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David Meyer is Dave and Joyce’s eldest son and CEO of World Outreach for Joyce Meyer Ministries. He travels regularly around the globe, overseeing the outreaches of Joyce Meyer Ministries. He resides in St. Louis Missouri with this wife and two children.
CBN.com – Hope Cambodia—30 Days of Hope, took place July 14 - August 12, 2007. This collaboration of organizations had one purpose: to reestablish hope for a nation’s future through: building homes, orphanages and community centers; caring for widows, orphans, prisoners and those without hope; coordinating with individuals, medical professionals and organizations; praise and worship; training – Southeast Asia Leaders Summit and the Million Leaders Mandate; Teaching – Festivals of Hope accompanied by book distribution and other humanitarian aid in multiple cities throughout Cambodia.
During 30 days of Hope-Cambodia:
• More than 54,000 people accepted Christ.
• More than 160,000 lives were touched through all the outreaches.
• More than 9,000 medical and dental patients were treated.
• Fifteen Hope Centers, which will house children at risk, were built. They will also serve as churches, schools, food distribution and basic community centers.
• More than 10,000 prisoners were visited and given a love-filled hygiene gift bag.
• Through John Maxwell’s program Million Leaders Mandate, Mike Shepard and David Meyer trained the students for two days. This program will continue for the next three years.
• More than 1,500 people attended the children’s ministry training sessions.
• Multiple public meetings were conducted throughout the country.
A NIGHT TO REMEMBER
David Meyer believes Hope Cambodia, by far, was the most aggressive outreach JMM (Joyce Meyer Ministries) has ever undertaken.
“Anytime you enter a country where the basic religion is not Christianity, you should be ready for spiritual attack. And it does not always come the way you expect it to,” he says.
Specifically, during Hope Cambodia’s final ministry events, Joyce Meyer and Darlene Zschech were preparing to minister to about 3,000 people, when several men from a local government office came and tried to shut the meeting down.
The meeting was abruptly cancelled, and government officials were able to successfully get the power shut off – even though they had no authority to do so. Due to security threats, the team decided to take the meeting outside. Joyce had to climb a fence just to get into the courtyard, and the crowd went crazy.
The meeting proceeded to worship God, led by Darlene Zschech, members of the band, Delirious and Joyce Meyer – all through a bullhorn! It was a historic moment for the church of Cambodia.
GENOCIDE
In April 1975, after a five-year struggle, the nation of Cambodia fell victim to one of the worst genocides in history led by an extremist group known as the Khmer Rouge. Under the leadership of a man named Pol Pot, they unleashed a horrific plot to gain control of this Southeast Asian country. The results were unimaginable.
People of all ages and walks of life were driven from their homes, regardless of their physical condition; those who refused to leave were killed. Children were taken from their parents to live in forced-labor camps. Factories, schools, hospitals and businesses were shut down. Professionals of every kind—lawyers, doctors, teachers, engineers, scientists—were murdered, along with their extended families.
The goal of the Khmer Rouge was to restructure society by deposing its leaders and forcing the population to work as laborers. They put down resistance by doing away with all noncommunist aspects of Cambodian society and exterminating anyone who opposed their plan. Those who were educated became primary targets for elimination. A December 1978 Vietnamese invasion drove the Khmer Rouge into the countryside, and this began a ten-year Vietnamese occupation, starting almost thirteen years of civil war.
The 1991 Paris Peace Accords mandated democratic elections and a cease-fire, which was not fully respected by the Khmer Rouge. UN-sponsored elections in 1993 helped restore some semblance of normalcy under a coalition government. Factional fighting in 1997 ended the first coalition government, but a second round of national elections in 1998 led to the formation of another coalition government and renewed political stability. The remaining elements of the Khmer Rouge surrendered in early 1999. Some of the remaining leaders are awaiting trial by a UN-sponsored tribunal for crimes against humanity. Elections in July 2003 were relatively peaceful, but it took one year of negotiations between contending political parties before a coalition government was formed.
Though the Khmer Rouge was eventually overthrown, for well over 2 million people it was too late. Remaining throughout Cambodia’s countryside today are mass graves known as the Killing Fields.
FACT
Most Cambodians (population: 13,881,427) consider themselves to be Khmers, descendants of the Angkor Empire. 95% of Cambodians are Theravada Buddhists. The government is a multiparty democracy under a constitutional monarchy.
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