Cambonian Churches Unite to Share Gospel
Many Americans have only vague memories of Cambodia from the killing fields during the Vietnam War or a Cambodian tag on their clothing. However, the nation’s hunger for the gospel is growing among a new generation seeking hope and direction.
More than 14,000 people recently gathered in Siem Reap, Cambodia, for a Christian Bible school and festival organized by 470 local churches across five provinces. According to John Pudaite of Bibles for the World, his team prepared 80,000 gospels of John and 6,000 Bibles for new believers but ran out in two days.
“The hunger for God’s word and the gracious way in which they accepted it, those who were immediately engaging with it, was just so encouraging to see,” he said. “Cambodia is one of those countries where a majority of the population is 18 and under now, and we’re seeing tremendous population growth since the year 2000 and onward. I don’t think we’ve seen that many young people at one of these international festivals than what we saw in Cambodia, and that’s just really exciting.”
Cambodia’s history under the Khmer Rouge included bloodshed and Christian persecution. Currently, only approximately 2 percent of the population is Christian. However, a movement of home churches is growing at a grassroots level within the country. A goal of this event was to help connect new believers with some of these churches.
“Part of this festival was that those who profess faith in Christ were connected and assigned to some of the different churches, depending on what village or what locality they came from, for their early discipleship,” Pudaite said. “Many of them may not have even known other Christians existed in their town or in their village. It’s very exciting to spend time with some of those pastors and workers and just be able to equip them and encourage them in the work that they’re doing, and that’s the part that we try to play as Bible school.”
The outpouring of support from local churches and the younger generations is happening against a backdrop of conflict, with Thailand invading and dropping bombs about 100 miles away from where the festival took place.
“And so in the midst of that crisis, or perhaps in part heightened by that crisis, people have been asking spiritual questions as their lives and very livelihoods have been threatened,” he said. “Their villages have been destroyed. So that was, I think, a really fertile ground. In the midst of crisis, we’re bringing Jesus Christ, who brings true hope and peace.”
–Lee Hartman
