We’ve finally arrived in Phnom Penh, Cambodia after a thrilling 17-hour jostle-you-out-of-your-pants bus ride. Sorry for the lack of posting; the internet is rather slow, but cheap, so there’s an upside. It’s about $0.30 an hour. I will try to keep you more up-to-date.
Cambodia will take some getting used to, which is strange, because the things that seem abnormal to me now are routine life in America. For instance, after several hours on the bus, I realized that the driver was navigating from the left side of the vehicle and we were driving on the right side of the road. This seemed entirely foreign to me, as we have been riding/driving on the left side of the road for the past 4 months. In addition, Cambodia uses the U.S. Dollar. I still haven’t entirely figured this one out, because they use their own currency, the Riel, also. ATMs dispence dollars, but change from stores is given in Riel. Some places even take the Thai Baht, causing us to be very trusting when receiving change because it can be given in multiple currencies at the same time.
Today, we had a tour of the city and visited Tuol Sleng, a torture prison from the days of the Khmer Rouge and an area where prisoners were executed called “The Killing Fields.” Jimmy McCarty, a January Racer, wrote an excellent blog on this topic when he went on the tour last month, which is included below. I have also made a video from our tour today and posted it here.
“Cambodia has an unbelievable history. Not ten years ago, tanks were running through the streets of Phnom Penh in yet another political, civil war. A mere thirty years ago the Khmer Rouge were in power and were systematically slaughtering over 2 million of their country-men (one-third of the country’s population were massacred by their own people) for no apparent reason. The communist idealism of Pol Pot believed brainwash and complete dominance were the only ways to build the perfect nation. Thus anyone with education in any form was automatically considered a threat to this regime and was murdered. There was no hostility, no rebellion, no threat, just cold blooded murder. And not just murder, brutal tortures and slaughtering of children and babies to boot.
We visited the Tuol Sleng Prison Facility as the first stop on our city tour. Tuol Sleng was previously a school – a place of education, of molding young minds for creativity, academic pursuits – a place to dream, to create a better life. In a single day Tuol Sleng became one of the most violent, brutal torture and interrogation prisons in Cambodia, S21. Classrooms were turned into interrogation rooms, subdivided into 2×6 prison cells and playground equipment became the soldier’s playground for new and creative torture methods (pullup bars became guillotines, soccer goals became whipping posts). The most common torture method would be to tie a prisoner’s hands behind their back, hoist them from their wrists in this position until they flipped upside down, wait until the prisoner lost consciousness, dunk their unconscious head in sewer water until they regained consciousness and continued this until the prisoner revealed the information they knew or were told to recite. It was rare a prisoner possessed any real knowledge so the soldiers would fabricate stories and make prisoners sign confessions at gunpoint (and after brutal torture) to impress their superiors. Fingernails were crudely pulled out, babies were beaten to death in front of their mothers against trees and for the most minor infractions, prisoners would receive lashes from electrified wire.
When the prisoners were too close to death to provide any more “entertainment” or when they had nothing left to offer, they would be taken out to one of the dozens of killing fields. Handcuffed and crammed into the back of a truck, prisoners were shuttled out only to climb out of the truck, be stripped of their clothing, be shot on site and thrown into any number of mass burial graves. We visited one of these mass grave sites where a memorial has been set up with about 3000 of the 9000 excavated skulls on display. Nine stories of skulls laid end to end representing the thousands of innocent, peaceful Cambodians (at least those who weren’t decapitated prior to burial). Teeth (especially after a rainstorm) thirty years later, are still being uprooted and litter the walkways around the compound.
In addition to the brutal past shared by the Khmer people is the heavy Buddhist influences that impact every aspect of daily life. Monks in their saffron togas stroll the streets every morning offering blessings in exchange for food. Spirit houses outside establishments or residences are frequently given food or incense to appease the evil spirits that might try to harm the family.
All in all, the history, religion and culture is based on fear and keeping people oppressed. The Cambodian people are resilient, however and their spirits – especially those following Christ, are beautiful and passionate. They love music, dance and art, they are fascinated by Westerners and are very friendly. The children are adorable and everywhere. In short, this place is ripe for the harvest. New Life Fellowship currently has 90 church plants in various stages of developments and the number of Christians is on the rise. God is here, God is moving – it’s amazing to be a part of the story.”
