As many of you do NOT know (because I am the worst at keeping y’all updated) I am living in a village for the first month of Cambodia. Tents, bucket showers, squatty potties- the whole deal. I mean we are REALLY out here in the middle of nowhere. In the mornings, we go house to house (or shack to shack) and evangelize and in the evenings we teach English to kids in the village. I was so excited to have the opportunity every single day to just tell people about their creator who loves them and knows them, who doesn’t expect their good deeds to outweigh their bad ones, and who sees them as worthy and righteous because Jesus freakin saved them from their sin and bore their shame! Like that! is! good! news! And I couldn’t wait to share it.
Doing this for just a week, I quickly learned a lot about the khmer people and culture that makes it very hard to tell them about Jesus:
- The Cambodian genocide carried out by the Khmer Rouge from 1975 to 1979 killed around a quarter of the population and those who survived were deprived of an education and grew up on a basis of fear. This means a couple of things. Most people in the older generations cannot read or write which means they cannot study the Bible. This makes it really hard for them to learn more about Jesus without going to church (and many of them are too old/ weak to get there). They also have grown up not being able to make decisions for themselves, so they just do not know what they believe and do not think it is their choice to make.
- Cambodia has a shame/ honor culture. They think that if they do something bad, it reflects poorly on all their family/ friends/ community. This culture is hard to break, because being a Christian is not popular and it brings shame to your family if you turn away from tradition and choose to believe in Jesus.
- Driving down the dirt roads in the village, you will see these weird little temple statues in front of most houses. They are called spirit houses, and they believe it gives a home to the spirits that are on their property (typically their ancestors). They believe that if they don’t follow the ways of their ancestors, it will bring shame to them.
- The khmer people will also say almost anything you want to hear because they do not want to dishonor you by not agreeing with you. For example, if we asked if they believed in Jesus they would answer yes, but when we asked what they know about Him they couldn’t respond. The truth is, they have absolutely no idea who Jesus is or they have some twisted idea of him. Sometimes it is hard to know if they actually understand the weight of what we are telling them or if they just want to honor us by saying “I believe in Jesus now!” or “I will start coming to church!”
- Last thing. This is kinda funny given the circumstances BUT it could still affect the message we are trying to tell. Some people in the village (including the police lol) think we have the corona virus… kinda hard to evangelize when people are scared of you.
All this being said, the Khmer people are AMAZING servants with the most beautiful hearts. They value community and family. I have fallen in love them from being here for just a short time and it breaks my heart to see that they do not know the Jesus I know. They are thirsty for truth and salvation, but fearful to accept it. It would mean the most if y’all could join me in praying for these generational chains to be broken and for redemption and revival to break out in this country!!
Love you all,
Julia
