September 2026
In Cambodia, the road to church sometimes starts on a soccer field.
“Hello, I am Pastor Phearum Ean from Cambodia. I have had this vision of sports ministry since 2015. I love children and youth,” he shares. That year he moved back to his hometown school and saw what grieved him: gangsters, drugs, gambling, students skipping school. “I really wanted to do something so that I can bring them to church and let the Lord change them.”
Volleyball was his own game, but he could see the community loved soccer and volleyball. So he coached volleyball, found someone to coach soccer, and brought young people to matches — renting a truck, with the children covering some expenses and himself the rest. In 2017 they hired Kim, a gifted university student, at $150 a month for three sessions a week. In August 2018 they got their own truck — on monthly payments — carrying players to matches, members to seminars, and neighbors in emergencies.
Within two years the ministry grew to two or three teams of 40 to 50 young people, brought to church every Sunday — more than half were saved. In 2025 it fielded four teams of about 20 players aged 13 to 17, training Saturday and Sunday afternoons, with a Bible class studying First Steps before Saturday practice, led by Coach Piseth Visal, a 20-year-old new Christian from a Buddhist background.
This year it has multiplied: at least two teams in each of the school’s seven classes — 14 teams of boys and girls — with matches at each month’s end, Jesus shared and biblical principles taught before every game. Six surrounding primary schools bring students for matches each semester.
The fruit is real. The boy in the blue shirt was in a gangster group, involved in drugs — disliked by villagers, breaking his parents’ hearts. He joined from the beginning; now he is a new person, helping coach the children, and his parents told the pastor with tears of joy how happy they are. He needs a motorcycle to keep serving.
When players reach grade 10 they move to town, making follow-up hard — some stay in Christian dormitories, others in rented rooms full of temptation. Yet many who left for work or study still hold their faith. “Hallelujah!”
The need now: a fence around the field, protecting players, nets, and ground from animals and vehicles. The vision ahead: a better, bigger, more professional field — children and parents coming to the Lord, the whole community confessing Jesus is Lord.
Please pray for this vision. “We’ll harvest a great harvest together. Hallelujah!”
Your gift keeps these young athletes on the field and in God’s Word — donate today.
