Months ago I posted two blogs about injustices that occurred in Cambodia and South Africa. This blog will be about my experience in those two countries and also how I saw God redeem both of these countries. If you need a reminder of the blogs, go to the left hand side of the screen, scroll down, and you will find them.
For the first time in my blogging history, this will be a two part blog. It’s hard to shorten my writing because I want you to feel the weight of what I’m saying.
Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge:
Cambodia was by far the hardest month both physically and mentally. When I was on the ground all I wanted to do was leave the compound and build relationships with the locals. This desire was quickly snuffed out because of the language barrier. God quickly closed that door and placed me in a posture of learning that month.
Every weekend our host would hire a driver for us and he would drive us to Phnom Penh. Our driver name was Sophat and he spoke great English. He was in his 40’s which meant he was a child when the Khmer Rouge was in control of Cambodia. He would have also been a teenager when the country he loved was completely rebuilding. This time would have been influential in any young man’s life. After striking up conversation over the course of three weekends I started to asked him deeper questions. Below is a short dialogue that I will never forget!
Me: What is one thing that you would tell a foreigner about what happen during the Khmer Rouge regime?
Sophat: This is very hard topic for me to talk about….you have to understand that things you read, watch, or memorials you visit are not the ultimate truth. The Cambodian government can ADD or DELETE anything they want. But Joe, this topic is very hard for me to talk about.
That hit me like a ton of bricks. How could something so heart breaking have manufactured parts or what was so horrifying that someone had to delete it out of history?
After visiting to the Killing Fields and the S-21 Museum, I was stunned and horrified. Debriefing everything as a team opened up a dialogue which allowed me to be extremely vulnerable and I was able to shed some light on things that were easily overlooked in these dense and information packed memorials.
If we let these injustices solely devastate us then we will never be able to see how God has redeemed these countries. Cambodia has been rebuilding for 40 years now, and although the process has been slow they have made tremendous progress. Think about it though, when Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge systematically killed over 2 million Cambodians, they killed anyone who was educated because they would be the ones who would rise up and rebel against the new communist party. Imagine America without doctors, teachers, politicians, engineers, etc. That was the reality for Cambodia.
The two biggest redemptions I noticed came from shear numbers and observation. When attending church one Sunday I noticed that the majority of the congregation consisted of missionaries. I thought to myself, “When these missionaries were making the discussion to come to Cambodia, did they know about the genocide?” I think most missionaries did know and they were coming to help restore this country. I also think that what happened in the 70’s put Cambodia on the map of countries in desperate need of Jesus. (Yes I know every county is in desperate need of Jesus, but just keep tracking.) The second redemption was told to me by my host, Mark. He said that since the 70’s, Christianity has grown by more than 9,000 percent. In simple terms, for every 1 Christian before the Khmer Rouge there are now 90 Christians.
I learned a lot during my time in Cambodia. It was by far one of my top two favorite countries so far on the Race. Like I wrote in my last blog, I do feel God pulling me back to Cambodia in the future. I’ll never forget the ministry there, or the way God broke my heart for what had broken his.
Stay tuned for next weeks blog and thanks for reading. Ask any questions below.
Since my squad is spending the month in Argentina I wanted to touch on another genocide that happened in Argentina during the 70’s. It was called the “Dirty War” and if you want more info please click the link below and watch the video. I don’t teach you about of these mass atrocities to scare you. I do so to inform and educate you.
Imagine if the world didn’t know about 9/11. Wouldn’t you want to inform rest of the world??
-Josey the Outlaw
