by Pastor Rogil and Janice Apostol
“Sacrificial love is a heart to serve even in difficult situations.” The pandemic brought by COVID-19 cannot stop us here in Cambodia in doing the Lord’s work in evangelism and discipleship ministry. God will accomplish His will, purposes and plans in His kingdom.
We praise and thank the Lord for His enabling grace, wisdom and strength that despite the lockdown more than a year now, still we can continue to minister and disciple families and individuals online. We are using the technology to further God’s work and nurture the body of Christ as we meet online. Internet is a blessing from the Lord, a very useful tool for ministry that we have to maximize it.
At Cornerstone Church, Phnom Penh - we did not stop our small groups and one-on-one discipleship. The existing small group facilitators are committed to disciple others here in Phnom Penh and our outreaches in the provinces in this changing world.
We did not stop our Sunday online - Cambodian and English worship services in Phnom Penh. Because of technology, our outreaches and members who are in the provinces still can join the online worship services. We did not stop encouraging our young students online every week through Youth Big Group.
In the beginning of lockdown, we had a hard time adjusting to the new normal that we could not meet face to face, some of the locals don’t want the online learning. But as the days go by, all of us appreciated the fact that we could still meet online by God’s grace and continue to study the Word of God together.
The truth is, ministry goes online. In line with this, we challenged and trained the church last year 2020 through EDM (Evangelism and Discipleship Movement) online. This is to help the believers lead people to Christ at home and online prioritizing their families and loved ones and even friends. As a result, the Lord opened new small groups this time of pandemic. We trained our facilitators how to do online and how to use OBBS (Obedient Based Bible Study) to guide them in leading a small group at home and online. We can do a little but God is multiplying his harvest field through instruments who are willing to be used by God.
At church, we are using Zoom, FB video messenger and sometimes phone calls as platforms to connect and be able to encourage, pray and minister to one another. There are times that the internet is not really working well so we need to reschedule or we need to be more patient with the internet speed. This makes discipleship online both challenging yet rewarding.
Few Cambodians testified that it’s really hard not to see each other face to face and feel the warmth and joy of being together as a family in Christ. The Lord tested our faith in God in this situation yet online became a room for growth for all of us.
We would like to challenge everyone - “When God gave us lemons, let us make lemonade.” May God give us wisdom how to use and maximize this time of pandemic to be faithful and fruitful while at home for the glory of God. ...always to pray and not lose heart. - Luke 18:1