Original report from Macon, Ga.
14 August 2007
A group of Cambodian Christians living in the southern US have begun a plan to build a "blessing field," saying their survival of the killing fields of Cambodia in the 1970s was the work of Jesus Christ.
The field will actually be a community center, and could cost as much as $2.5 million. And while some of that has been raised, organizers say they still have much more to collect.
"In five years, 10 years, 100 years, 200 years, if we have a place like this, people will know how we left the killing field and entered the blessing fields," said Seang Yiv, chair of the Cambodian Southern Baptist Fellowship, which is building the center, and owner of the land where it will sit. "In the future any individual of the young generation will come here and see our museum, and they will know, 'Oh, here is my dad, grandparent, ancestor, those who suffered, and [here is] their history, which allowed me to come to the US and to know this land full of freedom.'
The center will house a conference hall, living space and museum for documents, Seang Yiv said. "Those documents can be movies, video, film and documents remaining from the past in Cambodia and life in the Khmer Rouge, what it was about then and what was going on and then how Christ changed life and how this new life in Christ is," he said. "It's a history of all those who left the killing fields for the blessing fields, every step."
The blessing fields right now are all land and earth and trees, with no buildings. Organizers say they hope to complete a structure in the near future.
Pastor Chear Torn of the First Cambodian Arlington Baptist Church said his flock offered about $2,000 this year to develop the site.
Samuel Nuon, a former pastor of the Derbyshire Cambodia Church in Richmond, Va., claimed that his church members offered money "for the blessing field" too. No official statistics of Cambodian Christians exists in the US, but in Cambodia they comprise only 5 percent of the population.
The field will actually be a community center, and could cost as much as $2.5 million. And while some of that has been raised, organizers say they still have much more to collect.
"In five years, 10 years, 100 years, 200 years, if we have a place like this, people will know how we left the killing field and entered the blessing fields," said Seang Yiv, chair of the Cambodian Southern Baptist Fellowship, which is building the center, and owner of the land where it will sit. "In the future any individual of the young generation will come here and see our museum, and they will know, 'Oh, here is my dad, grandparent, ancestor, those who suffered, and [here is] their history, which allowed me to come to the US and to know this land full of freedom.'
The center will house a conference hall, living space and museum for documents, Seang Yiv said. "Those documents can be movies, video, film and documents remaining from the past in Cambodia and life in the Khmer Rouge, what it was about then and what was going on and then how Christ changed life and how this new life in Christ is," he said. "It's a history of all those who left the killing fields for the blessing fields, every step."
The blessing fields right now are all land and earth and trees, with no buildings. Organizers say they hope to complete a structure in the near future.
Pastor Chear Torn of the First Cambodian Arlington Baptist Church said his flock offered about $2,000 this year to develop the site.
Samuel Nuon, a former pastor of the Derbyshire Cambodia Church in Richmond, Va., claimed that his church members offered money "for the blessing field" too. No official statistics of Cambodian Christians exists in the US, but in Cambodia they comprise only 5 percent of the population.
3 comments:
What about those who did not survive the regime? To whom are they to thank (in spirit) for their demise? Where was Jesus Christ when His churches were totally destroyed and His followers were killed by the KR cadets? People of all faiths suffered the same fate during that reign of terror (I'm sure these people had been Buddhists who converted to Christianity when they arrived in the States). Their Messiahs did not come to the rescue until another communist troop invaded. Was that also the miraculous work of Jesus Christ? If so, I thought the communists were atheists!
This does not make any sense at all. Please enlighten me, anyone!
To 4:59PM!
Jesus Christ can't help you unless you help yourself first! To be Christian is to be burden and to experience the hardship of life and your burden will lift once you get into the Kingdom of God!
Thanks for your explanation, 2:59 AM.
However, this statement seems to reinforce the belief of the atheists that if you can help yourself why do you need an invisible power that is always ready to take the credit if something goes right for you?
It seems very appropriate that if something goes right it will be thanks to this invisible power. If something goes wrong the invisible power will never be at fault. This viewpoint seems to operate under these two rules:
1. The Boss is always right
2. If the Boss is wrong, Rule 1 applies.
All religions embrace the notion that when you are in the Kingdom of God (which means you are dead!) you will see the light, while the surviving family members must continue to endure the burden of life. I am not an atheist, but my curious human mind (believed to be the gift from God) also would like to seek a logical explanation based on the reality, not fantasy or theory.
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