What are your personal backgrounds in ministry, and how did you come together?

It was the tail end of the Pol Pot regime and genocide was ending in Cambodia when Sopheak was born. In 1992, Sopheak’s family was introduced to Christ though the first Assemblies of God missionaries who were allowed to enter the country after the war. Years later, as Sopheak was working to plant churches in the unreached areas of Cambodia, we met and eventually married. I was an American Assemblies of God missionary at the time. Together, we moved to the States, so Sopheak could learn English and American culture for a couple of years. During our time here, we saw a need and became deeply grieved by the state of the Cambodian community in the America.

Tell us more about the Cambodian population in America.

There are roughly 60,000 Cambodians in Southern California alone. Long Beach is home to “Cambodia Town” — the largest population of Cambodians outside of the country itself. There are no official Assemblies of God churches for those who speak the Cambodian language in California, yet there are over 300 Buddhist temples. Sopheak is the only AG pastor in California, and together, we are the only ones who can speak the Khmer language. There are churches from other denominations, however, many of these [Christian] pastors also lead in Buddhist temples and send a mixed message to those who desperately need the gospel.

What is a unique challenge you face in evangelizing to this community?

Most of our ministry is to people who have never been inside a church building. We have to hold services in house churches to help lower their fears of coming to learn about Christ. In almost every service we hold, 80–90 percent of those who attend have either just begun a relationship with Christ or are still pre-conversion. This makes it difficult to teach Bible stories to different ages that have never heard the message.

Are than any specific stories of transformation you’ve seen though this ministry?

Sokha came to California hoping to find a medical cure for her terminal disease. Instead, she found Jesus. Sokha stayed in our home for five weeks and eventually returned to Texas, eager to tell her relatives about Christ. Now, she and her husband have both been baptized. Sokha calls regularly. She and her husband struggle with English, so they have few friends and can’t attend church. Yet Sokha reads her Bible daily and tells us, “If God heals me, I will praise God. If God doesn’t heal me, I will praise God."

This article originally appeared in Vital and has been used with permission.