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If you were to visit the Bible English Study and Training (BEST) Center in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, you might think you had been transported back in time to the first century where “all the believers were together and had everything in common” (Acts 2:42). This GCOC-supported mission effort, which in the beginning used the Bible to teach free English classes to university students, has evolved into providing room, board, and tuition assistance to college students from the rural villages of Cambodia, on the condition that they also complete a structured Bible study during the four years that they live at the BEST Center.
Sixteen students, along with several Christian staff and their families, currently live at the BEST Center. Everyone shares in the daily chores, which include cooking and cleaning. And like the community of believers in the first century, everyone shares what they have with each other. When the students visit their families in the villages they came from, they bring back fruit or vegetables for everyone to share.
The students study the Scriptures every day, both individually and as a group, under the guidance of the Christians on staff. Because Cambodia is predominantly Buddhist, many of the students had never heard of the one, true God before coming to the BEST Center. They are receptive and eager to learn as they grow in spiritual knowledge and understanding within a positive Christian environment. They are very grateful for the love and support they experience at the Center, and most of them eventually believe and accept Christ through baptism during their stay there.
Please pray for these students, along with Julie Broyles, director of the Center, and her staff. May God be honored and proclaimed through this ministry!
Billy Martin (with Jan Knox)