Kahuna wrote: ↑Thu May 20, 2021 4:31 pm @clutchcargo you may notice this as well, it seems that Bloom Asia is indeed a part of the Gateway Baptist Church. Copied from the 2019 annual report for the church but I still don't understand why they are not upfront about being an offshoot of an evangelical church although to be honest I'd keep it quiet too.

In 2019 we marked the 10th
anniversary of Bloom—and we
celebrated the milestone with
a cake, of course! This year we
also celebrated another 14 brave
ladies, rescued from the horrors
of trafficking, who graduated with
formal qualifications and an open
door to their new future of healing,
hope and purpose.
After more than 10 years in
Cambodia, Bloom also said goodbye
to Ruth and Murray Larwill in
December—not from Bloom entirely,
but from Cambodia. The Larwills
returned to Brisbane where Ruth
continues part time and Murray
serves on the Bloom board.
At the end of 2019, Bloom also closed
the Cebu centre. After more than
three years, it was a hard decision
prayerfully made, but sets up Bloom
to best serve the changing landscape
of need.
But be encouraged: all Cebu girls
were placed into jobs with their
new future in place. And just as
importantly, every girl was tangibly
transformed by the love of God. We
thank Him for the opportunity to bring
His healing into the many lives and
families there during that season.
Murray & Ruth Larwill
Bloom Directors
That journey of encounter with
Jesus was beautifully highlighted
recently with the testimony of one
Cambodian girl. At 14, her family slept
on cardboard in the street. She was
pregnant and exploited every night.
Today her testimony is very different.
“I now have a new future at Bloom
and Jesus made my heart come alive!
Apart from Him my life was so messy.
But now I pray for me and my family.
I’m still not perfect (ha ha) but I try to
read my bible with my son every night,
and the Lord gives me strength and
hope to go on each day”.

I used to work in the air force with a bloke who was a member of one of these "I found Jesus again" churches and he gave 10% of his gross salary to the church. I asked him one day what happened to his generous donation and he said it goes to a village in Africa where they had a village school set up (now bear in mind his wage at the time would have been close to $70,000 AUD gross and a lot more if he was deployed and received further allowances and at times his pay would be tax free for up to 6 months). We had a bit of a discussion and I said I didn't agree with religion in general let alone the tub thumping evangelical mobs and he said his church wasn't like that, they didn't preach to the village as such but if a student or parent asked where the pencil and paper came from then the answer would be that Jesus provided it. They were able to convert the kids into believing that Jesus could do miracles for them if they believed in him and of course they were given bibles as gifts so they could read about all the miracles.
So in that respect and instance they didn't operate a church much the same way as I think this organisation is doing.