Chanthea
Chanthea and his family

I was born in a Buddhist family in a province about one hour away from the city. I came to the city for college in 2004. I thought life seemed to be okay with me despite challenges during my city-life adjustment period. Until one day, I felt very lonely and gloomy in my life. I felt that life was purposeless and meaningless. Some of my friends, whom I usually had fun with, had gone away from me. I did not know what to do.

Thankfully, I met a Christian friend, and he invited me to go to his church to practice my English and make friends with because there were a lot of foreigners and friendly people there. At first, I felt reluctant to go because I did not like Christianity. He kept inviting until one day, and I decided to go to his church just for the sake of practicing my English. At that time, I met an American missionary, and he was very friendly to me. I had a very long conversation with him. I enjoyed talking with him and asking him questions about Jesus even though I did not know who Jesus was. After the conversation, I tried to read more about God so that I would have more ideas to talk to that missionary. My goal at that time was to practice my English.

A few weeks later, another missionary came to that church. He preached about life as a Christian and life as a non-Christian. From his sermon, I learned that life as a Christian is hopeful and meaningful. I agreed with him that I was a sinner. I could not help myself. I needed Savior to save me. Jesus was the only way for my salvation. I put my trust in Jesus as my Lord and Savior from that moment. Since then, my life has gradually changed. I felt loved by God, and I wanted to share that love with others. I became more hopeful in my life because Jesus forgave my sins, and my desire to serve the Lord grew throughout the years as I read the Bible and got more involved in church ministries.

Along with my spiritual journey, I got discouraged and pressured from family and friends. Despite the challenges, I still wanted to continue my calling to serve Christ in ministry. I attended my Bible camp in 2008 at my church. I learned that the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Also, I observed that the church is in great need of well-equipped leaders in Cambodia, as many leaders lack proper training. Since then, my desire to be trained and be in full-time ministry had grown. God answered my prayer when I talked to my pastor and some of the elders, and they told me that I was qualified to go for further training and be a full-time minister.

In 2009, I decided to study at the International Graduate School of Leadership (IGSL) in the Philippines for my theological training. I graduated in Master of Divinity in 2013. After graduation, I came back to Cambodia and served at Phnom Penh Shalom Church as an associate pastor. In 2014, our senior pastor stepped down and asked me to be a senior pastor of this church since then.