Grace Covenant Church - University City, Philadelphia PA

“I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.” Isaiah 49:6

On July 7th, a team from GCC will go to for three weeks to proclaim the good news of Jesus to the people of Cambodia and Thailand. The schedule for there trip will be as follows:

Week 1: Phnom Penh, Cambodia: prayer walks, meeting with native missionaries and pastors
Weeks 2 -4: Bangkok, Thailand: Outreach at college campuses through teaching English, visiting local churches and other ministries.

Cambodia
Capital – Phnom Penh
People – 90% Khmer, 5% Vietnamese, 1% Chinese, 4% other
Language – Khmer (official), French, English
Religions – 95% Buddhist, 5% other

Cambodia: It is one of the poorest countries in the world with 75% of its people living off of subsistence farming. Much of the country’s infrastructure was destroyed during the Khmer Rouge regime which took over in 1978 under Pol Pot. More than 1.7million people died in the next three years from either starvation, disease or the systematic torture and execution of the educated and wealthy. Cambodia is struggling now to bring those responsible for the “killing fields” to justice while fighting poverty and a growing AIDS epidemic which comes largely from Cambodia’s booming sex industry.

Thailand
Capital – Bangkok
People – 75% Thai, 14% Chinese, 11% other
Language – Thai, English, regional dialects
Religion – 95% Buddhist, 3.8% Muslim, 0.5% Christian, 0.1% Hinduism, 0.6% other

Thailand: In 1997, Thailand’s economic bubble burst after more than a decade of spectacular growth. Now the government, which is weighed down by corruption at almost every level, is struggling to win back Thailand’s former prosperity. Its capital, Bangkok, suffers from the effects of rapid industrialization and corruption, including organized crime, drug trade and ecological corrosion. There has also been a sharp rise in AIDS due to the growing sex industry in Thailand.

Wisdom and Protection - This is the first time GCC will bring a missions teams to these two countries. Please pray for Pastor Young as he leads this team. Pray also that God would watch over the team physically and spiritually while they do their work.
Unity – The team smaller than most of the other missions teams and will not have members from Harvest Missions Fellowship as will the Peru team. Pray that this team will be able to put aside any personal differences and work together for the God’s glory.
People of Cambodia and Thailand – Both countries are dominated by Buddhism and the church there is very weak. Pray for encouragement for the workers there, that they would continue to be faithful to God’s calling. Pray also for the people of Cambodia and Thailand that have suffered much, that they will be open to the good news and the hope they so desperately need.

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