Then and now in Cambodia

It was the end of the ‘70s. I was living in Vienna and smuggling Bibles into Communist Europe as a twenty-something kid. My connection with Cambodia goes back to this time.

You see, over in Cambodia a horrendous genocide was taking place under the Pol Pot regime there.

Refugees were flooding over the border in their thousands daily and soon the camps were overcrowded.

YWAM (Youth with a Mission) staff numbering 700 along the Thai border were involved in ministering to those who were coming out of Cambodia.

With so much misery among the Khmer people (from Cambodia) and many who had lost loved ones—some even losing their whole family to the brutality of the Khmer Rouge and to starvation and disease—were received with such love and support in Jesus’ Name.

In Vienna, when I heard about this genocide, I set up a prayer and fasting group who would meet every Friday to pray for the situation and crisis.

Months later we began to hear from YWAM friends Steve & Marie Goode that mighty moves of God were taking place as individuals were turning to Jesus, as the refugees saw the practical love of Jesus in action, and those converts then began leading family members to Christ in the camps. Conversions usually happened through personal encounters, family networks, dreams and visions, and ongoing pastoral care rather than mass rallies; many converts were women and widows processing profound bereavement from Pol Pot years.

Years later it was common to read of Khmer conversions and that many Khmer Christians in the diaspora (countries where they went out to from the camps) trace their faith back to decisions made in border camps such as Khao‑I‑Dang, Sa Kaeo and others, often through camp churches and evangelical ministries.

When the camps closed and people were repatriated, many described the camp years as a key seedbed for the rapid growth of Christianity in Cambodia in the following decade.

That was my first connection with Cambodia back in 1979. Now we are poised to go there ourselves next month to help those who are rescuing the people (young girls) from a different type of killing—spiritual and sometimes physical through the trafficking of young lives. We are excited to see both what God is doing there now, and also what He will do through our team’s visit in February.