Over 40 people escaped to the Cambodian countryside in February for a unique Langham Preaching training event.
International trainers could not fly in due to the pandemic. So the Level 3 seminar was taught completely in the Khmer language. Normally simultaneous interpretation is used, which can be problematic.
Sin Somnang, Cambodia’s Langham Preaching coordinator, and Yuzo Imamura, a Japanese missionary, led the training.
Easier to understand
Yuzo explained: “Somnang and I used contextualised Khmer expressions, or paraphrased original English expressions using Cambodian examples. This made the concepts easier for the participants to understand.”
The seminar took place over four days. It was held nearly 300 kilometres away from Phnom Penh. This allowed the attendees to have a necessary break from their church commitments and busy lives.
Somnang said this was a “tremendous blessing” at a time when pastors in Cambodia are experiencing stress as a result of the pandemic.
Faithful preaching
The seminar was ‘Level 3’, the highest level of Langham Preaching training. Somnang said the participants were delighted with the teaching and want to “continuously grow in faithful, clear, and relevant preaching”.
Yuzo heard many encouraging testimonies from the attendees, some of whom said it was the first time they had understood how to prepare expository sermons. Others said they now have enough confidence to start preaching clubs in their areas.
Preaching clubs are small gatherings of pastors who meet to discuss their sermon preparation. These clubs take place locally in-between Langham Preaching seminars.
Read this interview with Vachna, a member of the Langham Preaching team in Cambodia (from janvier 2019).
