Dear CCAM Partners and Friends,

Although we are invited to partner with churches, schools, organizations, and mission teams at all times of the year, we receive the most invitations during Christian holidays. In addition to helping those groups celebrate with culturally appropriate songs, dances, and dramas that proclaim the Christian message, we also host our own special celebrations at CCAMS that guests enjoy attending.

In November, as usual, we hosted our yearly Khmer traditional Thanksgiving Ceremony at CCAMS. We also pioneered a new type of program that turned out to be “too big” to fit comfortably in our facility, so we got permission from Logos International School to present it in their auditorium.

That program was entitled “We Are Created in the Image of God: Glorifying Jesus Christ with Khmer Traditional Performing Arts, Preaching, and Testimony.” Our own Sophun Ty preached a moving sermon based on Genesis 1:27 about following in the footsteps of our Creator, while weaving his own personal testimony throughout.

The performing arts presented during the program illustrated the CCAMS process of cleansing traditional art forms from worldly content to be refilled with the truth of God’s Word, especially by creating new stories, lyrics, music, choreography, and costumes “from scratch,” but still based on traditional styles. The program began with “The Welcome Dance” and ended with “The Farewell Dance.” Click here to view an excerpt of the last dance.

Immediately following Sophun’s sermon, Buntheep sang Sophun’s testimony song, “Called to Be a Priest Forever,” based on 1 Peter 2:9. Buntheep also shared her own testimony and sang another beautiful Christian song set to a well-known traditional Khmer melody. The CCAMS traditional orchestra provided live accompaniment for her songs and played other well-known Khmer melodies to delight the guests.

Also in November, we performed at the Agape Church dedication ceremony and at the 120th anniversary of the Bible Society in Cambodia. After presenting a rendition of the Bible Society history, the speaker praised God for the many answered prayers through the years. When the Bible was first translated into the Khmer language, the Cambodian government banned it from even being distributed. But now there are two versions of the Khmer Bible readily available in Cambodia. And, as demonstrated by the CCAMS performance, there is now freedom to proclaim the Christian message even using the Khmer traditional art forms!

Following is an excerpt from the very encouraging letter of thanks sent to us by the director of the Bible Society: “The Blessing Dance gave an insightful blend of traditional Khmer customs with thanksgiving and blessings, and the second dance performed to the Lord’s Prayer was full of reverence, touching the hearts of many who attended the ceremony. We appreciate your generosity to come and bless us with your talent. May the Lord continue to use your ministry as a blessing for the Church in Cambodia.”

In December, we performed at Asian Hope’s Neighborhood Kids Outreach, World Vision’s Christmas Celebration, New Jerusalem Church’s Christmas Celebration, and the Interdenominational Christmas Outreach at the Education Ministy.

On December 29, we celebrated Christmas at home with our CCAMS family. Even in the midst of our tight financial situation, enough local donations were provided to bless both kids and adults with gifts and special food, topped off with ice cream and birthday cake for Jesus!

On December 30, we presented our CCAMS Family Christmas Concert to showcase some Western-style performing arts that our students are learning:

1. a children’s drama about the birth of Jesus (Isaac was one of the sheep)
2. an ensemble performance of “Silent Night”
3. a Christmas message by visiting Pastor Kevin Kane
4. a choir performance of English carols by Kelsey’s English class
5. a creative dance performance, “The Dew of Life,” (a blend of ballet and Khmer classical dance)
- The Flower – Kunthia (representing God’s creation)
- The Human Soul – Buntheep (representing herself)
- The Dew – Dina (representing the Holy Spirit of Jesus)
- The Sun Rays – Pisey, Rany, Srey Nuon, Soknieng (representing the heat of sin)

The message from God to us in all of this was that every created soul is unique and special to Him. God invites all peoples of the earth to be creative in worshiping Him and reaching out to the lost according to how He has gifted them, not becoming “rubber stamped” by any one cultural interpretation of the Christian experience, but rather embracing the vast diversity of the universal Body of Christ.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Gioia and Noren for the CCAMS Family