Looking back over this series, we’ve began with the origins of Cambodia, and moved through to more recent international influences. This paved the way for an snap shot of the Khmer Rouge, zooming in on the events and the effects of this regime.

In a sense … the taste buds kind … this series is really only a taster of Cambodia. I have much to learn about Cambodia and Cambodian ways of life. Hopefully getting a glimpse of Cambodia’s past and present will help you journey a long with us as we go and experience Cambodia – testing these early pictures. But also, hopefully this series will provide some context for the next series on mission principles. As we speak about how we will seek to share Jesus in Cambodia in specific ways, hopefully you’ll have a sense of the context that we will be serving in.

The effects of the Khmer Rouge still linger. As we get to know Cambodian culture, the effects of the Khmer Rouge provide an avenue into our learning about the culture.

1. A nation suffering from PTSD. This, in a sense, seems to encapsulate where Cambodia is up to. The effects of the Khmer Rouge run deep and long. It has affected every aspect of society and will effect the culture for a long time; much like the effects of war seen in PTSD sufferers (Post-traumatic Stress Disorder). You see the suffering in differing ways. Some will be dealing with their past, by not dealing with it – running headlong into materialism to forget or deny the past. Some deal with it by bringing the past too much to the fore. One friend said people speak about it so much that it is unhelpful. While it is good to speak about our past, there are helpful and unhelpful ways of doing that.
2. Double youth boom. Cambodia’s age demographic is completely opposite to Australia’s. Where we have an aging population, Cambodia is heavily weighted towards youth, with 50% of the population under 22. This is the result of the Khmer Rouge’s policy, not only of ridding the population of the educated (those often with age), but also of the unable to contribute to increased rice production (generally those who were elderly or disabled). On top of this was the pregnancy push during the war in order to expand the working population. The effect down the line, now is not only were the elderly wiped out in Cambodia creating an imbalance in the country towards youth, but those youth have now had families bringing on a second youth boom.
3. A loss of education. Not that education is gone completely, but killing off all the educated, combined with the survivors having grown up during a period of war means that education in the country has been significantly affected.
4. Gospel openness. From what I have read, one of the unintended consequences of the Khmer Rouge has been to create a culture of openness in Cambodia in relation to international influences. Their need for assistance following the war seems to have made the country open to the outside world, more so than their neighbours. Global interaction in Cambodia through many international organizations has created a air of relaxedness to the outside world that may help pave the way for the gospel to be preached freely and openly. Also, having witnessed the horrors of the Khmer Rouge, people may be more open to the good news of Jesus.
5. Rapid development. Although more complex I suspect there is a link between the Khmer Rouge and the rapid development that the country, particularly the urban areas, are experiencing. The ashes of the Khmer Rouge have provided the space for an influx of money and development following and as a result of the war. And while much of the country remains in poverty, there is substantial development, particularly in Phnom Penh. People are saying that in leaving Phnom Penh and returning in 6mths time you won’t recognize the place because of all the change going on.

Here are five pictures of the current state of Cambodia following the Khmer Rouge as we think about sharing the good news of Jesus. Thoughts? Have you had a similar picture or different of Cambodia?

Out with the new,

In with the old.

This was the Khmer Rouge’s strategy. They wanted to make the country prosperous again. Their strategy was to return the country to year zero, getting rid of modern accretions; going back to their roots. Anyone with education was classed as ‘new’ and received an immediate death sentence. Those kept were the ones who worked the land or didn’t have an education; the ‘old’. The plan was to massively up rice production to be exported and the method was through a commune strategy. Possessions, money, books were not only useless, but potentially harmful. Anyone with an education was targeted and killed. This was Cambodia’s ‘great leap forward’, done at break-neck speed.

The tactics of the Khmer Rouge were deception. The first was a false alarm call of bombing in Phnom Penh in 1975. From there deception flowed as children were pitted against parents to rat our anyone with an education. The Khmer Rouge soldiers were mostly young, yet their targets were any age and any religion; anyone that couldn’t contribute to their plan, young and old alike, both the religious and irreligious. In the few short years that the Khmer Rouge were in power, one quarter of the 8 million people in Cambodia died. Half of those 2-3 million were killed, executed. The other half died from the effects of war, poverty, famine and disease.

The Vietnamese captured Phnom Penh from the Khmer Rouge in 1979. What followed was a 14 year struggle to work out how to bring political stability to a wounded country. Next post we explore some of the larger effects of the Khmer Rouge on the nation of Cambodia.