Matthew 5:16 states
The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light
And for those who lived in the land where death casts its shadow,
A light has shined.
This verse describes the Christian movement in Cambodia. Cambodia is a country that has had a recent history of war and mass genocide. You can feel the shadow of death in this country; you can look into the eyes of the older generation and see the hurt and the pain.
There was a massive genocide in Cambodia in the late 1970’s. It is estimated that over two million people (one third of the population) died during this genocide. The genocide began through a civil war… civil war began between two political parties, Lon Nol’s Government and Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge. In April 1975, the Khmer Rouge overtook the capital city of Phnom Penh and forced everyone to move out of the cities and to farming communities. The Khmer Rouge’s goal was to create a new communist society where there was no money, no real education and everyone made their living working on farms.
The Khmer Rouge decided the fastest way to implement the new communist society was to kill off anyone who they thought would be a “threat” to the success of the new communist government. They tortured and killed innocent teachers, doctors, people with formal education, and even people who wore glasses because glasses represented a Western way of thinking. They killed Buddhist Monks and over 90% of Christians living in Cambodia. People who were not tortured and killed were forced to slave away in the fields for sometimes over 18 hours per day.
This genocide, which is hardly if ever discussed in World History classes, is the worst genocide of the last 30 years…. People were tortured, arms cut off, fingernails excruciatingly pulled out, buried alive, women’s babies were cut out of their stomachs.
This recent devastatingly cruel Cambodian history helps explain the sadness and hopelessness you see in the eyes of Cambodians age 30 and over.
In a country where only an estimated 3% of the country is Christian, Jesus light is desperately needed to clear out the darkness that has covered the country. When you enter a dark room with a small candle, the light makes the darkness flee and Jesus is much bigger than a small candle.
Our ministry this month is working with the poorest of the poor, the least of the least. We are working in a slum where people’s main source of income is to collect trash and sell it. People are lucky if they make $2 a day… even kids as young as 7 are on the trash heaps collecting trash.
6000 Wellspring Trail
Gainesville, GA 30506
