WITH CHRIST IN INDOCHINA - IndoChina1911

j THE CAMBODIAN BIBLE SCHOOL 125
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Battambang to give it the status of a landed proprietor.
During the interim, while they were waiting
for a reply to their petition, some of the mis¬
sionaries were greatly hindered by unfriendly local
officials. But the work was sufficiently established
that these enemies could not close it. In 1932, a
decree was issued which formally recognized the
Mission, but extended toward it only an official
toleration, not an authorization. The decree explicitly
stated that the work of the missionaries might
continue in the stations and outstations that were already
esablished, but that no new work should be
opened. This meant that all advance evangelism
must be initiated by the Cambodian Christians, and
not by the missionaries. But the Lord had made
preparation for this emergency by causing the missionaries
to put the outstation work in charge of
Bible-trained lay elders.
These restrictions continue at the present time and
hinder the Mission from spreading out as it would
like to do. On the other hand the number of converts
is increasing more rapidly each year. The
Cambodian Christians are carrying the good news
far and wide, and new groups are being added to
the church without any unlawful propaganda on
the part of the missionaries.
On one occasion, the missionary visited a number
of Christians in the village of Chacreng. The Cambodian
Governor of the province in which this vil-