Chhinho is the leader for the Shalom Mission to Cambodia, a church planting ministry intent on reaching the Khmer people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He is also the pastor for the Shalom Church, Russey Keo. He was educated in the Philippines where he received a bachelor’s degree in theology and a master’s degree in Christian leadership. He was mentored in the Philippines by an American missionary working for Action International.
Testimony of Conversion
When I was growing up, my father told me that we were a Christian family, but I knew nothing about Christianity. Therefore, being only a Christian in name, I did not know Jesus Christ. In a country closed to the Gospel, we had no church, no Christian gathering, no missionary, and no Bible. So, my life was not different from unbelievers because there was no change in my heart. I did the same things that unbelievers did.
One day, in 1989, while I was listening to the radio and changing from one channel to another, I heard the announcer talking about Jesus. So, I tried to listen carefully, and I found out that it was a Christian broadcast. Later on, I learned that it was from the Far East Broadcasting Company. So, every night from 7-8 PM, my family gathered around and listened to the radio to hear “our preacher” and have Bible study. I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord through someone on the radio, but I didn’t experience salvation, yet. Later, when I joined a Bible school, God saved me, and I received assurance of salvation through some Biblical teaching.
About a year after my true conversion, I saw that God was truly at work in my country and that He was helping us even during our time of persecution. At this time, I saw a missionary preaching the Word of God. I was very excited about the way he preached. I wanted to be like, but I could not because I did not have any knowledge about the Bible. Through this desire and the work of the Holy Spirit in my heart, I was able to go to Bible school to serve God full time in the ministry.
In 1993, I was able to go to Phnom Penh Bible School, which is now called Phnom Penh Bible College. In 1994, God sent me for further studies in Thailand. Then, in 1995-1997 to the Philippines and I finished my Bachelor of Theology. From 1997-2000, I worked as a church planter and pastor in Cambodia. From 2000-2002, I went for a second time to the Philippines. In 2 years I got a masters degree in Christian leadership, and now I am in Cambodia as the country coordinator for Shalom Mission to Cambodia.
