Dear Friends, March 8, 2020
Over 200 people came to our Cambodia Fundraiser two Saturdays ago. I shared with the people at the fundraiser my friend’s experience with a Cambodian woman. Years ago, this woman showed my friend a gruesome scar on her chest and said, “When I was a child, during the Killing Field days of Cambodia, the dictator killed anybody who wore glasses because he thought intellectuals usually wore glasses. One day a policeman stormed into our home, killed my parents and stabbed me in the chest. My brother came home and found me before I died. We escaped Cambodia and settled in Los Angeles as refugees. I attended a Cambodian meeting in LA and saw the evil policeman who had killed my parents and stabbed me. My heart began to pound and I was overcome with fear and anger. I had to leave the meeting because I was trembling and drenched in sweat. That night I kept reliving the horrible memories of the night my parents were killed. The next day I purchased a gun and carried it everywhere hoping for an opportunity to kill that man. Somehow, even when I had the opportunity, I couldn’t pull the trigger. I couldn’t bring myself to kill another human being. I moved to Seattle to get away from him, but I have not been able to completely avoid the resentment and pain in my heart since I saw him in LA.”
I believe most Cambodian people live with a similar sense of resentment and pain in their hearts. I will proclaim to these hurting people that Jesus Christ went to the cross in our place and bore our sin, sorrows, and shame. Jesus said, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and heavy-laden, I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28).
We praise the Lord for the generosity of donors who gave almost $27,000 at the fundraiser. In addition to gifts received prior to the event and pledges for monthly gifts through the end of the year, we raised $30,000 for the Lord’s work in Cambodia. Would you keep embracing Cambodia with us through your prayer? Pray also that DCMi will honor God by using these financial resources responsibly in its endeavor to turn the former Killing Fields into the fields of spiritual harvest.
On March 11th, I am heading to Cambodia to kick off our 10 month-long gospel festival preparation with a movement of prayer and leadership development.
Together in Harvest,
David
David Chung