Former KR Cadre Conducts Christmas Service at New Church
16 December 2019
ANLONG VENG DISTRICT, ODDAR MEANCHEY PROVINCE — The church in Anlong Veng district is a simple building, not traditional in its architecture and not like many of the ornate structures associated with Christian places of worship.

The inside mirrors the outside, no decorations or embellishments, just a simple wooden cross painted white. The walls are plastered with verses from the Bible and photos of the congregation.

There are around 20 people in their Sunday best, getting ready for mass in the northern province of Oddar Meanchey, along the Thai border. The group consist of mostly children, grandchildren and friends of Im Chaem, a former Khmer Rouge official, who in 2017 was acquitted of a slew of charges, including crimes against humanity.

The 77-year-old grandmother, who adopted Christianity in January 2018, was led to the religion under the direction of a man who survived a forced labor camp she oversaw during the Khmer Rouge regime.

Im Chaem holds fort during the religious ceremony, despite her pastor, Dub Doeun, leading the congregation in a reading of the King James Version of Matthew 2, from the Gospel of Matthew, which describes the birth of Christ and his early life.

“So, we need to celebrate, to recall his amazing grace, who came on Earth for the one reason that God came to redeem our sins, to absolve our sins by his blood,” said Pastor Dub Doeun.

The former Khmer Rouge member, dressed in a white shirt and silk skirt, sings a prayer at the end of the service. The congregation takes communion and proceeds to eat a lunch of rice and noodle dishes.

Sitting down with VOA Khmer, Im Chaem said that she had “offered” her land to Christ last year, following her conversion, as a way to atone for any sins she may have committed. She does not clarify if these sins are linked to the accusations against her.

“I was cleared from the charges. My case was finalized by dismissing the charges,” she said, not divulging anymore.
https://www.voacambodia.com/a/former-kh ... 07643.html

So did Jesus say he was cool with the swap or not? Why would he need land in norther Cambodia?

For former Khmer Rouge officers accused of participating in Cambodian genocide, Christianity offers salvation
Up to 2.2 million died, but a UN-backed tribunal has dropped charges against many of those responsible. Now some are turning their backs on Buddhism and looking to Jesus for redemption
Published: 5:00am, 7 Mar, 2020
A wiry, shrew-like grandmother clambers out of her hammock, scuttles across her front yard, and breaks into a toothy grin of satisfaction as she shows us around the church she had built less than 15 metres from her home.

Inside the simple wooden building, she raises a claw-like hand and points out rows of recent snapshots showing her leading services of worship, engaging in evangelist work around the region, and emerging from a muddy river with a triumphantly pious smile following her baptism.

It is two years since the twilight-years epiphany of Im Chaem, but few neighbours appear to share the 77-year-old’s missionary zeal in this dusty backwater in far north Cambodia, where most people are devout Buddhists. Only her family and the occasional visiting cleric attend Sunday services at the church she converted from an old rice mill and filled with more red plastic chairs than its spartan congregation could ever hope to use.

Nevertheless, Im Chaem appears steadfast and devout in her new-found faith. Her reasons for pivoting from Buddhism to Christianity are startlingly clear and almost mercenary in their simplicity: she wants redemption before she dies.
Full article: https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-mag ... rs-accused