How We Got Started: Cambodia
The Birth of the Movement in Cambodia
In 1975 Cambodia fell to the Khmer Rouge. Campus Crusade for Christ (now Cru) had made arrangements to extract its director, Vek Huong Taing (age 23), to safety, but Huong and his wife, Samoeun (age 22), chose to stay. They wrote, “We cannot say what will happen for the next day, next week, but we are happy to live and to die for our Lord Jesus Christ. We have decided to serve our Lord Jesus Christ until our last minute in reaching Cambodia for Him. We do hope that if it is God’s will we can see you once again before we or we’ll meet each other in heaven.” The country fell to the Khmer Rouge ten days later on April 17.
God supernaturally kept the family alive during the four-year “killing fields” genocide where 30% of the population was slaughtered. In 1979, the Vietnamese communists invaded Cambodia. With the attention of the Khmer Rouge now directed to the invasion, hundreds of thousands of Cambodians were able to slip across the border into Thailand. After four years of silence, word reached Cru that Huong’s family was alive in Thailand.
Cru brought them to the US and planted them in Long Beach, California, where the US government was resettling Cambodian refugees by the tens of thousands. Huong worked with many churches to help meet the needs of destitute refugees who only owned the clothes on their backs. By God’s providence, Huong chose to partner with Charis Alliance Church of Long Beach where Jay Bell, a Vietnam war vet, served on staff.
The church equipped Huong with an office and a sound studio where he made gospel recordings and made several trips to share them with the refugees in Thailand. Missionaries saw little success in the prior 50 years, but after witnessing the mass killings, the soil of Cambodian hearts became receptive to the gospel.
In 1992, the United Nations slowly started repatriating the refugees from Thailand back to Cambodia. In 1993, the Charis Alliance helped move Huong’s family back to Phnom Penh. On November 1, 1997, Huong helped the Charis Alliance launch their Cambodian ministry in the spiritually-dark city of Battambang in the northwest.
The Growth of the Movement in Cambodia
God gave us a number of young Cambodian men and women who were fearlessly on fire for Jesus. God led them to take the gospel story to villages in northwest Cambodia, and in the coming years, they started 123 points of light.
As time went on, village outreach became more difficult as many of the adults were moving into cities for work. During the same time period, Battambang grew from having zero universities to 11. It became a hub for young adults seeking education and job opportunities.
Along with several Encompass World Partner missionaries, National Partner Chhay Chhoeum led us to purchase the Grace Center building in Battambang, which provides college students with affordable dormitories, education, and discipleship. The ministry center houses up to 36 students who witness God’s love, attend worship services, receive theological education from the center’s director, Kakda Keo, and experience Christian community through the families of Chhay and Kakda.
This shift in strategy had been very fruitful in seeing many young, educated adults coming to Christ. We’re so thankful for the incredible work God is doing through Kakda and Chhay. What was once the land of the “killing fields” is now the land of the “living fields.”
A Call to Prayer and Support
Ask God to continue transforming the lives of young adults through the Grace Center.
Pray that the students who meet Jesus at the Grace Center would go on to introduce their friends and family to Him. These young adults are the future leaders of the country!
With 90% of Cambodians living in debt, they are largely focused on their shortages. Ask God to use this challenge to cause Cambodians to look toward Him.
