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(Article on Fount of Wisdom Publishing House taken from OMF Cambodia's prayer update, Cambodia Crossroads, May 2004) Building with books "It
is said that almost every Christian mission agency or Christian NGO there are in
the world have their presence in Cambodia...Probably the situation has reached a
point where not much could be done to attain the ideal state."
Rev. Dr. John Chew, Singapore, December 2003. As the
mission effort in Cambodia matures, there is a growing awareness that we can
achieve more together than we can alone. When
in late 2002 the Cambodian Church called for an indigenous publishing initiative
that would produce Khmer resources relevant to local needs, it was clear that
this could not be achieved by piecemeal projects. Fount of
Wisdom Publishing House is the result of partnership between a range of large
denominations and agencies, from AoG to OMF, YWAM to CMA.
In June 2004 it will be opening its doors for business.
But its aims stretch far beyond those of a typical publisher. To begin
with, the stark reality is that, following the devastation of the Pol Pot years,
Cambodia does not have the pool of writers that exists in other countries.
FoW has already put on two writers seminars and it has plans to establish
a writers club. Its aim: to nurture
the talent and desire that exists in the Cambodian church.
Alongside
this, FoW will be assembling a library of all Khmer-language resources to date,
making it available to every agency that is producing and translating new
material for the Cambodian Church. Its
dual aim: to avoid unnecessary duplication of resources and to help the wider
Church identify major gaps in provision. To achieve
these aims while selling to a semi-literate and small, though growing, church
makes faith a key element in the business plan.
But it has been noted that it is only when national churches start to
interpret the Bible for themselves that they really take root and mature in
their native soil. So while FoW
will offer quality translation of key Christian resources, and make some profit
from this, its primary calling will be to promote and publish Khmer Christian
literature. FoW's
long-term plans rely upon continuing teamwork by agencies and local churches: a
significant opportunity to strengthen inter-church cooperation in a country
where it is much needed. FoW aims
to be a source of unity, to foster authorship and readership, to guide resource
production and to support confident, indigenous biblical thinking.
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