Cambodian Christian finds peace through chickens
The reality of war was not something new for Cambodian Christians. But the night of the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia, conflict and violence increased as everyone – Christians and non-Christians alike – came under attack. Forced to flee their community in order to preserve their lives a young woman named Ruat, and many others in her village, fled toward the Mekong River, with the goal of crossing the Thailand border into safety. Unable to take any belongings with her – not even food - for there had not been time to gather any supplies, Ruat would spend more than a week without food.
Under gunfire and pursued by soldiers the entire way, Ruat recalls, “We truly ran for our lives.” But before they reached the safety of Thailand, Ruat – and 1500 other Cambodians – some of them Cambodian Christians – had to cross the menacing currents of the Mekong River. Ruat watched helplessly as hundreds of people were shot in the water or drowned as they succumbed to fatigue and exhaustion in the wide, fast-flowing river. But Ruat made it to the other side.
Like thousands of Cambodians, Ruat lived for the next 22 years in a refugee camp in Thailand. She married a Cambodian hospital worker, and together, they had five children. Though they had made this new life in Thailand, when the refugee camps closed in 1992 Ruat and her husband decided to take their family back to their homeland. It would be upon their return to their native community that Ruat came to know some Bible League-trained Cambodian Christians in a way she could have never expected.
Ruat had been hopeful that the conflict and violence of her youth had finally ended. “We thought the worst was behind us,” she says. But, tragically, a few years after their return to Cambodia, Ruat’s husband was robbed and killed. Now, a single mother once again haunted by fears of violence and conflict, supporting the children was up to her. “I had hoped that life in Cambodia would be so much better than before,” she says. “But again I found myself struggling to survive.”
To remain at home with her children, Ruat began raising chickens for income. When it was time to inoculate them, she called a veterinarian named Mov. What she did not realize at the time, however, was that he was known as Pastor Mov, and he was a Bible League-trained Cambodian Christian. “He shared with me and my family about Jesus,” Ruat says. “But when I asked others in my village about the Christian religion, they advised me to avoid it.”
Despite the warnings from those in her community, Ruat decided to allow her children to attend a young people’s fellowship with the Cambodian Christian, Pastor Mov. When they came home and explained all the good things they learned from the Bible, she became interested. She began a Bible study—provided by faithful Bible League partners—and she began to understand how Jesus Christ forgives sins. “I had never given this any thought,” she explains. “My Buddhist teachings did not mention sins or forgiveness.”
Gradually, through their Khmer Bible study and the continued discipleship of other Cambodian Christians, Ruat and her children learned more about Jesus Christ and the Bible, and they all chose to accept Him as their Lord and Savior. Now, Ruat testifies, her past struggles were put to rest under a blanket of joy and peace—all because God sent a Christian – a Cambodian Christian - to work with her chickens!
The casualties of war in Cambodia include millions of lives lost, and a generation of Cambodians raised in poverty, broken homes, and sorrow. In addition to a longing for healing and a thirst for peace, there is a hunger within the Cambodian people for spiritual truth. We know this because the Bible League is seeing substantial ministry growth in the north mountain areas as we are connecting with more churches. In fact, over 1,200 local churches, denominations, and organizations with a combined membership of more than 37,000 Cambodian Christians have partnered with us. That number is more than double the total number of churches that existed just a decade ago!
Through the patient and loving outreach of Bible League-trained Cambodian Christians, many of their fellow countrymen are now finding the comfort they long for in the Bible. As a result, increasing numbers of Cambodian Christians are becoming more in tune with God’s Word and have a desire to share it with their neighbors. Cambodia is just one example of how Southeast Asia’s future in Christ grows brighter every year—thanks to generous partners like you.
