Meet the Missionaries

Joseph Chhleav Chan, Pastor, Districty Superintendent, Methodist Mission in Cambodia, Missionary GBGM-UMC in Cambodia. His vision for the Cambodian Methodist Church is leaders, pastors, and Methodist Congregations becoming vital, alive, and self-sufficient in the future by buidling trust with hope and love in His Grace. His work is to help and empower church pastors and leaders by helping the congregations of the Methodists Church. He provides pastoral care and counseling to pastors and members who are in need of physical, economic, emotional, and spiritual support from an elderly pastor of the church. He facilitates scholarship programs to help the deserving students to obtain higher education and faithfully serve God and His people in need. He wants to promote church building with provincial and rural churches.

Joseph Chan is a native of Cambodia, he lived through the Khmer Rouge years. Prior to the fall of communist in 1975, Joseph had studied mechanical engineering and political economics in former Yugoslavia and North Korea. During the Khmer Rouge time, Joseph was considered as an educated targeted person by the Khmer Rouge and was imprisoned during the era of "the killing fields." After two years of enslavement, working 18-20 hour days with little food or water, he escaped to a refugee camp in Thailand with his wife, Marilyn in 1979, where he heard the Gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ and began to lead Bible studies with other refugees. For two years he was a volunteer in Thai Border Refugee Camps, as a section leader with the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR), a French teach, and a supervisor of a CARE feeding center.

During the transition going to the United States, Joseph and his family settled in the refugee camp in Thailand. Joseph had difficulty with the immigration process because of his formal education in North Korea and Yugoslavia. He and his family were dealt with harshly during the interview process. He was also as by the Khmer Rouge leaders wanted him and his family to return to Cambodia to work for the communist government. Joseph and his family prayed and asked God to protect and allow the immigrant government to accept his case as a refugee and transfer his family to the United States faster. In January 1982, God opened process, it was a miracle and blessing and Joseph and his family were taken from the refugee camp in Thailand to Washington DC. He settled and received auto mechanic degree from Lincoln Technical Institute. He eventually moved to San Jose for Bible college, pastored and led Bible studies for the Cambodian people in San Jose.

Joseph planted a church in Stockton, CA. He completed the UMC ministerial course of study in 1996

Marilyn Sovann Chan, Missionary, of the General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church assisgned to Cambodia. She serve as Methodist Mission in Cambodia Women's and Music Ministry Coordinator based in the city of Phnom Penh. She works with local women's ministries in all MMC churches, coordinates and follows up on livelihood projects, raising pigs, weaving sild, making bamboo baskets, planting vegetables, sewing, noodle machines, raising fish and making hammocks. She also does advocating, encouraging, counseling and networking with Local and International Churches and Non-Government Organizations that promote empowerment and attempt to improve Cambodian women's health, physical, emotional and spiritual growth.

Marilyn's passion and vision is to see Cambodian Christian women to be confident in serving, empowering each other, advocating for each other in truth and love encourageing, networking with other local and international Churches and non-government organizations, caring for their family, walking and affirming their husband as household leader, communicating honestly, kindly, truthfully and confidently in love of Jesus Christ. She desires for the Cambodian Christian women to know who they are as Christian women of the living God.

Joseph and Marilyn Chan are convinced that God wants them to continue to serve in Cambodia because the needs are still overwhelming due to the lack of discipleships, Cambodian Christian material resources, bible training teachers, and many other ministries that would greatly bless the Cambodian people. The social problems are great with crimes, gansters, drugs, domestic violence, abuses, oppression, poverty, rape, murders, child abuses and other social problems.