HISTORY OF MISSION DOVE CAMBODIA:

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Mission Dove Cambodia was founded in 2011 but traces its roots to interdenominational Christian ministry in the 1990s.

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The Paris Peace Accords in 1991 brought an end to decades of civil unrest in Cambodia. This new stability also ushered in an era of growth in the Christian church as Cambodian Christians began returning from refugee camps in Thailand and foreign missionaries began arriving from abroad.

 

In 1995, Seila Uon, Brian Maher, and Harry Zuberhuler formed the Youth Commission, and the next year, this initiative came under the direction of the Evangelical Fellowship of Cambodia, an umbrella Christian organization. For the next 16 years, the Youth Commission pioneered youth work across denominational lines through organizing a variety of camps, conferences, and other trainings. The Youth Commission was led by local Cambodian leaders and advised by a wide range of foreign missionaries.

 

By 2011, the Youth Commission had grown much larger than the other projects of the Evangelical Fellowship of Cambodia, and Seila Uon and the staff decided to carry on this work through an independent organization. Thus, DOVE was born. DOVE continued this work with emerging Christian leaders through trainings and drop-in centers in Phnom Penh as well as three provincial satellite offices.

 

Seila Uon served as the director of DOVE until his retirement from this role in 2018. Sarady Na, who was one of the provincial satellite coordinators, moved to Phnom Penh to assume the directorship. 

 

The name DOVE originally was an acronym standing for Developing Our Village Economy. Since this name does not accurately reflect the vision and mission of the organization, the name was changed to Mission Dove Cambodia in 2020.