Country Profile #3: Cambodia
Facts:
-Population: 15 million
-Capital: Phnom Penh (pronounced “Nom Pen")
-Language: Khmer -42 identified people groups
-71% unreached
-Religion: 90% Buddhist
-Evangelical Church: An estimated 240,000 evangelicals live here. -Home of one the Seven Wonders of the World: Angkor Wat, a Hindu temple built in the 12th century
Ministry:
– Like Thailand, Cambodia has become a source, transit, and destination point for human trafficking. Work here may include reaching out to women recovering from a life of oppression.
-Many in the rural areas live in impoverished circumstances. My team may find ourselves working in a village teaching English to children here to enable to them seek better livelihoods once they are adults.
Pray:
-Pray for continued freedom of religion. Christianity has spread all over the country since the 1970s when 90% of Christians died or fled the country during the Vietnam War and the Khmer Rouge regime. A government ban exists on door-to-door evangelism and public distribution of religious literature.
-Pray that the Gospel continues to be spread in Cambodia. Christianity has grown at a rapid pace over the past 10 to 15 years. Pray that this trend continues at an even faster pace.
-Pray that my team and I will not let fear of working outside of our comfort zones hinder our work. Pray that the Lord will teach us to rely in him in times of uncertainty.
To find more info like this on Cambodia or any other country, check out www.operationworld.org. Trust me – it's so worth your time!
