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FMCMB representatives travel to Cambodia July 31-August 14, 2008

The Kingdom of Cambodia is a country in South East Asia with a population of over 13 million people. The kingdom's capital and largest city is Phnom Penh. Cambodia is the successor state of the once powerful Hindu and Buddhist Khmer Empire, which ruled most of the Indochinese Peninsula between the eleventh and fourteenth centuries.

A citizen of Cambodia is usually identified as "Cambodian" or "Khmer," though the latter strictly refers to ethnic Khmers. Most Cambodians are Theravada Buddhists of Khmer extraction, but the country also has a substantial number of predominantly Muslim Cham, as well as ethnic Chinese, Vietnamese and small animist hill tribes.

Source:  Wikipedia

Bethany and Ryan Umble

Franklin Conference Mission Board Involvement

In the early 1990s Franklin Conference Mission Board and Eastern Mennonite Missions joined to begin a work in Cambodia. EMM was interested in entering Cambodia. The Darrell and Susan Caldwell family felt called to go to Cambodia and Franklin Conference Mission Board was interested in supporting a work in a new area. Darrell and Susan arrived in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in July 1996.  They began language study. Since Darrell already had considerable ability in the language, they soon had a group meeting on Sundays that became the Phnom Penh Mennonite Church.

Darrell noticed that there were many young people in Phnom Penh going to the University who needed a place to live while away from home. Many were living in the Buddhist temples and any place they could find shelter. He asked for financial support to open a dormitory for young men attending college. From the beginning, Franklin Conference has been the primary supporter of this project. Later, a dorm was opened for young women. Many of the young people have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior through this witness and have become involved in the church in Phnom Penh.