THE
VISION OF CCAM
Cambodian
Christian Arts Ministry
A Report on the Progress of the Vision
October
2007
BRIEF
HISTORY:
Shadows of the vision began to form during the early
1980s, when Gioia Michelotti began to use the Khmer traditional arts (music,
dance, drama, visual art, and literature/storytelling) as vehicles for
evangelism, discipleship, and worship while working among the Cambodian
refugees in the United States. By
the late 1980s, Gioia discovered that Noren Vann Kim, a refugee herself, had a
similar vision. By the early 1990s,
they had joined together as partners to launch Cambodian Christian Arts
Ministry (CCAM).
During several periods of prayer and fasting, God gave
Gioia and Noren more details about the vision. Since moving the ministry base to Phnom
Penh, Cambodia, in August, 1995, almost every aspect of the vision has been
realized, at least in seed form.
Mission Statement:
To evangelize and train Cambodians for Christ through
the arts [I Corinthians 9:19-22], giving priority to the
disadvantaged—especially the poor, abused, uneducated, handicapped,
widows, and orphans [Psalm 82:3-4].
Phase One:
Evangelize and Train Core Team
In order to provide the necessary environment for
training a core team of future ministry leaders, we established Cambodian
Christian Arts Ministry School (CCAMS) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. CCAMS has five main departments (Music,
Dance, Drama, Visual Art, and Literature/Storytelling). Other departments (Bible, General
Academics, Vocational Training, and Communication) provide support for these.
The primary
purpose of the CCAMS program is to train Christian leaders. When
students who plan to serve in Christian ministry complete the requirements for
graduation, they receive a CCAMS “Arts in Ministry” diploma. This diploma
certifies that the graduates:
1. possess a
foundational knowledge of the whole Bible and have demonstrated over the years
a steady growth in general spiritual maturity and the practice of day-to-day
Christian life principles;
2. have developed
and demonstrated in our apprenticeship program the gifts and abilities
necessary to succeed as teachers or other types of leaders;
3. possess a
foundational knowledge of the five traditional Khmer art forms (as well as
Western forms) and understand how they should be used by Christians for
evangelism, discipleship, and worship, plus demonstration of practical
expertise in each form at least on an intermediate level;
4. have
demonstrated the ability to create original works in each of the five art
forms;
5. possess academic knowledge at least equivalent to the level of Khmer
public schools;
6. have
demonstrated proficiency in both written and spoken Khmer and English
languages;
7. have
demonstrated proficiency in various vocational skills, especially computer data
entry, using both Khmer and English characters.
Those students who do not earn the Arts in Ministry
diploma may still receive general academic certificates for completion of sixth
grade, ninth grade, and twelfth grade.
Because of their difficult life circumstances which have delayed normal
development, CCAMS students are “home-schooled” to provide
individualized instruction. Therefore,
students who get a late start may not graduate until they are young adults. Since CCAMS is their home as well as
their school, they are not required to leave after graduation, but may choose
to stay as leaders and teachers of the next generation.
CCAMS shelters 50 young people between the ages of 5
and 25. Most of them we led to
faith in Christ. All of them are
from difficult backgrounds—orphans, youngsters living on the streets,
children sold into slavery, kids who were members of gangs, poor children whose
families could not feed and educate them, abused children, abandoned kids from
broken homes, teenagers on their way into prostitution, etc. There is a long waiting list of similar
young people desiring to join CCAMS.
Members of the core team (full-time boarding students)
begin their affiliation with CCAMS by a three-month or more trial period,
followed by a long-term commitment to be disciples of Jesus Christ and students
and performers at CCAMS until graduation.
Young children wait until they are teenagers to make the long-term
commitment. Older students who wish
to be considered for specialized courses and private or semi-private instruction,
sign a contract promising to pursue their studies at CCAMS until graduation,
plus agreeing to remain at least two-years afterward to teach others. It is hoped that, somewhere along
the way, each individual student will receive a direct calling from God, either
to become a future leader at CCAMS, or to pursue some other ministry calling in
the Kingdom of God. However, those who do not choose to serve God in any
Christian ministry will hopefully graduate to become moral citizens, wise
leaders, and Christian witnesses for the larger secular culture.
Core team members live with us at our
headquarters. We provide them shelter,
food, clothing, medical and dental attention, school supplies and allowances. We train them in Bible, Christian
discipleship, leadership skills, five art forms (music, dance, drama, visual
art, literature/storytelling), arts ministry, worship leading, computers, multi-media,
academic subjects, vocational expertise, and teacher training. In addition to proclaiming the gospel through
artistic performances, core team members are trained to evangelize through
formal preaching and personal witnessing.
The model for our core team comes from that of Jesus
Himself. He chose a small group of
disciples, lived with them closely for a few years, poured His life into their
discipleship, growth, and training, and then commissioned them to multiply His
ministry by training others, who would, in turn, train others, and so on.
On July 29, 2006, the first “Arts
in Ministry” diplomas were awarded to five graduates, two of whom have made
a two-year commitment, and three of whom have made a long-term commitment, to
serve the Lord by training others through CCAMS.
Phase Two:
Provide Training for Local Churches and Christian Organizations
Through workshops and special classes, CCAMS teaches
members of churches and organizations about the biblical basis for arts
ministry and how to effectively use the arts for evangelism, discipleship, and
worship. Other training includes
practical instruction about story and script writing, song writing, music
composition and recording, choreography, costume and scene design, performance
professionalism, etc. A CCAM
workshop, “Writing Children’s Books,” was sponsored in
September 2007 by Fount of Wisdom Publishing House in Phnom Penh.
The CCAMS Performing Company assists local churches
and Christian organizations in their programs of evangelism, discipleship, and
worship by periodically joining with them to proclaim the truths of the Bible
through original artistic expressions designed by CCAMS for Christian
celebrations and evangelistic crusades.
CCAMS also provides trained performers
for special projects sponsored by local groups.
Phase Three:
Provide Training for Non-Christian Seekers
Special classes in Bible, English, or the arts are designed
for non-Christian seekers. Core team
members help teach these classes.
Phase Four:
Countrywide Evangelism and Church-Planting Assistance
CCAMS students and staff evangelize and disciple the
children living in our own neighborhood.
Periodically, we organize mission trips to evangelize in Phnom Penh or
out in the countryside. Each member
of CCAMS is encouraged to witness to every non-believer they encounter in the
course of each day.
The CCAMS Performing Team has already traveled to many
provinces to proclaim the Good News with music, dance, drama, preaching, and
testimony. One day, we hope to
establish a Christian Arts Center in each province. Fully trained CCAMS graduates would
staff these centers and evangelize, disciple, and train a new disciples in each
place, reaching out from there to assist local churches and evangelize the
lost.
Community development projects could also be organized
by CCAMS to fulfill practical needs of people living around these centers.
At a local theater in 2005 and 2006, CCAMS presented
in English an evangelistic version of the musical “Annie,” as an
outreach to the expatriate community.
Phase Five:
Communications Department
In our professional recording studio, we record music
(vocal/ instrumental) and radio
dramas. We also plan to produce videos,
as well as artistic Christian tracts, Bible lessons, and books, especially
children’s picture books. In
September 2007, Fount of Wisdom published the first ever Khmer Christian children’s
picture book entitled Miknia’s Doll, written and illustrated by
CCAM graduate Lina Pao.
Phase Six:
Vocational Training Department
Presently we offer training in computers, electronics,
audio recording, woodworking, cooking, sewing, stage makeup, hair cutting /styling,
and various artistic crafts.
Visiting teams periodically train students to be medical and dental
assistants.
Phase Seven:
Owning Land
When we committed the original vision
to paper, this phase was included as part of number one. However, it was not until July, 1999,
that we were able to purchase a tract of land in Kompong Chhnang for the
purpose of growing our own food and for building multiple buildings to house
the many facets of the CCAMS ministry.
Since then, other tracts have been purchased, completing our three-acre
site. An EMI team of architects and
engineers partnered with CCAMS in June 2003 to draw up plans to build a CCAMS extension
center on that property. In
July 2007, the construction of the perimeter wall around the property was
completed. Now we await funds to
build the buildings inside. We also
await funds to purchase our own headquarters property in Phnom Penh and to
eventually establish additional Christian Arts Centers in every province.
When more of phase seven becomes a reality, we will
have room to take in more children, even babies. There will also be room for more widows
to help care for the children, work in the gardens, and create arts and crafts
to generate income for the ministry.
In addition, we will have room for handicapped musicians and other types
of artists to live on the premises.
There will also be accommodations for married staff with families and
short or long-term volunteers.
Phase Eight:
Worldwide Evangelism and Arts Ministry Training
From September 1 until December 12,
2001, the CCAMS Performing Team toured the United States, appearing before
Anglo and Khmer audiences, including special performances at the Global
Celebration of Women at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas.
In October and November 2006, the CCAM
Performing Team toured England, Northern Ireland, and France.
Conclusion:
In evangelism, discipleship, and worship, members of
CCAMS sing “a new song” unto our Lord Jesus Christ, as priests
called and set apart for His service (I Peter 2:9). Recapturing the spark of God's original
creation, we yield to the Creator's continuing work through us, to preach,
teach and praise in unique ways.
CCAMS is God’s appointed discoverer, trainer, and patron of Khmer
Christian artists.
Communicating the Good News through the traditional
art forms of the Khmer people bypasses the cultural barriers erected by Western-style
missions and fulfills the biblical mandate to "become all things to all
people" in order to save some.
Please pray for the continued unfolding of this vision according to the
will of God.
FACT SHEET:
CCAM is registered with the United States government
as a non-profit organization in the State of Florida. CCAMS is the local non-profit Christian school,
a member of EFC, registered under the religion department of the Cambodian
government. The ministry of CCAM-CCAMS
is patterned after the Asian family model and is an interdenominational,
parachurch organism (functioning as a family instead of an organization).
CCAM-CCAMS is a faith ministry, totally
dependent on God’s provision through the financial gifts of His people
around the world. No fees are
charged for students to live and study at CCAMS or for CCAMS to present
workshops or performances. However,
donations are welcomed from those who are able to offer them. We hope that many graduating students
will become faithful donors to CCAMS, as God prospers them financially through
the free training they have received.
All staff members are volunteers, either raising their
own support, or sharing together in the provisions made available through CCAM
donors. We hope that many
graduating students will volunteer their time and talents to assist their alma
mater.
Tax-deductible donations for the ministry of CCAMS in
Cambodia may be sent to:
CCAM
c/o Martha Crabbe, Treasurer
Cambodian Christian Arts Ministry, Inc.
P.O. Box 1044
Brevard, NC 28712 USA
Make checks payable to CCAM.
NOTE: Donors wishing to send funds from other
countries of the world should contact Gioia by email to receive bank wiring
instructions.
Correspondence may be directed
to: ccam.arts@online.com.kh
Mailing
Address: Local
Address:
CCAM House
#95, Street #592
P.O.
Box 2104 Tuol
Kork, Phnom Penh
Phnom
Penh 3, Cambodia
Cambodia (023)
885-303
For more information, please visit our website: www.ccamvision.org
It is possible to make financial donations online
through Pay Pal.
Cell Phones:
Gioia 012-755-144; Noren 012-706-867; Sophun 012-758-643