August 2007

2007 EFI-Asia Conference In Cambodia

Cambodian Friends hosted the 2007 gathering of leaders from EFI-Asia, which included the countries of Nepal, India, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. Young Cambodian women shared a folk dance from their culture.

Evangelical Friends from ten countries and fifteen ministry sites gathered in Battambang, Cambodia, for the EFI-Asia Conference in early March 2007. Although the current news focuses on Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Middle East, these countries may not, in the long view, be the most important. Asia is the rising power in the world and God is doing some amazing things among Friends there.

“Every Church a Sending Church and Every Church a Missionary Sending Church” was the theme for the conference. It was exciting to hear how those who had attended the Kathmandu Missions Conference in October 2006 were sending people into new districts and targeting new countries.

Taiwan has missionaries in the Philippines, Myanmar, and Mainland China, and has sent training teams to Nepal and other places. The Philippines have workers serving with Friends in Bangladesh and Myanmar. These national missionaries are sent from our mission fields and supported by people from our mission fields. It doesn’t get much better than that.

For me, one of the more moving memories was when Benson Sam from South India, who is supported by Evangelical Friends Church-Eastern Region, told of being beaten by radical Hindus. Not all Hindus are violent persecutors, but these were.

The Hindus disrupted the evangelistic meeting that Benson was attending and ordered it to stop. The meeting stopped. While walking away from the meeting, three groups of militants with clubs attacked Benson, his wife, and the visiting American evangelist. They set off a bomb near his feet, and he was in the hospital for four days.

For the first time in my life, I actually touched the scars of someone who had suffered for no other reason than proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Dr. John P. Williams, EFI-NA Regional Director and General Superintendent of Evangelical Friends Church-Eastern Region (EFC-ER), is pictured here with representatives from Cambodia. John was one representative from EFI-North America to the EFI-Asia Conference. Others included: Dr. Stan Leach, General Superintendent of Evangelical Friends Church Southwest; Dr. Chuck Mylander, Executive Director of Evangelical Friends Mission; and Pastor Geoff Schultz, also from EFC-ER.

Another moving moment was when Neang Sovanna and his wife, Ratha, both sharp, young Cambodian leaders, said that God was calling them to become missionaries. Already Neang had given up a good job with a non-governmental organization in order to work full time with Friends, although he knew that this particular Friends mission, supported by Evangelical Friends Church Southwest, could not pay him. He reported that God was calling him and his wife to become missionaries, possibly to Thailand.

Moving the whole Evangelical Friends Church worldwide into missions is one of the passions of Evangelical Friends International. It is exciting when it begins to happen.

The fellowship was fun; at times, hilarious. The day after the conference, a big van of participants, mostly Asians, spent a day sight-seeing. The group visited the Killing Fields and the Tuol Sleng prison—gruesome sights. Then they visited the majestic king’s palace and a Cambodian shopping mall. These men and women laughed together all day. The sense of oneness and camaraderie was evident to all. Building relational bridges between leaders prepares the way for a bright future for Friends in Asia.

In spite of persecution, leader after leader reported that people were turning to Jesus Christ, new house churches were being planted, and development was growing at the grassroots level. The sense of momentum was heartening and highly encouraging. Thank the Lord for what he is doing in Asia and that Friends have a part of the action.

—Chuck Mylander