition and approval of the family,
Jesus continues to knock on the hearts of
the Cambodians, and He continues to
compel the Cambodian church to pursue
His bride. Not just a few Cambodians
have come to this ministry with only the
intention of studying English, but have
become lovers of the King, as a result of
seeing the joy of the Christians, and meet-
ing Jesus for themselves.
And so what about these Cam-
bodians who meet Jesus and are given
the choice of going against the grain of
their culture? Some count the cost and
conclude that He is worth it. Jesus never
said that being His disciple would be easy,
but that it would be worth it. Though trials
come, they have counted it joy, and their
faith being tested by fire, emerges from
the flames strong and imperishable.