!

" # $ %
!"##$% '()* + ,-./0,/ !"
Nicole Rim,
Graphic Designer,
Communications
and Marketing Omce
l
n the 1vcs, the Khmer Rouge communist regime
reignedand terrorizedCambodia. ln an enort to
rid Cambodia of Western infuences, they carried out
a mass genocide, exterminating between one-quarter and
one-third of the population. Te execution sites were
called the Killing lields.
Today, Living lields Church in Lynn, MA, brings a message
of hope and freedom to the Cambodian Holocaust refugees
and their familiesa stark contrast to dark days that they
narrowly escaped.
Still, the trauma from the war remains. You probably
cannot hnd a Cambodian whose mother or father has
not been anected by the war. lt`s almost guaranteed that
they`ve lost at least one or more members of their family,"
explains Nicole Rim, a Living lields stan member. As a
result, they have turned to other forms of escapism to
deal with all those horrors and stresses. Tere is much
brokenness in these various forms of escapism."
Nicole, who began serving at Living lields in zcc1, hrst
became impassioned to share the gospel during a mission
trip to Kenya in college. Having grown up in a Korean-
American church in the northwest suburbs of lllinois,
that trip, she says, forced her out of her comfort zone and
opened her eyes to the deep need for the gospel around
the world.
lor a while, l thought that God was calling me to Africa.
Tough God closed doors, he also opened doors in the
sense that he showed me he has brought the nations here,
in our own backyard," Nicole says. Living lields` pastor,
PoSan Ung, showed me that one of these nations he has
brought in abundance is Cambodia. Massachuseus has the
second-largest population of Cambodians in the U.S. and
the third-largest in the whole world. Tat really opened
my eyes to the fact that l don`t have to travel overseas to
do the mission work that l`m passionate about."
1 $ 2 - . 3 - " % 3 - - % !
!"#$%&'( *%$!+ "# $%&' ()&$&*# *+ !"#$%&$, -( &#$.*)/0( 1 #(- '(0$&*#,
'()"#* ,-. /"".02 3(.(, 4*/ -&55 6(($ */. 7(*75(8 $%( +10/5$4, '$1++ 1#)
'$/)(#$' -%* 1.( '(.9&#: $%( ;*.) &# 64.&1) 6&#&'$.&(' -%&5( 15'* -*.<&#:
1$ $%( '(6&#1.42 =%(4 &#'7&.( /' -&$% $%(&. (#(.:4 1#) 0*66&$6(#$ $*
1)91#0( $%( :*'7(52 >( %*7( 4*/ -&55 ?( &#'7&.() 1' -(552
When Nicole hrst heard about Living lields, she was living in
Cambridge, MA, and working at an ad agency. lntrigued by the
mission and focus of Living lields, Nicole began making the
trek from Cambridge to Lynn afer work on Tursdays to help
with the youth group.
As l was serving, Pastor PoSan challenged me to consider what
it meant to really invest in the lives of these kids. l thought
that it was enough for me to just be there on Tursdays. lor
me, it was a sacrihce to drive from Cambridge. But then, his
words really resonated. l could tell these kids that they should
go to church and they should love Jesus, but the reality is that
they don`t have parents who will bring them to church. Tey
don`t have parents who even encourage them to go to church.
lf anything, they discourage them from even auending church."
Soon, Nicole`s once-a-week commitment became three or four
days per week. But the idea of fully investing was still daunting.
Lynn is a rough community. lt`s known for its violence. lt`s
very common during Sunday worship to hear sirens nonstop
it`s like part of our praise! All that was kind of scary for me.
lt was comfortable to be at a church that l was used to. But
eventually l did feel convicted to be at Living lields.
When l considered what Christ has done for usthat he would
even leave Heaven to come to our world and eat among us and
live among us and walk among usthat really hit home for
me. l saw that in many ways, my resistance to moving to Lynn
was out of my own selhsh ambitions and my own desire for
comfort. But God was very patient and gracious with me, and
eventually l did make that decision to move."
ln zccc, Nicole moved into Living lields` discipleship home,
an intentional community-living environment designed to
nurture new Cambodian Christians. Te home is primarily for
Cambodian young adults with a serious desire to be discipled
over a one- to three-year period. Nicole and other church stan
who live at the home shepherd these new Christians, teaching
them how to read their Bibles, pray, take their concerns and
decisions before the Lord, and live out their faith.
"#'&)( $%( @1#:%&<1.16 >1$ A%6(. =(675( B+*.6(.54 1 C17$&'$ 0%/.0%D &#
;4##, EF2
G%*$* H.()&$8 F5(I ;1/
! " # $ %
!" !"#$%!$ ' ()**+, -./0
Because Buddhism is so deeply engrained in the Cambodian
culture, Christian concepts and practices are very foreign.
Buddhism has been in Cambodia for hundreds and hundreds
of years, so it`s not just rituals. lt`s actually their worldview,
this works-oriented worldview. So, the concept of grace
doesn`t make any sense to them," Nicole explains. lf their
own fellow Cambodian becomes a Christian, that person is
considered a traitor. Tere`s this popular saying in Cambodia
`To be Cambodian is to be Buddhist.` You would be giving up
not just your religious identity but also your culture itself if
you became a Christian."
Nicole describes the idea of the discipleship home as congruent
to parents caring for their newborn children. My pastor saw
this puddle of sewage water, and the question that came to
mind was God asking, `What would happen if a newborn
baby were dropped into that sewage water` Te baby would
not surviveit would get sick or diseased. We know that
newborn babies are nurtured, fed, cared for, held. But for
Cambodians, it`s not like that when they become Christians.
lt`s almost as if they are tossed !"#$ sewage water,`" Nicole
explains. Te discipleship home provides a safe environment
for Cambodian Christians to learn to navigate that water and
drink the living water, onered freely through Christ.
l consider Lynn a valley of dry bones in a way, and there are
very few workers here. Someone actually needs to hold the
people by the hand, pick them up, bring them to church, and
acclimate them to this new way of life and way of thinking."
ln addition to the discipleship home, Living lields hosts a
weekly community dinner, Khmer language and dancing
lessons, music classes and many citywide events. We really
do care about blessing the community with expressions of
their cultural background. Tat`s a way to connect with the
community. Because it`s really hard to say, `Hey! Want to
come to Bible study`` Nobody will come. But if we say, `Hey!
l want to oner you a cup of cold water in the form of music,`
then they are very interested," Nicole says.
Nicole, Pastor PoSan and the rest of the church stan lack
no creativity in brainstorming new ways to reach their
community. We intentionally decided not to get a washer and
dryer at the home," Nicole explains. My pastor felt that since
it is normal in Lynn for Cambodians to go to the Laundromat,
that`s where you can hnd a lot of them. So, when we have to
do our laundry, we, too, go to the Laundromat. Tis gives us
opportunities to get to know people and connect them to the
dinerent resources that our church oners.
To be honest, l don`t know if l will see the fruit of our labor in
my lifetime, because the reality is that the gospel is not rooted
in Lynn among the Cambodian-Americans, and it takes a lot
of time for the gospel to take root. lt`s not just a quick hx. lt
takes a lot of sweat and toil. l`ve come to a place where l have
accepted the fact that we might not ever be a large church with
resources in abundance. But that`s okay, because the whole
point is really about Christ being magnihed.
lven if that`s only in the form of his servants giving their
lives faithfully to bring the gospel to a community like this,
then that`s still worth it. Tat`s our onering to God. Tat`s
our worship to God. And yet my prayer remains hopeful
that, by God`s grace, many souls would come to see the light
of Christ." 1#2
Massachuseus has the
second-largest population of
Cambodians in the U.S.
and the third-largest in
the whole world.
!"# %&'( Lvhg Feds' weeky commuhly dhher; baplsm cass durhg
ahhua mssoh lrp lo ssler house church h Camboda.
!"# )&%%&*( Ahhua Cvhg Thahks evehl, hohorhg CambodahAmercahs
who are makhg a derehce h lhe cly o Lyhh; Ncoe oh Lvhg Feds'
mssoh lrp; worshp servce h lhe dscpeshp home.