The Killing Fields
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The Lord leads on.  We continue our high expectation of seeing what He has been doing for the Cambodians.

 

May 18 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia

 

Phnom Penh is Cambodia's capital.  We checked in the Hotel Cambodiana yesterday evening.  The moon was still up while we got up at 4:30 a.m. to get ready for the 5:30 prayer meeting.  Holy Spirit worked mightily on a sister in inner healing this morning.  Went for a swim after the meeting.  Then, prayed and read scriptures with Jesus.

 

Smey is our tour guide.  His full name is Sok Reaksmey.  He gave us history on the places we visited.  We sensed the hurt, sorrow, helplessness and bitterness in Cambodians through his voice.  Most of the land mines have been cleared.  Tourism is one among the few industries growing rapidly and bringing in resources for the country.  It's planned to grow into one million tourists in 2003.

 

The Killing Fields

 

We visited two places of horror.  The 'Security 21' prison used for torture innocent prisoners and one of the 400+ 'killing fields' during the Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge regime, from April 1975 to January 1979.  Then, North Vietnam, supported by the Russians, invaded and ousted Pol Pot and ruled till 1989.

 

While King Sihanu, crowned by French, had visited Russia, General Lonnol's coop, supported by the Americans, took power.  Pol Pot had a Ph.D. from France and began his teaching career in Cambodia.  Then, he went in politics and started secretly establishing his force in the jungle.  Since Cambodians loved the king, Pol Pot presented himself as a supporter of the king and fought Lonnol.  He came to the capital Phnom Penh and used the Ministry of Information to create the rumor that Americans would bomb Phnom Penh in three days.  He asked every household to vacate from the city.  All fled to the countryside.  Pol Pot then asked the intellectuals to come back to the capital and contribute to the rebuilding of the nation.  When they came home they were arrested.  The families of those innocent, educated Cambodians were sent to various prisons to be tortured from a minimum of one to a maximum of six months.  There were 20,000 sent to the 'Security 21' prison.  After the long torture period, the prisons had to walk 15 kilometers to the assigned killing field and dig their own bury hole.  Some died along the way.  Then, they were either beheaded with the sugar palm branch, or stabbed by a stick from the back of the skull.  Babies were either thrown to the air and fell on a knife, or beaten against a tree to be killed.

 

There are over 400 killing fields throughout the country.  only about 100 have been discovered.  In the killing field we visited today, there are 129 holes (mass graves).  Only 86 have being dug.  The government built a 16-layer stupa (tower) to display the skulls discovered so far. 

 

We then visited the 'Security 21' prison and saw the cells within a prison room, the steel torture bed, and pictures depicting how men and women had been jailed and tortured.  Among the seven survivors, six had died.  The 7th survivor revealed the torture details so that the world can know what had happened. 

 

These two visits hit us hard.  We were sad and speechless.  We walked and prayed quietly on both the killing field and the prison cells.  We asked the Lord to pour out the spirit of repentance and forgiveness.  Now, it's the time to heal and restore. 

 

Smey's Story

 

Smey later told us he lost his dad when he was one year old.  His father was an educated man and had been a soldier before the Pol Pot reign.  His mom raised them in hardship.  His mom worked and raised chickens for the communist government but they could not eat the chicken.  Their mom risked her life to kill a chicken for her kids after Smey was over ten years old.  Smey's mother is now working for the airline industry.  Till today, they have not found out the whereabouts of Smey's four-year-older sister.

 

Shopping Relief and Museum Visit

 

Our next destination was a shopping field.  This brought smile and relief to the team.

 

In the afternoon, Sok took us to the Russian Market to shop more.  I discovered since the stay in the Philippines our teammates are true shoppers.  Dolores was crowned by other members as the shopping queen.  She not only knows where to dig but also is a powerful bargainer.

 

Then, we went to see a museum.  There were a lot of Buddha's statues and heads of the statues stolen from various temples.  A lot of statues and parts were smuggled into Thailand.  At the entrance of all the places we visited, there were beggars.  Some of them had been soldiers and lost their arms or legs.  Some are poor parents with children.  Some are little children.  Team members gave them some money while others prayed for them. 

 

Naga - the Hindu Snake God

 

Naga, the mystical Hindu snake god with seven heads seems more popular and worshipped than Buddha. Everywhere you go: temples, the Hotel Cambodiana, the monument in the city center, the museum, and the royal palace, Naga stands in front of the structure and on the roof and corner top.  Its long body also sits on the fence and surrounds the city park outside of the museum.  I think the worship of this symbol of evil (according to the Bible) has tragically produced fruits of curse, bondage and darkness in Cambodia.  We have seen many similar patterns appearing in other Asian countries. Chinese have worshipped dragon for thousands of years, and entangled in war after was, poverty and communism in modern history.  I believe Jesus Christ is the only solution for Cambodia and all other nations.  Truth will set Cambodians free.

 

Great Questions

 

The last visit was the Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda inside the palace.  The Silver Pagoda has an incredibly large archive of Buddha statues in many sizes and designs, including one made by pure gold and diamonds.  These statues are royal treasures and symbolic of Cambodian's spiritual beliefs and heritage.  Later, Bill brought up a great point.  Why were all these helpless Buddha statues unable to protect the Cambodians when they were slaughtered by the Khmer Rouge and afterwards, the North Vietnam communists?  You would also ask, "Why couldn't Buddha or Naga feed the starved Cambodians, who had worshipped them wholeheartedly for centuries, in 16 years of famine?"