There are many dark things about Cambodia. It has a dark past, a devastating civil war and in many places darkness still lingers as Cambodia is one of the child prostitution capitols of the world.
I have seen many hard things these past few months and many times I struggle to know what to do with all of the emotions inside of me. But God has shown me over and over again that His love and Hope are so much greater that the evils of this world, even if they are hard to see sometimes.
For many people, the only thing they know about Cambodia is that Pol Pot lived here and killed millions of his own people. It is true that this is a huge part of Cambodian history but it does not seem to define the people here.
2 million people were killed during the Khmer Rouge regime, roughly 1/3 of the nation’s population. Pol Pot wanted to rebuild the country based on a primitive agricultural model so he had educated people, religious people, and people simply living in the cities brutally executed with farm tools because bullets were too expensive. Anything Western was destroyed. People with professional jobs were eliminated. In fact, people were killed for simple wearing eyeglasses.
The killing fields where the mass executions were completed are right outside the city of Phnom Penh, where we are staying this month. Skeletons from the mass graves there are still visible. The events that took place here a mere 40 years ago are some of the most brutal and horrible in the history of the world.
It is sometimes hard to see the good. Where was the light in this dark place?
I often find myself fighting the hopelessness of the many things that I have seen. With these emotions come depression, fear, and even anger. Where is God in all of this? Where is His redemption?
There are not many people today in Cambodia that can remember the Khmer Rouge regime, although most have been affected in one way or another. The country is extremely young with 50% of the population under 22 years old. The Khmer Rouge no longer exists in any form and Cambodians are eager for forward progress.
This month my team was assigned to teach multiple English classes for local university students. We are also in charge of Sunday services of a church of about 100 youths, which is such a beautiful sight in a country that is only 2% Christian.
After a few classes it began hit me. Here we were, Westerners, educating Cambodian university students in the capitol city through a religious organization, something our parents’ generation would most certainly have been killed for.
God is here, and He is healing this nation. No matter how much evil will try to stomp out any spark of hope, it can never prevail. Even if it is successful for a little while it can never stand against the goodness and hope of my Savior.
"Now the hope of God dose not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit given to us" ROMANS 5:5
Something that was said on a certain pirated Asian DVD I was recently watching really hit me as truth.
“The only thing stronger than fear is hope.” – President Snow
