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Although many abandoned their new faith when they reached Canada in the early 1980s, some searched for a church where they could worship God. One family chose the Evangelical Christian Church (Mennonite Brethren) in St-Laurent, Quebec, and many others followed.
The Cambodian families requested that the St-Laurent church allow them to begin their own fellowship in the Khmer language, so that they could reach out to other Cambodian refugees. As a result, the church continued to grow. By 1993, the number of members had grown to 56.
Numerical success began to bring problems to this young church in late 1993. Some members began to hold different views, and on March 27, 1994 a tragedy occurred--approximately 40 participants left the church and formed a separate fellowship. Although biblical interpretation was a subject of contention, disagreement among the members was mainly over how the church should be organized.
The 16 members who remained reorganized the church by appointing new elders and deacons. Under the leadership of Glenn Smith, the St-Laurent church lent support to the new Cambodian group, which was eager to get things moving in the right direction.
New unity began to dawn. To facilitate smoother operation within the new Cambodian fellowship, the elders began translating two French booklets into Khmer. One was a copy of the church rules of the St-Laurent church, and the other was the Confession of Faith of the General Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches.
Although the Cambodian Church is still young, its members are ambitious--they desire to see the kingdom of God expanded further. Some goals include sharing the gospel with unbelieving Cambodians in Montreal, leadership training, discipling new believers, and eventually hiring a full-time pastor and establishing a Cambodian Bible Training Centre for future church leaders. Cell groups are being established in various parts of Montreal.
It will be important to nurture some cultural elements to show that Cambodian Christians have not become fully Westernized. Having been raised in a Buddhist culture, many Cambodians hesitate to become Christians for fear that they will lose their culture. It is important to show them that as Christians they can still be Cambodian. To help them understand this, the church intends to encourage its people to get involved in such activities as folk dancing and Khmer traditional music.
Sethy Kuy
Sethy Kuy is a church leader at Khmer Christian Evangelical Church of St-Laurent.
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