Tampuan in Cambodia

People Name:	Tampuan
Country:	Cambodia
10/40 Window:	Yes
Population:	39,000
World Population:	39,000
Primary Language:	Tampuan
Primary Religion:	Ethnic Religions
Christian Adherents:	1.80 %
Evangelicals:	1.70 %
Scripture:	New Testament
Ministry Resources:	Yes
Jesus Film:	No
Audio Recordings:	Yes
People Cluster:	Mon-Khmer
Affinity Bloc:	Southeast Asian Peoples
Progress Level:

Introduction / History

The Tampuan people inhabit the hills of the northeastern corner of Cambodia. They are mostly farmers, living a more-or-less subsistence level lifestyle. Their main crops are rice (grown in swidden fields), various fruit and vegetables; cashews are now becoming a popular cash-crop. They follow an animistic religion, dominated by fear of evil spirits and various sacrifices. Some have become Christians in the last 10 years, although many others professed faith briefly only to fall away. A number of church leaders have benefited from Bible training, however, the few churches remain weak. Except for a few living in villages close to the provincial capital, most Tampuans do not have a good knowledge of Khmer, the national language and find the Khmer Bible hard to understand. Moreover, Tampuans' traditional lifestyle is endangered by rampant land grabbing on the part of lowland Khmer.