Missionary Concert in Kampong Thom

We were asked to help the missionaries in Kampong Thom prepare a concert as a community outreach. There have been some issues in the town surrounding the construction of the new meeting house there. At one point some officials showed up and told the construction crew that they had to stop and might have to tear the building down because they did not have the proper permits. They did have permits and think the problems came up because the construction crew were all Vietnamese. That has been resolved thankfully. 

President Moon had the idea to have the concert to reach out to the community to help establish good relations there. Three of the 4 missionaries assigned there are very talented musicians. They were unable to find an indoor venue that would work so it was decided to have it outside by the park that is along the river in the center of town. A permit was required and requested 6 weeks in advance but never issued until the day before the concert which made us all very nervous. We had prepared flyers and they had been distributed all over town to invite people to come to the concert.  We finally had the Branch President, Nuth Yi, go with the missionaries to find out what they wanted to issue the permit.  They finally settled on a cleaning fee and 2 security guards that we would pay for and the permit was finally issued. It is a common practice in Cambodia to expect money to change hands under the table to make things happen.  The Church does not pay under the table so challenges come up. 

Tents had been arranged for as it is still the rainy season but the day of the concert turned out hot and sunny so the tents were welcome as shade until the sun went down. We were all nervous as time to begin came and there was no one there but a few Church members.  But as they began to play, people started to stop and listen and throughout the evening there were many people who came and sat down and many more who sat on their motos along the curb to listen. President Moon had sent and brought extra missionaries to help and during the music they visited with the people and were able to get about 100 names of people who said they had questions and would like to be contacted. We were all so excited for that to happen after all the work that went into preparing the music and setting up the concert.  Elder Brittain was responsible for the program and did an amazing job.  He played the piano, Elder Paramore was on guitar and Sister Synderguard was on violin. The Branch also had a youth choir that was great. They sang and played a combination of religious and popular Khmer music.  They sounded great considering they were performing outside with untested equipment and had only practiced during their free time. President Moon had asked them not to use proselyting time to practice. It was all worth it when teaching appointments began the next morning. What a great experience to be part of such a successful event.