3 million people. What do you think about when you hear that? Maybe it is the population of Phnom Penh, Cambodia where I am staying this month. Maybe it’s the amount of people who are Christians here. Or you just may think that is a lot of people. What you most likely would never think, nor would ever want to, is that 3 million is the estimated number of people who were killed in a mass genocide that happened here in Cambodia roughly 30 years ago.
Today we were taken on a tour of the city and taught a piece of its history. Our first stop was a prison where many woman and men were tortured and executed. Displayed through all the rooms were photo’s of the people who endured this place. More and more my heart crumbled as I stared at the faces of people I did not know, but that our God knew by name. In each room remnants of the devices used to endlessly torture a people are laying on cold metal bed frames.
Just outside the city is the site of the killing fields, where the graves of 9000 woman and children are marked with the stories of the horrific ways in which they died. A temple stands stories tall filled with human skulls, bones, and clothing. It was the most painful thing I have ever seen. For no other reason than power, one man made the choice to kill off his own people. This is not something that you can choose to say could not have happened, or you can try to pretend away. It was here staring me in the face, and my heart broke.
It broke for each family torn apart. It broke for the lack of freedom many have. It broke for the corruption that lives in the hearts of men. It broke that today many still are in captivity and fear, and suffering. It broke because my Heavenly fathers broke too.
These are the people that God has sent us to love and minister too. A country that is picking up the pieces of a broken and painful past, and moving forward a little by little, day by day. There are many wounds and scars on the faces of many of the older people here. They may try to hide it in their smiles, but you can see it in their eyes. But as a new generation comes of age, and the mourning becomes a little less each day, you can see the hope. You can see a renewing. This is a wonderful time to be in Cambodia and to have the chance to love on the people this month. For team Luminous we know that this month is about going deeper into the heart, God’s hearts, our hearts, and the Cambodian hearts.
Please be praying that we can be a blessing and encouragement to the students we have a chance to teach English to this month. Pray that we can build up the Christians in this area, who are feeling tired and wore out and help bring some relief and refreshing to their lives. Pray for the people we encounter, that their hearts are open to receive the love that we want to give to them. Pray for us as a team that we continue walking in the unity that God has blessed us with, and a humility, putting each other before self. As always in every country we go to and everyplace we are sent, I pray for God’s glory revealed, less of me, more of Him and I am excited to see what God has in store for Cambodia.
