If you’re an average American, my guess is that you’ve probably never even heard of Cambodia. And if you’ve never heard of Cambodia, you probably have never heard about what is probably one of the craziest, most brutal genocides.
And I lived with a family and worked alongside a pastor that has lived through it all.
The Communist party (Khmer Rouge) took over in the mid-70s. It is estimated that over two million people died (at least one quarter of the population of Cambodia.)
About half of those were excecutions,
and half were from starvation and disease.
The majority of those executed were doctors, the educated, and the intellectual.
Anyone cleaver was automatically a threat to the new system they had in place.
No one could be too smart to resist the Khmer Rouge.
Our pastor told us a few things about it.
He was only ten years old.
Only a couple people from his family died.
He was just lucky like that.
Every single family member was split up into separate camps.
They were organized by age and gender.
His mom and dad didn’t even live together anymore.
So he was ten. Alone. Working in the camps.
Food production was handled very poorly and Cambodia constantly had a food shortage.
He ate the same meal every day.
A handful of rice,
a bit of broth,
and a cup of water.
Just one “meal” a day.
He explained that if you wanted to stay alive you had to look out for yourself and search for your own food. If you can imgine it, he’s probably eaten it. Grass, insects, leaves, frogs, fruits, snake, etc.
The pastor would say, “People are always asking me ‘what is your favorite food?’ and I always say, ‘Everything!’ Those times taught me that even the most bitter fruit can taste sweet.”
Knowing the history behind Cambodia has helped me understand the conditions I have seen and settled into for a month. I’ve never seen such poverty before. However, I’ve never met such hardworking, resourceful people in my life.
Somtimes it’s easy to question,
“Why do these things happen to good people?”
But if the Khmer Rouge never happened our pastor and his brother never would have fled to the Thai border after it was over.
And if they had never done that, the he never would have met his wife.
And if he never met his wife, he never would have met Jesus (since she was a believer.)
And if he never met Jesus, he never would have become a pastor.
And if he never became a pastor, then the five communities he’s planted churches in never would have heard the gospel either.
Even in the most disturbing times, God has been good.
If you want to learn more about the Khmer Rouge, I recommend that you read First they Killed my Father.
