Most of Cambodia’s 15,000 prisoners share two things in common: they speak Khmer and they don’t know Jesus Christ. In order to reach this demographic, Crossroad Bible Institute’s emerging campus in Cambodia is undertaking an important project in 2015: a translation of Tier 1’s Faith Foundations series into Khmer, Cambodia’s official language.
Crossroad approved the Khmer translation after Borakmony Chea, CBI Cambodia’s acting director, reported that linguistic barriers were preventing otherwise enthusiastic students and Instructors from taking part in the ministry.
In a country where around 95 percent of the population identifies as Buddhist, Chea needs all the support he can muster from his local church community. While Chea has already trained five Instructors from his church, he hopes that having Crossroad materials in Khmer will bolster even more involvement.
Even with the linguistic challenges, prisoners have shown great interest in taking Crossroad courses. In 2014, Chea witnessed twenty prisoners at one facility enroll in Great Truths of the Bible, the first course in the Tier 1 curriculum. CBI international coordinator Jacob Busscher believes this eagerness bodes well for the development of a Khmer translation.
“Thanks to the committed work of Borakmony Chea, we’re already seeing great strides in Cambodia, despite the language barriers,” Busscher said. “This Khmer translation will be a concrete step toward reaching even more students and Instructors.”