I think it’s been 44 days since I left the States and it really only feels like it’s been two weeks. The days are passing by like lightning It’s hard to take in each day experiencing all it has to offer. This past weekend my team took a short day trip to Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital. Our host brought us to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum to just get a taste of what the Cambodian’s went through in the Khmer Rouge in 1975. For most of us, including myself, we have no idea what the Khmer Rouge was. If I’m honest I didn’t even know what Cambodia was before the Race. The Khmer Rouge was a mass genocide of half of their population. Over 18,000 people were starved, murdered, tortured, and stripped of their clothes to take away any last remaining feeling of dignity. They were called by the number they were given and called “it,” this dehumanized them and their worth in the prison. These four buildings were once schools that were home to happy laughing children. This would be a long gone memory in the history of Cambodia. The school that now is a prison was boarded up so no air could ventilate through the cells. Entering the building I immediately felt a darkness fall over me. I started to feel dizzy and my stomach started to turn. I couldn’t enter the first room that was filled with brick cells and chains still in them from where the people were tied down to the bloodstained floor.
Barbed wire was strung on the outside of the building and was electrified to prevent escape.
This site in Phnom Penh was one of 150 sites throughout the country. The prisoners were chained and strapped down to a metal bed and were punished severely for making any sound or cry for help.
These were the rules of the prison.
The Security of Regulation
-
You must answer according to my questions- Don’t turn them away.
-
Don’t try to hide the facts by making pretexts this and that- you are strictly prohibited to contest me.
-
Don’t be a fool for you are a chap who dare to thwart the revolution.
-
You must immediately answer my questions without wasting time to reflect.
-
Don’t tell me either about your immoralities or the essence of the revolution.
-
While getting lashes or electrification you must not cry at all.
-
Do nothing, sit still and wait for my orders. If there is no order, keep quiet. When I ask you to do something, you must do it right away without protesting.
-
Don’t make pretext about Kampuchea Krom in order to hide your secret or traitor.
-
If you don’t follow all the above rules, you shall get many lashes of electric wire.
-
If you disobey any point of my regulations you shall get either ten lashes or five shocks of electric discharge.
In my head, I kept thinking and asking God, “Why would you let this happen to so many innocent people?” I was a whirlpool of emotions feeling frustrated, disgust, terrified for my brothers and sisters in Christ. Why hadn’t my God stopped this from happening? And honestly I still have those thoughts, and God hasn’t given me all the answers to my never-ending questions yet. Seeing the thousands of pictures on the walls of only the remaining photos found of the prisoners, some seemed to not be over the age of 7. In each photo, every person would pose for the cameras, but their eyes never changed. The same expression on each face, their eyes seemed as if their soul was already diseased inside.
I prayed, for the majority of the time spent walking through each of the four buildings. Thinking the whole time that this is my worst nightmare, but even in the darkest of times, God is still there. Just because this event took place in possibly the worst way, does not mean that God was absent. It’s hard trying to find his presence in that place, knowing He is omniscient. This was really hard for me and I’m still trying to walk through the emotions. I have been trusting in God knowing he has a plan.
Take some time to maybe research and think about how the people and multiple generations were affected by the Khmer Rouge. Pray for the families and people who are still struggling with lost family members and friends.
Thank you for taking the time to read this blog.
God Bless!
