Cambodia is a very poor nation. Most of its citizens live very primitively in villages with limited amenities (most without running water and many without electricity). The Cambodian people’s recent history has been filled with great turmoil and bloodshed. The murderous atrocities of the Khmer Rouge rule in the late 1970s against their own people resulted in the death of two million Cambodians from torture and execution or starvation, followed by civil war over the next decade. The Cambodian people have only known peace for the last 20 years or so.
Even though Cambodia has been the recipient of charity money over the years, the people have received little direct benefit of such generosity. However, our project sponsorship goes directly through our local team member, not through the government or other organizations, ensuring the local people in need are directly blessed by our help.
Due to the recent economic challenges, many of the poorest villagers in Cambodia have lost jobs and income. People have become debtors to banks and don’t have money to pay so some of them have to force themselves to sell their properties with very low cost compare to market price in order to pay their loan while others, their properties had been confiscated by their creditors. Many don’t have enough food to feed their families. Add to this, Cambodia’s seasonal flooding has left many with nowhere to turn. Our team’s vision is to provide food aid to 4,000 of the neediest families from 50 rural villages in five provinces. The food provided will feed each family for two to four weeks.
The most important need for the Cambodian people is to hear the Gospel message. Most Cambodians are Buddhist. When our teams are able to provide aid, such as digging a well for a village that has no clean drinking water, or providing food and clothing relief during difficult times, the village leaders allow our teams to preach the Gospel to all that are present. Often, they will allow our team to plant a local church in their villages, which would not have been allowed before the humanitarian aid was provided.
In response to the need of neediest people in rural villages on September 1, 2023 with financial support from Destiny Builders (brother Kevin Hardin and sister Karen Dee Hardin, the directors of Destiny Builders) the team of Evangelical Mission Association (EMA) led by pastor KHAN KHON the president of EMA, gave food items to 120 neediest families in Takeo province of Cambodia. Food items namely rice, noodles, sardines, and fish sauce.
During this food distribution, pastor Leang Ly the pastor of Evangelical Mission Assembly (EMA) preached the good news then some of the beneficiaries gave their lives to Jesus and prayed to welcome Jesus Christ into their lives as personal Lord and Savior. At this program as well, representatives of governmental officers who attended, showed their gratefulness to the donors and gave their thankfulness to Jesus Christ for blessing people in their communities who are in really need.
