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Cambodia lies at the tip of what used to be called Indo-China, between Thailand and Vietnam. To the north are jungles and mountains. High above that, in the Himalayian Mountains, lie the headwaters of the Mekong River. A tributary of the great river joins it at the site of Cambodia's capitol, Pnom Phen. This tributary is called the Tonle Sap, and has the unique distinction of reversing its flow with the wet and dry seasons of the year. When the waters in the Mekong rise as a result of the spring thaw in the Himalaya, the flow in the Tonle Sap is forced back inland where it drains into a giant lake, also called the Tonle Sap. When the waters of the Mekong subside, the Tonle Sap reverses its flow and drains into the Mekong and then into the sea.
Thus, the great Tonle Sap Lake expands and contracts, depositing silt and moisture on the vast plain around it. The Lake has been fittingly called the beating heart of Cambodia, providing nutrients to the soil for rice in season and fish for the people at all seasons.
Not far from the lake stand the great temples. They date from about 800 to 1300 AD, the golden age in Khmer history. The most famous of the temples is Angkor Watt, but many others spread for over seventy square kilometers around it.
Cambodia suffered a gencidal take-over by the Khmer Rouge from 1975 to 1979. During that time, city dwellers were forced into the countryside to become rice farmers. Anyone with an education, including doctors, nurses, teachers, administrators and engineers were persecuted and, often, murdered. Up to a quarter of the country's ten million people died
rom exicution, starvation and neglect.
In the past ten years, Cambodia has begun to recover. Much of this is due to the courage and industry of her people. However, help has come from the outside world, too, especially from Christian groups who help in every concievable way. Their material help is valuable, but their spiritual influence on the country is incalcuable. Faith of any kind was almost eradicated by the Communist Khmer Rouge and the Vietnamese conquerers who followed them. With a more democratic government in recent years has come greater religious freedom. Bhuddism still predominates in the country, but Christianity and Islam are making inroads.
Cambodia's Chirstian Church shows heartening development. The joy that radiates from the believers lifts up one's confidence in their future.
Much of Cambodia's art was lost during the time of the Khmer Rouge "killing fields". Heroic efforts are being made to restore the lovely traditional dance that forms the basis of my novel. It is thrilling to see the apsaras, the stone temple dancers, come to life, this time as Christians.
The Lord is at work among the Cambodians and it is an honor to be able to contribute.
To learn more about Cambodia, please click on the imagaes below.
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