Youth of the Nation

 (DISCLAIMER. There
are some serious things discussed in this blog. Not for the faint of heart.)

I pretty much like Cambodia.

It is pretty hot here, much like Florida. I think that it
could have been a really difficult month, as Cambodia has been dubbed “The
Africa of Asia,” and indeed, bucket showers and mosquito nets are as common
here as they were in Uganda. Yet somehow, I find that I am really enjoying
myself.

Maybe it is because 80% of the population is under the age
of 30. That’s right. I’m older than the majority of people in Cambodia. Why?
It’s because the Khmer Rouge and its leader, Pol Pot, decided it would be a
good idea to push back the economy by a massive genocide. Murder.

They would take hold of the legs of babies and smash them
against the trees.

A squad mate and I (Tracy Face!) talked about it the other
day. It takes a certain kind of evil to be willing to do things like that. We
talked about whether it were possible for mere humans to commit these kinds of
atrocities, or is there a point where the human, which is made in the image of
God, can go no further and therefore demonic spirits would have to take over.

I didn’t really have an answer for her. It is just a simple
matter of whether or not we ALL might be capable of such evil. The bible tells
us we are. It says that “Anything we decide in our heart” we will be able to
achieve, and “They invent ways of doing evil.”

I mean, which is the greater evil, crushing a baby against a
tree, or crushing its head while it is still inside its mother’s womb? How is
one thing a war crime and the other legal?

Tell me we aren’t all
capable of murder.

Yet, there is somehow redemption and good that comes out of
all of this. I look at the youth that are playing Volleyball with Ashlee, and I
think about what it might be like if all of the youth of this nation, who seem
to be mildly disillusioned with what Buddha tells them to believe, if they were
to come to know Christ.

This whole nation could be changed within one generation.
Sitting in church on Sunday, I took a look around, and although the plastic pew
chairs are full, there were only a handful of adults.  I think that is hopeful. I wish that the youth
in our churches cared about God like these third world kids who are more than
content to play volleyball with a hand mended net and a punctured ball.