(Today's Prayer) Cambodia and Thailand close border crossings; Trump urges renewed implementation of peace agreement

Thailand and Cambodia, which recently clashed again following last July, are continuing their fighting despite a ceasefire brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump.

As Thailand maintained a hardline stance, saying it had never agreed to a ceasefire, Cambodia completely closed its border with Thailand, and President Trump again urged both countries to implement the peace agreement.

According to Reuters and other news agencies on the 14th (local time), the Cambodian Ministry of Defense announced the previous day that it had completely blocked all border crossings with Thailand, citing the Thai military's continued bombing.

A Cambodian defense official did not say how long the border would remain closed, saying only that it would be until further notice.

The move comes after Thailand maintained a hardline stance, saying it would continue fighting despite President Trump's announcement the previous day that Thailand and Cambodia had agreed to cease hostilities and return to a ceasefire agreement, AFP reported.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim also urged both countries to refrain from further military action in a post on Facebook the previous day.

He also announced that the U.S. government would deploy an ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) observation team led by the Malaysian military commander to the border between the two countries and that the U.S. government would also conduct satellite surveillance.

So far, 15 soldiers and three civilians have been killed and 270 injured in Thailand, while 11 civilians have been killed and more than 70 injured in Cambodia.

Thailand and Cambodia have been locked in a territorial dispute for more than a century over an 817-kilometer border that was first surveyed by France when it colonized Cambodia in 1907.

Source: Yonhap News

“Many nations will be joined with the Lord in that day and will become my people. I will live among you and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you. (Zechariah 2:11)

Despite recent U.S. mediation efforts for a ceasefire, Cambodia and Thailand continue to engage in combat. As Thailand maintains a hardline stance on the ceasefire, Cambodia has reportedly completely blocked all border crossings with Thailand.

Lord, comfort the souls of Cambodia and Thailand who have been injured or even killed in the recent armed conflict, which arose from the continuation of a dispute over a temple that both nations have claimed as their own for over a century. Comfort also their bereaved families.

Have mercy on these two nations fighting over land that will eventually decay. May Cambodia and Thailand become nations that know they belong to the Lord and are God's people.

May the churches of Cambodia and Thailand be established as priestly churches serving their nations, hoping for the eternal kingdom of God. By the love of Jesus that tears down dividing walls, unite the churches of Cambodia and Thailand. End a century of conflict and make Cambodia and Thailand nations united through the cross.

May the ASEAN churches also pray for the conflict situation in Cambodia and Thailand, and may they strive to share the vision that Cambodia and Thailand may fulfill their mission as God's people.

Thus, may the Lord's army arise in Cambodia and Thailand, restoring the mission at the heart of ASEAN, and may they become a people preparing the way for the Lord's return, so that God's kingdom may come upon all nations!