An eerie feeling swept over my body as I stepped through the barbwire-draped entrance into Teoul Sleng(S-21 prison as it is commonly referred to). What was once a high school now represents a house of chaos and heartache, helplessness and hopelessness. The pain I felt upon entering was intense. I had no idea what I was going to see. I knew that my eyes would be open to even more evil in the world. There is an enemy out there that wants to steal, kill, and destroy us and he does it in a number of ways. In Cambodia, he planted an evil in the hearts of men that literally destroyed over 1/3 of the country.
Over 10,000 Khmer people were thrown into S-21 in the late 1970s. Only 7 survived. If anyone was suspected of opposing the Pol Pot regime, then they were tossed into S-21 for interrogation.
Interrogation hardly describes the atrocious acts that were committed. Several Buddhist monks, Christians, and intellectuals were tortured and executed. You could almost hear the screaming that must have occurred in this dreadful place. In one building, interrogation rooms lines the corridors. Inside each of these rooms was an iron bed with straps used to hold down the prisoners. A single picture in each room captured the horror of what took place. Within every picture was a human life, brutally battered and beaten. In the adjacent building, still photos memorialized those who lost their lives at Teoul Sleng. Rows and rows of pictures lined the walls. Then I saw something that brought chills to my spine.
Photos of little children covered the wall. Hundreds of children either died or were executed within those walls. I cannot even imagine the terror that those little boys and girls must have felt. I can’t comprehend it. I walked into the next room where an artist had captured the horrifying acts of S-21. Each work of art displayed some form of torture or idea that told a story of what occurred in S-21. The artist was one of the 7 survivors.
In another room encased with barbed wire, brick walls partitioned off cells that measured approximately 3ft by 5ft. I decided to walk into a cell. The hopeless and helpless feeling that swept over my body I would wish upon no man let alone a child. Tragedies such as these must not go unnoticed.
After leaving S-21, we also visited The Killing Fields. The Khmer Rouge would bring people there strictly for execution. The genocide that occurred in Cambodia is one of the greatest tragedies that took place in the 20th century. So many bodies have yet to be found in these fields. Graves of women and children lie at one end of the fields. Clothes of the dead are surfacing due to water washing away the land. Walking along the path through The Killing Fields, one may see teeth just lying across the dirt. There was so much destruction in a span of only 4 years. A tomb or crypt enshrines the skulls and bones of hundreds of victims.
At times like these, one has to ask, “where are you God when this happens?” Why God? Why is there so much pain and suffering? Why are innocent children killed? Why are families ripped apart? Then truth sets in. His purpose was never for this to happen. His plan was not for evil to destroy people or to wreck lives. His purpose was to reconcile us to himself. Evil that was put in the hearts of those men came from the evil one who wants to destroy us. The enemy’s purpose is to kill us. This madness did not go unnoticed by our Father. Let us not be deceived.
What to pray for: Healing of this land. The families torn apart by 30 years of war. The people injured from land mines that still cover this land. That our eyes will not turn away from those in need. Pray against ignorance. Pray for hope and peace. Pray that they will be reconciled to Jesus Christ.
