What is God Doing in Cambodia?

Cambodia               

Population:  12.2 million

Capital:    Phnom Penh

People Groups:   46

Main Religion: Buddhism 83%

All Christians:   1.2%

In Pailin, Cambodia, evangelical Christians worship the  God of love and forgiveness. Christianity has grown steadily in Cambodia since the end of the Khmer Rouge's brutal reign in 1979. Today there are more than 50,000 believers in the mostly Buddhist nation. The Christian faith is growing particularly fast in this northwestern region of the country. Pailin was once a Khmer Rouge stronghold. But now it has four Christian churches. Many converts once belonged to the bloody Khmer Rouge regime. One church has nearly 200 former Khmer Rouge soldiers in its ranks. Rim P. is a former Khmer Rouge official, he said, "I joined Christianity because I was sorry for being in the fighting." An estimated two million people died during the four year rule of Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge army. The communist regime outlawed all religions, banned religious symbols, and killed religious leaders. Driven from power by the Vietnamese in 1979, the Khmer Rouge then waged a 20-year guerilla war against the new government. But in that time, Christianity began to take root in this suffering nation. Kang K. ran a notorious political prison in Phnom Penh, where some 15,000 Cambodians were executed. But in the 1990s he became a Christian. Christopher L., a Cambodian pastor who lives in America, helped lead him to Christ.  Christopher said, "He came to me and said 'Pastor Christopher, I'm a sinner and I don't think my brothers and sisters around me can forgive me, because my sin is so deep.'" Kang has since turned himself in and is awaiting trial for his crimes. He says he can face man's judgment because he knows God has his soul. Thousands of other Cambodians are giving their lives to Christ every month. They are hearing the message of the gospel through evangelistic ministries at work in the country, including through plays about Jesus.  Christian World News, May 2004

A testimony just received from a man in Banteay Mean Chey province states, “One day a small group came to my home. I was so angry for their work I cast them out of my home and tore up the pamphlet. But some days later they returned without revenge or anger at me. They shared about the name of Jesus. I started to listen and I read the pamphlet. I got hope in my heart that I’d never had before. Now my whole family has joy and the Lord blesses us more than our expectation.”  E-vangelism Update, August 2004

In Pailin, Cambodia, evangelical Christians worship the God of love and forgiveness. Christianity has grown steadily in Cambodia since the end of the Khmer Rouge's brutal reign in 1979. Today there are more than 50,000 believers in the mostly Buddhist nation. The Christian faith is growing particularly fast in this northwestern region of the country. Pailin was once a Khmer Rouge stronghold. But now it has four Christian churches. Many converts once belonged to the bloody Khmer Rouge regime. One church has nearly 200 former Khmer Rouge soldiers in its ranks. Rim P. is a former Khmer Rouge official, he said, "I joined Christianity because I was sorry for being in the fighting." An estimated two million people died during the four year rule of Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge army. The communist regime outlawed all religions, banned religious symbols, and killed religious leaders. Driven from power by the Vietnamese in 1979, the Khmer Rouge then waged a 20-year guerilla war against the new government. But in that time, Christianity began to take root in this suffering nation. Kang K. ran a notorious political prison in Phnom Penh, where some 15,000 Cambodians were executed. But in the 1990s he became a Christian. Christopher L., a Cambodian pastor who lives in America, helped lead him to Christ.  Christopher said, "He came to me and said 'Pastor Christopher, I'm a sinner and I don't think my brothers and sisters around me can forgive me, because my sin is so deep.'" Kang has since turned himself in and is awaiting trial for his crimes. He says he can face man's judgment because he knows God has his soul. Thousands of other Cambodians are giving their lives to Christ every month. They are hearing the message of the gospel through evangelistic ministries at work in the country, including through plays about Jesus.  Christian World News, March 2004

One 32-year old man named Cheun and his sister accepted the Lord and "for a while they had received strong opposition from their family, but they continued to believe God nonstop." Two months later Cheun’s mother also accepted Christ. "Some weeks after, his mother gathered her grandchildren to receive Christ and now all seven people in this family have accepted Christ."  Every Home for Christ, E-vangelism Update, September 2003

Poy Plin had attended a 3-month church planting course when he decided to plant a new church in Lom, a village of the Jarai people in Rattanakiri province. When some Vietnamese Christians came over the border, some 200 people decided to become Christians as a result of their work. Through Poy Plin's work in the village, over 650 of the Jarai have become Christians. Other reports speak of newly saved Cambodians who bring many others to Christ in a very short time. One example is Kim, who, on the day of his baptism, himself baptised 60 others. "We are very touched by the simplicity of the rural Christians' faith," wrote one witness. Some cell groups belonging to the "Living Hope in Christ Church" are in Phnom Penh's notorious red light district. The prostitutes regularly disrupted Christian meetings by singing Karaoke songs. The woman who led the groups prayed with the other Christians for a solution. Since then, a number of prostitutes come to every cell meeting to join in the singing instead of disrupting it. Two prostitutes who used to work in a brothel have accepted Jesus, given up their work and joined the church.  Friday Fax, March 1999

I have heard from many people about a more recent occurrence of a resurrection from the dead which took place in Cambodia in 1994. One of them, Tom Ford, of Dallas, Texas, reported on October 10, 1994, that he had just returned from a two-week trip to Vietnam and Cambodia and that,  "in Cambodia, we were hosted by Sophal Ung, the pastor of a church sponsored by the Global Network. The Lord is doing great things through his ministry there. . . . They've seen lots of miracles too, blind eyes opened, deaf healed, demons cast out, and the dead raised. There was a man that died of a heart attack and was dead nine hours. They took up boards from the floor of his house to have a coffin made. The Buddhist priest was going to come pick up the body the next day. His wife had been saved about two weeks and wouldn't give up. She and several Christians prayed for hours until midnight. The others gave up and went home, but she kept on. At 4:30 am the husband sat up [and] said, 'give me something to eat.' He went out the next day and the people of the village thought he was a ghost. People came from miles around to see the man that was raised up. The man and his wife now have a church in their house. I have the testimony on videotape also." In October of 1994, some people from Cambodia, Monee Mon and Chen Mau, co-workers with Sophal and Deborah Ung, corroborated this story. At the same conference, James Ryle told my wife and me that he had seen a videotape in which Sophal Ung described these events.   Richard M. Riss, February 1997

A man who ordered the deaths of 15,000 people reportedly has become a born-again Christian. Kang Kek Ieu, 56, admitted that he is "Duch," the chief torturer and executioner of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge, Reuters said. He directed the Tuol Sleng detention center in Phnom Penh, where people were taken to be tortured and killed during the regime's bloody reign from 1974 to 1979. About 2 million Cambodians died in purges and from starvation and overwork before Vietnamese troops invaded and drove the Khmer Rouge from power. Duch may have been the Khmer Rouge's most sinister figure. As head of the internal security force, he reportedly oversaw the interrogation and torture of suspected traitors. At least 15,000 people were shipped to Tuol Sleng, a former high school, where they were chained to beds, tortured into making false confessions, and executed in a nearby field. His name is on many execution documents, including one ordering the deaths of 17 children whose parents were accused of being spies. One day American missionary Christopher Lapel reportedly baptized Duch in 1995. "Lord, forgive what I did to the people," Duch said to Lapel, who did not know Duch's identity at the time. Duch has since been helping humanitarian groups at work in the country. A reporter with Hong Kong's Far Eastern Economic Review interviewed him for a story in the magazine's April 29 edition, Reuters said. Duch expressed regret over the killings and said he is willing to face an international tribunal."I have done very bad things in my life," Duch said. "Now it is time to bear the consequences for my actions."    Religion Today, April 1999

A Buddhist monk received Christ. He had an older brother with whom he had quarreled for years. When the elder brother (who is blind) discovered the younger one had become a Christian, he was furious and wanted to kill him. However, the younger man came to visit his brother, seeking his forgiveness. "Are you coming to kill me now that I am blind?" the angry man shouted. With tears streaming down his face, the young man replied, "I came here to ask you to forgive me. It is not a time for killing or fighting, but a time for love and caring." Pleadingly, he shared the Gospel, and the elder brother received Christ. people in many villages in Cambodia are re-retelling this story and coming to understand that Christ is the Great Reconciler. New believers are bringing their families and friends to churches in mostly unreached areas, and churches are growing as a result.    Partners International, February 2000

 

After decades of war, violence and the gruesome Killing Fields, Cambodia now has the highest childhood death rate in East Asia.  World Relief is using puppets, skits and songs to entertain children while illustrating how to prevent some of the deadly illnesses that result from poor hygiene practices.  During these weekly presentations in Phnom Penh, the children also learn, usually for the first time, about the God who made them, loves them, and wants to be their friend.  More than 4,000 Cambodian children have turned their hearts toward Jesus through a World Relief program teaching them to have healthy bodies and spotless hearts.  Clive Calver, on his first trip to Cambodia as World Relief’s president, reflected, "In a country where the number of people attending church is roughly estimated at 34,000, the results of this program are astounding."  As the children return to their homes, they spread the message to their parents and siblings. Church planters are brought in to establish Christian cell-groups and churches for faith, fellowship and cleanliness.  Brigada Newsbrief, September 1998

More than 4,000 Cambodian children have turned their hearts toward Jesus through a World Relief program that teaches them how to have healthy bodies and spotless hearts. ChristianNet, September 1998