Cleveland, Tenn., is now sister city to... Phnom Penh? [-Time to learn to say "forced evictions" in "Southern Drawl"?]

In this file photo, a woman hangs laundry on the outskirts of the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh as a passenger train passes by just feet away. (Photo by Associated Press /Chattanooga Times Free Press)

Tuesday, July 24th, 2012
By Randall Higgins
Chattanooga Times Free Press

KHMER ROUGE

The regime, which ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, killed an estimated 2 million Cambodians in that time. Under the group's leader, Pol Pot, the regime emptied the country's cities, determined to create a totally agrarian, communist society. In 1979, Vietnamese troops, tired of border skirmishes with the Khmer Rouge, invaded Cambodia and sent the Khmer Rouge back to the jungles. Pol Pot continued to lead the group as an insurgent movement until 1997, when he was arrested and sentenced to house arrest by his own followers after killing one of his closest advisers. He died in 1998 in a tiny jungle village, never having faced charges.

Source: Time magazine

CLEVELAND, Tenn. -- The distance between Cleveland and Phnom Penh, Cambodia, shrank a little Monday.

The capital city of Cambodia and Cleveland -- 9,100 miles apart -- are now Sister Cities.

The City Council approved the Sister City resolution Monday.

"There is no cost to the city, and it creates good will," Mayor Tom Rowland said Monday.

The Cambodian tie to Southeast Tennessee is through an organization called People for Care and Learning, created by the Church of God. Founded in 2002 in Cleveland, the organization seeks to improve the lives of some of the world's poorest people in Southeast Asia.

Its goal in Cambodia is to build a village inside the city limits of Phnom Penh to house about 8,000 displaced people, said Fred Garmon, president of People for Care and Learning. The job will take about $2.5 million and three years, he said.

Religious persecution and beating to death of Khmer Krom protestants in Preah Trapaing (Tra Vinh), South Vietnam

Unofficial translation from Vietnamese by Google

INFORMATION OFFICE OF ETHNIC Protestant VIETNAM

URGENT NOTICE

To:

U.S. Consulate General

Pastor Council TLH-UMCC/VPCEF Vietnam & USA

The Protestant agencies

Foreign mass media & journalists

Individuals and organizations, community associations in Vietnam

Religious organizations

Sunday at 10 o'clock on 04.04.2009, at Tha la Hamlet, Ngoc border, Tra Cu district, Tra Vinh province, the government has mobilized security forces and guerrillas armed with sticks and stones to surrounded and repress the Khmer-Krom Protestant Church of Christ Fellowship (part of UMCC / VPCEF). The police force and the armed guerrillas were used to beat the Protestant deacons who died on the way home. Mr. Thach Thanh Noah was born in 1991, he is Khmer-Krom native residing in Tha la hamlets, Ngoc border, Tra Cu district, Tra Vinh province. Mr. Thach Thanh Chi Noah serves Khmer-Krom protestants in Tha la hamlets, Ngoc border, Tra Cu district, Tra Vinh province. Currently, his family and relatives at the Khmer Krom Protestant Church in the southwest are very afraid after witnessing the beating to death and the assault on protestant followers.

To the news media and Protestant people of Vietnam, we are reporting this information to you for general broadcast. We ask that you pray for the family of the victims and we want to attract your attention to the fate of Khmer-Krom people.

News Media and Protestant people of Vietnam, we will continue to update information and images of the death of Deacon Thanh Thach Chi Noah in the days to come ... Please note that you should go to the incident location and speak to the minority siblings about their religious beliefs, as well as to share information about the unjust beating to death by government agents..!

News media can contact us at the phone number (01676971956) which belongs to missionary Thach Thi Phai, the manager of the Khmer Krom Protestant Church of Christ Fellowship in Tha la village, for more details about the death of Thach Noah Thach.

Nguyen Cong Chinh

Chairman of VPCEF UMCCMs. 

WARNING: Due to the graphic nature of the photos included in the following file, viewer discretion is advised.

https://www.box.com/s/366e5720ef98ce671c74

Cambodia on church radar

Veronica Oum, left and Jean Paul, local ambassador for the Adventist Development Relief Agency, examine a globe Saturday. Veronica is preparing for a trip Feb. 13-March 1 to Cambodia and Thailand as part of Canadian delegation with ADRA offering relief in parts of those countries. Saturday, her church hosted a dinner to raise money for her trip. (PATRICK BRENNAN Times-Journal)

20-year-old St. Thomas woman volunteers for journey back to her homeland

31 Jan 2012
By Patrick Brennan
St. Thomas Times-Journal (St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada)

Veronica Oum is preparing to make a difference.

The 20-year-old St. Thomas woman who works as a lab technician at Zellers Pharmacy, is making plans to leave Feb. 13 on trip to Cambodia and Thailand. She will be there until March 1.

She will be travelling as part of an Adventist Development Relief Agency (ADRA) mission sponsored by the Seventh Day Adventist Church.

Saturday, members of her church sat down at a fundraising dinner for her as she prepares to the final phase of her preparation.

Supporting Cambodian school is a blessing to our church

Emmanuel Christian School students in Broyouk, Cambodia, are being educated with the support of parishioners at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lansing

Sunday, March 6, 2011
Nothwest Indiana Times

Sometimes life as a pastor seems to be more joyful than others. There are some hills and valleys in the life of the parish pastor. I happen to be on one of those joyful highs right now. It isn't because life is especially easy right now. It's not. It is because of what I have just experienced in the mission field.

Trinity Lutheran Church, the church I serve, has a wonderful relationship going on right now with a little Christian school in a tiny village called Broyouk in rural Cambodia. It was a special privilege for my wife, Carrie, and me to visit it recently.

Let me explain how this worked out. One of the sons of our congregation is Rudy Schaser. I call him a "son" of our congregation because Rudy grew up here. Not only did he grow up here, but he also went on to become a missionary in the Philippines and a long-serving pastor in the Lutheran church.

In Cambodia, ADRA delivers water to refugees following border skirmish

Refugees at the Tmei Commune benefited from an ADRA water distribution effort this month. The agency later drilled three wells near the camp to provide for the health and hygiene needs of some 2,500 families displaced by border clashes between Cambodia and Thailand. [photo courtesy ADRA Cambodia]

Agency follows immediate response with well drilling, water filter distribution

22 Feb 2011, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
ADRA Cambodia/ANN staff

The humanitarian arm of the Seventh-day Adventist Church drilled wells and distributed more than 1,000 water filters to aid some 2,500 families displaced by recent border skirmishes between Cambodia and Thailand.

An estimated 30,000 people fled the region after clashes erupted earlier this month over a disputed 11th Century temple, killing at least 10 and wounding 89. The situation remains tense, but a truce brokered by the United Nations last week led local officials to speculate most refugees will return home shortly.

Both southeast Asian nations agreed today to allow Indonesian observers into the disputed area to avoid further violence, reports indicate.

Breaking the chains of addiction in Cambodia

Sunday, September 05, 2010
Inspire Magazine (UK)

Freedom Cambodia (FC), a partner project of the UK charity Life For The World Trust (LFTW) is working hard with Phnom Penh churches and other ministries to launch Cambodia's first Christian addictions conference.

FC has, under the name Christian Response to Addictions in Cambodia, trained hundreds of workers and volunteers in Christian ministries and churches since 2005. Now FC is setting up a drop in centre for young people who are not only poor but also abusing drugs and solvents.

The conference entitled 'Breaking the Chains' (18 November 2010) is aimed at pastors and church leaders, many of whom face daily the challenge of church families affected by addictions. The conference programme will include a range of workshops on the pastoral issues raised by drug and alcohol abuse and gambling and ways in which churches can provide support for people with addictions.

Cambodian Baptists seek partnerships

Sep 3, 2010
By Mark Kelly

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Baptist Press)--God has blessed Baptist work in Cambodia -- with 304 churches started since 1993 -- but partnership is needed for the work to move forward, the president of Cambodia's Baptist Union said.

Nivath Nhem, who was re-elected in 2010 for a second five-year term as president of the Cambodia Baptist Union, traveled to the United States in August to explore prospects for church-to-church partnerships that would help advance a visionary plan to start 1,621 new congregations in next five years. He was hosted by Albert W. Wardin Jr., emeritus professor of history at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn.

"We want to see every person in Cambodia accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord," Nhem told Baptist Press in a mid-August interview. "The goal of the Cambodia Baptist Union is to reach Cambodia with the Gospel of Jesus Christ by planting churches throughout Cambodia."

Nhem led Cambodia's congregations to set a goal of reaching all 13,871 villages in the country and has challenged each church to reach that goal by starting a new church each year. He also has led them to establish goals of expanding the union's program of pastor training and starting general education schools for the nation's children.

"We need partners if the work is going to move forward," Nhem said. "We know these goals are inspiration from the Lord. There is openness to the Gospel in our country right now. We cannot delay because the door may close at any time. We must take advantage of this openness, but we need partners to do that."

Like neighboring Vietnam and Laos, Cambodia has a communist government and is traditionally Buddhist, but right now Cambodia is the country that is more open, Nhem said.

"Cambodia is more soft than hard," Nhem said. "The people are more open to the Gospel. There are some restrictions on our work, but the Baptist union is recognized by the government."

Thavy Nhem, a believer who is a member of Cambodia's parliament, helped start Baptist work in the country and still is an adviser to the Baptist union, which was organized in 1995. The union has had a strong emphasis on church planting since its inception, and now has churches in 17 provinces of the country's 24 provinces. Its 304 congregations have 13,238 members, and 50 of them have permanent facilities. The union operates pastor training schools in the capital, Phnom Penh, and two provinces, and wants to expand the training to five provinces in the next five years.

"We want to see the church grow and be established all over Cambodia. We want to see believers and churches be a blessing for Cambodia," Nhem said. "Our mission is for Cambodia to know that Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God, that He is salvation when people accept Him as their Lord and Savior.

"If anyone feels led by the Spirit of God," Nhem said, "we invite them to partner with us."

In the meantime, Nhem requested prayer for the Baptist union's plans in starting churches and schools, and that they would be able to establish the physical facilities needed for progress. He also requested prayer for adequate finances and for the Lord to lead congregations into five-year church-to-church partnerships.
------
Mark Kelly is an assistant editor with Baptist Press. Nivath Nhem can be contacted by e-mail at cbcambodia@yahoo.com. The Cambodia Baptist Union on the Internet at
www.cambodiabaptistunion.com.

'Daughters of Cambodia' Leave Sex Trade for Christ

Friday, August 27, 2010
By Stan Jeter
CBN News Senior Producer

In Cambodia, 90 percent of prostitutes are sold into the sex industry by their parents. Many of the girls say they feel obligated to stay because their families depend on them for support.

British missionary Ruth Elliott is determined to provide a way out for the victims of sex trafficking. For six years, Elliott has been working to set the girl's free through her "Daughters of Cambodia" ministry.

"They live in the pit of hell. It's the truth," she said, explaining the victims' situation. "And they experience horrendous trauma when they come out."

Elliott said she feels God called her for this difficult work when she was only 14 years old.

"The Lord began to speak to me," she recalled. "He wanted me to go into the places that were worst and to facilitate healing the broken-hearted and setting the captives free."

Training for Life

Elliott arrived in Cambodia in 2004 and focused her efforts on rescuing sex workers.

"This involves going directly into the brothels and inviting sex workers who are in the sex industry in Cambodia to change their lives, if they are interested in doing that," she explained.

Elliott started Daughters of Cambodia, a day-center near the brothels, to help the girls transition out of the sex trade. The first thing they learn is a new way to earn an income.

"We had to start small businesses, which are fair trade businesses, in order for the girls to exit the sex industry," she said. "For without another job, it is just impossible for them to leave the sex industry."

At the Daughters of Cambodia center, the girls not only learn new work skills, they also learn valuable lessons for establishing a healthy family and a home.

"Things like domestic violence prevention, conflict resolution skills, budgeting skills, this kind of thing," Elliott explained. "[Also] drug prevention."

The Daughters of Cambodia market their clothing, fashion accessories, and home furnishings locally and overseas. Up to 60 girls at a time participate in the program, earning money for rent, food and other needs.

Doing Good Among Evil

But it takes time and a lot of help to overcome the trauma of working in the sex trade.

That's why Elliott, who's also a psychologist, trains counselors to work with the girls. Along with others in the red light district, she even introduces them to Jesus.

"We do build relationship with the brothel owners and they are welcome in our church program," she said. "We want brothel owners to come. We want pimps to come. We want everyone in the sex industry to come to our church because we believe in the power of Jesus to change everyone's life."

And that message is having its effect, especially among the girls.

"They respond very quickly to the gospel because they have never in their lives experienced love -- unconditional love and acceptance," Elliott said. "And many of them become Christians as a result of this."

Still, working in this environment is never easy. What Elliott does can be dangerous.

"But I have to say we have never, ever, not even one day, had any problems, any brothel owners turn up at our door demanding a girl back or threatening us in any way," she proclaimed. "We have never had a single threat against us. And I can't explain that to you except I believe the grace of God is on us."

Elliot's goal is to graduate her girls to successfully live on their own. She hopes to someday replicate the Daughters of Cambodia center in other countries with similar needs.

Poor but hopeful lives in Prey Veng: Touching letter from Fr. Alberto

Cambodian women save the world, in Prey Veng mission

08/12/2010
CAMBODIA
By Alberto Caccaro

Fr Alberto Caccaro, a PIME missionary who has lived in Cambodia for the past ten years, wrote the following letter after a brief holiday in Italy. In it, he describes daily life at his mission, focusing on a woman trying to get a daughter into school, a Christian woman coping with a small child, a blind girl who wants to “feel” close and pray for missionaries.

Prey Veng (AsiaNews) – We are publishing in its entirety a letter Father Alberto sent to his friends in Italy:

“If your everyday life seems poor, don't blame it;
blame yourself; admit to yourself that you are not enough of a poet to call forth its riches[.”1
“Are we here, perhaps, for saying: house,
bridge, fountain, gate, jug, fruit-tree, window –
at most: column, tower . . . .”2

Two days ago, a widowed mother came. She wanted to register her teenage daughter in our school. I saw her arrive on a battered motorbike, skidding, motor sputtering along, but moving nonetheless. They were three on the bike. The woman had a niece, in addition to her daughter, also coming for registration. They were from a not-so distant village, but hard to get to because of a very rough road.

She wore a pair of sunglasses as old as the motorcycle, but useful to hide an eye impairment. I only figured it out after talking to her. Slowly, she told me that to get to the school she had to borrow the bike from a neighbour. And since it had no registration plate, she had to borrow that too from a second neighbour, one with the right sized holes so that it could be properly attached and not give her away to the highway police. Since she had no helmet, which is increasingly becoming a must even in the countryside, she borrowed one from a third neighbour . . . . In order to hide how poor she was, instead of borrowing all three from one person, she borrowed each piece from a different neighbour.

All set and ready to go on her borrowed bike, plate and helmet, she brought the two girls to the school. As she spoke to me, I could not but notice, almost like a background stage to what she was saying, two teeth on her upper dental arch, and one on the lower arch. Nothing more. Yet, she was shooting away, speaking with such passion about her daughter, her niece and their desire to study that I saw in what she lacked what made her a full person, and gave her a sense of being complete.

What Rainer Maria Rilke said is true. We must be able to evoke the richness of what would otherwise appear plain and remain so. I realise that I am not in Prey Veng to achieve big things. I only have to observe and evoke, name the richness that is hiding in the heart of so many poor and limping mothers, . . . on the go, always. “Are we here, perhaps, for saying: house, bridge, fountain, gate, jug, fruit-tree, window – at most: column, tower”. Bike, plate, helmet . . . Say the name till one evokes,3 and thus rescue from oblivion. Mothers save the world . . . .

Hang had her first child two months ago. Married about a year ago, she became the mother of a beautiful baby boy. Since she had the child, she has not been to Mass. I finally met up with her a few days ago. She told me about her husband, who is not Catholic, and who is often away from home, working far away. He will not be able to be at the baby’s baptism, on the Feast Day of the Assumption. She spoke about her child crying at the night, how no one can sleep, her faraway husband who comes back on rare and short visits, perhaps just one night, before going away. Even on the day the child was born, they called him several times to go back work. Then the birth came, and the sleepless nights . . . .

She did notice one thing though. When the father is back and sleeps at home, the child is all quiet and sleeps. One night, another one of those without dad, powerless to do anything about the child’s cries, she took one of her husband’s shirts and wrapped the babe in it. A few moments later, he stopped crying. “Perhaps,” the young mother said, “my baby recognised his dad’s smell and is soothed by it, as if the father was there.” She tried it again and it worked.

I was moved by the thought that a two-month child could recognise whether his dad was home or not, and express what he felt, crying. I told the woman to explain to her husband that, whilst work is necessary, it could not be used as an excuse to stay away from his son. I don’t know how things will work out in the end, but the little prince cries when his daddy goes away, leaving an empty home of abandoned walls.

Thinking about these two mothers, the words of a contemporary poet came back to me. “Women shall save the world. Of course, fathers shape it, children turn it into an adventure, building it anew. But it is mothers who save it. We see it when times are hard, when conflicts break out, and we do not know what to do. It is then that mothers, some mothers, save it. Their patient sowing and their secret strength guard it and revive it.”4

When I was in Italy, I met a little princess. I was visiting the Giorgio Macchi Elementary School in Somma. I had been invited to speak to 250 children, all at once. When I came into the gym, they called me “friend” several times in so many different languages, and sang a cute refrain, “With my hand in your hand, with my heart in your heart”. Eventually, I spoke, for about an hour, everyone listening carefully. At the end, a girl accompanied by her teacher came towards me. She asked me, “Father Alberto can I take your hands?” I realise then that her head was slightly tilted, the way blind people do. The teacher confirmed it. Stephanie, that is her name, listened to me for an hour, but that was not enough. She wanted to feel if what she heard was true. She grasped my hands. I sat down and she, with unexpected confidence, bent resting on my knee. I thought, “Stephanie, you who can see what I cannot yet see, always say a little prayer for us missionaries.” There and then, I felt the gift of a deep communion. This little princess brought me to a deeper and truer level, one where Church, Family, School and Society are but one, single body, “With my hand in your hand, with my heart in your heart”. I asked the children to sing the song again.

During the months of my stay in Italy, I met so many beautiful people. I will not repeat their names for fear of leaving someone out. I just thank them all; those in the schools, monasteries, parishes that I visited; the priests, nuns, relatives, friends; those who organised parties and those who made sure I saw the sea; the Alpini, the young people of Akuna Matata; the seniors in rest homes and those at Il Girasole centre; those who sang for me and for Cambodia; those who were ill and all those I only met for a brief moment. My thoughts go especially to my elementary school teacher, Ms Franca, whom I had not seen in 30 years. I promise I shall remember everyone when I celebrate the Eucharist every day, in particular those who asked me for special prayers.

The Pope recently said that the “no one who prays is ever alone”. For me, this is true when I celebrate the Eucharist. I experience the importance of the daily celebration as faithfulness in Christ and appeal to be in communion with Him, for this way, in the soul, another life is possible, one that can “understand, know, and love—or better” realise that this is “in her—in the Trinity, together with it, as does the Trinity itself!”5 I celebrate the Eucharist so as not to be alone. With Jesus present, our small church is an enchanting place that re-introduces me to the Mystery.

Often words are not enough for me to say all about what is visible and invisible around me. I feel a deep gratitude and an urgent need to evoke the presence of the Mystery and the Power of the Eternal. “He is here. He is here as on the first day. . . . He is here among us all the days of his eternity.6

For this reason, the mission I am living is dear to me, so is the house in which I live, the church where I pray, the school where we are trying to discover and identify that excess of meaning that every dictatorship, whatever their stripe, fears and stifles. We, instead, are made so that we can say, He is here.

See you soon,

Father Alberto
Prey Veng, 6 August 2010
Transfiguration of the Lord

----------------
[1] Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a young poet (Online edition retrieved on 12 August 2010 at http://www.carrothers.com/rilke1.htm).
[2] Rainer Maria Rilke, Ninth Duino Elegy.
[3] According to my old Italian dictionary, the famous Devoto-Oli, to evoke means “calling something forth from the world of mystery to that of sensory experience”.
[4] Text by Davide Rondoni.
[5] Saint John of the Cross, Spiritual Canticle.
[6] Charles Péguy

The Forgotten Victims Of Priest Sexual Abuse: Girls

KI-Media Note: We received the request to post following article from I.J, one of KI-Media Readers

Originally posted here

A few weeks ago, Slate's June Thomas asked a new question about abuse in the Catholic Church: "What about the girls?" It's a question that's just starting to receive attention in a scandal that has mostly focused on young boys.

Pat Wingert and Barbara Kantrowitz tackle the issue in Newsweek, writing that previous conceptions of priest sexual abuse "seemed to suggest that this scenario ignored a whole segment of victims: young girls." In talking to experts, they found that girls were less likely to face abuse at the hands of priests — at least among reported cases, there were four male victims for every one female — but that it did happen. Girls were typically younger at the time of the abuse, but they were also more likely to be their abusers' only victim, and perpetrators who had just one victim were less likely to abuse for more than a year. Thus Wingert and Kantrowitz paint a picture of abuse of girls as a one-time event, in contrast to the serial abuse of boys that has become such a scandal. A Daily Dish reader echoes this portrayal, writing that "the abusers of females seem to have been less compelled to abuse multiple victims." The reader also draws another distinction between abusers of girls and abusers of boys:

[T]he really, really creepy thing about many of the abusive priests was that so many of them were such popular, charismatic figures within their parishes. They would "get" their victims by cozying up to the boys' families, creating bonds of affection with the mothers and fathers, taking the boys under their wings, going on camping trips, etc. Then they'd rape them, knowing that their very popularity would make it unlikely that anyone would believe some crazy kid's accusation about good Father So-and-So.

With the girls, again, not so much. The victimizers of girls appeared (to me) to be basically very lonely, socially misfit, heterosexual guys with absolutely no outlet for the sexual aspect of their personalities. [...] a lot of these guys were generally pretty shy and awkward around the opposite sex, and for some of them, an 11-year old girl was just an easier mark than an adult.
The message: abusers of boys were crafty villains, abusers of girls were misfit losers. The reader does add, "I don't mean for a moment to belittle the act that transpired - rape is rape, lives were destroyed, and it is unforgivable." However, the account does seem to back up what Barbara Dorris, national outreach director for Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) has found: that people think of priests' abuse of boys as worse than their abuse of girls. She tells Wingert and Kantrowitz, "In part because of sexism and homophobia, journalists, police, prosecutors, attorneys, and sometimes even parents feel even more outraged when a boy is sexually abused by a powerful man than when a girl is assaulted, and are thus more apt to take action, pursue charges, file lawsuits, and talk publicly." Church officials too, she thinks, are more likely to take action against abuse of boys, which is one reason it appears to be more common.

The Daily Dish reader thinks abuse of girls happens less because girls have less sustained contact with priests, and it's also possible that this lack of contact makes abuse of multiple female victims more difficult. However, the reader's comments do reveal an interesting dichotomy: the girl-abuser is sad, pathetic, and fuxxed-up, while the boy-abuser is evil. Might this idea permeate the Church, and might it stem at least in part from the idea that homosexuality is itself a sin, and that gay men are naturally predatory and depraved? One Slate commenter thinks so, writing, "[T]he reason they focus so closely on the male victims is that then the church can (very, very wrongly) claim that homosexuality, not pedophilia, is the true sin in this situation." But the true sin, of course, is abusing a position of trust to harm children — and this is no less wrong when the victim is female.

Cambodian pastor returns with the gospel to land he fled 30 years ago

Cambodian pastor Rindo Nong describes his flight from the Khmer Rouge in 1979, his conversion to Christ in a Thai refugee camp and a journey to the Philippines and then to Fort Worth, Texas.

Cambodian pastor Rindo Nong gives his testimony in the Khmer language.

November 05, 2009
By George Henson,Staff Writer
Baptist Standard

FORT WORTH — Rindo Nong had no idea three decades ago God was leading him out of the killing fields of Cambodia so that years later, he could return, bringing the gospel to his homeland.

In fact, Nong didn’t even know God when his family fled to a refugee camp in Thailand to escape the Khmer Rouge in 1979.

“I grew up a Buddhist,” said Nong, now pastor of a Cambodian mission church in Fort Worth sponsored by Travis Avenue Baptist Church.

“In the refugee camp, they had a missionary who would go in and come out to spread the gospel. They had built one church for Christians and one church for Buddhists right across from one another.”

Nong’s mother and stepfather were curious and began attending the Christian church to find out more about Jesus. Ultimately, they made professions of faith in Christ, and they began to share their faith with other family members.

Nong began his own spiritual search, but it took him some time to leave his Buddhist roots.

One day, his mother and brother brought him a gospel tract to read.

“The tract talked about life, and it had a nice picture on it, and I liked that red flower. When I read through the whole tract, my spirit started to sing about life, what’s going on in life, and what happens when we die,” he said. “A new spirit came upon me. I didn’t know it was the Holy Spirit at that time, but I felt different.”

The next Sunday, when his mother went to church, Nong was by her side.

“When I accepted Christ, it changed my life. ... It changed the singing in my soul. Now there was joy,” he said.

That was 1980, and Nong began to spend a great deal of time with the Christian missionaries in the refugee camps, learning more about his newfound faith. He spent almost three years in refugee camps—two in Thailand and another in the Philippines—before he and his wife moved to Fort Worth, where his parents already were living.

In 1990, Nong began to feel a stirring to minister. Eventually, that sense of calling led him back to a place where he thought he never would return.

“I wanted to serve the Lord among Cambodians, but not go back to Cambodia. But one day, God called me back, and I had to go to Cambodia,” Nong recalled.

In 1994, with the help of Travis Avenue Baptist Church, he started his ministry to the Cambodians of Fort Worth. Three years later, Nong and his wife went back to Cam-bodia for the first time since his escape from the Com-munists years before.

“God told me I had to go back and start a church in my own village,” Nong said. Among his extended family, he found a readymade congregation who were eager to hear about Christ. In 2001, he led the construction of a church there.

He has made a trip back to Cambodia every year since, starting churches and constructing church buildings. Since 2003, a group from University Baptist Church, where he has worked as a custodian 25 years, has accompanied him to Cambodia.

“Now I’m involved with the whole country training pastors and leaders. The church there is really growing,” Nong said.

With help from his partners in Fort Worth, a Baptist center has been built in his home village of Batongbang to train church leaders.

While the people of Cambodia are closely tied to their family traditions and Buddhism, Nong said, they are very curious about Christianity. They have a thirst for more and are welcoming of Christians, he added.

“This is a good time,” Nong said. “We can’t wait too long.”

A new church is consecrated in Phnom Penh: the first after the destruction of the Khmer Rouge

01/07/2008
AsiaNews.it (Italy)

It has been defined “defined a sign of hope”. Present, card. Raffaele Martino and more than a thousand Catholics from across the country as well as priests and missionaries.

Phnom Penh (AsiaNews) – Today the feast of the Epiphany, card. Renato Raffaele Martino consecrated the church of “Infant Jesus” in Boeung Tum Pun, Phnom Penh. It is the first church to be consecrated in the capital in the aftermath of the Khmer Rouge regime, its extermination and deportation of millions of people. Priests who took charge of its building, among them Fr. Mario Ghezzi from PIME, have described it as a “sign of hope” and rebirth.

Present at yesterdays ceremony apart from card. Martino – former nuncio in Cambodia and now president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace – the current nuncio to Thailand and Cambodia, msgr. Salvatore Pennacchio; msgr. Emile Destombes, bishop of Phnom Penh; and apostolic prefect of Battambang and Kompong-Cham; bishop emeritus msgr. Yves Ramousse, who was bishop of Phnom Penh before the arrival of Pol Pot.

Circa one thousand faithful from diverse areas across the nation took part in the ceremony, thirty priests, diocesan and religious who work in the Cambodian church. One of the priests present commented: “It was a moment of great enthusiasm and joy, above all for the French missionaries from Mep ( Missions etrangères de Paris), who have been present in this church for some time now and who have witnessed the devastation and persecution of the communist period. There was a youthful climate and an atmosphere of hope, in a community that has chosen to serve charity”.

In fact, the parish area promotes charitable initiatives supported by Cambodian nuns, including a hotel for young female students from across the country; a "sick shelter" for the poor and sick who come from afar to receive hospital treatment; a home for sick children and HIV/AIDS sufferers, all run by Maryknoll missionary sisters.

Many foreigners who work on the ground with NGO’s were also present. The new parish priest is fr. Mario Ghezzi, from PIME, who was chiefly responsible for bringing Msgr. Destombes dream of the Church to fruition.