Church of God S.E. Asia News and Reports
|
| THE CAMBODIAN JOURNEY (13th-15th March, 2007)
A Date Never to be Forgotten
Pastor Song Cheng Hock
17th April, 1975. To most, it may be just another date in the past. But to the Cambodians, it’s an ominous date never to be forgotten. If truth be told, it could never be forgotten. It has etched so deeply in their collective memory and unconscious that it takes more than an unthinkable generational amnesia to erase the horrific events associated with it. Only God’s redeeming grace can bring about complete healing and freedom.
On the morning of that improbable day the Khmer Rouge rambled into the capital, Phnom Penh. It signalled the start of their brutal decimation of their own people. Within that period, almost two million Cambodians (or one in seven of the country's population) died, mainly from starvation, overwork and barbaric execution. The Pol Pot regime drove city-dwellers, including the sick from the hospitals into the countryside to work in the fields. That utterly senseless experiment in agrarian communism was an unprecedented disaster.
|
A Haunting Trip
When the movie Killing Fields hit the screens in 1984, many were horrified by the brutality and cruelty of that unimaginable period. Fellow countrymen were butchering their very own citizens, and children were encouraged to betray their own parents! My Cambodian friends who survived that harrowing period told me the reel account was exceedingly mild compared to their (sur)real experience.
When I was pastoring the migrant church in Melbourne in the mid-90s, I had a close-up view of the victims’ painful past. One lady lost all 34 members of her family. Another lady was lined up together with the rest to be shot in the killing fields but was miraculously spared. Another man lost his ten-year-old son because a Khmer Rouge soldier smashed his head with an axe when the boy sought permission to see him. Save for the healing grace of Christ, many would still be tormented by their nightmarish psychological scars.
In 1997, Don Cormack wrote the gripping and heart-wrenching book Killing Fields, Living Fields. The book grabbed my attention because it provides useful insights into the complex and often convoluted powers at work and more significantly, it testifies to the steadfastness of the tormented church. There is hope in gloom, and light in darkness! It activated my interest in that land. So our little church in Melbourne adopted Cambodia as the country of our missionary focus. We supported one missionary to work among the orphans and a couple went there to work under the auspices of World Vision.
Pastor Neville’s involvement with the Cambodian church goes back a full decade. I was thrilled to be able to take a short journey with him and Sister Anne from 13th to 15th March 2007. Before I made that trip, my mind instinctively reviewed the many horrendous stories I’ve heard from my friends. Most still find it too painful to return to their former homeland. It was with some trepidation that I made the trip.
Nothing quite prepared me for what I saw at the Tuol Sleng Cambodian Genocide Museum and the killing fields of Choeung Ek. From 1975 to 1978, more than ten thousand prisoners were tortured and some were executed there. Most were later transferred to the killing fields and had their misery cold-bloodedly terminated. The museum displayed rows after rows of photographs of the inmates. Some inmates were obviously tortured. Their faces were swollen and bruised. The very young and old were not spared either. Not even babies. A picture of an expressionless woman carrying her baby was most disturbing. She seemed too stunned or numbed from grieving to be moved by anything. The killing fields were just as distressing. Bones and clothes of the victims could still be seen half-buried in the grounds. That night I couldn’t quite sleep. This ignominious legacy has many untold effects on the present generation, even the church we’re supporting.
|
|
The School
Pastor Eang Chun suffered through that period. When I mentioned Taing Chhirc, one of the church leaders who courageously stood firm when the Khmer Rouge went on their rampage, Pastor Eang Chun immediately remembered him. Taing Chhirc’s brother is now a pastor of one large church in the city. In 1973, Taing Chhirc came to Singapore to speak to the directors of the OMF to plead for workers to teach and disciple the young church. He died soon at the hands of the merciless Khmer Rouge.
Pastor Eang Chun is leading the work which COG Singapore is supporting. Besides shepherding the church, he also acts as the primary school principal. The church and school are located just at the fringe of the city, surrounded by tombstones! The compound is tightly hemmed in by a cemetery. Behind the compound is an acrid-smelling polluted pond. Immediately beyond that is the village where most of the economically disadvantaged students come from.
On the school register, there are about 70 students and seven teachers. However, the class attendance is inconsistent, largely due to two factors:
1. parental objections that it’s a Christian school
2. parental preference for their children to work than to study
We believe the school can win the hearts of the parents once it establishes itself as a first-rate school capable of offering quality education. The second factor is a lot more difficult to resolve. The villagers are poor and they need their children to work in the market and factories to earn the extra income to support the family. We’re exploring with the teachers creative ways to encourage regular attendance.
We’re truly touched by the dedication of the teachers. One of them uses his own money to provide food for his students. Another regularly visits her students’ families and tries to be a stabilizing force to some of the emotionally scarred children. One of her students is so traumatized by his family problems that he once buried himself in the sand and has severe behavioural problems. His mother died of AIDS and his father is never around. He is being looked after by his grandmother.
|
Discipleship Training
We conducted a discipleship training class for the teachers and church leaders on the second day of our visit. The church needs teaching on the basics and disciplines of the Christian faith, so that they can carry on the reproductive process of teaching, training, and equipping.
Our Lord says, “A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher” (Luke 6:40). This is a precious promise that offers hope of vibrant continuity for the church. Every member has that enormous potential to grow into the full stature of Christ and be an important linkage to the next generation.
After the training session, we were treated to a wonderful meal, including three full size snakehead fish roasted whole (with the gills and entrails intact) and home-grown mango salad.
|
 |
| The Snakeheads |
|
| |
|
Pray for Cambodia
Scars and painful memories are never easily forgotten. Cambodia is still grappling with the atrocities of the war. The long awaited tribunal to try the former leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime has yet to materialize. For any form of closure (if that were possible), the international community must convene the tribunal soon, for the country to exorcise its past and move forward.
Pray for the many spiritually dislocated and fractured millions, that they will open their hearts to the gospel of Christ. Please also remember the Cambodian church that they will steadfastly and courageously preach the gospel with passion and compassion to this mainly Buddhist country.
There are many social problems afflicting the people – corruption, child prostitution, AIDS, dysfunctional families, poverty etc. We need to uphold the many Christian workers (local and foreign) who are engaged in bringing hope and relief to the displaced. We were heartened at the airport to meet another Singaporean group from another church returning home after a short stint with an orphanage they are supporting.
Do remember Pastor Eang Chun and the teachers – that they will remain focussed and faithful to their calling. In situations where needs seem endless and infinitely multiplying, the church with all its good intentions may be tempted to overextend itself to its own detriment. It can march on its own strength and spread itself too thin that it loses its effectiveness. Good intentions can also be bad distractions. That’s the subtlety of ministry. Let’s be mindful of this as we pray for Cambodia: “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful” (Col 4:2).
|
|
