Boo Rut was one of the first believers that folks from World Team had contact when they went to Preah Vihear. He had been part of the Khmer Serey fighting faction which was both against the Khmer Rouge and the Vietnamese forces which invaded and freed Cambodia from the KR regime. He had acquired a French Bible and started reading it in the (60’s or 70’s?) and he had an interest in the message even though he did not fully understand the text. When the KR was defeated, Sihanouk was seeking to have political influence and the Khmer Serey aligned themselves with Sihanouk and later on the Funcinpec Party. Because of those affiliations, Boo Rut was invited to go to China to participate in some military training there. During those meetings in China, Rut met with a Reagan staffer that mentioned all people on the earth were equal and that we are all part of one family originating from Adam and Eve. Those statements really piqued his interest in God and he really wanted to know more about those things.
In 2003 when World Team came to PV, Boo Rut had had some experiences with various NGO’s and medical teams coming to work in that province. Many of those humanitarian workers were not good folks and did bad things so Boo Rut was asking questions to understand the character of the WT people seeking to settle there. When he found out that they were believers, he desired to associate with them and wanted to rent his house to them as well. He did rent his house to the Cottles and he was anxious to start in a Bible study.
When the Cottles left after 4 months, Boo Rut continued to study with Jeff Hogue.
There was a silk factory that had been started by a VN veteran named Bud and he was hiring handicapped people to work there. A handicapped man in a wheelchair had come down from Steung Treng to work at the factory and he was a believer by the YWAM (Philip Scott) ministry in that province. This man in a wheelchair had started a house church there and about 30 folks gathered regularly to worship. When this leader was fired from the silk factory, he left and went back to Steung Treng. The house church struggled without a leader so they joined the group Jeff had started with Boo Rut and it became Community of Changed Hearts Church.
There were several folks that were discipled out of Changed Hearts Church. Jet lived with the Hogues and was employed to do development work while doing ministry on the side. One of the people that Jet discipled was Rabbit. Jet also went out and taught Boo Nay(?) as he lived in a village on the road toward PV temple. Joel Stewart was also discipling several young guys, but during this time Boo Rut was doing most of the teaching. There was some difficulty in getting people to step up and take leadership roles.
I think Jet wound up going to Siem Reap and is not involved in ministry at present. I think Rabbit had drinking and marital issues and is not walking with God. He is maintaining hotel pools in PP.
Boo Rut has remained stable and Boo Nay has been faithful as well.
Boo Nay went to a village near Wat Koh Ker called Srey Yong (?). He always seemed to have economic issues and seemed to always be asking for money. He was out there by himself without much influence from outside his village. Joel would send people out from Tbeng Meanchey to visit him and do kids programs but not very often. Boo Nay just rocked along out there by himself for about 10 years.
Boo Nay traveled some with Rabbit up to Kbung Saraom and from Kampong Sralow went into Laos. Gene, the Philipino, moved up there and a man named Bean believed and he was the only believer there. Then in Kuilen, 12 churches started from Boo Nang being in that area. They were only supported by afar from the Bible League to provide Bibles.
Then an individual from Sukum Thmei had heart disease and was taken to Calmette. He was eventually referred to MMC by Kakada and Russei Keo Church. The gospel was shared at MMC and he had recovery and was discipled some by the Russei Keo folks. One of the folks from Russei Keo (?), Sapoan, went up to PV to live and work. He went to Sukum Thmei village by selling his land for $7,000 and living off of that as long as he could. He is very evangelistic and was sharing with the patients at MMC when he was sick and in the Inpatient Department there.
From 2011 until the present time, 40 house groups have been started and 3 of them have even built their own wooden house church buildings. There are approximately 900 believers in that Srok. There are only 4 villages in that region that do not have a meeting group. Boo Rut knows about the history in this area as well.
Sapoan eventually ran out of money and moved to Tbeng Meanchey and is now selling LP Gas.
Rah Sopheup has been in the military for quite some time and had some connections from being stationed in PV. He decided to move his family from K. Speu to Chipe over a period of about 3 years. He commuted for a lot of that time but eventually got everything moved and he has started 10 house churches around Chipe. We are not sure about how he became a believer, but he is not directly connected to any organization or source of training. He does take in students from the countryside that come to Chipe for study and in return they work on his farm.
There has been prayer over this area dating back 20 years. It has not been just randomness that has caused national believers to pick up and go to certain areas but it has been the call of God and the answer to many prayers. Also, foreigners have been a part of this mosaic for the purpose of furthering God’s kingdom in this region. It is exciting to see God’s purpose fulfilled in the lives of all the believers there and his presence has been manifested in miraculous healings, deliverance from evil spirits, victory in other spiritual battles and the evidence of changed lives.
Another of the takeaways from these stories is that there are many good things going on outside of the areas where evangelistic organizations are working and where the nationals reap the benefits of jobs, trainings, development projects, supplies, resources, etc. . . In fact, the most effective national workers have been the people that have volunteered their time and not the guys that have partnered with NGO’s or other evangelistic groups.