Message of Hope Coming to Cambodia Amidst Deadly Border Crisis
SIEM REAP, Cambodia, Jan. 13, 2026 – In this time of turmoil when hundreds of thousands of Cambodians have recently been displaced and are living in uncertainty and fear, Siem Reap is preparing to host the Love Siem Reap Festival with Franklin Graham.
“This is a time of great difficulty and hardship for the people of Cambodia. All the suffering is heartbreaking. I want to remind people there is hope,” said Franklin Graham, president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA). “I am coming to share the hope-filled message of the Bible and to pray for a lasting peace that can only come through God’s Son, Jesus Christ.”
BGEA is working with more than 400 churches in five provinces throughout the area to bring the free, two-night event to the former Siem Reap Airport on January 24 – 25, 2026. The festival will also feature live music from local musicians and international, award-winning artists TAYA and The Afters.
After the violent border outbreaks in June and December, churches across Siem Reap partnered with BGEA to distribute packages filled with blankets, mosquito nets, food, and cooking supplies to suffering people who only escaped with the clothes on their backs.
A mother and father who received this lifeline of aid—Phan Ron and Rin Sokry—made a harrowing, three-day journey to safety with their two young boys after gunfire erupted in their village in the middle of the night. They barely made it out alive, and there wasn’t time to gather any belongings or even look back at the home they had built.
“They lost hope, they lost their loved ones, they are living in suffering and pain,” said Rachel Chin, chairwoman for the upcoming Festival’s prayer team. “Only the love of God can mend and heal the heart of the people to receive God.”
The chairman of the upcoming Love Siem Reap Festival, Pastor Tun Chhay, said, “Our desire and prayer are that thousands of people here will hear the Gospel for the first time during this time of great need and come to know the hope of Jesus Christ.”
Rev. Graham also preached in Phnom Penh in 2019. Nearly 25,0000 people attended the event in the capital, which was the largest Christian outreach in Cambodia’s history.
Him Meta, who was on the Love Phnom Penh Festival team, said the impact is still being felt today. “After the festival, I felt led to focus on discipleship. My husband and I saw the need to plant a church. We started discipling people, began a church in 2022, and just this last month we saw 12 new believers make a public profession of faith.”
Before preaching in Siem Reap, Rev. Graham will join high-ranking government officials in Phnom Penh for a special Fellowship Meal with Christians in Cambodia. More than 2,700 Christian leaders from all 25 provinces will attend the event along with 300 government officials.
“The luncheon is an important opportunity for relationship and fellowship between the Christian leaders and the government,” said His Excellency Ung Molyvann, Government Advisor of the Council of Ministers. “It provides a time for Christian leaders to pray together that God will bless the Cambodian Prime Minister with guidance and wisdom as he leads the nation during this crisis.”
Rev. Graham cares deeply for the people of Cambodia, and this will be his third time in Siem Reap. In addition to preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ through BGEA, he is also the president of Samaritan’s Purse, an international Christian relief and development organization that has worked in Cambodia for more than 20 years, providing livestock and livelihood programs, medical services, education, safe migration training, clean water, nutritional programs, and the construction of 50 schools.
Samaritan’s Purse is helping families who are returning to devastated border communities to rebuild their lives and get back on their feet. The organization also installed solar street lights and latrines in the camps and distributed shelter tarps, blankets, and hygiene kits to displaced people. Thousands of children in these camps have also received shoeboxes filled with personal care items and toys from Operation Christmas Child, another ministry led by Franklin Graham.
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DOWNLOAD PHOTOS OF RELIEF EFFORTS AND VIDEO FOR THE LOVE SIEM REAP FESTIVAL: https://media.billygraham.org/love-siem-reap-festival-with-franklin-graham-press-room/
MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES
- Journalists are invited to attend Love Siem Reap Festival at the former Siem Reap Airport on January 24 and 25. Doors open at 4:30 p.m.
- Journalists are also welcome to attend the Fellowship Meal with Christians in Cambodia at Diamond Island Convention and Exhibition Center in Phnom Penh on January 22. Doors openat 8:00 a.m.
- Franklin Graham will be available for interviews in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. The details for those opportunities will be shared soon.
MEDIA CONTACT: To request an interview or more information, contact Soeu Visai at +85512227308 or svisai@billygraham.org.
ABOUT FRANKLIN GRAHAM AND THE BILLY GRAHAM EVANGELISTIC ASSOCIATION
Founded by Billy Graham in 1950, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association shares the Good News of Jesus Christ around the world. Franklin Graham held his first evangelistic event in 1989, and since then, he has preached at more than 345 outreaches in 55 countries.
Earlier this year, Rev. Graham proclaimed the hope of Jesus Christ in Buenos Aires, Argentina; Brussels, Belgium; London, England; and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He will share the Gospel in Ushuaia, Argentina; Lima, Peru; Madrid, Spain, and Siem Reap, Cambodia, in the coming months. Franklin Graham is also looking forward to convening the Asian-Pacific Congress on Evangelism in August 2027, which will bring 2,500 Christian leaders from more than 50 countries and territories across Asia to Sydney, Australia.