សមាគមព្រះគម្ពីរកម្ពុជា 

Fifteen Minutes For Life                                                                                                                                              focusing on the Bible helping Cambodians to understand its message and apply it to their daily lives.

“I find some parts of the Bible very hard to understand but this radio program really helps me get to grips with it,” says Phuc Mom, 49, who gathers with her family each evening to tune into the broadcast. “As well as Bible readings, Fifteen Minutes for Life often deals with some of the most difficult issues that many Cambodians avoid talking about.”

Like most Cambodians, Mrs Phuc did not escape unscathed from the war and upheaval that tore Cambodia apart from the 1970s into the 1990s. She became a Christian while sheltering in a refugee camp in 1991, where she first heard about a God who loved her. Her new faith helped her to deal with the pain of the past and rebuild her life – something that she says the program is helping many to do now.

Forgiveness

“It doesn’t shy away from real life,” she comments. “For example, forgiveness for those who have hurt you badly is a very emotional and intense topic in our country, but the program confronts it, using Scripture as a guide and a source of healing.”

Produced by the Bible Society of Cambodia in their new, well-equipped Bible House and broadcast by FEBCambodia and local radio station 103FM, Fifteen Minutes for Life is helping Christians like Mrs Phuc and her family to share their faith with others.

“I openly talk about my faith with my friends but this program has really helped because I can invite people to my home to join my family as we listen,” says Mrs Phuc. “Quite a few of my friends and those of my daughter, Patsana, have become Christians through this.”

Rural villages

Mrs Phuc lives in the capital city, Phnom Penh, but the program is also reaching many people in rural villages, where the illiteracy rate is high. Most families have radios and are able to tune in and listen to God’s Word.

“We are getting great feedback from listeners in rural areas, who say that their whole village is listening to the program and discussing it afterwards,” comments Arun Sok Nhep, who oversees Bible Society work in Cambodia. “They are telling us that the program is bringing a sense of peace and order in their communities and that people are becoming Christians.”

The program is also available as a downloadable podcast, which is helping people in the cities with internet access to get to know the Bible, too.

From a report by Grace Smith