In celebration of SEAPC’s 30th anniversary, from May 2021 to May 2022 we will be sharing stories and testimonies of God’s goodness and faithfulness from friends around the nations! Each of these testimonies is like a stone of remembrance (Joshua 4) for all that He has accomplished. We are taking this year not just to look to the past, but also to praise God for what He has in store for us and those we serve in the years to come. We hope you enjoy these stories our friends have prepared each week!
For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.
Romans 15:4
Cambodia is a land of beautiful scenery and peace-loving people,with a rich cultural heritage that dates back to before the birth of Jesus.There are remains today of architectural edifices from Buddhist and Hindutraditions that are among the artistic wonders of the world.
But in 1975, the Khmer Rouge began a reign of terror that ripped toshreds the fabric of Cambodian society. Citizens with education wereslaughtered—estimates range as high as four million of them. Teachers, medicalprofessionals, reporters, professors, mechanics, and anyone else who couldpossibly rebel were incarcerated and killed. Some fled to the jungles and werehunted down in rice paddies. Farmers were spared in order to grow foodnecessary to sustain the troops. Because rural people were uneducated, theywere no threat to the regime.
By 1979, invading Vietnamese troops overthrew the Khmer Rouge andtheir manmade famine, genocide, politicide, and mass murder. But by then, thedamage had been done. Cambodia had become a nation of illiterate peasants, witha median age of twenty-six. It further descended into poverty and hopelessness.
Mark Geppert met Pastor Sinai and his wife, Pastor Somalay, whowere themselves survivors of the Khmer Rouge. They had a desire to raiseorphaned and abandoned children; this vision has grown over the years. Fifteen provincesin Cambodia are now served through their outreach, New Hope for Orphans (NHO). Thegoal is to have a home in all of Cambodia’s twenty-five provinces. SEAPC hasbeen blessed to walk alongside NHO and to witness the amazing power of Jesus inCambodia’s transformation.
Education has been a key factor in the rebirth of this nation.Without an educated populace, it would have been impossible to rebuildinfrastructure or to spark economic growth. With the blessing of a growingChristian community, the Cambodians endured, received encouragement, and gainedhope in their temporal and eternal futures.
In 2009, a Student Centre was set up in the capital of Phnom Penhwith a goal to equip sixteen youths from various children’s homes in theirstudies for high school and university. In addition to academics, this involveddiscipleship, communication, and social skills to prepare the students for lifeoutside the orphanages. SEAPC stood beside Pastors Sinai and Somalay and SokhomSor in this endeavor.
Some of the original teens at the Student Centre from 2009-2011have grown up and become a harvest of first fruits. Im Chan Oudom and RomBunthorn currently work as administrators for SEAPC Cambodia. They serve God asthey serve others.
Fellowship, an important component of Christian life, becameorganized for the NHO kids in 2010. A Kids Camp was held at Garden Hill Resort inSihanoukville from September 8-11. The theme for the week was Christlikeness,Life in the Spirit. In attendance were 400 Cambodian children and staff, plus65 helpers from Singapore and the United States.
Over the years, Kids Camp has grown in numbers, covered a varietyof Christian teachings, and provided fellowship through education, music,games, and fun. The initial plowing and sowing into these precious lives, asthe years and the watering have gone by, has yielded a harvest for Jesus.Children from early camps now help with younger kids.
Phon Sitha, who grew up in the NHO system, and his wife are house parents at the Kampong Thom Children’s Home.
They are helping to raise a new generation of educated, faith-filled followers of Jesus both in their own growing family and for NHO. Other NHO alumni have become teachers, health care workers, and professionals. They are now plowing, sowing, and watering for the Lord in their communities, in anticipation of a great and growing harvest for the Kingdom. Each person, each blessing, each achievement is a stone of remembrance of God’s goodness, mercy, and grace in Cambodia.
There were many years of despair in Cambodia. That is being changed. As God has used friends in the nation, the truth of Proverbs 13:12 is being fulfilled: Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.