Every year at Christmas and Easter, the four major international Christian communities come together for a combined service. In recent years the venue has been the ballroom of the Hotel Le Royal. It's a bit more fancy than some would prefer, but there are few places in Phnom Penh that can hold 500 people.
The music leaders above, the teenagers dancing here, and all the ministers and congregation come mainly from the Church of Christ Our Peace (Anglican), the International Christian Assembly (Assemblies of God), the International Christian Fellowship (interdenominational), and the English-speaking Roman Catholic community.
The service lasts about an hour and fifteen minutes and has music, prayer, and scripture readngs interspersed, followed by preaching from one of the ministers. Here Maryknoll's Luise Ahrens reads from the prophet Micah.
The ex-patriate community in Phnom Penh is relatively small, compared to the general population, and many of those from outside Cambodia know each other from working together in various NGOs and agencies. There is a lot of natural camaraderie when they also come together for these services.
This year, Graham Chipps spoke, connecting the Beatitudes with the birth of Christ. He is the pastor of the International Christian Fellowship, the largest of the four major Christian groups.