Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Updated Country Profile - Cambodia

Click here to access the updated Reaching the Nations country profile for Cambodia. The Church in Cambodia and Mongolia share a similar history in regards to rapid growth that occurred in the 1990s and early 2000s despite a homogeneously Buddhist population and no Church presence prior to 1990, and slow growth trends during the 2010s. The Church in Cambodia has most recently achieved the greatest progress with local leadership development, but has experienced no progress with the establishment of new branches in previously unreached cities in over a decade. Cambodia is also the country in mainland Southeast Asia with the highest percentage of Latter-day Saints in the population (albeit member activity rates are estimated at approximately 20%). See below for the Future Prospects section of this article:

The establishment of stakes and the announcement of a temple in Phnom Penh during the past decade signal maturation in local leadership and some sustained improvements in increasing numbers of active members. In the near future, focus from mission and area leaders will likely center on preparing Cambodian leadership to meet the responsibilities of staffing and operating a temple and helping the remaining district in Phnom Penh to become a stake. However, the lack of successful national outreach expansion since branches were organized in Kampong Thom and Siem Reap in 2007 indicate considerable concern regarding the Church’s long-term success with taking advantage of opportunities for growth which are often time-sensitive. The closure of member groups in several locations in recent years suggests failures for leadership to become adequately developed in these areas without full-time missionary support. Despite these frustrations, regular consideration for the opening of additional cities and provinces to missionary work is desperately needed to help sustain Church growth and adequately reach the Cambodian population, of whom 87% reside in locations without a Church presence. Given a homogeneously Buddhist population and a one-party government, religious freedom conditions may worsen in the coming years to the point that the expansion of the Church into additional cities and provinces may become very difficult. Social entrenchment of active members in wards and branches is another concern that may indicate future deceleration in growth due to growing disinterest in member-missionary participation. A self-sustaining Cambodian full-time missionary force and Cambodian members directly involved in the expansion of the Church into additional areas of the country appears greatly needed to help reverse trends of slowing growth. Moreover, high standards for convert baptism are also needed given the Church in Cambodia’s chronic challenges with member inactivity and convert attrition which appear primarily rooted in the duration and quality of pre-baptismal preparation. The development of teaching materials tailored to those with a Buddhist background appears needed to better convey the Latter-day Saint gospel message to the understanding of most Cambodians.

42 comments:

James G. Stokes said...

As always, Matt, thank you for the fantastic analysis. We have seen instances in the past where a temple being built in various places throughout the world can reverse concerning Church growth trends that have had a negative impact for several years, and I hope that will be the case for Cambodia as well. My brother-in-law served his mission in Phnom Penh, and from what I have heard directly and indirectly from him, he is excited for the Cambodian temple, which is sorely needed for the faithful Saints in that nation. Thanks again for that great report.

For anyone else reading this who may be interested, in the threads of the previous post, I shared the following three web addresses. To put the information found in those links into context, I'd refer you to my comment in that other thread. Here are those web addresses:

https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/groundbreaking-scheduled-for-the-puebla-mexico-temple

https://stokessoundsoff.blogspot.com/2019/09/breaking-temple-news-church-confirms.html

https://stokessoundsoff.blogspot.com/2019/09/updates-made-to-groundbreaking.html

My thanks once again to you all, and also especially to Matt for providing these country profiles and this blog where all issues relevant to Church growth can be discussed more effectively. Keep up the great work, Matt!

Eric S. said...

More big Temple news this morning! Tooele Valley Temple location has been announced. It will be built in Erda. Preliminary plans are already underway!

https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/tooele-valley-utah-temple-site-announced

James Anderson said...

This one (Tooele Valley) will be the smallest of the Wasatch Front metro temples so far at 70k square feet, which puts it at the high end of the midsize ones. The map is simplified, as Stansbury Park will be north of it and Tooele to the south. Hwy 36 is a major arterial nonetheless so many will see it on the way into work in Salt Lake, KSL reports traffic backups on this road all the time mainly in the mornings.

L. Chris Jones said...
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L. Chris Jones said...

Apart from the Brigham City, Draper, and Oquirrh are all smaller than the Tooele Valley temple will be. I am curious what will happen to the existing chapel at or near that location. Hopefully traffic issues can be addressed.

James Anderson said...

There is a commercial building at 36 and Erda Way, then the chapel that looks like a newer one so they may build just to the west of that, they may even be4 building across the road too from that chapel but on the southwest corner of Hwy 36 is another commercial building. Both sides are farmland so these two new buildings will of necessity take part of that.

Eduardo said...

Cambodia. The Church will continue to grow, especially with a temple.

Eduardo said...

I know there is at least one Vietnamese Branch or ward in Phnom Penh. I believe the growth of the Church of Jesus Christ will be most robust in Vietnam, hopefully becoming the "Ghana" or "Ivory Coast" of Southeast Asia. I hope that the Vietnamese Saints will grow in a way to bolster the poorer nations of Laos and the former Kampuchea. The Hmong (hmmm, spelling) peoples and other minorities will hopefully grow in kind in southeast Asia, too.

Chris D. said...

Classic LDS Maps has finally upgraded both the Bo Sierra Leone East District (2029103) to Stake.

https://classic.churchofjesuschrist.org/maps/#ll=7.947117,-11.7079&z=20&m=google.hybrid&layers=stakecenter&q=2029103&find=stake:2029103

Also the Kolwezi Democratic Republic of the Congo District (613622) to Stake.

https://classic.churchofjesuschrist.org/maps/#ll=-10.719974,25.502931&z=18&m=google.hybrid&layers=stakecenter&q=613622&find=stake:613622

Only difference is the french name for the Stake is listed as :

"District de Kolwezi République Démocratique du Congo (Kolwezi Democratic Republic of the Congo Stake)",

it should read :

"Pieu de Kolwezi République Démocratique du Congo (Kolwezi Democratic Republic of the Congo Stake)".

I sent a feedback message to correct name.

Xavier Raveau said...
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Xavier Raveau said...

Feather River California Temple location announced:

https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/feather-river-california-temple/

Eric S. said...

Here's the Newsroom article concerning the Feather River Temple. Busy week for temples!

https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/rendering-released-for-the-feather-river-california-temple

L. Chris Jones said...

Three days in a row with temple developments.

Johnathan Reese Whiting said...

In light of the recent Tooele Valley/Erda Temple update, I've updated my list of all the Current Temples/Probable Temples in each Utah County.

I've added all the stakes based in each county, plus additional useful information in my Conclusions Section.

Let me know if anyone has suggestions for improving the analysis, as I plan to continually update it (hopefully this October for Gen Con when new temples are announced), and any time there is a major Utah Temple announcement.


https://www.dropbox.com/s/go8r5twtdc438xn/Temple%20Predictions%20by%20Utah%20County%20-%20Oct%202019.docx?dl=0

John Pack Lambert said...

The Deseret News article indicates the commercial building has been purchased by the Church and will be demolished to make way for the temple.

John Pack Lambert said...

I wrote a long post starting with the Hmong issue but it was too long to be accepted, so I will post it on my own blog.

James G. Stokes said...

JPL, the article from the Deseret News also noted that the Church and the community leaders in Tooele are working together to fast-track the temple so that it will be ready to be dedicated within 20-24 months of whenever construction formally begins, which would have it becoming an operating temple roughly 2 years before the rededication occurs for the Salt Lake Temple sometime in 2024.

With all the temple developments which have been reported this week alone, in addition to the 2 temples for which the Church has already announced groundbreakings in the coming months, I count as many as 12 others at minimum that could very well have groundbreaking ceremonies within the next year or less, and that's just those that I know of right now. Hope this information is helpful to all who reads it.

MainTour said...

FoxNews just posted a giant front page story of the rapid growth of Christianity in Iran: https://www.foxnews.com/faith-values/worlds-fastest-growing-church-women-documentary-film

John Pack Lambert said...

Here is the link to my most recent blog post http://memberoftherestoredcofjcmichigan.blogspot.com/2019/09/there-are-multiple-hmong-wards-and.html

John Pack Lambert said...

I was recently going through the instagram where people post about umcoming missions, and I saw one person called to Berlin Germany Perisan speaking, and 2 to San Dieago California Persian speaking. Also there was Everett Washington Russian speaking, which I didn't know existed. With 2 Persian branches in California and 1 in Turkey headway is being made.

I just do not see us sending missionaries into Iran in the near future. Although I have heard the Church has made some headway in converting Kurds in northern Iraq.

Johnathan Reese Whiting said...

@JPL

Thanks for the info on the Persian-speaking missions.

I'd heard there were a lot of Turkish people in Germany, but I didn't realize there were a large number of Iranians.

Johnathan Reese Whiting said...

Coincidentally, I met girl of Persian descent just this last Tuesday at the Mid-Singles Ultimate Frisbee event. Her father was from Iran.

David Todd said...

I know of Persian speaking missionaries in Toronto as well. That may not be much of a surprise given that it's Toronto, but I thought I would share.

Ray said...

New Gadsden AL Stake reported today.

Christopher Nicholson said...

The Church briefly had a mission in Iran before the current regime took over. It was the lowest baptizing mission in the world.

Eduardo said...

Any years attributed to that former Iran mission? Lebanon had a mission briefly pre-1975.

Anonymous said...

Something to think about: the Feather River Temple will be 38,000 square feet. There are only 6-7 stakes in the area. The saints in the area are said to attend the temples often and provide lots of staff to for the Sac temple. The Sac temple is only 19,500 square feet.

coachodeeps said...

Love the 2 videos of the Book of Mormon Videos Series so far! Week depicted. Brings to life the stories we have heard and read for so long!

The Accountant said...

I am sure many of you follow a certain twitter handle who is a current stake clerk. He has very reliable information about what is occurring behind the scenes as he attends Stake Presidency meetings. He is very good at speaking on vague terms when needed which I greatly respect.

Anyways, today he posted about the goals President Nelson has within the next six years as told by the Seventy spoke to his stake president. The Seventy said if Pres Nelson makes it 101 he would have announced a doubling of temples since he became president. (So basically he would have announced 150+ temples, with many operating). Expect the temple announcements to be in the teens this weekend for general announcement and for that number to accelerate. Pres Nelson is taking the temple ordinances to the church members worldwide.

The Accountant said...

Another item that I wanted to post about was the amazing turn out for the Raleigh Temple Open House. At times there was over a 2 hour wait to get into the temple. Standing in the mid 90 degree weather was nasty but they supplied umbrellas to stand under while people waited. I went yesterday and we waited for about an hour to get into the temple. I think it may have exceeded expectations for many closer to the HQ since they limited it to just 1 week. Many of my friends wanted to attend but couldn't make it this past week. But for the church members living locally, they speak often of the white building in Apex and share with their friends about its purposes. They were very excited to have this opportunity to share the beauty within the walls of the temple with their friends. There were over 2000 volunteers that helped showcase this jewel to the community.

Pres Holland will have a deep teaching pool from this as many from the community came to visit. It sits on a road that has about 40,000 cars a day passing by it. It received ZERO press coverage. (The press really avoids covering the "Mormons" even though there are 11,000 members in the Raleigh area.) Yet estimates were on the first day alone close to 9,000 people came thru its doors. I would be surprised if the total attendance ends up close to 30,000 in 7 days

Let me say that the renovation was unbelievable. I was married in that temple 4 months after it opened. I think I was the fifth or sixth marriage and from what it was to what it is now is a celestial transformation.

They quality is of superior workmanship and the upgrade in material including wood from Honduras, marble from Italy and Israel, hand woven carpets from China are incredible and the Holdman Studio stained glass windows is the icing on the cake. Since I have now moved to the Midwest, I am happy for the members to have such a beautifully decorated house to attend often.

Nephi said...

@ The Accountant....what twitter handle?

Chris D. said...
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twinnumerouno said...

No comments yet about today's broadcast about the Children and Youth program? I was interested in the fact that the program was pre-tested in a few areas. One of those areas was Curitiba, Brazil where my brother served his mission.

Nate said...

Since President Nelson informed the church that there will be temples announced this conference, I thought it would be fun to compile a matrix of all of the lists of anticipated temples to be announced that have been posted here on this site and elsewhere on the net. Enjoy! Visit sites.google.com/view/templematrix

Eric S. said...

Thanks for the report on the Raleigh Temple open house, The Accountant! I served in a ward in eastern North Carolina on my mission and saw on social media that several members I knew volunteered to help with the open house. The area I served in was not in the Raleigh Mission at the time so I was not able to attend the temple while on my mission. I did return back to the area about 6 months after my mission and visited the temple, but did not have the time to stay and do a session. This was before it closed for the renovation.

I will have to return someday to visit the renovated temple! Perhaps that will be at the time when I go to see the Richmond Temple when it is completed (I served the majority of my mission in Virginia).

coachodeeps said...

I know I am late to the party on this one, but here are my thoughts on upcoming temple announcements.

I believe there will be 12-15 temples announced. The following are most likely to be announced:

Bo or Freetown, Sierra Leone
Benin City, Nigeria
Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
Tarawa, Kiribati
Indonesia or Singapore
1-2 possible in the Philippines (Bacolod, Angeles)
Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Santa Cruz, Bolivia
Kingston, Jamaica
Heber Valley, Utah
Colorado Springs, Colorado

Other high possibilities:
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Antananarivo, Madagascar
Monrovia, Liberia
Port Vila, Vanuatu
Iquitos, Peru
Kingston Jamaica
Punta Arenas, Chile
Rogers, Arkansas
Texas (El Paso or McAllen)

I have others as a third group that seem less likely.

The Accountant said...

@Nephi... Here is the twitter handle
https://twitter.com/thestakeclerk?lang=en

Johnathan Reese Whiting said...

So, @Cory Ward made a March Madness Temple Bracket for April Conference earlier this year, so I thought it would be fun to do a "Fall Madness" one for October Conference.

I'm posting it here for anyone to participate:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/kjk9gy7bq5tjxtm/Temple%20Predictions%20Oct%202019%20Bracket%201.pdf?dl=0

My family printed these off in the Spring and we had a fun little contest with a prize for the winner.

I tried to include as many of the predictions as possible, so if there are more names on each spot than you'd prefer, just cross off the ones that you think are less likely, or move one of them to the "pick" line.

Enjoy!

Chris D. said...

@ Johnathan Whiting,

A small correction to your "Fall Madness" Temple Brackets Chart. In the Latin American / Caribbean Brackets, #8 Maceio / Belem Brazil. You can remove the Belem Brazil from list. It is already under construction since Groundbreaking last month as Brazil's 9th temple.

Johnathan Reese Whiting said...

@Chris

Thanks for catching the mistake!

I've updated and switched out Belem for Sorocaba, Brazil, and reorganized a couple of my Brazil predictions.

Here's the link to the updated Bracket:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ekpui0glz3motlz/Temple%20Predictions%20Oct%202019%20Bracket%201.pdf?dl=0

John Pack Lambert said...

Belen is a Monsonian announced temple right? I guess it is easy to forget all the temples that have been announced when the total in some stage is now over 200.

James G. Stokes said...

JPL, the Belem Brazil Temple was the second-to-last temple announced in April 2016, and it also became the second-to-last temple announced at that time to have a groundbreaking this year.