Known for its nightlife and bar scene, Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital, is growing by at least 220 people a day—or 80,000 a year. A typical new arrival is younger than 25, works at a factory, and is living away from home for the first time.
Many of these young people are drawn into the temptations of money, sex, and—for those who are tenacious enough to attain it—power. In this country where less than 2 percent of the population are Christians, most people who settle in Phnom Penh do not have the opportunity to hear a clear presentation of the gospel.
Real-estate prices have soared by more than 50 percent in the past three years, making it more expensive to buy land in Phnom Penh than in many Los Angeles neighborhoods. “There is no way to reach this rapidly growing population through the traditional way of buying land and constructing church buildings,” observes David Manfred, an Alliance international worker serving in Cambodia.
Providing gospel access to Cambodians requires a new method of leading urbanites to know Jesus, organizing them into groups of worshipers, and discipling them to reach others. “There needs to be deliberate equipping of young adults to start a movement of multiplying house churches in Phnom Penh and other urban areas,” says David.
Our Alliance workers are partnering with the Khmer Evangelical Church (the Cambodian C&MA) and others (through the MK2021 initiative) to make disciples in every village in Cambodia by 2021 among people groups with little or no access to the good news.
One feature of this program will be an Urban Ministry Training Center. Once it is running at full capacity, 12 disciples will be released into urban centers each year to join a burgeoning movement. “As disciples and house churches are multiplied,” says David, “our prayer is that hundreds, and eventually thousands, of unreached Cambodians will be touched by Christ each year.”
The international workers you support are seeing unprecedented opportunities to extend Christ’s love to those suffering the effects of war, abuse, and hopelessness. Our workers are strategically placed in parts of the world that are ripe for a great spiritual awakening. And we are strategically equipped to support their efforts through our fervent prayers and generous giving to the Alliance Year-end Offering.
Together—led by His Spirit, strengthened by our prayers, and supported by our generosity—we CAN do something. We ARE doing something. And WE WILL DO MORE!
How You Can Help
Help start a movement of multiplying house churches in Phnom Penh and other urban areas in Cambodia through your gift to the Alliance Year-End Offering. Watch this video and visit the year-end Web page to learn more.