Ministering to Cambodia

[Editor’s note: Our meet a missionary in this edition is from Rev. Pich (Samuel) Chim, from Cambodia. His family emigrated to Canada after the many hard years during the ‘killing fields’ in the late 1970s, and the communist years that followed. Pastor Sam approached ALWM in 2016 to partner together and build new bridges for prayer support in the U.S.]

I am currently a coordinator for LCMC Cambodia. LCMC Cambodia has many Churches from different places across the country, now 15 in all. We came together, and walk together in our Christian faith. Foreign missionaries have helped us much over the years and helped me in my early ministry.

Born and raised in our country, as indigenous leaders in some ways we are very different from a foreign missionary. Since we are from Cambodia, we speak the language clearly and fluently, we communicate well, and we solve problems effectively because it is our mother tongue and our culture, which we know very well. We are happy to serve the Lord and eager to see the Gospel spread through our country.

Our mission is to bring more people to Christ through preaching the Gospel, our school ministry, wells ministry and cell groups ministry.

Part of my role is going around the country to help all our partner churches and cell groups with Christian education, well digging and food delivery.

As ALWM and other friends send us money for the food, we buy rice, fish sauce, soy sauce and salt for those families that are in great need of help.

We are providing classes for general education to many children. The education we offer is the same standard as government school. We also teach them Christian faith. Most of those children became Christians, not just for school education but for their faith in Jesus.

Our first school ministry is located at the island near Kompong Chhnang, where children have no way of getting an  education if we do not provide it for them. We have 85 students there. But still we only can provide education for them up to grade 6. They have to go to government school at the capital province for higher grades.

So far, only 40% of the students are able to continue their education. The other 60% have no relative in the city where the government school is located, and no money to pay tuition. So, they will just stay with their parents and farm. For us as a Church, we currently can’t afford to pay for teachers at the island school for upper grade classes.

We are now planning to build another five-classroom school for our children’s ministry at Preah Vihear Province, in partnership with ALWM. We have many students who drop out of school in that village for many reasons; we want to provide them education, and also bring them into relationship with Jesus Christ.

We are also planning for our second LCMC Youth conference. ALWM organized and sponsored the first one in 2018. After our first gathering, we have many young people who attended the gathering and became more active at their own Churches and cell groups, and many also became Christians. Amen!

Through friends in the U.S. and Canada, we dug many wells in different parts of the country. We are digging wells and sharing the Gospel. Many families come to Christ as result of the wells ministry. Every single well we dig is able to provide water supply to many families around the area. One well is used by five to six families. 

The money we receive for the cow ministry helps us buy more cows and raise them. We just keep feeding them, and they keep multiplying for us! It is great investment to help churches to be on self-support financially. The income from the cows helps support pastors and fund ministry. We are praying to buy more cows and also farm land.

We thank God for the blessings of the land. We received donations to buy some farm land from ALWM. We raise bananas, and farm rice to give to those families who are in the greatest need. We pray for more farm land. We only have three hectares that is good for rice field, two hectares good for cassava and three hectares for banana. This all helps the ministry! We want more rice fields, so we can have rice for those families who are in need. The land will produce rice every year, and we can have rice even when we don’t have any more food donations from other places around the world.

We pray for 100 hectares of rice fields to fully support our ministry around the country, and also to support our ministry in the South East Asia. Please pray for us.

In addition to the groups in Cambodia, we help many cell groups in our neighboring countries. All of our cell groups in our neighboring countries are underground. For their safety, I cannot give details on that, but please remember these believers in communist countries in your prayers. Pray for their protection and for them to grow stronger in their Christian faith.

My job as leader is to train more leaders in Cambodia and in our neighboring countries where we have underground cell groups. There has also been a lot of counseling, especially these past two years with COVID-19 and its variants. It is important to let everyone know that Christians are a minority in most villages (Cambodia is 2% Christian), and so only your church leaders or pastor can help in many situations. Otherwise, there is no hope. Once you become Christian in Cambodia, you lose all support from your family members who are not Christian, and from your neighbors and friends as well.

My role is not only helping and supporting our leaders, but also to work with almost every family member in our ministry who face all kinds of problems. It is very important that pastors and church leaders are available at all times when our members need us. This is why I am developing and multiplying leaders!

Even with a great temptation of a good salary from a good job in the U.S. or Canada, I choose to be a servant and missionary in Cambodia. From 1992 until today, I serve the ministry in Cambodia without personal support. The same is true for my team. Living and working without a salary, we always remember the promise, “If God feeds the birds, He will surely feed me…” And God is faithful; this happens, and this is keeping us going.

Because of my time at Luther Seminary, and my relationships with ALWM and others in North America, my job is also to serve as a bridge to pass on the blessings of prayer and financial support from the USA and Canada to our ministry in Cambodia and South East Asia. We thank God for all these blessings through friends and partners in the U.S. and Canada. By God’s grace we are able to keep moving forward.

This is the reason why ALWM is helping us to buy land and to develop some income streams for the pastors and families. It is our goal for the ministry to become more financially independent. I am hoping and praying that our land ministry and cow ministry will become a well of blessings for our Church leaders and Church ministry. God provides! Amen.

Thank you for all your prayers and support. Our goal is to continue to preach the Gospel in Cambodia!

If you would like to know more about how to partner with us in the school, land, youth ministry and more, please contact  ALWM and Rev. Bill Moberly at missionshelp@alwm.org or visit alwm.org.

Blessings in Jesus,

Pastor Sam