God is using a Samaritan’s Purse program to draw returning migrants to Himself and teach them safer ways to provide for their families.
The northern border of Cambodia is a porous one, with thousands of people flowing across into Thailand each day in search of better-paying jobs. These migrants work through brokers who demand exorbitant fees to help with the crossing. Many feel it is worth the cost because of the lucrative opportunities they’ve heard await them on the other side.
But when many of these offers don’t materialize as promised, this leaves migrants with few options but to go back across the border to try to find their families.
When they return, Samaritan’s Purse is there to welcome them. Our teams help them reunite with relatives, and we’re also there to teach and equip them with skills to earn a living without leaving their country or families. The teams also have the privilege of sharing with these weary men and women the message of eternal salvation available only in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
After crossing back over the border, Ratanak finds a place to rest at the migrant access center.
Ratanak* migrated across this border several times in search of work over the last 20 years. He supported himself and his family with various jobs including making gutters or painting cars. But the Thai government imprisoned him multiple times for being in the country illegally. It was during this time behind bars that he heard the Gospel, but, sadly, remained hardened to it.
When his friends eventually bailed him out of his third imprisonment, Ratanak was sent back to Cambodia. He landed at a migrant access center where Samaritan’s Purse seeks to help meet the immediate needs of Cambodians as they readjust to life in their home country. It was here alongside other migrants on their return journeys that Ratanak received a snack and heard the Gospel a second time.
“Praise God. All of them chose to believe in Jesus Christ, including Ratanak!”
“Praise God,” said a Samaritan’s Purse staff member, “All of them chose to believe in Jesus Christ, including Ratanak!”
Ratanak explained that although he resisted the Good News of Jesus Christ while he was in prison, he came to understand that God really does love people and wants to be a part of their lives. That’s what made him want to accept Jesus into his heart and serve Him all his days.
Facing a Dead End
Samaritan’s Purse arranged transportation for this new follower of Jesus Christ to return to his village, but when he arrived, everything looked different than when he had left nine years ago. He knocked on doors looking for his sister, but none of the villagers knew his family.
Ratanak gratefully receives a Bible, blanket, clothes, and money for transportation home from Samaritan’s Purse.
When Ratanak didn’t know where else to turn, God reminded him of the Jesus storybook he received from us at the access center. On the back of this booklet, it listed the Samaritan’s Purse address, so Ratanak decided to return to the place where he’d received his eternal hope. Then, not knowing how he’d find transportation there, he asked a taxi driver if he knew the address. To his surprise, the driver knew the location and was able to take Ratanak back to where he’d started his new life in Christ.
He arrived that night and slept outside of a local hospital until the center opened. When Samaritan’s Purse staff arrived the next morning, Ratanak was there waiting for them. They fed him breakfast and provided a place to rest. Then they began working to help Ratanak locate his family.
Reuniting with Loved Ones
Samaritan’s Purse has a history of extensive work in Ratanak’s home province, so one of our staff members contacted a former colleague there to see if they could find any connections to Ratanak’s family in the area. The contact had not only learned of the family’s move to the capital, Phnom Penh, but it turns out, was also a friend of his sister on social media.
When Samaritan’s Purse arranged a video call between Ratanak and his sister, it gave the siblings their first chance to connect in almost a decade.
“I’ve prayed to God that they may find you and they did!”
His sister rejoiced through many tears. “I’ve prayed to God that they may find you and they did!”
Soon after, we arranged transportation for him to reunite with his family in the capital. We set up a video call between Ratanak and his mother. As the mom and son talked for the first time in years, our team also shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ with this woman many miles away.
A Samaritan’s Purse staff member (top right) shares the Gospel with Ratanak’s mom on a video call.
“His mother expressed how thankful she is for Samaritan’s Purse for helping reunite her with her son after so many years of silence,” a staff member said.
Ratanak continues to express gratitude for the work of Samaritan’s Purse among migrants like him. For this man, his family, and so many others, our help at these access centers provides a lifeline in their time of need, much the way the Samaritan helped the man in the ditch as recounted in Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10.
“Provision doesn’t end at the roadside,” a staff member said, noting how Samaritan’s Purse works to get suffering people back on their feet. Sometimes that even means helping them find new ways to provide for their families.
This is what we did for a woman named Sophea*.
Returning to Growing Opportunities
Sophea’s husband had worked the corn harvests in Cambodia for some time, earning just $5 a day, when he and Sophea decided to pay $100 to a broker who said he could help them cross into Thailand to search for better work.
However, they were not prepared for the fact that, in the crossing, they would be forced to hide themselves in forests and water to evade the Thai police. Even when the couple landed a job at a construction site, they didn’t feel safe because the employer withheld their wages and threatened them. That’s why they decided it was best to return to Cambodia.
Back across the border, Sophea was grateful to connect with Samaritan’s Purse and to learn how to cultivate mushrooms. We provided her with some basic instructions and gave her 300 packages of growing materials to get her started.
With that initial supply, she has cultivated enough to produce a monthly yield nearly sixfold what she started with. Now by selling over 1,700 packages of mushrooms each month for a total of $100, she earns enough to support both her family of nine and her children’s education.
Promoting Safe Migration
Mushroom farming was only the beginning for Sophea. We also trained her how to serve as an advocate in her community for safe migration practices. With this knowledge, she’s now able to educate others in her community about how to avoid the threat of human traffickers and the tragedies of gender-based violence.
“I am very happy to serve God through Samaritan’s Purse,” Sophea said. “My goal is to promote safe migration within the communities where I reside. Having personally faced numerous challenges during my own illegal migration experience, I am determined to prevent others in my community from suffering the same fate.
“Having faced challenges during my own illegal migration experience, I am determined to prevent others in my community from suffering the same fate.”
“I extend my heartfelt thanks to Samaritan’s Purse for creating this project, which provides a clear understanding of migration before anyone decides to embark on such a journey.”
Last year alone, Samaritan’s Purse welcomed 600 migrants a month as they entered back into Cambodia. We shared the Gospel with each one, helped them return home, provided livelihoods training, and, where possible, reunited them with their families.
Please pray for this endangered population and for Samaritan’s Purse staff as they serve migrants in Jesus’ Name.
Once finally home and reconnected with his family, Ratanak calls a Samaritan’s Purse staff member to express his gratitude for all the help he received.
*Name changed for security
