05 Apr Equipping the Saints
Based in Phnom Penh, Poline collaborates with local churches to send local mission workers to reach unreached people groups in Cambodia. He connects, mentors, and networks with key church leaders in different parts of Cambodia to fulfil one vision: to see Cambodia come to Christ. As a result of this one vision, many churches have been planted in rural Cambodia among people who have never heard the gospel.
Poline trains through the Antioch Institute, which also provides training for rural churches within remote communities. Their motto is: every church can be a Bible school. This past quarter, the institute provided training on Prayer to new believers, many of whom were from unreached tribes in Northern Cambodia.
He is currently working with 14 key trainers in 10 regional training centres across Cambodia. These are senior leaders who have been trained and connected with Antioch Institute for many years. Over the final quarter of 2022, these key trainers conducted 15 three-day training sessions on various topics within the Antioch Institute’s curriculum.
There were 340 participants in the training, who are pastors and leaders from 80 local churches that are mostly house churches. These participants are also training their own congregation using the same materials. Almost 1,850 believers are receiving some form of training from these leaders. The team is also engaging 7 of the unreached and least-reached tribes of Northeast Cambodia; there are currently two training centres among them.
One of the Pastors, Ps. Paul* who is a key trainer and has been actively training other pastors and leaders in his region for the past two years has 30 students in his class. The Antioch Institute only provides food assistance during the training, while his church provides the facility and logistics. The students are responsible for their own travel costs to the training.
Pastor Paul shares that all the lessons in the Antioch Institute’s curriculum have been very helpful to the local pastors and leaders. The teaching on ‘Stewardship’ helps the trainees to understand the importance of giving and stewarding every resource that God gives. As a result, the church offering has increased significantly, and the church is able to do more ministry.
The teaching on ‘Christian Family’ also plays a significant role in reconciling spouses. As the leaders begin to understand the roles of a husband and wife, their relationships improved. They have learnt how to communicate as a family and the importance of Biblical parenting. Consequently, many families are being transformed and Pastor Paul is planning for a Christian couple retreat, where he can teach the course on ‘Christian Family’.
Pray for God’s protection and provision, as some of the trainers travel quite a distance from home to the training centres. They all serve voluntarily by faith and Antioch Institute only assists with a very small stipend during each training.
Pray for each training to be conducted under the Lord’s authority and anointing so that every participant may learn in a supernatural way. Pray for every student that is being trained at Antioch Institute that they will finish strong.
*name changed to protect privacy