Hope in a Dark Place
With so much hurt and darkness in this country, it has made this people desperate for the Lord. Working with New Life Church here in Cambodia, we have had the privilege to encounter many testimonies of the Lord working in his great and awesome power. The following are two such testimonies from the provinces of Cambodia. There are many great ministries that are reaching out to the people of Cambodia through New Life Fellowship and there are many ways in which you can help support their ministry. There web site is http://www.cambodiaoutreach.org/
Pie Pourn
Pie Pourn was a Buddhist all her life until she met Pastor Ven who was evangelizing. It took a while during which she observed that Pastor Ven lived the life that he preached and the Lord started opening up her heart. After she believed that Christ was Lord, she experience persecution from her neighbors and family. She also became quite sick. He neighbors said she was sick because she had turned to a foreign god and the gods of the village were angry with her.
Pie Pourn decided to wait three days to see if the gods of the village would heal her. However, at the end of three days she only was more sick. At that point she ripped off the spirit strings from her body and tore down all the alters and idols in her house.
Pastor Ven and others from the church came, prayed for her and helped nurse her back to health. Through this act of kindness she saw the grace of the Lord and started to believe in Christ as Her Lord and Savior.
She has seen the Lord work in her life through changing her heart and softening her day by day. Before she was a Christian, she was planning on persecuting her husbands second wife, possibly even hurting her to death. However, the Lord has taught her not only to be civil but also serve this woman in kindness sharing the love of Christ. She now feels light and released, free from all the darkness.
Pastor Soy Ven
Soy Ven grew up in the provinces of Cambodia to the life of a gangster. He spent 3 years in a gang at the age of 26 drinking, smoking, fighting and causing trouble. However, after those 3 years his gang disbanded and he went on the look after cows. He felt as though he has lost himself. He was very upset and did not know what to do with himself.
In 2003 Pastor Pallie came with a group from New Life Fellowship and presented the gospel to the people. Soy Ven heard the gospel, but did not believe the first time, however, he continued going to the meetings.
During this time Soy Ven became sick. As it happened, at the direction of another man who also worked with the cows, Soy Ven ate some food that was offered to a large idol that stood in the fields. He then became very sick with a stomach ache. The Cambodian doctor said that the idol spirit was very angry with him and that he needed to bring a coconut in order to appease the spirit. So Soy Ven’s mother took a coconut to the idol and asked that the spirit spare her son. Soy Ven then become better. However, such an experience led Soy Ven to realize that the idols were gods of destruction, but Jesus Christ was the God of life. From then on he started to focus his life on Christ and made a commitment to see who Jesus Christ really was.
He continued to attend the church meetings with Pastor Pallie and the Lord began to renew his life through the knowledge of the word and of Christ. Soon after, he received a call from the Lord to become a pastor.
