“I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.” John 4:35
In the latter half of the 1970s, Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge decimated the Cambodian church. It is estimated that 90 percent of the country’s Christians were either martyred or fled the Southeast Asian country. After the end of the regime, a decade of turmoil ensued before finally, in 1990, the country began to stabilize.
Since that time, Christians have been free to worship and missionaries free to serve openly. From the ashes of a few hundred remaining believers, the Cambodian church has grown to more than 150,000 followers of Christ today. Even so, 99 percent of Cambodians still do not know Jesus.
Cambodia presents a unique opportunity to God’s people around the world. It is an open-access country; Christians can freely worship and serve without fear of government-sponsored persecution. It is also a country in great need, both spiritually and materially. Finally, as seen in the growth of the church over the past 25 years, it is a country hungry for the gospel. The fields are ripe for the harvest! Below is a list of opportunities to serve in Cambodia, as well as a list of a few OMF projects there.
OPPORTUNITIES
- Church planting (rural, urban poor, unreached people groups)
- Counseling
- Medical work
- Media (publications, radio etc.)
- Education (theological training, university lecturers, English teaching)
- Business as Mission
- Social Work
For more detailed descriptions, go to OMF’s Cambodia Opportunities page.
PROJECTS
OMF is involved in several ministry and social outreach projects to encourage, educate and bless the people of Cambodia. Below is a sampling of three projects. A full list can be found on OMF’s Cambodia Projects page.
Hope For Life
Need: $33,000 annually
Description: Two million people live in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia. Many of them live in deep poverty. OMF works among the poor, seeking to establish churches. As a starting point, we try to address social needs. We reach out to families and help men leave the trap of drug addiction, women to find ways to escape the sex trade and children to gain proper education and training. We work to reconcile troubled marriages and strengthen families by providing access to job training skills that help families start small businesses. Much of this is done through community centers that provide a place of refuge and training, and health education and treatment.
Provincial Literacy Program/Libraries in Snuol
Need: $15,000 annually
Description: In Eastern Cambodia, riders on motorcycles negotiate dirt tracks as they bring mobile libraries to the poorest of the poor. From various locations across this region, OMF workers deliver boxes of books, Christian resources and Bibles for those who don’t have access. In addition to bringing the libraries, literacy workers help villagers who have not had a chance to learn how to read. While they may begin with a simple story, our prayer is that each person who utilizes the library gains the opportunity and ability to read God’s word, the greatest book ever written!
Theological Education by Extension
Need: $15,000 annually
Description: Exciting church growth is taking place in rural Cambodia. Elders and church leaders in these areas desire more training, but the Bible colleges are in the city of Phnom Penh, making it difficult for these leaders to attend. Theological Education by Extension (TEE) is an interdenominational group committed to educating and training these church leaders, wherever they may be. TEE provides this training through a mixture of home study, group learning and ministry application.
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