Cambodia – The Cham
Muslims in Cambodia
| Main Language | Cham (Western) |
| Largest Religion | Islam (Sunni) – 88% |
| Population | 500,000 |
| Evangelical % | <0.1% |
Country Description
For almost two thousand years, the Champa kingdom reigned along the coast of present-day Vietnam. Today, the Cham are a dispersed people who live as a Muslim minority in Buddhist-majority Cambodia and speak the Cham language.
Most of Cambodia’s Cham Muslims live in impoverished villages along the banks of the Mekong and Tonle Sap Rivers. Many are fishermen, often living on houseboats. However, as the fish population declines, many Cham have moved elsewhere in the country and are found in every province.
Ministry Overview
Missionary work to the Cham began in 1973, and the New Testament was completed in 2021. However, there are still very few believers, and there are no Cham churches.
The goal is to plant indigenous, self-sustaining, gospel-proclaiming churches among the Cham that are biblically sound and engaging their culture with the gospel.
Team Emphasis
Team members first live in Phnom Penh and study Khmer, Cambodia’s national language. Then, they learn the Cham language in a Cham village setting. Learning the language and the culture of the Cham people to an advanced level serves as the foundation for evangelism, discipleship, gathering believers, and raising up church leaders.
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God is Working
Like most Muslims, Cham people strongly reject the idea that Jesus was actually crucified. This objection is one of the biggest barriers to their believing the gospel. One reason they deny the crucifixion is that they believe Jesus was too powerful. They reason that Jesus’ enemies would never have been able to overpower him.
When one Cham woman heard how Jesus rebuked Peter for rejecting Jesus’ foretelling of his suffering and death (Matthew 16; Mark 8), she exclaimed, “Oh! You mean Jesus willingly died!” This was a huge breakthrough in learning how to overcome their objections to the crucifixion.
Prayer Focus
- Praise God for the few Cham who have decided to follow Jesus. Pray that they would be able to form communities to worship, pray, and study the Bible together. Pray that they would be able to reach out to their families and communities, demonstrating God’s love and sharing the good news.
- Pray that God would send more workers to serve among the Cham. Pray that the few workers who are serving among the Cham will be sustained in their work despite spiritual obstacles and health difficulties.
- Pray for the development of more resources in the Cham language, including evangelism and discipleship materials and the translation of the Old Testament into Cham.
“We are forgetting what we have learned because there is no one to teach us.”
– Quote from a Cham believer