Cambodian Mission Outreach
The Cambodian Mission Outreach
"New Life in Christ Church"
Our Mission is to bring a new life in Christ to the Cambodian people. Certainly eternal life, but Christ also came to bring life in all ways to all people, not the least of which is the prosperity to live in adequate provision, love, joy and peace. We believe a new life in Christ represents all these things and we are dedicated to encouraging opportunities for this new life wherever possible.
Our Vision is to plant a church in Phnom Penh to serve the people of Cambodia and to equip and enable Cambodian nationals to reach the nationals. We believe that the more cell groups leaders we can train, the more cell groups can be planted.
Cambodia today is one of the poorest countries in the world because of more than two decades of isolation, war and holocaust by the Khmer Rouge. During this time period as many as 2 million men, women and children have been killed. The war also destroyed the basic infrastructure and social services of Cambodia. During the Killing Fields, between 1975-1979, Pol Pot eliminated most of the educated Cambodians; the surviving illiterate farmers and widows (who were the majority of the population) had to rebuild this nation.
In a society plagued with religious superstition, anarchy, corruption and poverty, unemployed parents and widows can not get any financial help such as welfare, food stamps or medical aid. Nor can they receive any unemployment benefit, worker's compensation, DTI, or medical insurance from their employers. Most employed parents will often work all day for that day's food with nothing left for housing, health care and education.
While parents, often sick themselves, attempt to work to bring food to the table, they are without support and are the primary caregivers to babies and younger children. The image of a poor child, age 7-12, holding a baby sister or brother on their hip is a very common sight in Cambodia. Both children may often be malnourished. Also there is an abusive aspect to the culture, which condones polygamy, spousal violence, illiteracy and abandonment of women.
More women are both widows and the head of the household. A house run by a single mother with 3-8 young children can be seen everywhere. It is typical to see many homes having 2 or 3 generation of widows living together in order to survive in this devastated economy, But the worse condition befalls most significantly on young girls under the age of 17 who are lured and sold to brothels in Phnom Penh or other countries; a large number of women are forced to become prostitutes because of destitute living conditions.
As a result, thousands of children are abandoned and neglected, creating orphans and street children who survive by digging through trash in the dumps, looking for recycling items to sell. What will be the future of these unloved and uneducated Cambodian children ?
Because of the economic situation, education is not a priority for most families. But the good news is that the poorest of children are the most eager to be loved and are the ones who are open to hear the Gospel. We believe that children between the ages of 3-12 are both able to understand, and are open to salvation through Jesus Christ.
The Lord has burdened our hearts to bring good news to those Cambodian Children. In the year 2000 we established New Hope School. It is our goal to provide education for disadvantaged children from the ages of 3-12, teaching them to know Jesus in their early age, as well as helping them to develop a love for learning that will give them a better choice in life. A loving Christian environment with a Khmer teacher committed to helping these young children is part of this vision. One living sermon is worth a hundred explanations. We pray that the Lord will open the door for you to visit our ministry.
Sally and I would like to ask you to pray for our ministry and invest either your time, gift or finances to this ministry and touch the lives of these young Cambodian children and youth. Your investment can change the future of these children and youth who will experience new lives in Christ and grow up serving our Lord Jesus in their communities. We invite you to become ministry partners and reach out to the next generation of Cambodians for Christ.
Love in Christ
Keat & Sally Kove
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