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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Western Chams of Cambodia

The Western Chams of Cambodia, numbering approximately 303,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an Austronesian ethnolinguistic group indigenous to the Kampong Cham province in Cambodia and the An Giang province in southern Vietnam. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Western Cham is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Western Cham

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Southeast Asian Peoples
Country: Cambodia
People Cluster: Cham
Primary Language(s): Western Cham (cja)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 303,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG008199
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Pray for the Western Chams of Cambodia

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

92%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Western Cham
Language Family: Austronesian

74%
%
Cham, Western Speakers

Media Resources in Western Cham:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Western Cham:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Cham, Western New Testament✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Western Cham bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Western Chams are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Western Chams:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Pray specifically for the Western Chams of Cambodia

For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
readPsalm 1:6

As many look for hope in worldly pleasures, pray they will hear and accept salvation through Christ, turn from destruction, and experience joy in the way of righteousness.

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
readRomans 1:19-20

Pray that God will use His creation – the “things that have been made” – to spark a fresh and passionate curiosity among them to draw near to the Maker and that, as they seek Him, He will make a way for them to hear the gospel and receive it with joy.

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
readPhilippians 2:5-7

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will imitate His humility in all they do.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
readPsalm 23:6

Ask God to raise up believers who will share the hope that, for those who trust in Christ, goodness and love will follow them all the days of their lives, and they will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Cham, Western Across Countries (ROP3 - 110776) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

4 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDName ▼CountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Western ChamsPG008199Western ChamsCambodia303,000Engaged yet UnreachedWestern ChamSunni Islam
Western ChamsPG011245Western ChamsVietnam150,000Engaged yet UnreachedWestern ChamSunni Islam
Western ChamsPG020897Western ChamsLaos250Unengaged and UnreachedWestern ChamSunni Islam
Western ChamsPG043652Western ChamsUnited States1,200Unengaged and UnreachedWestern ChamEthnoreligion

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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