With my wife literally half way around the world, I often times find myself thinking about where she is and what she is up to… In an attempt to become a little better informed about her current whereabouts, I stumbled upon this article about youth employment in Cambodia. It’s a great article and, in case business or statistics bore you, I’ve highlighted a few points I considered worthwhile:
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“Around 60% of Cambodia’s population is younger than 24 years of age” -
“the Kingdom’s economic growth is only able to generate about 30,000 new jobs each year, while the number of young people entering the work force has ballooned to about 300,000 per year”
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“63% of Cambodian youth either have never attended school or quit before completing basic secondary education. A full 94% of the youth labour force has not completed secondary education – a major obstacle to ensuring gainful and productive work.”
I love the way the author summarizes the situation at the beginning of the article: “Whether this sizable young labour force will be a blessing or a burden to the country will depend to a large extent on what opportunities there are for these youth people to acquire skills that will then be rewarded in the labour market.”
What a huge opportunity for the Church in Cambodia! This is a country known for sex-trafficking and Buddhism. Imagine if in the midst of their culture challenges they managed to equip this generation of youth and allow them the opportunity to minister using their God given gifts and abilities. There is real potential to change a whole country in one generation. I pray that this generation is a blessing and not a burden, both in the workforce and within the Church.
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