A year ago, as I was traveling from Cambodia to New York to attend my missionary orientation and training at Stony Point, I contemplated upon some of the ways in which I expected this training to impact my life and ministry. I joined GBGM not as your typical fresh-out-of-college rookie or a budding missionary eager to build a career in missions. I was already someone who has been in the mission field for a considerable time. Hence, I was not expecting to learn much, intending only to fulfill the formalities required to become a fully-commissioned GBGM missionary.
However, this all changed during the training itself, where I was confronted with some of the most provocative revelations about mission, which I have ever encountered. Most vividly etched in my memory was my encounter with the idea of “mutuality” in mission. This concept about missions seeks to encourage an approach of interdependence and covenantal relationships. Dr. Jacob Dharmaraj and his wife Glory capture this image in their words when they say that:
“Christian mission is a back-and-forth movement, between senders and receivers, older churches and younger ones, missionaries and believers, listeners and speakers. Mission is a dynamic interchange between giving and receiving, serving and being served, us and them.”
As a missionary from a Third World country I am honored to work with my brothers and sisters in the West and in Cambodia as we bring God’s transforming love to the people of Cambodia. By the grace of God, our partnerships with the ministry to the poor has enabled us to touch lives, heal the sick, feed the hungry and provide hope in many communities in Cambodia where the Methodist congregations are present.
I am truly grateful to be your hands and feet in God’s vineyard!
