Heavy artillery fire along the border between Cambodia and Thailand has displaced nearly half a million people from their homes. Many have relocated to meager displacement camps lacking basic resources and sanitation. “I came here with nothing,” said one grandmother in the displacement camps. “When I heard the explosion, I ran away with my grandchild.…
Operation Christmas Child
The Gospel Transforms a Teen in Cambodia
Living in a country steeped in false religions, Phirun’s* faith in Jesus Christ is tested. But the teenager does not let that stop her joy from being complete. Not that long ago—without God in her life—she lied, stole, and persistently bullied others. The change in her life began when she attended the lessons of The…
Operation Christmas Child
The Life-Changing Power of Prayer in Cambodia
As smiling volunteers place red-and-green shoeboxes into the waiting, outstretched hands of children who have no concept of a gift or the love of Christ, a man wearing a shirt bearing the logo of Operation Christmas Child quietly watches with a look of reflection on his face. “Each time it captures my heart when I…
Discipleship, Education & Training
Cambodian Migrants Meet Christ on the Road Home
The northern border of Cambodia is a porous one, with thousands of people flowing across into Thailand each day in search of better-paying jobs. These migrants work through brokers who demand exorbitant fees to help with the crossing. Many feel it is worth the cost because of the lucrative opportunities they’ve heard await them on…
Women's Programs
Moms and Babies Starting Stronger in Cambodia
A child’s first 1,000 days can change everything. The nourishment they receive—or don’t receive—makes a world of difference. If the brain remains stunted during that window, there is little hope of reversing the damage. Samaritan’s Purse BEST (Best Early Start Today) program in Cambodia is giving families a foundation of health and nutrition training that…
Discipleship, Education & Training
Sparking Interest in Science and Technology in Rural Cambodia
Experiments are opening doors for a teenage girl named Sona. The oldest of five children in a farming family from Pailin Province, Cambodia, she is used to shouldering responsibility. Throughout her 14 years of life, her parents have taught her the value of hard work, which she’s persistently applied to her education. Recently she channeled…
Operation Christmas Child
Discipling Children in the Dumps of Cambodia
Samnang* comes from a family of scavengers, also known as waste pickers—people who earn a meager living by collecting recyclable materials from garbage dumps, streets, and landfills of Cambodia. But God used the new items inside the shoebox gift she received at age 13 to help draw her to a relationship with Christ. Today, she…
Water, Sanitation & Hygiene
Bringing Fresh Water to the Hills of Cambodia
What is a beautiful setting worth without access to clean water? Rolling green hills and picturesque mountains surround Cambodians in Pailin province on the border with Thailand, but their sources of drinking water are often contaminated with bacteria such as E. coli. That’s why, over the past year, Samaritan’s Purse provided nine schools and over…
Animals, Agriculture & Livelihoods
Life Changed Because of the Bees
Seangly and her husband farmed in the Pailin Province in Cambodia but after he became too sick to work, they fell behind on their bills. Money and other essentials became scarce. Seangly feared for her family’s future. “I was sad and concerned,” she said, “that one day our land and house will be confiscated.” Samaritan’s…
Operation Christmas Child
Spreading Good News and Great Joy in Cambodia
Franklin Graham joined local church leaders in sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with boys and girls while delivering gift-filled shoeboxes to them at a recent Operation Christmas Child outreach event in Cambodia’s capital. Eight-year-old Votey received a shoebox, making her one of more than 1 million children in Cambodia to receive such a gift…
