Humans of Preah Vihear 1

In this blog post, I want to introduce you to three Bible school students whom I got to visit last weekend: Map, Ngoeurt, and Chantha. My World Team colleague Joel and I drove out to their homes last week on the western edge of Preah Vihear province, Kulen district, to follow up with them and encourage them. We're their mentors throughout Bible school, trying to meet them once monthly in-person and once monthly on Facebook Messenger. (Joel is mentoring Map and Ngoeurt; I'm mentoring Chantha.) I also listened recently to Map and Ngoeurt's testimonies of coming to Christ, which they recorded during last month along with most of the Bible school students and instructors. 

Map 

"I want to tell you about my life before I believed in Jesus. I used to be very stubborn. I’d stay out drinking until late at night, and when I came home, I’d curse and start arguments with my wife, kids, and other family members. My wife took me to see a fortune teller who predicted that she and I would get a divorce. I still loved my wife, and hearing that I was destined for divorce made me afraid, especially because I have children.

"My mother-in-law believed in Jesus and I saw God do a miracle in her life. She used to be sick all the time. The witch doctor told her she was demon-possessed and needed to tear out a pillar in her house where the demon lived. She tore out the pillar, and he said, “Now put in a new pillar or else a disaster will happen to your family.” But by that point, she had believed in Jesus and been healed from her bondage to spirits and witchcraft. Her physical health was restored. Seeing these miracles, I realized that ever since she believed, my mother-in-law has really had freedom from demonic bondage.

"I let my wife believe in Jesus before I did, but I gave her a hard time about it. “Are you following that Jesus guy? You’re gonna believe in the foreigners’ god?” But my wife replied, “This god isn’t just for foreigners. My mom told me to believe in Jesus because he created the heavens and the earth. He has victory over evil spirits, and He doesn’t want us two and our family to split apart, but to love each other.” I believed her, so I joined her to worship with other believers. Once I became a Christian through her and had freedom, I buried my sin with God. I was free to serve God and I had hope of rising from the dead with Him. I really believed that He would break the chains that evil spirits had used to enslave me.

"I have freedom in God. Christ died for my sin and washed me as clean as He is so I can walk in the way of righteousness. My body is well and I have victory in Jesus. My relationships with my wife and family and neighbors aren’t like before, and I've seen other miracles. Now I’m leading a house church in Sbal village. Back while I was still a terrible person, God chose me." 

Map welcomed us at his in-laws' house, which is still missing a center pillar. Joel told him, "It's just as well, that pillar would have been in the way when you host the church here every week." You can see one of the other center pillars between two of the fence posts. 

Map joined us to visit Ngoeurt and Chantha. On the way back to his house, he played a recording of his wife singing a familiar Christian hymn about Jesus at Calvary, but with a new melody that she made up. "I love listening to her sing to our family in the evenings," he said. 

As we listened, I took this video of the country roads we were driving down. Enjoy this peek of authentic rural sights and sounds!

Ngoeurt

"Hi, I’m Snguon Ngoeurt. I’m 32 years old and I have a wife and two daughters. When I first believed in Jesus, a lot of people criticized me because I was the very first believer in our community. They looked down on me and persecuted me a lot, and sometimes I felt weak and tired and discouraged. But thank God that he still loved me and encouraged me. 

"One month later, I went on a trip to study the Bible and share the Gospel with others. My relatives were criticizing me to my wife: “How will you provide for your kids if your husband is busy with this stuff?” they asked. They really made her feel bad, and said that we'd lost our traditional religion. God reminded me, “We’re believing in Jesus for salvation, not for other gain. We just want the life that God promised us.” I told my wife that no matter how much wealth we have on earth, it’s worthless if we don’t believe in God. She started to talk more with me about Christ and she didn’t turn away to the right or left.

"Soon after that, my mother-in-law was still harassing me and saying, “You give stuff away, but I don’t see people giving things back to you.” I used to have everything I needed – rice, soup, food – and I gave it away to help people in need around me, even though they never gave anything back to me. So I said, “God told us to do good deeds and forgive our enemies.” Many people in our village, like the district chief, were talking about me being a Christian. Thank God that I really trusted Him and persevered. God helped me to be strong.

"Another time, I got a serious cut on my foot and two toes were severed. The doctor wanted to amputate, but I said, “Please don’t amputate them. Sew them back on. I’m trusting God to keep them on.” The doctor was skeptical, but he sewed them back on and my foot was fine. The toes stayed attached. When I cut my foot, people criticized me more than ever and I felt down. I thought, “Why does life have to go up and down like this?” But God touched my heart through his word. I kept sharing the Gospel and many people in my family believed.

"Then my wife had another problem. She and I were in the rice field, far away from our village, and neither of us knew anything was wrong. We ate dinner and went to sleep out in the field. Then her body suddenly stiffened and her jaw locked tightly closed. I shook her and she didn’t wake up. I tried to open her mouth but I couldn’t. I panicked and started crying. Then I remembered the God of salvation. I prayed and prayed, three times. She woke up and opened her mouth, asking, “What happened to me?” I was so relieved. Thank God. If not for Him, she might not be here now.

"From then on, I was stronger and persevered in my faith. People stopped harassing me and looking down on me. I was so convinced that “Jesus is God and He saved me from my sin and all these problems in my life.” I kept sharing the Gospel and saw many more relatives and neighbors believe. There were 100 people at one point but now there are fewer… some of them just wanted healing and didn’t really care about Jesus. Thank God that my wife and I really trust him now and our community no longer mocks our faith." 

Ngoeurt (left) and his daughters (as well as his wife and parents) welcomed Joel (center) and Map (right) last Sunday. Ngoeurt's wife, not pictured, is also a strong believer who would like to attend our Bible school in the next round.

Chantha

Chantha and I only overlapped for one day of Bible school, so I didn't get to know her as well as the others who spent four days studying the Gospels with me. (That's also why she wasn't there to make a testimony video.) But I heard great things about her, and I can see why. When she sat down to look through her homework assignments with her previous mentor Saroth and me, she shone. (Saroth is busy raising three young kids and helping with the Plas Prai dorm, and she can't make it out to Chantha's village, so I'm taking over Chantha's mentoring for the second half of Chantha's two-year commitment.) Chantha was supposed to memorize eight of ten Bible verses, but she'd memorized all ten so fluently Saroth and I could barely keep up reading them. She was supposed to keep a prayer list and pray through it daily, missing no more than 20%. 

"Wow, it looks like you didn't miss any days at all!" Saroth praised her. 

"Yeah, but I wish I'd prayed longer. It was only about fifteen minutes some days." 

"Hold on. You prayed at least fifteen minutes every day the past three months? That's really great!" 

Chantha just blushed.

Chantha works a few days a month for World Vision's relief efforts. I think she also helps on her family's farm, but I didn't quite understand her answer... I'm still adjusting to conversations with people here. At thirty-one, she might be the oldest single I've met here, so it's neat that we have that in common. I didn't get to see her home when Joel and I visited, but she told me she lives with a teenage sibling, while many other siblings and her mom live in the same village. She and Ngoeurt are neighbors, so she just came over to his house to meet with me while Joel talked with Ngoeurt. Ngoeurt's mom and Chantha's sister-in-law, fellow believers, joined our conversation. Besides this sister-in-law, Chantha has two siblings who are spiritually open but no other Christian family members.

Chantha told me she's still going out sometimes to another village where she shares the Gospel, but it's been challenging with her ministry partner away all last month. After worshiping at Ngoeurt's house Sunday mornings, she drives about an hour each way on her moto to encourage several elderly believers who are shut-in and ill. 

"Is that safe?" I asked her. Joel and I had just been discussing how I shouldn't go too far out of town alone in case my moto broke down. These roads are pretty empty and you're at the mercy of whoever comes by first. 

"Yeah, I'm not worried about it." The girl's got gumption!

L to R: Chantha, Ngoeurt's mom, Chantha's older sister-in-law