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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Mel of Cambodia

The Mel of Cambodia, numbering approximately 3,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as a people of Cambodia They are an Indigenous people, with Mel as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Mon-Khmer people cluster of the Southeast Asian Peoples. Their primary religion is Folk Buddhism. They primarily speak Mel-Khaonh.

Photo by Google. (2025). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Mel

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Southeast Asian Peoples
Country: Cambodia
People Cluster: Mon-Khmer
Primary Language(s): Mel-Khaonh (hkn)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Buddhism
Population: 3,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG047855
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Pray for the Mel 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.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Folk Buddhism
Religious Affiliation: Buddhism

100%
%

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Mel-Khaonh
Language Family: Austroasiatic

60%
%

Media Resources in Mel-Khaonh:

Films:

No language code (ROL) found for this post.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Mel-Khaonh:

The filter value is not set for this post.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Mel-Khaonh bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 1), which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Mel:
Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Mel 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 Mel:
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

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Mel are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Mel:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Mel of Cambodia

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
readPsalm 51:1

Give thanks to God that He is able to forgive all the sins people might commit, and pray that many who don't yet know this will hear the good news and turn to Him for mercy.

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
readRomans 5:1

Pray that the gospel will advance and that many who are far from God will receive the good news of salvation with joy and have peace with God through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.

Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered.
readPsalm 105:5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will rejoice as they remember His wonders, miracles, and perfect judgements.

For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.
read2 Corinthians 1:8-9

Pray that as people hear and believe the gospel, they will be faithful as they walk through trials and will have an opportunity to be a witness to others in this people group of the goodness of God.

Mel Across Countries (ROP3 - 115223) reported in the following countries:

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 Definitions page.

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