Aug 24, 2022 Discovering Sabbath in Cambodia

I worship God on Sunday because it’s the day of Jesus’ resurrection, explained Stephan. I followed up with a question, Does the Bible tell us to worship God on that day? Stephan didn’t answer, but the more we talked, I sensed he might be open to Bible studies about this topic.

I met Stephan while going door-to-door in the community of Kampot Som in preparation for the evangelistic meetings we were planning. As a QHM gospel worker, I helped organize the church to reach out to the community, inviting all neighbors and friends. Each evening we had about 55 to 60 attendees. But one person I was praying for especially was Stephen.  

Stephan is a manager at an energy company in Preah Sihanouk City. When I first shared with him about our meetings, he was very curious and wanted to talk about the similarities and differences of our denominations. He became interested about the name of our church and said he hadn’t heard of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Which Bible text says seventh day is Saturday? Can you show me why you believe this? he asked. We studied how God established Sabbath from creation in Genesis 2:1-3 and continued by looking at the key words about Sabbath in the Ten Commandments, Exodus 20:8-11. I explained to Stephan that we keep the Sabbath because God sanctified and blessed it, and He asks me to remember His special day. We also talked about days of the week from language and history. Stephan and I studied the Bible for about six months before he finally decided to join us one Sabbath for worship.

At the Kampot City church, we conducted health check-ups and lectures about hygiene, prevention of noncommunicable diseases, conducted visitations, had children’s programs, and presented Bible messages related to creation, Sabbath, tithe and offering, and new life in Jesus. The messages were presented by Mr. Sao Sarith (church planter in Kampot province) and the closing message was given by Pr. Pech Sopheng (Cambodia Adventist Mission Executive Secretary).

God blessed the Kampong Som meetings at the Kampot City church and three precious souls surrendered their lives to Christ. Stephan was one of them, and we’re so happy he’s a dedicated and active church member.

Pastor Hang Dara from the Cambodia Adventist Mission shared, We would like to express our gratitude first to God and then to Quiet Hour Ministries and their donors for supporting our evangelistic meetings. We are also thankful to our church family who sacrificed their time, strength, and talents for this event. And we praise the Lord for His blessing and how His Spirit has touched many hearts to turn to Him.

Please pray for God’s continued blessings in Cambodia and around the world as we continue to share the gospel.

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. Exodus 20:8-11

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