The Need

Cambodia is a country with a tragic history.  Once a thriving developed land, it was ravaged in 1975 by an ethnic sect bent on taking the country back to the 11th century. Those with knowledge were specifically targeted, resulting in the slaughter of doctors, lawyers, teachers, along with ethnic minorities. Cambodia was left with little hope.

To this day the country struggles to survive. Despite a peace settlement reached in 1991, the previous years of violence and wars have taken their toll. Poverty is overwhelming, education is minimal, resulting in Cambodia being ranked the third highest in national corruption in the world.

But there is more freedom now than ever before--especially for humanitarian efforts from outside bringing in help and hope. One of Cambodia’s biggest struggles right now is its fight against AIDS. Cambodia is one of the hardest hit countries in Asia with 3.7% of adults infected as of 2000, according to the BBC. Women and children, who are widowed and orphaned from the disease, are left with no financial support, and often no home.

Our church is especially sensitive to the Cambodian crisis. We have an Adventist Cambodian church that worships at our facility. We also house a recording studio that their leader uses to record a radio show that is then broadcast in Cambodia. So as our church was discussing expanding our current facility, we couldn’t help but wonder how far our money could go in a place where the need was even greater.

Our Plan

In November 2007 we decided to covenant with God, promising to build a building of hope for those in need before we added to our own building.

We got in contact with Judy Aitken at Adventist Southeast Asia Project. She told us about the current Sda Hospice Center, an AIDS ministry in the capital city of Phom Phenh. The word ‘sda’ means ‘restore’ in Cambodian, and the center is used to provide homeless women and children with food, shelter, basic medical care, and Bible study. The center is currently renting a facility for their ministry, but could really use one of their own. We hope to raise funds to provide them with a facility that can sustain and expand their humanitarian efforts in the area of Phom Phenh.

Our contacts in Cambodia are searching for land to purchase. In the meantime, our church has been raising money to be prepared for the next phase. Our goal is to raise $80,000--a rough estimate of the amount we’ll need to purchase land and build the facility. We want to be ready when the right land is found. Once land is purchased, we will take a group from our church and the community to go and build the new center!

We’d love for you to be a part of this project with us! Please join us as we strive to bring hope to the people of Cambodia!

Is God calling you to join us?

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