Cambodia is a country I knew nothing about until about 3 months ago. What I have learned seems like a lot to me, but I am sure it is virtually nothing.
Cambodia was first placed on my heart when I went to Peru. While in Peru I began researching 'human trafficking and the child sex trade'. It didn't make sense to me how people could so easily sell and use children for such evil purposes. How could they sleep at night, I wondered. Didn't they know and care that they were destroying a child's childhood? Then I heard about a group called the Khmer Rouge. I didn't know anything about them. I didn't even know that they had existed. When I found out a bit more about them I couldn't believe that it was true. How could a group who had been in power for a little less than 5 years have caused so much destruction, and all in my lifetime. It began to make sense to me the value of a child as a commodity and not as a treasure from God. It sickened me to read about the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge's reign.
Why did the world let it happen? Two million people died either from war, torture, starvation or diseases all in about a 5 year period, that was 1/4 of the Cambodian population....1 in every 4 gone! There were mass graves, the killing fields, buildings designed for torturing people along with other horrors for people to endure. Unimaginable. Why didn't someone step in and stop the insanities? Why did I not know that this was happening or had happened? What can I do now?
From some of my readings and research it is said that 70% of the Cambodian population today is under 25 yrs old. A whole generation was lost during the reign of the Khmer Rouge. A very important generation that is not there to show the people the importance of the family, to mentor them and to love them.
Can you imagine a life where if you were lucky only one member in four of your family was either killed or died? The fabric of the family was ripped away - spouses were separated from each other and their children, children were separated from their parents and their siblings all for the purpose of destroying the people's support systems. Family, religion, education were all outlawed. My mind in my limited experiences of growing up in a very safe and stable environment with loving and supportive family and friends, I can't even begin to imagine.
I am thankful that God placed Cambodia on my heart and that He saw fit to educate me a little before I went - to prepare my heart to not judge but to love. I pray that I will be open to be God's instrument of love and understanding while I am there. All for His glory!!
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