Read on for updates on Cambodia: Expanding Outreach (GCS4005), an ELCA Global Church Sponsorship project that is part of Always Being Made New: The Campaign for the ELCA. To make a gift to this Global Ministry, click here.
__________

July 2014

LCC ministries in Phnom Penh are largely centered around student ministry. A hostel for university students serves as its hub, and many activities are with university students. It is mostly students themselves who reach out to others.

​
Now is “the time” – when the country and the hearts of its people are open – to evangelize and share the saving grace of God for the total healing (physical, emotional and spiritual) of the people of Cambodia.

THE CHURCH:
The ELCA walked with the Lutheran Church in Singapore as it began a mission in Cambodia, focusing on service, evangelism and leadership development. A Lutheran church, Lutheran Church in Cambodia / Lutheran World Mission, has now emerged and is steadily growing. The membership is largely made up of young people networking in the city.

THE NEED:
Though the Khmer Rouge regime was short-lived, the devastation it had left behind on the people and country was extensive. Thirty-five years down the road, Cambodia is still struggling to rebuild its country and people. One of the major attempts of the communist regime had been to stem out all religion in Cambodia, and the younger generation has grown up with no deep roots in the Buddhist faith, although Cambodia is largely considered a Buddhist country. At this point, the Lutheran Church in Cambodia has impacted only a small area, mostly in the cities.

THE OPPORTUNITY:
We have the opportunity to respond while the hearts of the people are open and seeking for something that would make a difference in their lives and society. ELCA Global Church Sponsorship will fund this project in evangelism over three years. It will allow evangelism activities to take place in three villages, reaching out in three new provinces. This project would enable expanded outreach programs beyond the small area in which the church currently finds itself.

An evangelism team will be organized around a pastor and Bible school students and lay people, who will rotate through the team to maximize exposure of leaders to the training in evangelism. The team will do evaluation of various sites and establish house groups and gospel stations in selected villages. It is hoped that the church will have two new congregations by the end of the project.

Leadership development, church-planting strategies, and expanding on local resources to help grow faith will help this budding church continue to grow where there is no Christian church or witness.

THE IMPACT:
The Lutheran Church in Cambodia will have mission starts in three new provinces, with the expectation of new congregations there in the future. In the meantime, the gospel seed is sown and lives are renewed through direct evangelization.

GET INVOLVED!
This ELCA Global Church Sponsorship priority is a new ministry as part of Always Being Made New: The Campaign for the ELCA. You can help by sharing this information, by praying, and by making a donation.

By check: Make your check payable to “ELCA Global Church Sponsorship” with “Cambodia, GCS4005” in the memo line, and send it to: Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, ELCA Gift Processing Center, P.O. Box 1809, Merrifield, VA 22116-8009  or place your gift in the offering plate.  
Online: Go to  https://community.ELCA.org/Cambodia to make a one-time gift.
By phone: Call 800-638-3522 and pay with a credit card or set up a monthly gift.

For more information, please visit www.elca.org/globalchurch or contact:
Lanny Westphal, director, ELCA Global Church Sponsorship
8765 W. Higgins Road, Chicago, IL  60631
773-380-264, lanny.westphal@elca.org