Home to over 250,000 people in the northern part of Cambodia, Siem Reap is known as a center of the silk industry, where women weave tiny threads into beautifully detailed pieces of fabric. Sunday, during the final evening of the Love Siem Reap Festival with Franklin Graham, God was weaving a story of grace in the lives of hundreds of Cambodian men and women.
“You need Jesus Christ,” Graham told the crowd. “He is the only way you can approach God.”
As the sun set over the former Siem Reap Airport, over 12,000 people jumped and sang praise to “Preah Yesoo”—Lord Jesus—over and over, a simple chorus with a simple message.
“He knows your name. You’re important to Him,” Graham encouraged the audience.
That’s exactly what Lihuor needed to hear. Curious about Jesus, his sister had encouraged him to go to the Festival to learn more. But beneath that curiosity were deep wounds of depression. When Graham gave the invitation to come down to the front and pray to accept Christ, Lihuor had just recently made it to the venue. Yet with God’s prompting, the decision was simple.
“I came late, but I felt in my heart that I wanted to come down,” he said with a grin, gripping his new Khmer Bible. Lihuor described a brand-new confidence and trust he didn’t have before. “I have hope.” He quickly called his sister to tell her the good news.
Lihuor didn’t walk to the front of the stage alone. His uncle Samrass was standing right next to him. Initially, he was drawn by the lights and the excitement surrounding the event, even skipping work to attend. But as the message unfolded, old wounds of family discord came to the surface.
“I have a lot of problems in my life, so I invited God to fix them,” Samrass explained. “I feel a little bit lighter.” Now, the thread that bound uncle and nephew was tighter—a spiritual bond that could never be broken.
Perhaps Samrass saw a bit of his family conflict in the Biblical account of the Prodigal Son that Franklin shared with the crowd. Looking to fill a void in his heart, the man in Jesus’ story partied, drank, and squandered his inheritance.
“He was running from God,” Graham explained.
Motchoun could relate. Although he grew up attending church, about five years ago he “set off for a distant country” (Luke 15:13, NIV), just like the son in the story. He moved to Thailand and, in the process, turned away from God.
“We have a vacuum inside of us that can only be filled by God,” Graham told the audience. “Tonight, you can invite Jesus Christ to come into that vacuum. He can take control of your life.”
Motchoun felt the Holy Spirit stirring in his heart, pulling at a thread from long ago. He was compelled to pray with a local Christian volunteer, thanking God for welcoming us home as a forgiving Father.
“I gave up on God, but God didn’t give up on me,” he said with a smile, excited about his new life.
Over the weekend, hundreds of people learned what it means to have new freedom and joy that can be found only in a relationship with God’s Son, Jesus Christ. And these new believers—along with thousands of their brothers and sisters in the Lord—are trusting that He’s not done working in their nation. Like the back of a piece of fabric, we can only wait to see how God will reveal His masterpiece.
Will you pray for the people of Cambodia as God continues to move in their country? Pray for the more than 2,000 people who gave their lives to Christ to be strengthened in their walk with their Saviour. And please lift up the local churches as they disciple these new believers.
