Our Work

Empowering Communities

Tweet Like many desperately poor farmers in southern Cambodia, Kim Pheap and her husband were once so dependent on their small rice crop that if the annual yields fell below average, they and their four children would be forced to go two or three days without eating.

That was before Samaritan’s Purse, in close partnership with local churches, began spearheading community development including crop diversification, composting, breeding livestock, and operating fish ponds.

Samaritan’s Purse began by suggesting farmers begin by planting a small garden, where Samaritan’s Purse would cover a majority of the start up costs, and the farmer also contributed. Pheap and her husband – along with several other families in their village – planted a garden and have started growing a variety of produce. They have also begun composting and creating inexpensive, chemical-free fertilizers. Some have even purchased livestock.

“All the things Samaritan’s Purse and my church are teaching me – they are helping, and I can help my family with them,” said a smiling Pheap.

Opening Doors

Ouch Rotha, a local church pastor working with a Samaritan’s Purse community development program, says hundreds of families participate because of Samaritan’s Purse’ culturally sensitive approach.

At the program’s earliest stages Samaritan’s Purse engages local pastors in partnership and equips them as knowledgeable teachers. Together, Samaritan’s Purse and these local pastors approach the community’s recognized political leaders and explain the community development plans. “We are empowering the Christians to help their communities,” Rotha said.

By first seeking permission to engage in its work, Samaritan’s Purse has been winning support from many community leaders, said community leader Sat Chit. “They started doing exactly what they said they would,” said Chit. “I realized they were sincere. I was glad to work with them. They were offering to help my community.”

The work of Samaritan’s Purse and our partners in Cambodian is done in the name of Jesus Christ, and this has a profound effect on community members. Chit became a Christian, and so did his wife and children. Today, he is a church elder. “Because the Christians and the church helped us here, that impressed me,” Chit said. “Their hearts were good and they were faithful.”

“When people see the community development benefits, and when they know the benefits come from a Christian organization, they are willing to hear the word of God,” a local pastor concluded. “Samaritan’s Purse is showing that Christians are caring people.”

Ways You Can Help
Pray Please pray that God would continue to use Samaritan’s Purse as we live out the love of Jesus Christ by empowering communities spiritually and physically.		Give Help Samaritan’s Purse invest in the future of an entire village, town, or neighborhood. Donate Here.