Amid the Floods of Life, Cambodia Believers Cling to the Rock

The following is an adapted excerpt from a recent prayer letter by David Manfred, field leader for Cambodia.

Thank you for your prayers for Cambodia, which is experiencing the worst flooding in many years. More than 200 people have lost their lives, and the rice harvest has been significantly impacted. In areas where the needs are greatest, emergency food supplies are being distributed through several local churches.

Cambodia is a low-lying country, much of which is in a flood plain; that is why many Cambodian homes are built on stilts. But the floods this year have been much worse than normal. In many of the homes near the Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers, the flood waters have risen higher than the stilts. This particularly affects the Vietnamese minority, who tend to live on these rivers.

One of the outreaches of the C&MA in Cambodia is called “NewHope” ministries, which focuses on the 1 million-plus ethnic Vietnamese people who live in Cambodia. The number of Christians among them is far less than 1 percent. NewHope currently has eight small churches among the Vietnamese living here. Two of these churches have been under water for four weeks. 

In the midst of this hardship, it is encouraging to see the faith of the faithful. A few Sundays ago, one of our international worker families from Australia, Tin and Anh Pham, went out to see how the Prek Kdam church was doing.  Even though the water had risen above the height of the stilts and the floor in the church was flooded, they found that the believers had still come to worship—in boats. They tied them together in front of the church where they worshipped, shared in communion, listened to God’s Word, and prayed. Since the church flooded four weeks ago, they have been gathering together in their boats in front of the church every Sunday.

These are people, who—in the midst of the floods of life all around them—have chosen to build their “house” on the solid Rock of faith in Jesus: “‘As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built’” (Luke 6:47-48).

This church was started a few years ago through the faithful witness of Alliance international workers who continue to invest in developing new leaders, strengthening this church, and multiplying these efforts in many more places.

Thank you for your prayers for those who are being impacted by the flooding. We also thank you for your prayers for our field team and Cambodian believers, who are helping the peoples of Cambodia to understand that there is a true Rock upon which they can lean when the inevitable floods of life come. This is the eternal need that only Christ can address.

Thank you, too, for your support through the Great Commission Fund, which helps keep us here, impacting the multifaceted needs of this land.

What You Can Do

Pray for Alliance people around the world.

Learn More

Check out the December 2003 issue of Alliance Life magazine for Rest Beyond the River, a feature story about Beth and Rick Drummond, now-retired Alliance workers who founded the NewHope Evangelical School and Church in Phnom Penh.

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