I am sitting down to write this blog as I finish wiping the tears from my face. God is good, and He is so alive! I am rereading this book about the story of Cambodian Christians since 1922 when the first missionaries came to Cambodia.
In my reading I just got to the period of time right before the Khmer Rouge genocide began. So far the church had not seen much growth until the few years before the genocide. Revival broke out in the years leading up to the Khmer Rouge takeover even up to the point where 100s were consistently reported every week to have decided to follow Jesus. The growth rate in those years was over 100%.
It was about 2 weeks before the communist party took over. Danger and darkness covered the capital as the sound of rockets and bombs were always going off. Christians met at Taing Chhirc’s house for Good Friday. Pastor Chhirc opens his Bible to John 13 where Jesus washes His disciple’s feet. And as many of those Christians had received threat letters from the Khmer Rouge already (as they would be killed for believing in Jesus), they proceeded to do just like our Lord modeled for us. So they filled basins with water and washed each other’s feet.
The book has a snippet from a letter from Taing Chhirc (one of the prominent Christian leaders of the day) written on Good Friday April 4, 1975. Pastor Chhric wrote,
“The Lord is with us, isn’t He? This is according to John 14:18 (I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.). And we praise Him because we are not on the losing side!…” (Cormack, p. 148)
I am undone.
