The sun shone bright on the peaceful field. Nothing in nature betrayed the serenity of the small piece of ground outside of Phnom Pehn. A breeze was blowing and an unbelievably beautiful day enveloped Cambodia. However, nothing nature could do covered the horror beneath our feet. As we strode along, our feet found the evidence of the true nature of the land on which we walked.
Thousands marched the same trial that I currently walked. However, their journey and life ended a few feet in front of me. The blunt end of a hammer or the finely honed edge of a machete would end their life. Their bodies would be dumped in the nearby depressions of the mass graves in front of me. Blindfolded they shuffeled to their death for crimes they didn't commit. Simple farmers, businessmen, mothers and babies were killed in the most barbaric manner imaginable.
My feet found them fourty years after their death. Teeth, fragments of bone and clothes struggled to reach the surface and tell the world their story. As we walked along the trail of the Killing Fields, pieces of human beings could be seen breaking the surface of the ground under our feet. The evidence of genocide was everywhere.
In the late 1970's, Pol Pot took control of Cambodia and started to systematically exterminate his own people. Anybody who was educated or could pose a threat was delivered to fields all over Cambodia where their lives were ended and their bodies were dumped into hastily made pits. Roughly one third of the entire population of Cambodia was killed by this psychotic regime.
As Hannah and I walked along the Killing Fields, emotions stirred inside of us that we were not prepared to handle. Anger, fear, indifference, heartbreak, confusion and dispair all ran through our mind at the same time. How could this happen?
I felt at that moment, standing amongst the bones, that the souls of those lost cried out to me to never let this happen again. I know that today genocide is happening in other places around the world. I wonder if Pol Pot would have been able to kill so many had good people around the world stood up and paid attention. I began to realize that these madmen are allowed to kill, maim and destroy because good people like me and you don't do anything about it. The silence of good people has a way of echoing through the ages. The dead seem to call out…why didn't anybody stand up for me?
I do not intend to be a bleeding heart liberal that stands on the street corner ranting about every injustice in the world. However, I do believe that we have a resposibility as Christians to stand up against the tyranny, murder and hate in this world. I know that from now on, I will work to not stand idly by while innocent people are destroyed.
The wounds of fourty years ago still hang heavy in the air of Cambodia. Please join with me to pray for those who are still waiting for loved ones that will never return. Pray for Cambodia and pray for the wounded places on our planet that are currently facing genocide.
