Cambodia is a kingdom in East Asia full of beautiful scenery, delicious food, and cheerful Khmer people. If you’re like me and thought of Disney princesses when you read “kingdom”, think more Moana than Cinderella.
Interestingly enough, Cambodia is the only country with a building on their flag and that building happens to be Angkor Wat (a Buddhist temple), the largest religious structure on earth which is found in the northern region of the country.
Sadly, the fairytale similarities end there. Based on how hospitable and loving everyone is, you’d never think there was a tragic genocide in the 1970’s, but Khmer Rouge affects the nation to this day.
"If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."
- 2 Chronicles 7:14
Cambodia is a majority Buddhist nation with almost 85% citizens professing this faith.1 To many, to be Cambodian means to be Buddhist. But the Kingdom of God is for all nations, all ethne, all people.
Pray that Cambodians would see, know, and understand the true meaning of “good” when they’re faced with the reality of God and his love for us.
The first Protestant missionaries came to Cambodia in 1923 to plant churches and translate the Bible into Khmer language. The church in Cambodia steadily grew until 1965 when all foreign missionaries were kicked out of the country. But that didn't stall God's work. The local church experienced great growth until 1975 and the reign of the Khmer Rouge and the genocide where 2 million Cambodians died.2
But after the end of the Khmer Rouge in 1979, Christianity started growing again from just a few surviving Jesus followers - and at a rate of almost 9% every year!
Pray that Christianity continues to grow and at even faster rates.
Did you know that in 2023, Cambodia had the 3rd fastest growing church in the world?!3
With so many new Jesus followers since 1979, something else began to grow: the amount of Christian Cambodians reaching out to Cambodians. Believers preaching, teaching, and sharing Jesus with their neighbors.
Pray that this will continue today. That discipleship communities would grow and entire villages and cities would be impacted by groups of faithful Christians doing life together, looking more and more like Jesus each day.
We met Ratana, a 15-year-old girl, who wants to be a missionary so badly that she wants to go NOW before even finishing school (don’t worry, she’s gonna finish).
Ratana is learning a new language to be able to minister to more people and is eager to go live out the Great Commission. She’s part of a discipleship community we worked with and it was such a blessing and honor to walk alongside her, teach her how to study the Bible, and worship together with her community.
Let's pray that more young people, like Ratana, fall in love with Jesus and grow passionate about sharing his good news!
1 Joshua Project. (n.d). Country: Cambodia. Retrieved from https://joshuaproject.net/countries/CB
2 Christianity Today. (2023). Born Again and Again: Cambodian Evangelicals Celebrate 100 Years. Retrieved from https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2023/january/cambodia-evangelicals-100-anniversary-protestant-missionary.html
3 Stratus. (n.d). Country Explorer - Cambodia. Retrieved from https://globe.stratus.earth/en/country-explorer/KHM