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Mekong Southeast Asia Khmer Evangelical Association, Cambodia

Khmer Evangelical Association, Cambodia

Updated 05 Apr ·
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Church planting in Cambodia

Planting churches and equipping Cambodia's pastors

Leadership

Khmer Evangelical Association leadership

Timothy Ith was raised in a Buddhist family of many generations. After the collapse of the Cambodian government in 1975, Timothy’s family escaped to a refugee camp in Thailand where he began to wonder about the true God. Later he came to America where he accepted Christ. After Timothy’s conversion, his heart was filled with sorrow for the horrors his people had endured, and he returned to Cambodia in 1989. Timothy served for many years as the president of the Phnom Penh Bible College. Considered one of the “guiding lights” of Christianity in Cambodia, Timothy also founded and currently leads KEA. Timothy is married to Yun and has two children.

Ministry Vision & Strategy

Cambodian Woman The Khmer Evangelical Association (KEA) is an indigenous, church-planting ministry with the long-term vision to see one church planted in each commune (smaller than a district but larger than a town) and to be a part of spreading the Gospel beyond Cambodia’s borders. There are more than 1,600 communes in the country, so the challenge and vision before them is great. KEA sends church planters throughout the country to encourage new fellowships to form and disciple new believers.

imageWorthy to Serve Him

"God pulled me from the mud of hell and made me worthy....I will do whatever I can to serve the Lord."

As part of their rural church-planting program, KEA leaders identify and equip new lay leaders. Training them to share Christ effectively with people who are non-literate is a key part of preparing them for ministry in the rural areas where literacy can be as low as 20%. One trainee, Ly Loert, is from the northern part of the country. He came to know Christ and was eager to be trained in the Word of God. During the training, he shared how excited he was that God was using him to bring transformation to his needy village. “Before, I was a useless man in my village,” he said, “and I didn’t know what to do with my life. God pulled me from the mud of hell and made me worthy to serve Him. After I graduate, I will do whatever I can to serve the Lord.”

Context

After the holocaust perpetuated by the Khmer Rouge in 1975-79 there were so few Christians remaining in Cambodia that Christianity in the country essentially had to start over. Only two trained pastors remained to minister among the small number of surviving, underground Christians.

Since the 15th century, Buddhism has been the dominant religion in Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge sought to eliminate all religion, as well as the educated and those who had contact with the West. The regime killed most Christians and 90 percent of the Buddhist monks. This holocaust cost nearly two million lives, leaving behind deep physical and emotional scars.
For the next 15 years Cambodia remained closed to the Gospel. In 1990 the government legalized Christianity, allowing an increasing amount of freedom.
 
In 1990, there were only 20 known churches attended by 2,000 Christians in the entire country. Traditionally a Buddhist culture, after the war Cambodians recognized that neither the Buddha nor socialism had saved them and so with increasing freedoms from the government, people became more open to the Good News. Today, there are an estimated 130,000 Cambodian believers.


Investment Opportunities

>CHURCH PLANTER SUPPORT: $150 per church planter per month

Church Planter Support, KEA

Help Now

Church Planter with bicycle Although the state religion is Buddhism and there is a law against proselytizing, the Gospel continues to be spread in Cambodia. In the last few years anti-Christian elements in the government and leaders in the Buddhist temples have brought pressure to reign in the growth of Christianity. No new churches have been allowed to register in the last three years. Persecution through corruption has resulted in some churches being closed or forced underground when the members refused to pay exorbitant fees in order to fulfill the requirement to register.
 
Despite these challenges, KEA’s strategy is to plant churches and for those churches to be active in planting daughter churches. This is accomplished when a church planter trains and equips the lay leadership of the congregation to evangelize surrounding villages. Many times contact with new villages is made through relatives or friends of church members who help get a new fellowship started. As the fellowship grows, a worshiping community develops under the leadership of the pastor who later transfers his responsibilities to a lay leader.
 
KEA is establishing Bible training centers next to churches in four key regions of the country. Church and lay leaders are taught at these centers in evangelism and church-planting methods, using culturally relevant material. Once trained, these church planters are able to effectively minister in surrounding villages.
 
Church planting challenges all of the ministry’s resources as workers seek to take the Gospel to rural areas where God’s Word has not been proclaimed. Partners would like to help provide much-needed monthly stipends for 10 church planters.

>MOTORBIKES FOR CHURCH PLANTERS: $2,130 each

Motorbikes/KEA, Cambodia

Help Now

The work of evangelism requires travel. Often one church planter is working in several villages at a time. The distance between them is too great to go on foot, is exhausting, and wastes time that the church planter could use for ministry. With limited public transportation in the nation, there is a critical need for modes of travel that are both reliable and affordable. Motorbikes, which are economical and easy to maintain, are the ideal answer. Three church planters are waiting for a motorbike.


 

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