Did you know that millions of people died in a genocide in
Cambodia…less than 30 years ago?
Did you know that 50% of Cambodia’s population is under the
age of 20? Also that 80% are under the age of 30?
I’m reading a book that I was able to trade for at the YWAM
base in Phenom Penh entitled: First They
Killed My Father. The story is told from a 5 year old girl’s perspective
during the Cambodian genocide in 1975-76. This heart wrenching story describes
horrible atrocities performed throughout Cambodia during the takeover of a
militant political group called the Khmer Rouge. Literally millions of people
were murdered during this horrific time period and the crazy part is that it
took place less than 30 years ago!
My team was able to spend a few days in Phenom Penh, during
that stay we were able to take a tour of one of the largest prisons used during
the genocide to torture people of any religion and educated profession. The
Khmer Rouge targeted anyone who was educated as being a threat to their new
Communist ideals and simply exterminated all teachers, lawyers, doctors,
nurses, etc…They also killed many others including people who wore glasses
because they were considered educated.
The museum/tour of the prison was very sobering, we walked
through many prison cells and saw many pictures of the people who suffered and
were executed. In a few of the cells the dried blood of the prisoners is still
on the floor left as a remembrance of the past. Once prisoners had been
tortured to the government’s satisfaction, believing they had gotten all the
information they could from them, they were taken in trucks to the killing
fields.
My squad walked through the prison and then loaded up our
bus for the ride out of the city to the killing fields…..
prisoners and immediately took them out to the fields where huge trenches were
dug. One by one they murdered them and piled the bodies in mass graves. The
largest grave excavated had 450 bodies in it. Many men, women, and children
were murdered in these infamous “killing fields”.
As I walked through these two historical sites, I was asking
God…how am I to respond to this horrific injustice? What can I do about this
awful history? “Honestly, there’s nothing you can do except understand my
people more deeply and therefore love them more deeply with My love” was the response
I got. These people been through a horrible recent history, but are so resilient
and still have the capacity to know God’s love and joy. The message of Christ is freedom, freedom from a life of being “good enough” or being able to “earn forgiveness”. After spending time learning this history, I think this is the message we are supposed to be bringing the Cambodian people that Christ is FREEDOM. Buddhism is the claimed religion for 93% of this population. Please continue to pray for us as we encounter many people here and speak Christ’s love and freedom into their lives.
