About

Purpose & Goals

A Gathering Place: Our overarching purpose is to use the center as a launch path to glorify God, to sing praise to Him, and to bring the good news to the people. The goal for the land is to use/develop it into a center for annual conferences and retreats for the Cambodian Fellowship. One objective is to become a center where Cambodians can come to enjoy and experience the love of God, to see His power at work, to have fellowship with one another, to encourage one another, to reunite with old friends they haven’t seen for years, to learn more about Jesus who has graciously blessed them with salvation and eternal life, to get trained to be a better witness for the Lord, to tell the good news of Jesus to those who have yet to know Him, on and on.

A Blessing Field Museum: For those who were born again, becoming His children and followers, it is time to rejoice and remember the great God who redeemed them from the Killing Fields! Another goal is to leave a legacy, a museum, to our kids, grandkids and great grandkids. Would it be awesome if many years down the road from now, they recognize a name in the museum and realize how God of the universe in times past saved their ancestors? The Blessing Field began when the Cambodian Southern Baptist Fellowship (CSBF or Fellowship) received a land donated to them from its members in 2005.

Leadership

The Blessing Field is an autonomous ministry of the Fellowship and is governed by a board of directors consisting of 5-9 volunteer board members. They were elected in 2004 and rejuvenate themselves as needed by replacing/adding new/young members as it sees fit based on the Moses-Joshua biblical model. Their testimonies are given in the “Testimonies” Page of this website. Currently, there are five board members with fine skills and experience. We look forward to adding more board members especially young generation in the near future to accommodate the higher workload.

Doctor Seang Yiv, Chair of the Blessing Field and CSBF (2004 to Present), PhD in Physical Chemistry (1980, Strasbourg, France), ordained Pastor (2002), Church Planter in Pennsylvania (Cambodian Baptist Church of Philadelphia, 1990) and California (Christ Cornerstone Church in Long Beach, 2011), Director in Pharmaceutical companies for over twenty years, inventor of US Patents in nanotechnology (1992-1998), and Cambodian music composer and CDs producer.

Pastor Caleb Soch, Vice Chair of the Blessing Field and CSBF (2023), ordained Pastor (2013), Business owner, Director of CSBF NOW Generation (2012-2023, CSBF Annual Conferences, young adults, and youth leader), Pastor of English-Speaking Next Generation at Christ Cornerstone Church in Long Beach (2012-2016), Caleb still leads a Bible Study group in Long Beach.

Doctor Sithon Nuon, Secretary of the Blessing Field and CSBF (2004-Present), ThD (2010) & PhD in Biblical Study (2011) with the Jacksonville Baptist Theological Seminary, CSBF Annual Conference Program Director, Senior Pastor of Cambodian Baptist Church in the multicampus Chets Creek Church, Jacksonville, Florida, Cambodia Outreach with yearly trips to homeland (1992-2019).

Pastor Map Voun, Treasurer of the Blessing Field and CSBF (2019-Present), ordained Pastor (2005) of Cambodian Baptist Church in Chets Creek Church, Jacksonville, Florida, completed Theological Education Extension (TEE), attended Southern Baptist Seminary for 1½ years.

Mrs. Tzi Wei Wong, Leader of Woman Missionary Union of the Blessing Field and CSBF (2010-Present), lead Women’s group at the annual conferences, completed BTCL (Bible Training for Church Leaders), Bible teacher (2019-Present).

What We Do

Conference Center

After the recent acquisition of a new and large property in Statesboro, and because the Cambodian Fellowship will only meet a few times a year, we will make the property available to other Fellowships and Southern Baptist churches in general who have needs for conferences or retreats, although the first priority will be given to the Cambodian ministry. Also, we would offer it to couples who desire to have a wedding ceremony at the Blessing Field. We would decide on a case by case basis.

Blessing Field Museum

In addition, the property will be expanded further to house a museum in memory of the remnants of the Killing Fields. The museum will consist of three components, the Angkor Wat era, the Killing Fields, and the Blessing Field. Museum materials will be collected continually as funds for its development will come in. Its development will be launched when the fund seed has reached a certain threshold. An architect with appropriate expertise will be hired for the development.

Youth Camps / Children’s Playground

Also, the Blessing Field plans to enhance it with a children playground and ballfields for the younger ones. These additions will be a natural upgrade to the existing presence of a pond, a bridge, large gazebos, and water fountains for the enjoyment of the children and youth. These components will be gradually added to the present landscape of the Blessing Field to become suitable as a youth camps.

People We Serve

The Blessing Field and Fellowship meet at least once a year for the encouragement of one another in the Lord, Christian fellowship, growth, training, and discipleship. The Blessing Field is used as its center for annual conferences and other events, a site for a future museum of the redeemed remnants of the Killing Fields. It will also be offered to others in order of priority as follows. Currently, the Blessing Field will make the property available to the following clients for events(1)(2) in order of priority:

• CSBF and Individual/church members of the Fellowship
• Other Cambodian Evangelical Churches/organizations Cambodian families(3)
• Other Asian Southern Baptist churches/organizations
• Southern Baptist Churches in general
• Other Evangelical churches/organizations

History of Cambodian Southern Baptists

A surge in the number of Cambodian Christian believers occurred in the early 80’s when the US began to take Cambodians refugees. The sponsorship was partly performed by a number of Christian agencies. The purpose of these latter was to share the good news of Jesus Christ. Indeed, many refugees were touched by the Love of God, expressed through the deeds and words of these agencies and churches.

A group sponsoring the Cambodian refugees was Southern Baptists, the largest Evangelical denomination in the US. Mr. Sok Doeung, a refugee, was among those who came to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He accepted the Lord in the camp through a Southern Baptist missionary. Mr. Doeung became a church consultant soon after he arrived in Texas. He traveled extensively for many years all over the nation and was a key player in encouraging believers to get involved in church ministry, especially in church planting.

In 1985, the Southern Baptists organized a multicultural meeting at Baptist University in Bolivar, MO. Through a call by Mr. Doeung, Cambodian believers from all across the US came to meet. That meeting was where all the Cambodian Baptists had a chance to be together at one place. As a result, it became the birthplace of the Cambodian Southern Baptist Fellowship (Hereafter named CSBF or Fellowship). 2023 annual conference was the 39th year, counting from the meeting in 1985 as the 1st one. Next year 2024 will be the 40th.

Over a dozen years, the Cambodians always drove to Bolivar to meet for annual conferences. But there were some whining among leaders/members about the Bolivar being too far away from most Cambodian Baptist churches because most are located in the Southeast. Therefore, starting at the new millennium, it was decided to hold the conferences at other places nearer to the East coast. We found out in the early new millennium the costs of conferences spread thin the Fellowship finances.

Macon Land & Development

The dream of the Fellowship owning a property came true. During an annual conference on a July 4th weekend, Dr. Seang Yiv and his wife donated a 75-acre land in Macon to the Fellowship. They shared their decision with the attendees during a joint worship. The name Blessing Field (BF) was chosen that night for the land because it reminds of the recent tragedy in Cambodia followed by an outpouring of the Lord’s blessing, grace, and mercy on the survivors.

The vision for the land has always been for annual conferences, retreats, etc. and a site to preserve the survivors’ testimonies found in books, video clips, interviews, songs, or movies. A few years later in Macon, trees were cleared at a corner, buildings erected, and the Fellowship began its annual conference there. We became stronger financially after we had our own property because we cap the expenses. The officers and workers are all volunteers. They willingly give their treasures, talents, and time to the Lord they love. Also, we helped each attendee save by charging a small conference fee.

We are grateful for the many people during the construction stage in Macon. Individuals and teams came repeatedly to give and sacrifice their precious time, personal expenses, and skills to prepare acres of land for a prefab room, pavilion, kitchen, water well, septic tank, storage container, hundreds of persimmon trees etc. Many thanks also to those who gave financially for the prefab materials, pavilion, container, persimmon trees, etc. Without all the above, the property value could not have risen over the years.

From Macon to Statesboro

In 2020, covid hit us hard. We lost some pastors, leaders, and members. The property in Macon was sold at three times its original value in July 2022 because it was hard to expand further. This property was beneficial to the Fellowship. We were able to save consistently every year and also to keep the fees always low for the benefit of the attendees for over 10 years

We have been pleading with the Lord to lead us to a convenient and affordable site, with an emphasis that it will be fitting to the adults as well as to the young generation. After the sale, we thought it would take years to find a new one. Our eyes were laser-focused on Georgia and Florida. But the Lord surprised us, for things went much faster. First, a bidding was made to a Cambodian owned church in Poston, GA, but He shut the door within weeks. The next step was to look for sites in Florida, but He closed the door there as well.

Then 2023 came and a board member directed our attention to a property in Statesboro, GA. We decided to act quickly. Days later, although only a couple of us were free, we drove there along with a brother skilled in building matter. Lo and behold, all three of us fell in love with it at first sight! It was beyond words how to fairly tell of its beauty. Halfway into our visit, we paused in front of a building, and realized that we standing on a gold mine!

Upon chatting with the sales agent, it was clear that Mr. virus played a pivotal role. It ruined the wedding venue of the first owner. The current owner, a bank, got frustrated after two years of trying and failing to sell the property, because the previous six bidders were unable to secure loans. That was when we went in with cash in hand. 95% was from the recent sale of the Macon property and our bank saving. The rest was an interest free loan. The bank liked it and agreed to sell it at a huge discount

Blessing Field, 17 Allen Circle, Statesboro, Georgia

Exactly a month after the first visit on February 27, the signed document arrived on March 27. The whole transaction took a month! That was indeed a paradigm of Romans 8:28. Though the virus was dreadful for people including many of us, it was His favor to the Blessing Field! The building sizes are more than quadruple that in Macon. The larger one, carpeted and with chandeliers, can seat 500 or more. It has a delightful bridge, a nice pond, two huge gazebos, two water fountains, and an expansive green grass field.

When we accompanied a group of ladies walking through and seeing the property the very first time, they were in tears and kept on lifting their hands up high to thank Him repeatedly, that refugees like them who once can only think about food day and night, were tortured, forced to work, watched their relatives and fellowmen taken away, etc., lived to see a gift with such unbelievable magnificence! It was indeed like a bit of heaven on earth to them!

It was truly a work of God that we received this terrific new property. We give all the glory to Him, our good and gracious Lord! He has multiplied the worth of Macon land by thirtyfold in 18 years. Remarkably, Jesus uses number 30 in His parable about the Sower (Mark 4:8). It’s not a 30-year mortgage debt but a thirtyfold increase. Knowing the modest Fellowship yearly saving, it would take 250 years before we could afford it. We are grateful beyond words! Our team commits to following His guidance in all its future decisions!

The Future

In an overall perspective, we are thankful that the Fellowship has its own property. In the 80’s and 90’s, most Cambodians came to the US as empty-handed and mostly uneducated refugees. It takes years for the first generation of Christ’s followers to build their family and integrate into the larger communities. But the Lord spoiled this Cambodian community, survivors of the Killing Field, with a property valued at $3M. We must be grateful, take good care of it, and for every good and perfect gift is from above (James 1:17).

I cannot help but draw parallels between the rebirth of Israel in May 14, 1948 and the killing Fields becoming the Blessing Field. Both were brutally tortured by mad men. Dried bones’ coming alive in Israel were portrayed in Ezekiel 37. But the same images were shown by thousands of mass graves in Cambodia followed by scores new lives in Christ of the remnants. Indeed, we are grateful for His gifts of new life in Christ and of a beautify property. We are waiting to hear from Him as to how we would utilize the new property in the days ahead!