Located in Southeast Asia, Cambodia has been relatively stable for the last two decades but bears scars of the civil war brought on by the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s. Landmines are still hidden underground in border regions of the country and there is a population void as a generation of adults over 50 are missing. Almost 70 percent of the population is under 30.
KEY CHALLENGES
our approach
We were never intended to live in poverty, divided against one another, with little hope for peace. In the Kingdom of God, poverty, violence, division, and hopelessness will not exist. We believe the Church is God’s primary transforming agent in the world, and that the local church exists to make its community more like the Kingdom of God.
We partner with local indigenous leaders as they minister to the communities and cultures that they themselves are from. We start projects and programs in the hardest places and set up a plan for them to be self-sustaining in order for them to know independence and the value of reinvesting in their own communities.
Read on to learn how communities are being transformed in Cambodia.
Our partners
Projects
Mission ONE is engaged with leadership in Cambodia by providing training that helps them to follow Jesus with their whole lives. Economics, cultural contextualization, and leadership are a few topics covered by Mission ONE training.
Gospel Context
Jesus' life, death, and resurrection carry more collective and cosmic tones in Southeast Asia than we often perceive it does in the United States. Cultures largely influenced by Buddhism have stronger family and communal ties meaning a decision to follow Jesus is often made as a group. It is easier for people from Southeast Asia to see the way the gospel addresses the conflict between different groups of people. The Church is uniquely equipped to care for the needs of refugees and the poor because of these dynamics.
Working with local leaders in Cambodia, Mission ONE addresses the important topics of honor, shame, and what the gospel says about these cultural influences.
To learn more about how honor and shame interact with the Bible and how this affects our Western theology, check out The Global Gospel, written by Mission ONE Vice President, Werner Mischke.