In 1998, I heard the call from God to go into missions. Eight years later, this call was affirmed and I also knew that God wanted me to go to Cambodia. In 2007 I moved to Cambodia. At the beginning of 2008 I was able to open my house to four young people who had come from the provinces to the city for their education and had no place to stay. So I started a community living space at my home – Lighthouse Battambang was born.
In 2010 I was blessed to marry my wife, Somaly. by this time, ten young people were living with us. Not long after we got married, a period of seeming failure began. One of our young people spread untrue rumors in Battambang that I would use violence against the residents of our shared accommodation. Although this was not true, we began to consider closing our ministry. We experienced this as a failure and it hurt us a lot. We had many questions for God: “Why did you send me to Cambodia? For what purpose? Is this the reward for all my sacrifice and devotion?” But by God’s grace, we did not have to close our ministry. We were able to continue. And the apparent failure helped us to become more organized and structured.
Even after this crisis, there were still very difficult and painful situations. But in every challenge, we have been able to count on God and have learned new things.
I am very happy that we can look back on these 15 years and continue to offer people a better perspective for the future, personal guidance and individual support.
Best regards
Luke Bernhardt
