Mechanic repairing motor scooter

He Shall Give His Angels Charge Over You

CCC’s Country Director in Cambodia, Chanthoeun, was out on her motor scooter. Before she left, she had, as usual, prayed for God’s protection. While waiting at a traffic signal, she switched off the engine, but smelled a strong odour of petrol. When the light changed, she restarted the engine and drove on, but almost immediately, the engine died. She noticed that the petrol tank, that had contained three or four litres of petrol, was now empty.

Chanthoeun could see a motor mechanic’s premises just a few metres away, so she pushed her scooter up to his doorway and asked him to have a look. He was astonished. He found a leak in a fuel pipe, that had caused petrol to spurt out as Chanthoeun had been driving.

“You should be dead,” he said. A spark or the hot exhaust pipe could easily have ignited the petrol and even caused an explosion.

We praise the Lord that every day the Lord watches over our team in Cambodia, who are constantly at risk from traffic accidents, violent robberies, disease and extremes of temperature. Please pray for them.

Russel and Sandra Bowyer

Russel Bowyer

With a mixture of sadness and thanksgiving, we announce the death of Russel Bowyer, trustee and Chairman of the Council of Cambodian Communities out of Crisis. Russel passed peacefully into the presence of his Lord after a short illness. We offer our condolences to his wife, Sandra, also a member of the CCC Council (pictured with Russel above at a Council meeting in their home).

Russel spent many years in the service of the Lord Jesus Christ, including undertaking many trips into communist countries to take Bibles to believers there. He accompanied other Council members on a visit to Cambodia in 2014 and almost lost his life through illness.

Russel contributed much wisdom to the deliberations of the Council and always enlivened the meetings with his quirky brand of humour.

‘Well done, good and faithful servant; enter into the joy of your master.’

A New Home

CCC’s Country Director in Cambodia, Chanthoeun, encountered a woman collecting recyclable materials along the streets of her community. Chanthoeun talked to her and found out that she was a widow and was managing to salvage and sell sufficient items to feed herself, but had no money left to pay for accommodation. As a result, she was sleeping on the street.

Chanthoeun then got to work trying to find a room that CCC could rent for this lady to provide her with shelter, sanitation and security. She was successful, and now for just $20 a month, the lady has a home she can call her own.

Lightning

Good News in Figures

Recent reports have quoted statistics that provide some good news about improvements in health, sanitation, safety and the tourism industry.

  • Malaria cases fell from 1,384 in 2023 to just 355 in 2024, a drop of 74%. Before the National Malaria Eradication Strategy 2011-2025, there were nearly 200,000 reported malaria cases per year (an average of 130,000 cases per year) and 700–800 deaths annually.
  • 87 percent of Cambodia’s population now have access to basic drinking water, while 21 percent have access to safely managed drinking water. Approximately 92 percent of the population have access to basic sanitation, while 51 percent have access to safely managed sanitation.
  • Lightning strikes killed 68 people in Cambodia in 2024, down 19 percent from 84 deaths a year earlier. In addition, 55 people were injured.
  • Cambodia attracted 6.7 million foreign visitors in 2024, up 22.9 percent from the previous year. Cambodia’s three international airports handled a combined 5.65 million air passengers in 2024, up 39.8 percent from 4.04 million a year before.

Wedding ceremony

Congratulations to Phearun

Members of the CCC family were honoured to be present on 7 January 2025 at the wedding of our friend and partner, Pov Phearun, director of Cambodia for Christ sports ministry and Timothy School.

Both Phearun and his bride are Christians, so the wedding ceremony included traditional Cambodian elements but was unmistakeably Christian in content.

We send our congratulations to Phearun and his wife and pray for God’s richest blessing on their family.