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Kampuchea Krom Kampuchea Krom Population 250,000 Major Buddhism Religion Language Khmer Percent Less than 1% Christian Bible Yes Translation Who are the Kampuchea Krom? What do they believe? ampuchea Krom or Khmer Krom translates The main religion of the Kampuchea Krom is literally as ‘lower Cambodians.’’ They are Theravada Buddhism. There are over 560 Khmer Kdescendants of the original Khmer inhabitants of Buddhist temples in Vietnam. Kampuchea Krom what is now southern South Vietnam. The Khmer beliefs do not include a concept of a living God. The controlled the region until the early 1600s. goal of their religious devotion and rituals is to obtain Today there are at least 8 million Khmer in Viet- merit that might somehow enable them to escape the nam, although accurate figures are difficult to obtain. cycle of reincarnation and achieve Nirvana, a state or The Vietnamese government attempts to minimize place of nothingness. the importance of the rural Khmer population by Theravada Buddhism is the public veneer of drastically lowering the numbers. More and more Kampuchea Krom religion, but animistic belief in the young Kampuchea Krom are becoming integrated spirit world may have more of a hold on their daily into Vietnamese society as national schools teach lives. The Kampuchea Krom keep an altar outside only in Vietnamese. Khmer temple schools provide their homes where they offer food and incense to the the only opportunities for learning to read and write spirit world on a daily basis. Their actions are driven the Khmer language. Even with these factors, there by the fear that these spirits can cause them harm if are still millions of Kampuchea Krom who conduct not appeased. Fortune tellers are regularly consulted their daily lives using the Khmer language. at times of trouble or desire because of their per- There are at least 250,000 Kampuchea Krom ceived links to the spirit world. who have migrated from Vietnam and now live within the borders of Cambodia. Because of lin- What are their needs? guistic, political and social factors they are distinct The Kampuchea Krom have had very little opportu- in many ways from the wider Khmer population in nity to hear about Jesus, and for the most part they Cambodia. are extremely poor. The vast majority have never What are their lives like? heard the Gospel, and many have never heard of Jesus. There are only a few thousand Christians Typically, the Kampuchea Krom in Vietnam are among this vast people group. The fields are white rural people who live in villages outside of the main unto harvest, and those who are hearing are also cities. Daily life consists of subsistance farming and showing a hunger to know and understand more. agriculture. Opportunities for advancement in society Pray for the Christians that they may get nourish- are limited and difficult to obtain because of Viet- ment for their souls and walk in the power of the namese control. Many young men seek education Holy Spirit to witness to their neighbors and friends. and opportunities as monks in the Buddhist temples. Pray that there may be a spreading fire among them that spreads from village to village which results in groups that multiply spontaneously. THE PEOPLES OF CAMBODIA 29.
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