Who are we?

We are Cambodian-Americans living in the United States of America. Why are we here? Accordding to the Holy Bible Leviticus 26:1-33, we believed that because we worshiped idols and bowed down unto them, we were severely punnished during the Khmer Rouge regime of Pol Pot from 1975 to early 1979. "......And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolated, and your cities waste" (Leviticus 26:33).  

Khmer Rouge forced all city dwellers into the countryside and to labor camps.They banned all institutions, including stores, banks, hospitals, schools, religion, and the family. Everyone was forced to work 12 - 14 hours a day, every day without pay or enough food to eat. Children were separated from their parents to work in mobile groups or as soldiers. People were fed one watery bowl of soup with a few grains of rice thrown in. Leviticus 26:26 stated, "...And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver [you] your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied." During this period people ate anything, such as crickets, snakes, mouses, red ants, water grass, etc., to survive. In some cases, fathers dug up graves of their dead sons or daughters and cut the human flesh to eat. Leviticus 26:29 stated, "And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat." Furthermore, babies, children, adults and the elderly were killed everywhere. During their rule, it is estimated that 2 million Cambodians died by starvation, torture or execution.

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"The Killing Fields"

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We survived the brutal Communist regime of Pol Pot when Vietnamese Army invaded and liberated Cambodian people from Khmer Rouge. We escaped to Thailand and seeked refuge in the UNHCR refugee camps along the Thai-Cambodian border. In the camps, some refugees accepted Jesus as their Lord God and Savior through the world missionaries. That is, they converted from Buddhism to Christianity. Rev. Chheoun Chhorn was one of them.

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In 1970, Chheoun Chhorn was a soldier serving Lon Nol's government, backed by the United States to fight the communist guerrilla. He was shot 32 times and he survived. Then, he survived the brutal regime of Pol Pot.

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Rev. Chheoun Chhorn and his family came to the U.S. in May 1983. His family settled new life in the City of Fort Worth, Texas. He met Pastor Sok Deoung at Broadway Baptist Church. Pastor Sok was the minister for the Khmer people at that time. There were approximately 25 to 30 Cambodians who went to worship God every Wednesday  night. Then, Rev. Chhorn was ordained to be the pastor of the Cambodian Baptist Mission at Broadway. We were allowed to worship God on Sunday at 1 p.m. only.

During 1984 and 1989, our congregation grew to approximately 150 members. Unfortunately afterward, many families moved to other states, seeking jobs or welfare assistance and/or living close to their relatives. Late 1993, six families left our church to form another Cambodian Mission Church with Travis Avenue Baptist Church under the leadership of Rev Rindo Nong. We were with Broadway church until we unanimously decided to save money for purchasing our own building. We had faith that one day we would have our own worship place.

In 1997, Rev. Chhorn went to Broadway church and asked for assistance purchasing a small building. He was turned down; Broadway refused to help. Despite Broadway denied our request for assistance, Rev. Chhorn had faith in Jesus. He told the mission commettee of Broadway that he would buy a church with or without Broadway's aid. Then the commettee asked him how he was going to do that. Rev. Chhorn replied that he did not know how, but he entirely trusted and had faith in the Lord who would help us. Having said that, we managed to buy a small church from Southern Baptist Temple.

In 1998, our church was incorporated with assistance from Mr. Jack Kendrick (a retired US Air Force) with legal paperworks and The Cooper Family with co-sign of the loan. Our church is a non-profit organization and it is an Internal Revenue Code Section 501 (c) (3) exempt organization under Group Exemption Ruling 1703 issued to the Baptist General Convention of Texas by the Internal Revenue Services. In addition, we are member of Tarrant Baptist Association. Furthermore, we had some financial support from Cambodian Church of Christ (our brother church) and from other Khmer churches in Carrollton city.   

 

Several months after we moved in, there were problems of our old-age building. One day there were torrential rain and severe storms and our fellowship building leaked so bad that it caused damages to the roof, ceiling, and floor. Our AC unit stopped functioning. However, it was a blessing from God. On behalf of the Cambodian Baptist Church and from the bottom of our hearts, we thank and thank and never thank enough Mr. William A. Coffey (a retired U.S. Navy lieutenant) who went to Broadway church raising money to repair the damages. God bless him and his family. Also, we thank Ms. Patricia Smith so very much for her financial support in purchasing kitchen equipment. We thank Mrs. Claudine Marion for helping us in many other things. We thank all  member of Broadway Baptist Church (the mother church). Most important of all, we thank God for everything.                            

Our congregation is small and has approximately sixty members including youths. We affirm the Holy Bible as the inspired Word of God and basis of our beliefs. We voluntarily band our selves togather as a body of baptized believers in Jesus Christ, personally committed to sharing the good news of salvation to lost mankind. Our goal is to serve our Lord God with all our heart, our soul, our mind, and our strength. That is, we help the poors, widows, and orphans, and bring them the message of Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.       

May God Almighty bless everyone.