Cambodia.
What comes to mind when you think of this country? Do you picture rice paddies stretching as far as the eye can see? Dusty villages filled with naked children running free? Water buffalo pulling wooden carts? What about bustling cities, thriving and full of people with purpose and drive? A vibrant Asian culture, with traditions spanning centuries? A people group that has pride in their country, their land, their lifestyle?
That picture in your head was reality not too long ago. Cambodia was a country rich in heritage, culture, and tradition. It had poor villages, but it also had cities with colleges, hospitals, temples, and more. Then one man changed all of that.
Pol Pot took over the country of Cambodia and attempted to turn it into a Communist regime. He wanted to eradicate all the intellectuals in the nation and elevate the status of the common laborer. He forcefully evacuated the cities and moved everyone to the countryside to labor in the fields. Men and women who had an education were targeted for execution.
Imagine it. Imagine a reality where you could be executed for having a college degree. For knowing a second language, such as French, which a lot of people spoke in Cambodia. For reading or writing. For wearing glasses. Pol Pot had thousands of people carted off to “killing fields” all over the country, where these people were pulled out of the trucks that transported them there, and killed on the spot.
Men. Women. Children. All executed in cold blood. Not with guns, but with farming tools. Then tossed into mass graves, to be covered with the bodies of more victims. All for the vision of one man, who sought to return his country to square one. A man who destroyed the culture, the traditions, and the history of an entire nation.
Visiting the Killing Fields outside of Phnom Penh was a sobering experience. I had read about the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot, but to come face to face with the skulls and bone fragments of the victims was hard. To walk the paths beside mass graves and realize just how many people lost their lives in this terrible period of Cambodian history grieved me. Seeing fragments of clothing still coming up out of the ground and wondering if each small pebble was a bone fragment was chilling.
But I am thankful for the opportunity to visit the Killing Fields. It gave me a greater appreciation for Cambodian culture as it stands today. Cambodia is now a country in recovery. It is a young country, with only a small percentage of the population over 60. Because of this, there is a lot of crime, poverty, and bad habits. A lot of wisdom and knowledge was exterminated under Pol Pot’s brief rule, and the country is still reeling from the aftereffects. Pray for Cambodia. Pray for this nation as it struggles to piece itself back together. Pray that God will make His glory known and that He will be invited into Cambodian hearts so that He may heal this people and this country. And consider giving to established ministries here in Cambodia that are seeking to help this culture rebuild and thrive.
