Pastor Ney Khut is the new Seventh-Day Adventist minister in Townsend
 | Author:
Matt Nelson
MT43 News Correspondent |
Pastor Ney Khut is the new Seventh-Day Adventist minister in Townsend Matt Nelson As of about a month ago, Ney Khut is now the new Pastor at the Townsend Seventh-day Adventist Church. They meet on most Saturday mornings at the United Methodist Church building.
Pastor Khutwas born in a refugee camp in Thailand. At the time, the Cambodian people had been overrun by the Khmer Rouge, who were members of the Communist Party and who brutally murdered millions of people. When he was about 8 years old, his family moved back to their home village in the province of Neak Luong, Cambodia. He later attended college in Thailand, where he learned English and graduated with a Religious Education degree. He then returned to the capital city of Phnom Penh in Cambodia and became the youth director for the country-wide church organization.
Pastor Ney came to the US from Cambodia in 2016. In 2019, he married his wife Emily, whom he had met several years before while she was a missionary in Cambodia. In May 2020, he graduated with a Master of Divinity from the Seventh-day Adventist Seminary at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan. Andrews University is a training base for the Seventh-day Adventist faith. Most pastors who go there to study go out to other churches.
Two years ago Pastor Ney came to Butte because he was invited to be a Bible worker. A friend in Butte told him that they were looking for a Bible worker at her church. A Bible worker is someone who teaches the Bible, contacts people and makes connections at schools, colleges, etc. Ney wanted to be a pastor, but after he and Emily prayed about it, they decided to move to Montana. “We sensed that God was calling us to come to Montana.” They moved to Butte in July 2021. He worked as a Bible worker for about six months, and then he was invited to be the pastor for the Butte/Whitehall/Dillon district, as the previous pastor had recently moved to another district.
Then God called Pastor Khut to be in the Helena, Townsend, and Boulder districts. Every Saturday the Helena church has about 60 members in attendance. Pastor Ney is usually at one church each Saturday but occasionally preaches at two of the district churches on the same day. The following is the schedule for each church’s Saturday services:
Helena: 9:30 - 10:30 (Bible Study), 10:45 - 12:30 (Divine Worship)
Townsend: 9:30 - 10:25 (Divine Worship), 10:30 - 12:00 (Bible Study)
Boulder: 9:00 - 10:25 (Divine Worship), 10:30 - 12:00 (Bible Study)
Pastor Khut and Emily have two children, a son who is 3 years old named William Veramun, and a daughter about seven months old, Sophia Montana (she was born in Butte). He and Emily have been married for 4 years.
Pastor Khut says, “We do love Montana. Montana is a great place! I am an outdoor person and enjoy outdoor activities. This is a place in our hearts where we want to share the gospel.”
“Sabbath is a day of worship. We are Bible-based. We want to affirm the Bible; we want to uphold the word of God. “Genesis 2:1-3 says ‘Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day, God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. So the Sabbath is a day of rest. It is mentioned in both the Old and the New Testament. Mark 2:27-28 says, ‘And He (Jesus) said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man or the Sabbath: Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath.’ “
“God created all of us in His own image. I am here to serve the community. There is going to be a program for young people called Youth for Community, held at the United Methodist Church on June 24th at 4:30 PM, and we invite all.”
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PhotoCredit: Matt Nelson
Image 1 Caption: Ney Khut
