Cambodian Christian Related Articles

More to the Picture than Meets the Eye – Chapter 3

Chapter Three More to the Picture than Meets the Eye

Ten years into her ‘Golden Age’ or freedom from 92 years of French occupation (1863-1953), Cambodia enjoyed some level of peace and prosperity, and was seen as one of the more stable countries in the region. Underlying these fragile perceptions are many levels of intrigue that include maneuverings of Prince Sihanouk, the Viet Cong, the fledgling Khmer Rouge, the Vietminh, and the American and Chinese governments. The forest, fish, and other natural resources of Cambodia will fade away, but political intrigue will remain to the end.

As the world also saw the beginning of US troop buildup (in advising capacity) in Vietnam by American President John F Kennedy in 1962, Prince Sihanouk accused the CIA of fostering rebellion in Cambodia in 1963, and renounces all US economic, military, and cultural aid. He declared neutrality in the Vietnam War Conflict.

Alice Compain, a missionary of OMF, made her first visit to Cambodia on a holiday to visit a French missionary couple, Jean and Roselyn Clavaud who were living in Siem Reap, working with Pastor Chau Uth, who later would become President of the Cambodian Church (KEC)[1]. The Clavauds were one of the two French Missionary families serving in Cambodia before American missionaries were expelled in 1965. Jean and Roselyn were with the C&MA during this time but would shortly become independent missionaries working with the Khmer Evangelical Church. Jean had been a pastor in the Reformed Church in Holland and France prior to coming to Cambodia. Jean, his wife, and five children were in Cambodia from the early sixties right up until 1975. They started out with C&MA, but left to do ‘tent-making’ in 1965 when the North American missionaries had to leave. Jean traveled to many Cambodian Christian groups over weekends to encourage and bring literature to them. He had many critics, but the Khmer thought a lot of him, especially as he survived being taken prisoner by the Khmer Rouge during the early seventies with his son, and was released three months later. Alice recalled having met the Westergren Family (C&MA) in Phnom Penh and remembered noticing that they had a rather tall red-headed five year old son named Steve.

On August 28, 1963, 200,000 people participated in a peaceful civil rights rally in Washington, D.C., where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial, and about that same time, Son Sonne enrolled in the Takhmau Bible College and began his journey in becoming one of the most knowledgeable and effective Cambodian Bible preachers of the late sixties and early seventies.

In November, the President of South Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Diem is assassinated three weeks before the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, who was fatally shot while riding in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas on Nov. 22, 1963. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as the 36th president of the United States. He would not seek re-election in 1968 due to the United States being torn asunder by the politics of the Vietnam War.

1964

On August 2^nd, just after General William Westmoreland was appointed to oversee all US troops in South Vietnam, President Lyndon Johnson, in office for less than a year, found the excuse he needed for a direct confrontation with North Vietnam. While on patrol in international waters, thirty miles off the coast of North Vietnam, the US destroyer, the Maddox, was fired on in the Gulf of Tonkin by three North Vietnamese PT boats. This prompted Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara, on behalf of the Johnson Administration to rush more troops, equipment, and weapons to South Vietnam to protect her from northern aggression. On August 6th, among much debate on the Senate floor, a resolution was passed, stating that the US would do all that was necessary to repel any armed attack against the United States and to prevent further aggression among the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization. Senators Wayne Morse and George McGovern fought aggressively against the resolution, which was originally requested by President Johnson, asking what three North Vietnamese patrol boats would hope to gain by attacking a US destroyer. Many believe that the incident was either fabricated to expand the war, or the situation was manipulated to look like an attack..

1965 –Winds of Political Change Are Blowing

U.S. Troops had officially arrived in Danang, South Vietnam on March 8^th with 300,000 troops following during this year, and on March 17^th, the American National Security Council allowed the U.S. Air force to retaliate against the NVA in their Cambodian sanctuaries which resulted in two incidents. On April 10^th, four South Vietnamese fighter jets strafed two Cambodian villages in the Northeast. In May, Prince Sihanouk promptly broke off relations with the United States and established formal relations with North Vietnam. All American missionaries would have to leave.

In late July, President Johnson said he would send 44 combat battalions to Vietnam increase to the U.S. military presence to 125,000 men and in early August, Congress passed a joint resolution, known as the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, increasing U.S. involvement in the Vietnam. The Resolution gave President Johnson the power to use armed force in helping members of SEATO in defense of their freedom. Presidents Johnson and Nixon used this Resolution to escalate military action in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.[2]

The new relationship to Vietnam began a quick buildup of Vietnamese forces in Cambodia, along with the Khmer Rouge and the Khmer Vietminh, especially in the Northeast. These communist groups burned the mountain tribal groups out of their mountain homelands, creating a group of war refugees who fled south (Jarai, Mnong, Rhade, and others) only to run headlong into long established Vietcong sanctuaries as they tried to reach their destination, the Srepok forest of Kratie. This massive refugee movement was totally ignored and during that time, and President Johnson, on December 21^st, 1965 ordered American commanders not to pursue any Vietnamese communist forces into Cambodia.

As Prince Sihanouk aligned more with China and Vietnam, Christian National Church leaders are jailed on trumped up charges, and Son Sonne was among them. Son Sonne, future director of the United Bible Societies, was arrested while working in a bookstore, and put in jail for three months. He was the first, and there were others to follow. Most white western missionaries are being forced to leave by not having their visas renewed. ‘The C&MA had two French missionary families who stayed during that time: The Jean Clavaud Family and the George Fune Family. The Funes had come across the border from Vietnam. Previously in Siem Reap with Pastor Chau Uth, the Clavauds move to Phnom Penh, taking Chau Uth with them. The Clavauds struggled to support Chau Uth’s family as his support had been cut off when the American C&MA missionaries were expelled.

When American missionaries left, some relocated to Vietnam, others went back to the United States, yet others to Thailand, Hong Kong, and France. At this point, the C&MA was claiming about 734 baptized believers in ‘good standing’ with C&MA, and around 2000 believers at large among the Protestant Evangelicals. There were no other foreign Christian groups ministering in Cambodia from this time up until the early 70’s.

After the expulsion of C&MA western missionaries, some leftist leaning government officials brought church leaders Rev. San Hay Seng, Pastor Ourng Oun, Mr. Son Sonne, and Mr. Yos Oan up on charges which led to jail time. They were charged with ‘operating an information agency for a foreign mission.’  The largest C&MA church in Phnom Penh had a reading room and a library. When the case came to court, it was thrown out by the judge as he quoted the Cambodian Constitution which allowed for freedom of religion. Cambodian Christians had rallied around these men in support and prayer, and their release was a real boost for the confidence of the church, especially during this critical time. Major Taing Chhirc[3] sat outside the jail in sight of the captives so they might take encouragement of his presence.

Because of the likelihood of the occurrence of similar instances in the future, the leaders of the KEC (Khmer Evangelical Church) made some positive changes in the KEC Constitution, giving more representation to lay leadership. They also elected a ‘shadow’ committee in case the main committee members were jailed. These changes would lead to a stronger KEC in the future.

Chuck Keller

After graduation from Portland State College in June 1965, Chuck Keller attended the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) course, at the University of Washington in Seattle.  In the autumn of that year he went to Switzerland and studied Bible at Institute Emmaus for that school year and then in the summer of 1966 he took the second summer course offered at the SIL’s school in England. He was in the process of applying to Wycliffe[4] when he received his first draft notice that summer. His draft board then postponed a decision on his case for several months. After returning to America in the autumn, he was accepted by Wycliffe in early November and within a couple of weeks also received second his draft notice with his induction date at the end of that month. He went to the Army recruiter and asked about enlisting and being able to study Vietnamese at the Army language school in California but that couldn’t be worked out in such a short time, so he enlisted as a medic before the induction date arrived.

1966 – Arun Sok Nhep

A nine year old Arun Sok Nhep and his family moved from Romeas, Kompong Chhnang, to Banlung, Rattanakiri where Arun studied in Banlung until 1968. Arun made a trip to Rattanakiri in February of 2004 with Kreg Mallow, an OMF associate. From the air, even after all the years gone by, Arun pointed out to Kreg the various land marks and areas where Arun used to play as a boy. Kreg was astonished to find that Arun could still speak some tribal languages spoken by boys with whom he used to play.

As the C&MA missionaries relocated, many relocated to South Vietnam in order to work in the Mekong Delta with the Khmer Krom. Paul Ellison and his wife were reassigned to work with Cambodians in the Mekong Delta where they did pioneer evangelism which was very slow and difficult work. Buddhist social structures were firmly set in place, and the Cambodians living in the delta were not open to Christianity. It wasn’t until 1973, when KEC Pastor Seang Ang joined them that they began to see much fruit. With the addition of Pastor Seang Ang, they eventually saw 700 Cambodians come to Christ over a short time compared with the few converts over the thirty-six years when Rev. Paul worked alone. This was quite a contrast.  Some of the first Cambodian converts in the late 1920’s were from Kampuchea Krom who had relocated to the village of Chkae Kon, Battambang, Province, when there had been a migration of people from Kampuchea Krom.

1967

Prince Norodom Sihanouk changed the official language of Cambodia from French to Khmer. French Catholics began to speak the Cambodian language in all the Cambodian Catholic Churches rather than French.

Having depended on $400 million of aid from the United States between 1955 and 1963, Prince Sihanouk was wondering weather he wasn’t a little hasty in cutting off ties. Later this year, he announced he would have no problem with American or South Vietnamese forces crossing the border into Cambodia in pursuit of communist forces.

Arun Sok Nhep was still in school in Banlung, Rattanakiri- a region that was beginning to see a lot of Khmer Vietminh activity. Rattanakiri borders Laos to the north and Vietnam to the east, and like Stung Treng, Mondulkiri, and Kratie, Rattanakiri Province became a staging area for North Vietnamese Regulars (NVA). The Ho Chi Minh Trail also ran through these northeastern provinces, providing supplies for the NVA, who were propping up the southern revolutionaries who called themselves the National Liberation Front. Americans gave them the name ‘Vietcong.’

During the time Arun was in Rattanakiri, the communist forces had suffered a series of military defeats. The US/ARVN forces had pacified much of the Vietnamese south by the end of 1967 (222 out of 242 provinces). Operation Junction City (February-March 1967) and other sweeps had seriously disrupted the National Liberation Front activity in the south and forced the COSVN[5] into Cambodia.

The Northeast portion of Cambodia during 1967 soon came under the control of the North Vietnamese. NVA troops staged in Northeast Cambodia would cross the border back into Vietnam to fight the Americans and ARVN[6], and then cross back into Cambodia, and plan the war from their secure sanctuaries. Arun, living close to the action, finished primary school in Banlung, and then moved to Lamphat, which was then the provincial capital of Rattanakiri during the time he studied there from 1968 to 1970. During the years Arun studied in Rattanakiri, Prince Sihanouk, having already acquiesced to a Vietnamese presence, could see the writing on the wall. Although the prince gave the NVA lip service, he was actively seeking to remove them since they were poised to take over Cambodia. In 1970, while Prince Sihanouk was traveling to France, Russia and China, to seek help in removing the Vietnamese from Cambodia, Prince Sirik Matak and Field Marshal Lon Nol convinced the Royal Cabinet to remove Sihanouk from power, ushering in the Republic of Cambodia.  Some speculations allude to a coup d’état engineered by the C.I.A., while other scholars are equally vehement against such speculation.

Chuck Keller landed in Pleiku about May 18th, 1967 and after a short time at the replacement camp there, he went to the 4th Infantry Division base camp near the town. Pleiku was one of the first areas where U.S. troops engaged North Vietnamese Army (NVA) regulars and was a constant hot spot throughout the war. 1967 was one of most intense years of the war, seeing a full escalation of over half a million U.S. troops by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Shortly after his arrival, Chuck joined his brigade in August 1967, on the coastal plain of Quang Ngai province, near the town of Duc Pho. The province center town of Quang Ngai as well as Chu Lai was to the north. He was assigned as one of two medics to a regular reconnaissance platoon of about 40 men. On the evening of August 21st, three months into his tour, his platoon was spread out in a rice paddy just outside of a village. He and the other medic had served the platoon hot meals sent out by helicopter. Chuck had just finished putting the last of the insulated food containers back on the helicopter and was walking away when a VC sniper fired a single shot. The bullet passed through Chuck’s left and right thighs, hitting the artery in the left leg. With rapid loss of blood he lost consciousness within a minute. He was evacuated quickly by helicopter to the battalion aid station at the local base camp near Duc Pho. He recalls regaining consciousness very briefly while on the helicopter and seeing the other medic smiling down at him, obviously glad to see a sign of life. After initial care at the battalion aid station, he regained consciousness and then was med-evacuated 25 minutes north by chopper to Chu Lai to the 2nd surgical hospital where arteries repair surgery was done. He was there for two weeks and then transferred to the Army hospital at Qui Nhon, further south on the coastal plain. After two weeks there, his condition was stable enough for transfer to an Army Hospital in Japan where he spent six weeks before being sent to Madigan Army hospital at Fort Lewis, Washington. He had surgery there to repair the damaged nerve in his right thigh, followed by months of physical therapy (continued).

An Interview with Mrs. Samoeun Intal

Cambodia! Just the mere word brings an array of different images to any informed mind.  Perhaps the most common image is that of a people who are well acquainted with suffering and grief.  Even before the world associated genocide with the word Cambodia, FEBC had foreseen the need to broadcast the gospel into Cambodia, beginning in 1957.

FEBC continued to broadcast into Cambodia as the turbulence of the Vietnam War spilled across her borders, ravaging her land and people. Throughout the heavy bombing and fighting between many warring factions within and without Cambodia, FEBC was on the air, offering the hope of the gospel to whoever could tune in.

In 1975, as the Khmer Rouge were ushering in their brutal reign of terror, Cambodian national Samoeun Intal was barely able to make her way to the Philippines with her new husband, Robledo Intal, where she eventually came to work at FEBC as a language assistant.  It was then and there that God began to till the soil of Samoeun’s heart. Even as Pol Pot was dragging Cambodia back into the Stone Age, Samoeun was becoming a part of God’s plan for that country.

“As a child I was brought up in a military family. My father’s heart was truly for his people.  I’ll never forget what he once told me: ‘Life is more precious than anything else. If you have everything and don’t have life, everything is nothing.’ When I first arrived in the Philippines in 1975 I began to ask myself; ‘How will I use this precious gift called my life?’ Months later I would feel a strong call from the Lord to serve other precious lives by sharing with them the hope I had in the Lord Jesus.”

“My first contact with Christianity was in a private English class in Cambodia during the early 1970’s when I was in junior high. One day a girl I did not know came into my class and asked if she could sit in the vacant seat next to me.  I had never seen her before but I didn’t object.  She began to tell me about Jesus, His power and who He was.  Although I understood little of what she said, I was interested and a seed was planted.  I never saw that girl again.”

“In 1976, a year after I came to the Philippines, I began to feel lonely and detached–the people were nice but they were not my people and this was not my country.  I was longing for someone who really cared, for some real love, like the unconditional type of love some people receive from their parents.  I had yet to know anything close to real love.  The people in the world didn’t care.  They only cared about themselves. If you wanted to get their attention you had to have something to offer them, not like the loving parent who always gave without expecting much in return.”

“Every now and then I would catch some television evangelist preaching the gospel on the television but I could only understand some of what I was hearing.  One evening in my English class, my teacher, who was an S.I.L. missionary, told me about another Khmer woman who worked for Far East Broadcasting Company.  At the same time, my teacher told her about me.  This lady contacted me and I went to visit her at the FEBC headquarters.  She shared the good news of Jesus’ work on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins for over an hour, but once again I understood little.  She asked me if I realized that I was a sinner.  This infuriated me.  How could she presume anything about me? She didn’t know me.  She didn’t know that my parents were good Buddhists who taught us always to do good to people! She then turned in the Bible to Romans 3:23, which read: “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God”.  That scripture penetrated deep down to the depths of my heart and I began to question myself.  Am I clean, holy or righteous? I thought about it for a while and some how I couldn’t say that I was really righteous or sinless so I had to acknowledge that I was a sinner of sorts.  So right there in that office, with the other Khmer woman, I called on the name of the Lord for forgiveness of my sins.  Somehow, I knew very clearly that I would come back and work for that radio station.”

“God was carefully nurturing the seed he had planted in my heart and as it grew I began to get a clear picture of God’s plan for Cambodia.  Over the next seventeen years, that seed blossomed into a mature vision for my people that included establishing a facility inside Cambodia.  In 1993, the Cambodian government granted FEBC official permission to open an office and studio in Phnom Penh.  Later that same year, the Intal family; with Samoeun as Field Director of FEBC, Robledo, as ‘jack of all trades’, Abraham, Samuel and David[7], all pulled up stakes and relocated to Phnom Penh in order to train Cambodian nationals who would be able to produce programs inside the country.”

“In the early days, my work with radio began as a language assistant.  My main responsibility for FEBC was to edit scripts that were written by missionaries who had to leave Cambodia when the Khmer Rouge came to power.  These scripts were used for broadcasting into Cambodia.  After four years of editing and broadcasting I began to produce script myself.  For me, this was very difficult because in radio you must write from one heart (yours) to another (theirs).  Although I was able to escape physically, I could not escape the reality of what my brother and sister Cambodians were experiencing inside Cambodia during the twenty-five years of war. The knowledge of what my people were suffering through could help me write heart to heart, but it was too often painful and I wanted to quit.  God always helped me to see what great opportunities there were to help my people in their suffering through the radio ministry.  This helped carry me through the difficult times.”

“Soon after establishing ourselves in Cambodia, we were immediately made aware of the vacuum of Bible teaching that exists in the provincial churches. There are very few trained Bible teachers and they had little opportunity to participate in the many helpful seminars for church leaders that are available in the city.  This prompted us to develop a radio program that could equip the lay leaders, help them to grow spiritually as well as improving their capacity to teach others. Often the content of our broadcast contains Bible doctrine as well as a discipleship component with emphasis on practical applications.  We have involved local and expatriate Cambodian pastors in the planning and execution of this project.  So far, we have been receiving very encouraging reports from the provincial churches concerning this project.”

“A 41% illiteracy rate, coupled with the fact that a large percent of the population still uses radio as their sole means of information and entertainment, confirms my belief that radio is not only relevant but a strategic form of media.  Often people must travel from one end of the village to the other, just to listen.  Some areas are without radio.  FEBC Cambodia has been distributing radios to the churches in the provinces to ensure that each church family or group has the opportunity to hear good teaching or even invite friends and neighbors to listen to evangelistic programs. It is our intent to encourage and strengthen the faith of those who don’t have immediate access to good fellowship and teaching.  Each radio we distribute costs us about US$9.”

“I have been personally discipling my staff members over the past 14 years.  We are not only offering them training to give expertise to someday take over the work themselves but are preparing them spiritually as well.  I make sure they have ample opportunities to get out into the provinces to meet the listeners, spend time with them, and teach and preach in their churches.  We encourage them to be involved in their local church and not look to the organization to meet the needs only their church can meet.  We try to integrate faith and life and realize that is a process that has no shortcuts.”

“My staff and I are very actively involved in the international Christian community in Cambodia. We are active in helping organize seminars, participating in forums and encouraging responsibility, accountability, and common sense in how various expatriate Christian organizations work out their plans in Cambodia.  We are active in the Evangelical Fellowship of Cambodia, which is an organization that promotes unity among mission agencies, Christian relief and development organizations, and the national church, helping them to work together on common goals and projects that benefit the Cambodian people.  I was a founding member of Cambodia Christian Services and the Evangelical Fellowship of Cambodia, and I sat on World Vision’s Training of Timothys Executive Board.”

References

Del Vechhio, John M.  For the Sake of All Living Things, New York, Bantam Books, 1991.

Intal, Samoeun, Interview by Brian Maher, FEBC Office, Phnom Penh, 1998.

Website: http://www.vfwpost7591.org/vietnam_war.htm