Cambodia is a small country in Southeast Asia wedged in between Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam. The South China Sea provides a coastal area to the southwest of the country. Cambodia is a tropical country with wet and dry seaons.
The people of Cambodia are almost entirely Khmer, with a few other smaller people groups and immigrants mixed in. Religion in Cambodia is a very important part of their life. Theravada Buddhism is the predominant religion in Cambodia with Islam, Animism, and Christianity having a much smaller percentage of adherants.
Probably the most well-known and horiffic part of Cambodia's past is the genocide orchestrated by Pol Pot and his communist followers in the 70's. In 1975, after a long fight, the Khmer Rouge overtook Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, and forced the entire population out of the city. They then began the systematic and brutal execution of educated and powerful people. They put millions of people in labor camps where many died due to lack of food and mistreatment. The Khmer Rouge where overthrown in 1979 after they had killed about 1/4 of the population at the time (2 million people). The country then endured civil war until 1996, when the former King Sihanouk retook the throne. Since then, the Cambodian government has been stable, even during the abdication of the throne by Sihanouk to his son Norodom Sihamoni.
A lot has happened to the Cambodian people. God has His own plans, though, for what Cambodia will become. He his sending out laborers to harvest the ripe fields of Cambodia. Please join us in this great mission of reconciliation. We need your prayers and support to take the gospel to these people who have never heard it and are living without any hope.
