Tim and Jennifer Kangas
Missionaries to Cambodia
Motivated by a call to bring Jesus Christ to the people of the “10/40 Window,” Tim and Jennifer Kangas have been serving in Cambodia since 1997.
Tim accepted Jesus through a high-school meeting of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes in Portland, Oregon. Sports were the most important thing in Tim’s life, but he gave his athletic ability to God to use for His glory. Tim graduated from Houghton College in 1987 with a B.S. degree in biology, and a growing burden for missions.
Jennifer grew up in Jamestown, New York, and accepted Christ at age 3. A year in Brazil as an exchange student during high school and a short-term missions experience in college both contributed to her love and understanding of other cultures and peoples. Jennifer graduated from Houghton College in 1989 with a B.A. in Business Administration. Tim and Jennifer were married in August 1989.
From 1991 to 1996, the Kangases served in Northern England with a Christian sports ministry. Soccer was used by their team to break down barriers and bring the gospel to many children and adults. Their team also sent short-term mission teams from England to other parts of the world. It was the trips taken into Asia that confirmed in their hearts a call to serve in that part of the world.
In 1997 Tim and Jennifer began working in Cambodia. After an initial year of full-time language study, they moved to the rural town of Kratie in the northeast of the country and began to work with the small number of new believers there.
The Kangases worked in Kratie until 2006, enabling and discipling and trianing those who have come to know Jesus Christ as Savior. The church in Kratie has, by the grace of God, grown in number and in depth.
From summer 2007 Tim, Jenny and their two boys (Arley, born 3/98, and Josiah, born 12/99) will be based in the capital city of Phnom Penh.