Reflections on Missions as Transformation

from Ken Cruz

“There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1

As we bid farewell to 2010 and welcome 2011, I can only praise and thank God for everything He has done for me, my family, and our ministry with churches and local communities in Cambodia. This year has been a journey filled with many transforming experiences both for me and the people I am privileged to serve.

If I had to choose among the many blessings God has afforded me in 2010, I would have to thank Him most for the way in which he continues to humble me. In a vocation that involves heavy interaction with peoples from various backgrounds, I am often faced with temptation of deeming my own views superior to those around me. But, by the grace of God, I continue to grow in my willingness to look past my own prejudices and anxieties.

Development work is difficult precisely because there are so many ways one could conceivably go about it and everyone has a different understanding of what “best” means. We are not, however, called to debate endlessly on this issue but to play out our faith through deeds. To actually start the “doing” and is an act of in faith itself because there is no guarantee that our endeavors will produce tangible breakthroughs, at least in the short run.

Too much talking never works to the advantage of the Kingdom of God. Listening to others, conversely, tends always to promote the right spirit in all who have a stake in our work here in Cambodia. When people feel empowered, they are more willing to take part in the action.

This is one of the bedrock principles upon which I attempt to conduct my ministry here in Cambodia. I have had the privilege of meeting and working with people who are, in many areas of development work, more knowledgeable than I am and vice versa. This dynamic, although explosive at times, encourages me to practice humility. As a result, I have seen benign transformations not just in the communities in which I work but also in me and my co-workers.

May God be glorified in all that we do!

Celebrations & Prayer Requests

• Praise the Lord for the 180 church pastors/leaders who completed the Mobilizing Local Church training program for Holistic Ministry.
• Praise the Lord for allowing the CHAD community development programs to support 60 churches/ villages.
• Praise the Lord for giving our CHAD team an opportunity to teach Bible School students on transformational development course.
• Praise God for faithful provisions for Kim & Kyle’s college expenses.
• Praise for God for keeping family safe and enjoy good health.
• Please pray for God’s healing for my wife Jomil’s elbow injury.
• Praise God for giving me and my wife Jomil 21 years of blissful marriage.
• Finally, we want to thank God for all those who blessed us in small and big way

A blessed Christmas and a prosperous New Year to you, your family and your church! As we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus our family wishes to convey our sincerest and deepest gratitude to all of you whom God used to walk with us during 2010. Your prayers, encouragements and support enabled us to accomplished more than our selves can do. Our partnership has been a blessing to many people in Cambodia in ways that glorify the name of our God. It is our prayer that we will continue our work together in advancing God’s Kingdom in every part of Cambodia.

May God multiply your goodness a thousand folds! Your partners in Christ,

Ken, Jomil, Kim & Kyle Cruz

www.advancinghope.org
Missionary Support Code: 3019583
Program Support Code: 14916A

Reflections on mission as transformation

by Ken CruzGBGM missionary from The Philippines serving with Community Health and Agricultural Development in Cambodia

"You can count the number of seeds in a mango, but you can't count the number of mangoes in a seed" Kenyan Proverb

As a missionary in a foreign land I always wonder how my life an ministry can communicate the gospel in such a way that people who live their lives in worlds far different from my own can understand and believe it. Bringing the message of the gospel that is appropriate to the local situation without losing its truth is perhaps the most challenging aspect of my work in community transformation.

As I continue to work with the CHAD program that aims to enhance local church empowerment through holistic ministry, I have increasingly noticed that effective communication of the gospel is a two-step process. Firstly, I must be aware of my own cultural context from which I understand and communicate the gospel. Secondly, I must gain an in-depth knowledge of the local culture specifically its underlying assumptions. This on-going learning process demands that a missionary, on outsider, and the local people, insiders, undergo a never-ending cycle of unlearning patterns of thinking that conform with the fallen systems of this world and learning a pattern of thinking that alligns with God's truth.

Only through this humbling process of unlearning and learning can a person truly understand how to communicate the gospel within the contexts of the local culture so that it is properly understood yet remains faithful to the truth as revealed in the Scripture. In my view, the primary task in mission is cultural transformation which means challenging people to forsake the mindsets that keep them in bondage and asking them to be renewed by a pattern of thinking that gives life and conform to the Kingdom of God.

This is why I believe that our work in church empowerment training for holistic ministry is transformative. Through this effort we encourage our local congregations to challenge their cultural assumptions while at the same helping them to see/appreciate the individual and collective resources they have around them. In this way, they can help their neighbors without relying too much on outside help.

"For as man thinketh in his heart, so is he" Proverbs 23:7

Personal note from the field.

Grace & peace!

When our two sons (Kim & Kyle) left Cambodia to pursue university, we finally came face to face with what many have called the "empty nest" in their marriage life. But God is gracious in helping us cope with the changes so far. In face, this gives us time to reflect on how blessed we are to have been given the chance to be parents of our children. In the same way, this is also how we feel about our partnership. Always thankful and feeling blessed that you have given us the opportunity to journey with you in ushering the Kingdom of God amongst the people of Cambodia!

Shalome!

Your partners in Christ,
Ken, Jomil, Kim and Kyle Cruz

Leadership Development

by Katherine Parker
One visitor to Phnom Penh described it as a giant box store, because shops for certain items seem to be clustered in districts rather that spread out over the whole city. If I want to buy a sewing machine, I go to street 210; new shock absorbers for a motorcycle are at the corner of street 144. The business model seems to be “if my neighbor has a good business I should open an identical one.” When CHAD first started implementing development projects in Cambodia, this same principle seemed to apply. Everyone caught the idea that cow groups were a great project, and now we have 33 groups raising cows!

Two years after CHAD got started, the Methodist Church in Cambodia started a huge process of merging together the many members of our Methodist family into one church, and we started working with more pastors, many who were new to the ideas of church-based community development. We continued on, but took a few steps back in terms of leadership development as the CHAD program staff took on more of the responsibility of receiving project proposals and approving funding. But this was never our desire.

Last year, Ken Cruz (missionary from The Philippines) took over the chairmanship of the SCC committee and started the process of empowering the pastor representatives from all the Methodist districts that make up the SCC to make decisions for which projects will get new funding from the CHAD program. Initially, we were faced with the problem that most of the members of the SCC didn’t have a framework for making decisions about what makes a good development project. We offered opportunities for dialogue and challenged the group by prompting them with questions they should ask about a proposal. We also supported several pastors (under the initiative of Pastor Saron) and lay leaders to attend training on community development with our partner ICC-SPPA (International Cooperation Cambodia – Skills Promotion for Poverty Alleviation). And, then the big day came for reviewing the project proposals and allocating the funds that had been donated by our partner churches in the USA, Finland and Japan.

What was the impact of this year of training?

Ken reflected on the changes he saw in Pastor Saron and other SCC members. “A highlight has been the transformation of the SCC members into the owners of the process. This is demonstrated by their improved understanding of the process.

“I think one impact of the ICC-SPPA training that Pastor Saron and others attended is that they increased their understanding of development philosophy, such that they can have better judgment about what kind of project deserves to get support from CHAD. They can also deliberate more intelligently and make an informed decision to determine how much and what kind of funds they will approve. Pastor Saron encouraged the group to think about how the proposal dealt with community participation in the project. How many people would this impact? Did it reach out beyond just the church members? Was the project transparent to the larger community? He also challenged the group to think about the responsibility of the church to contribute. Did all of the funds need to come from CHAD? What was the group ownership in the project as demonstrated by the group's contribution? He also challenged the group to assess the management capacity of the group? Were there structures in place to handle the proposed project? Did the group have the ability to follow through with the project?

Up until now it had been the CHAD staff that raised these concepts of development and encouraged the SCC members to deliberate on them. But, at this meeting, it was Pastors Sarun and Phalla who were raising the issues and challenging their fellow pastors. It is not a fast process, but the signs of transformation are all around us as the Methodist Mission in Cambodia works to develop principled Christian leaders for the church and the world.

Reflections on my journey as a GBGM Missionary

by Ken Cruz
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!

Ken's reflection on the inauguration of the 44th president of the USA

Just like Obama, God promises hope. And that is what everyone is waiting for, hope. Even though they announced the time of the inauguration would be noon, the people came early and were waiting urgently. People were willing to sacrifice; they were coming from miles and miles.

If we only had that urgency of waiting for the 2nd coming of Christ, this world would be a different place.

I just hope I can wake up each morning with that anticipation; I will be running and running.

-- Ken

Service

Ken and Thy visited a church in Kompong Chhnang yesterday to disburse funds for a rice bank. The son of the pastor prepared the lunch meal for them. It was a wonderful and humbling experience for all. When Katherine and Thy visited last month, he was so sad and didn't engage, so it was exciting this visit to see him animated. The son is living with AIDS and lost his wife to the disease last year. Ken said, "It is very humbling; those who are supposed to be served are serving."

Introduction of Ken Cruz

Serving with the Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church, Kennedy (Ken) Cruz is in mission in Cambodia with the Community Health and Agriculture Development (CHAD) Program working as a Community Development Specialist. Mr. Cruz has served in that position since October 2007.

Born in the Philippines, Ken attended the University of the Philippines and received a diploma in forestry. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Letran College in the Philippines and is currently pursuing a master's in organizational leadership from Azusa Pacific University in California.

Mr. Cruz and his family have lived in Cambodia and Laos for many years, and his work focuses on community development and organization as well as program consulting. Much of his work has been among the poor in organization of holistic community development and resource generation.

Ken shares that his compassion for the poor was nurtured through the modeling of his physician father who became the foundation of Ken's early involvement in God's ministry. "I grew up and lived in a relatively poor neighborhood where my father gave free medical service for sick, poor people on a weekly basis."

"My work and ministry experiences have brought some of the most significant changes in my leadership paradigm and practice," Ken shares. "My choice of career in humanitarian and mission work transformed my leadership approach from positional to servant-leadership. My underlying leadership philosophy on this approach is 'meeting the needs of people as they work in accomplishing their jobs'. As a whole my faith, my journey and my relationship with Jesus is best captured in the words of the Apostle Paul in Philippians 3:7-14."

Ken and his wife and two sons are members of the Evangelical Baptist Church.

Make an online donation to: Kennedy Cruz #3019583.