By UCA News reporter
CAMBODIA – The Salesians of Don Bosco in Cambodia have dispatched their first lay missionary volunteer from the Buddhist majority nation to the predominantly Catholic Papua New Guinea (PNG).
Volunteer Penh Sokkheng left for her missionary volunteer service on May 19, according to a report in Radio Veritas Asia (RVA).
During a Mass linked to the send-off of the volunteer, Salesian priest Arun Michael Charles expressed hope that more young people from Cambodia would volunteer for missions.
“Although Cambodia is a missionary country, we hope that many young people will be willing to become lay missionary volunteers from Cambodia,” the priest said.
At least 80 percent of the 17 million people in Cambodia follow Buddhism, with Christians forming only one percent of the population. The rest of the people follow Islam, atheism, or animism.
Sokkheng’s assignment as a volunteer is part of events marking the 150th anniversary of the first Salesian missionary expedition led by Father John Cagliero, which departed for Argentina on Nov 11, 1875.
They arrived at the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires on Dec 14, 1875.
Salesian provinces worldwide launched missionary initiatives and prayer activities on Nov 11, 2024, and continued through this year to commemorate the first Salesian missionary expedition.
Sokkheng’s assignment is significant considering the struggles of the church in Cambodia.
Cambodians have faced multiple small and large-scale conflicts since 1975, when the Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, seized control of the country.
According to the Catholic Herald, the Khmer Rouge regime that lasted for four years resulted in the death of most Catholics in the country and caused many to flee to neighboring Vietnam.
Catholics currently account for just 36,000 people, or less than 1 per cent of Cambodia’s overall population of 18 million.
It is estimated that about 1.7 million people in Cambodia died due to starvation or overexertion during forced labor, the Catholic Herald reported, citing Yale University’s Cambodian Genocide Program.
To put this into perspective, Cambodia’s population at the time of the Khmer Rouge regime was estimated to be between 7 to 8 million, the report noted.
Sokkheng, a member of the Salesian Lay Missions (SLM), has previously served at the Don Bosco Children’s Fund (DBCF) in Cambodia.
DBCF, established in 1991, has educational centers in Sihanoukville, Phnom Penh, Poipet, Kep, and Battambang.
The SLM aims to provide young men and women with the opportunity to collaborate with the Salesians of Don Bosco.
The SLM program began in the US in 1981, and the first missionaries were commissioned in 1982.
During the first six years, 19 lay missionaries served in Santo Domingo, Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru.
Among Asian nations, the SLM has functions in Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Mongolia, China, Cambodia, and Timor-Leste. Among them, Cambodia has four of the 13 sites that SLM runs in Asia.
The Salesians arrived in Cambodia in 1990 following an invitation from the government.
In Oceania, the SLM works in two locations in Papua New Guinea. – UCA News
