We arrived in Cambodia September 30th to the YWAM base in Phnom Penh. The dry season is beginning now at the start of October in the country, whose climate greatly contrasts the cool Autumn air of the US Midwest. Humidity, heat and odors of every sort follow you down alleyways and into the buildings that often open up into the outdoor air. Despite some of the unpleasant features, I’m so excited to see what the Lord has this month while working at a university with Campus Crusade for Christ. I’m excited for the growth of team unity and growing together spiritually. I’m excited to serve Him and those who He loves.
On our way into the capital earlier this month their annual festival of the dead celebration/holiday was coming to a close. Death has been a ravenous theme taking man, woman and child alike throughout the nation. The Cambodians have seen more death than I may ever comprehend. Between 1975 and 1979 they lost one fourth of their people to the genocide of the Khmer Rouge. By the beginning of the 80s, 70% of their population was women. The oppression and ruthlessness of Pol Pot and his brainwashed regime were comparable to Hitler and the Gestapo. The soil here still literally cleanses itself by sending the clothes of mass grave victims to its surface. The agony they must have gone through is incomparable and I simply can’t understand the evil that overtook this place at that time.
It’s a bit hard to read, but this list of what was prohibited is de facto…can you imagine?
Below are pictures of some of the children murdered during that time:
But the hope that comes from my God is insurmountable and more powerful that I know and can be known. The love that comes through Him and His children desires to cover this nation and teach it to trust again. Not a stature or national figure, but the one true God who calls the nations to Himself.
