I was born in Cambodia in 1958. Now it is called the Kingdom of Cambodia. While growing up, I believed Buddha was God. The communists, Khmer Rouge, took control of Cambodia in 1975 after 5 years of civil war; I was 17 years old. Their regime lasted till the end of 1979. During that time, I constantly feared for my life and the lives of my family because of mass executions, starvation, diseases, and overwork.

Since my father was a captain in the military, the Khmer Rouge killed him. My eldest brother was taken a year after that, and another elder brother is missing and presumed dead. A younger sister died due to overwork, disease, and starvation. The communists continued to seek out the rest of my family. We changed our identity and destroyed all evidence of military association, yet we always feared being discovered.

The most frightening experience came in 1979 when the Vietnamese defeated the Khmer Rouge. My family and I fled the battle zone with bullets flying all around us. We ran carrying rice and other food supplies. We spent several weeks walking over mountains and jungles, scratching for roots and plants for food, huddling together under trees for shelter from rain, stepping over whole families killed by land mines, and not daring to step off the pathway. My eldest sister and four of her children died during the journey. Finally we arrived at a refugee camp in Thailand.

My grandmother told me that there actually is a true God called Trinity God—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, all in one—who came to save us from our sins. She had always hoped to know the true God. She died of starvation in 1976. I had no idea who the living God was, but I prayed to Him to spare my life. While staying in the Khao I Dang refugee camp in early 1980, I heard through missionaries and a Cambodian pastor the message about Christ in early 1980 and His mercifulness to mankind.

A classmate from Cambodia invited me to study the English Bible with him at the church. My purpose was to learn English; I did not realize I would learn something more important. I learned who the true God is and that I could receive eternal life through His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. In 1980 at the age of 22 I received Christ into my heart to be my Lord and Savior.

Three days after I invited Christ to come into my heart, I had a frightening dream. I saw an evil spirit coming toward me in the form of a skeleton. I tried to say all kinds of magical words that my grandmother taught me, but they had no effect on this devil. It continued coming toward me with its arms reaching out to grab my feet. Suddenly, I remembered the words my pastor said: “If you ever fear anything, all you have to do is to call out to the Lord for help.” I said, “In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ be gone, devil spirit.” I said it three times, and the devil spirit disappeared. Romans 10:13 says, “For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

I woke up and told my mother, and we praised God together. Since that day, I have placed my trust completely in Christ as my Lord and Savior to guide me through everyday life. In the refugee camp, the pastor and missionaries discipled new Christians like me, teaching God’s Word, prayer, and evangelism.

God opened the door for us to be in America through an organization called United States Catholic Conference (USCC). USCC sponsored my family and several other families to resettle in Indianapolis. We arrived at the Indianapolis International airport on Sept. 24, 1981. For the first time, I felt safe and secure.

God has blessed me in my new life as a Christian in America. He has provided provisions for my mother, sister, and me, and employment to continue to support my family. God has provided a beautiful wife for me, directed me to a church home to worship and grow in my life in Christ, and enabled me to own and operate a dental laboratory business.

I got to know my wife, Karen, through my sister. They attended the same sociology class at Indiana University School of Nursing. Karen became interested in my family. She invited my mother, my sister, and me to have dinner at her home with her parents. We did the same in return. We continued this pattern for about three years. During that time, I spoke no more than 10 words to her. I always felt uncomfortable talking to a single young lady. I was very shy and had very low self esteem. My sister encouraged me to offer to escort Karen to her college graduation banquet. We fell in love. We were married on Apr. 10, 1993. Now we have four beautiful children: Grace Katherine, 11; Christopher York, 8; Joseph Kessler, 5; and Sori-yah May, 7 months.

In 1989, Karen invited me to visit Second Reformed Presbyterian Church. At first, the form of worship with psalm singing was unfamiliar because they did not sing the hymns I was used to. However, the biblical truth that the pastors preached and the discipleship were quite different from other churches I had attended in America. I believed this was the church where God wanted me to be. I have remained at Second RPC ever since.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 states that we can never understand the works of God from beginning to end. I may never understand or forget the suffering, loss, and grief that my family and I lived through, but because of it I know the true God in a personal way as my Lord and Savior. I know for certain that when I die, I will be with Him in heaven, and I have found safety and a home in America. John 6:47 states, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.” Thanks be to God in the highest.