nhem paul sokum 1986 cambodia

8/10/2019 Nhem Paul Sokum 1986 Cambodia

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o u n d th e World

C A L I F O R N I A

P a u l S o k u n N h e m

M i n i s t e r t o a m b o d i a n s

was ordained to the _h r i s t i a n m i n i s t r y

Chr i s t i an h u r c h a n d

participated Nhemw as c h a r g e d withpreach ing the gospe l to peop le ofCambodian descen t in Long Beach locationof the largest C am bodian comm unityouts ide southeas t Asia and in o t h er a r ea s ofth e world w h e r e th e re fugees have beenr e s e t t l e d

T h e a m b o d i a n h r i s t i a n h u r c h h a s

been a ministry of First Christian since 1983

providing financial support and use of tfacil i t ies a t 50 1 A tl an ti c Av en u e Intional Disaster Emergency Service and the Southeast Asia Evangelilyiission have also been instrumenta

support of the work among the Cambrefugees

Mr. Nhem escaped the holocaustswept through Cambodiafrom 1975throu1979 following the end of the Vietnamand withdrawal of US forces ThousanCambod ian refugees came to Christresult of his preaching in internment calong the Thai-Cambodia border. Threset t lement in o th er c ou nt ri es h as re

in the planting of churches aroundw o r l dBorn to Buddhist parents in 1949

Nhem accepted Christ at the age ofwas later to know the joy of winninentire family to Christ. He was educatBibie in Pnomh Penh capital of Camband later s tudied at Cincinnat iSeminary and Pacific Christian Colw here he received his degree in 1985


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Spkun_NJ^m.was born in Cambodia October 5 19^9 to Buddhist parents . He became a Christian as a boy. He diligently studied the Bible given him as a g i f tan d began to preach qu i t e ear ly i n l i f e wherever he coihld f ind an audience: inschools on the s t r ee t s and in the market places. He preached to thousands. Inth e years 1973~?5 he baptized some 100 000 people in Cambodia s major ci ty.When th e Communists took over Cambodia in 1975i s ^reign of ter ror began. Thousands were ki l led other thousands were imprisoned Under such persecution othersands managed to f lee to safety tc nsl^:hboring countries particularly Thailand.The persecution h i t th e family of Paul Nhem wi th major impact. He notes that offifty-one family members only he and his wife. Mala managed to survive. And thwere separated for a long time. Paul along with many others was imprisoned on anisland where only a l i t t l e food was available. He managed to escape when hi s armbecame so skinney t ha t he could s l i p out of his handcuffs. He returned to PhnomPenh the capital city only to be jailed again. Managing to escape again he madhis way to Thailand joining his wife in a laxge refugee camp There he renewedh is preaching minis t ry.

Paul s ministry was very effective according to those who observed i t Witnessess ta te th at people flocked to hear him - - with people crowding t he th at ch a

bamboo church house. There were many many baptisms. Friends sought to arrangefor Paul to come to the United States because his l i fe continued to be in danger.In 1980 Charles and Henrietta Luttrell missionaries in Honolulu responded to arequest from Thai missionaries and agreed to serve as sponsors fo r the Nhem familyTransportation was arranged and late in that year Paul Mala and a son Samuelarrived in Honolulu and lived in a small apartment on the Palolo Valley Churchmission property. But because of Paul s desire fo r further educatoon the familymoved to Cincinnati Ohio where Paul enrolled at Cincinnat i Bible Seminary. Theresupport was found among in te res ted Chr i s t i an s . Professor LaVerne Morse and theInternational Disaster Emergency Services were especially helpful.In Cincinnati Paul r eceived f requen t r equest s from fellow Cambodian Christiansscattered in pockets of settlement around the United States and i n o th er co un tr ie s.The most challenging of such calls seemed to come from Southern California withthe result that in 1983 a decision was made that Paul move to Long Beach wherethere was a large concentration of Cambodian refugees. With the continuing assis-tanceof IDES the move was made and Long Beach First Christian Church opened i t sd o o r s t o a ne w Cambodian work .

In Long Beach Bro. Nhem found much work to be done e was tireless in his respon e called night and day upon his fellow refugees ministering to ihheir many needsboth spiritual and material. e had their love and respect and he soon gainedsuch from those with whom he was working the members of F i r s t Christ ian ChurchThe work grew and the church did likewise. Attendance at the Sui^ay afternoonCambodian services grew doubling and redoubling. Paul s work with Cambodianyouth was especially effective with as many as 50 attending Friday evening studygroup m e e t i n g s

Health problems began several months ago but Paul refused to slow down. His effobegan to take their toll . Unfortunately no one realized the nature of his physicalproblems until i t was too late. Finally he became so weak he could hardly standalone. He was hospital ized brief ly and then returned to th e home of Cambodian frbecause in his own home he was constantly being besieged by those needing his helpand advice.^ His contition worsened and he returned to the hospital after doctorsdiagnosed his condition as cancer of the l iver - a cancer already spread to otheareas. His pain was considerable but his sp i r i t continued strong and hopeful.The prayers of family and of fel low Christian of many different backgrounds wereraised in his behalf. God chose not to restore him to health and he passed fromthis l i fe continuing to speak of his love for Chris t and hi s desire to serve Himon S a t u r d a y Februa ry 22nd.


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Pau l i s su rv ived by h i s wife Mala and f o u r ch i ld ren : Samuel Ruth Simonand Lydia Funeral services were held on Wednesday, February 26 and conductedby l e a d e r s o f th e Long Beach Cambodian C h r i s t i a n Church by Sam 01 Seth aformer a s s o c i a t e o f P a u l s i n t h e r e fugee camps i n Tha i l and and now m i n i s t e ro f t h e Cambodian C h r i s t i a n Church i n San J o s e C a l i f o r n i a by John S n a b n i tm i n i s t e r fi f F i r s t C h r i s t i a n Church Long Beach and by P a u l Grimm, Gary T i f f i nGordon and Kenneth Stewar t who a r e d i r e c t o r s o f t h e newly organ ized CambodianEvangelism Miss ion I n t e r n a t i o n a l .


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ISSIONC h a r l e s a n d H e n r i e t t a L u t t r e l l

P . 0 . Box 25Waianae* HI 9^79Ph (808) 668 996

IVi RCH 1 9 8 6

D e a r B r e t h r e n i n C h r i s t

G r e e t i n g s i n t h e naine o f God t h e F a t h e r and H is S on and o ur S av io rHow g r a t e f u l we a r e to be a p a r t o f H is f ami ly I n st e ad o f o u r u s u a lFebruary l e t t e r we are sending t h i s one in March broke a typew r i t e r b e l t and had t r o u b l e g e t t i n g a r e p l a c e m e n t .

Our most e x c i t i n g news i s a b a p t i s m a t t h e M a i l i C h r i s t i a n Church .One o f th e young members has been b r i n g i n g h i s g i r l f r i e n d to a l l

the se rv ices in r ecen t months. The preacher has been us ing a course onbecoming a Chris t ian in the Bible School c lass , and on February 2 Yumiwas immersed a t the Pokai Bay Beach Park. Sh e i s a high school sen io rof Japanese descentquie t , shy, but a l eade r a t school . She i s pres iden to f s t u d e n t g o v e r n m e n t .

The chi ldren in the M aili af te r- schoo l Bible club are ge t t ing more i n t e res ted . One boy brought two of h is f r ie nds to the Sunday night se rv ice ,brought another f r iend to the Bible club who l a t e r brought her s i s t e r ,and was th e f i r s t one t o memorize t h e books o f th e New Te s t a m e n t . T h i sp a s t week we had a r ec or d a tt en da nc e o f n ine . U su al ly the y need to ber eminded b u t t h i s t ime they came on t h e i r own i n i t i a t i v e .

S i n c e we a t t e n d th e n ig h t s er v ic es a t M a i l i C h r i s t i a n Church , a r e i n v o l v e din many projects there, i t i s near us, and will need our help for manyy e a r s , we d e c id ed to p l a c e o u r f e l l o w s h i p w i t h them. We l i v e f if te e n m i l e sfrom Waipahu and they have d e d i c a t e d and c a p a b l e a d u l t s

tot a k e c a r e o f

the i r sp i r i tua l and physical needs, so when they get English-speakingteachers of t h e i r own we wil l probably not be needed there . Right now wea re f i l l i n g a v i t a l need a t Waipahu because the young people do not readnor wri t e the I locano d i a l e c t of t h e i r parents and need to be t aught^ inEnglish. The adul ts understand E ng lis h b ut are not comfortable enough ini t s u s e t o t e a c h i n i t

The p r e a c h e r , F e l i p e B a y a n i , s t i l l h as f o u r o f h i s f i v e c h i l d r e n i n t h ePhi l ippians , His o ldes t daughter became qui te i l l an d depressed so Fel ipespen t the f i r s t two weeks of February t he re . Sh e i s a l l r i g h t now. Hea l s o took h i s 7 - y e a r o ld grandson . Now t h e y a r e back b u t c on ce rn ed a bo utthe economic and p o l i t i c a l cond i t i on of the coun try . I preached fo r the

e n t i r e congrega t ion f o r the t h r ee Sundays he was away. The fo lks a re sog r a t e f u l f o r what we do f o r them, i t i s a p lea su re to he lp .

Our daughter, Lora, i s f inishing her th i rd year a t Ozark Chris t ian College.Now she i s a ss is t in g in the d i rec t ion of t h e i r big Eas te r pageant . Thissummer she w i l l be a v a i l a b l e to se rve as a miss ionary f o r Vaca t ion Bib leSchools, camps r a l l i e s , etc . would l ike to arrange an i t inerary tokeep h e r busy a l l summer. I f YOU can u se h e r , p l ea se w ri te to u s . WetMnk-y^im f ind her to be effect ive in challenging your young people^ a deepfer l i f e in the Lord, She i s enthusias t ic and has had l o t s ofexperience \ n working with children and young people of a l l ages.

We were sadqened and shocked to r ece iv e word t h i s week of th e d e a t h ofPaul Sokun Nhem from cancer of the l i v e r and l ungs . By the t ime he go tmedical at tent ion i t was too la te to help him. You may remember thati n 1980 t h e P a lo lo Va l l e y Church s p o n s o r e d Sokun, h i s wife Mala , and


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Our f inances a re s t i l l a matter of concern and prayero In Jsinuary we didmeet our budget (see f i n a n c i a l s t a t e m e n t below), bu t as we wri t e i t i sth e l a s t week o f February and we have r ece ived j u s t ove r 900, We do n o thave f u n d s t o pay t h e l a s t o f o u r s a l a r y n o r w r i t e a check f o r t h e b o o t ha t the N and Conventions in Indianapol is i n July. We are g r a t e f u lf o r t h o s e who have suppor t ed u s so l o y a l l y t h rough t h e y e a r s i and t r u s tt ha t the Lord wi l l continue to supply our needs through you, His people.

May He cont inue to su pp ly your needs through His r i ches i n glory.Yo u r b r o t h e r i n C h r i s t ,

F o r d is p la y m a t e r i a l s w r i t e t o : Mrso D e l b e r t S p e n c eB ox ^^R o c k f i e l d , IN ^1-6997

CONTRIBUTORS - DECEIVIBER THRU FEBRUARY

Churches /groups

C o n v e r s e , INM o r a n , KSL e a n n a , KSM a c e d o n i a , K o k o m o , I NF a i t h , B u r l i n g t o n , I NL o r d s Reape r s ,OCC,

J o p l i n , MOB e r e a , MOK o k o m o , I NPresco t t AZP V C C . H o n o l u l u , H I

L i n c o l n , N EC a r r o l l t o n . G AOsage H i l l s -

T u l s a , O KN ew P o i n t , MOW e s t s id e , C o l u m

bia MO

J 0 B s - G r e e n -

v i l l e I L

Wymore, NE

Couples / lnd iv idua l sS co tt S tu ar t

C l e o M P a r c e l lJ o h n D o y l eC M B r e e d l o v eT h e l m a Imel

J o e l Duke YoungJ a m e s F Rober t sRon SimpsonWayne G e r d s e nC h a r l e s B r a n d tC l y d e S i e f e r sE t t a C a i nJ o y c e Va n c eH e r b e r t Kur tz

J u l i a n H Whi twor th R a l p h B l a z e rM a r y DeHoff

L a r r y WapiennikE l l e n S n e e dR u t h L S h o e m a t eI r e n e AgemyL e s l i e HayesB o n n i e O R o u r k e

K e n n e t h S t e w a r tA l l a n M c M i l l a nL e o n a r d S m i t hE s t i l C o t t l e

P a u l J o h n s o nB e t t y H o r t o nM a r k L u t t r e l l

H , H , Yelton

F I N A N C I A L STATEMENT

Balance on hand , January 1 ,R E C E I P T S

DISBURSEMENTS:Tr a v e l f o r Lora)S u p p l i e sP a y r o l l t a x e sTake-home s a l a r yR e p o r t i n g t o C h u r c h e sU t i l i t i e s

Equipment/repairM e d i c a l I n s u r a n c eVe h i c l e E x p e n s eHous ing Al lowanceM i s c e l l a n e o u s

B a l a n c e , December 31 1985To t a l

1985

. 833.2916184,76

170180O5

767 . J^l1 5 7 . 8 3

1 0 9 ^ . 2 25 7 5 5 . 0 2

607 .^01 0 3 9 . 0 1

5 2 . 0 021^1-080

2360093-^-SOO.OO

2 7 6 , 0 0

168714- 12 1^3.93

B u d g e t e dF o r 1986

I8OOO0OO

5 0 3 . 0 01 6 0 . 0 0

1 3 ^ 0 , 0 06506,00

70O0OO1 1 0 0 . 0 0

1 0 0 0 0

2 1 5 . 0 02 3 0 0 , 0 0

k 0 0 , 0 02 3 . 0 0

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on Tingle, field rcprcscntalivc. Christian AraServices, was guest speaker for Spi ritua l Em

s Week held at F ir st church. Havre De Grace,March 16-21, C l if f o rd S m i th is th e mini.sier.

en W h ee le r, executive director. T he Ohio

c h Development Fund, Co lu mbu s, OH, rethe following speaking engagements in Ohio

ng February: Hocking Hills (Logan) Lancastersters meeting; Canton area ministers' meeting,or citizens group. Sciotoville; Batavia and Mane r and Clear Creek churches ; Till H e C om es

gelistic Association; Round Lake ministers reJohnny Appleseed evangelistic association;

Rushsylvania area ministers a.ssociation.nneth Eade retired as postmaster at Eckerty,

a ft er thirty years of service . He and his wife,n, continue their ministry with small churches

he Eng lish, IN, a re a, espe cially the Jer ichoh a t Ta s w el l , IN .

s

Blessed o re th e dead which die in the

Lordfrom henceforth . . . that they may restrom their labours; and their worksdofollowhem (Revelation 14:13).

azel Purvis Wise, Las Crucc , NM, d ie d, F eb .he attended Cincinnati Bible Seminary for twoin the early I940 s. and served in the Uni ted

s Naval Reserve for five years. Durin g herof service she advanced to the rat ing of Dis

ng Clerk First Class, It was during these yearsshe m et and married Daniel B. Wi s e . To DanJ

Hazelwerebomtwochildren, Patricia Ann and[man Thomas. Hazel was a loyal member of>ches of Christ/Christian churches during her

lifetime. She was also an act ive member o f

adies Auxiliary of The Fleet Reserve Associaof El Paso, TX . Survivors in addition to those

dy mentionedHncludc her father, Sherman Pur

two grandch ildren , and a bro ther. Memoria lce was conducted by Chaplain Steve Thompa-

, Dec.31 The sixty- j|year-oldmissionary's 11

eralservice was held f|New Year's Day in | l, Italy, amidst the li:plewithwhomhe and ^ U

ma had served since IG i u l i o L a v e r m i -

an d C es ar e C as

t w o of t h e l ea de r s in

arl congregation, led the service. Brethren andw miss iona ty workers f rom all over Southern

joined in the service. A memor ia l wa s alson t he U n it ed S ta te s at Firs t Chris t ian Church in

esboro. VA, two weeks later. Eddie Forehand,y Powel l, C leve land B os hc r, and J. D. Huntoke; Marvene Leitch and Denny Coffey (niece

nephew) presented special music. Mac wasin Augusta County, VA. in November. 1923.

ntered the Cincinnati Bible Seminary in 1946,tered with First church. Wayncsvillc. OH , andgraduation in 1951, he became involved in

church planning in Altavista. VA. He andma soon felt led to work in Italy and began their

pr il 6 , 1986

service there in January 1953. Survivors include hiswidow, Wilma; four chi ldren, Patric ia (Kcefer) ,Mark, Scott, Valeri (Herrick), and their families.Wilma remains in Italy to continue her ministry withthe Italian Christians. Daughter Valeri and her husband, Steve Her ri ck , plan to Join the work in Italylater this year, when they have completed raisingtheir support.

Martha Poole Rlggs, BTLage 98, the oldest mem- [ i^'b e r o f F ir st C h ri st ia n

C hu rc h, S ou r TX ,

died, J an . 9 . S he h ad b ee n

a fa i thfu l m e m b e r o f th e

for sixty-five M i s s Mar-t h a o r M a t t a s s he a f-

fectionately wa s calledwas indeed an inspirationto al l whose paths crossed hers . Living daily by theWord, her l ife was a song of praise. She had servedas a Bible-school teacher a nd u nti l r ec en t m on th s

had been a regular attender at the al l services of thechu rch . Th e m e m o ri a l s e r vi c es were conducted at

the church with Buford I. Cole officiating. Special

music was brought by a granddaughter, Sut ' ivorsinclude t hr ee s on s, F ra nk P oo le of Waco, TX . Louis

P oo le of San Manteo, CA , and Tommy Poole ofVidor; two daughters, Billie Douglas of Sour Lakeand Jacquelin Langley of Rosenberg. TX ; tengran^cbiWrefHsjwelve great grandchildren and two

^/Smers. A memonM fund was setup for FirstChristian Church. \

Paul Nhem. CambMian evangelist and ministerin Long Beach.CAytiied, Feb. 22. Brother Nhem

^a s only thirty-jjwn years old, but had convertednTOr 4haii-55 (J00 Cambodians to the Lord while ina refug ee camp. While in the c am p he held dailyBible studies, led in bu ilding a c hu rc h and thenpreached daily, all day long, in that church which

was filled to capac ity at each service , with morethan 5.000 people crowding in at a time. Forty-nineof fif ty-one people in his immediate family werek illed by the Communists. Before coming to theUnited States. Paul was imprisoned by the Communists because of his Chri.stian preaching. In the second imprisonment, he received two/three spoons ofporridge a day,some salt, and water as his total diet.His leftarm and leg were kept in a chain. His weightwas reduced to only fifty p oun ds. He was able toescape when he b ec ame so thin that his arms andlegs slipped through the manacles. He fled toPhnom Penh where he wasjai led the third time, butfinally escaped to a refugee camp inThailand whereh e w as r e un it e d w i th h i s wife in 1 9 7 9 . Paul c a m e to

t he U ni te d S ta te s i n 1 98 0. H e s tu di ed a t C in ci nn at i

Bi bl e C ol le ge and r ec ei ve d a BA degree from Pacific Christian College in 1985. He was the maincataly st for Ca mbo dia n ev ang elism in the LongBeach area where more than 20,000 Cambodians

live. In 1983, the Cambodian Chri s ti an Church began in the facilities of First Chr is ti an Church inLong Beach, Today the membership is more than300. From that start , other Cambodian congregations have begun in Santa Ana, Tustin. San Bernard in o . a n d Sa n J os e, C A . T h e loss o f P a ul N h em is a

very significant loss for Cambodian evangelism inS o u t h e r n C a l i f o r n i a . S u r v i v o r s i n c l u d e hi s w i d o w.

Mayla; and four chi ld ren, Samue l, Ruth, Simon,and Lydia. Memor ia l services were held at Firstchurch in Long Beach with John Enabnit . Gary Tiff in, Saman Nget , Jack Jensen, Paul Grimm, T ingSang, Kenneth S tewart, and Mo.ses Sam Ol'Sc thparticipating,

Rober t O. Rainwater, age 66, Pittsburgh, PA,died, Sept. 24, after a six months struggle with cancer. He wa s a retired |X>stal clerk. He wa s involvedwith the Lord 's work for many years and was an

act ive m e m b e ro f

th e Homevit le Chris t ian Churchserving as an elder, deacon, trustee, Bible-schoolsuperintendent and teacher. Survivors include hiswidow, Margare t; one daugh te r, Gerry of Pittsburgh , PA; two bro ther s and one sister Memorialservices were conducted by Donald Brooksh ire,William D. Barber. He nry Koch, and Ha ro ld L,N e w l a n .

V, K. All ison , a long-time mini.ster. died in hishome in Santa Cruz , CA , Feb. 17. Had he lived

another two weeks he would have been 98 yearsold. His ministry began many years ago as a songevangelist. These meetings took him to Oregon andthe beginning of his preaching ministry. He ministered with churches in Brownsvi l le , Ash land, and

Klamath Falls in Oregon before going to Californiawhere he served w it h t he chu rch in Santa Cruz fo r a

n um be r of years. In 1940 he accepted a call fromSan Jose Bible College and taught Old Testament ,Chr is t i an Ev idences , and Biblical Doctr ine until hi s

ret irement in 1959. During his long retirement hedid supply preaching and held several evangelisticm ee ti ngs . Me mo ri al s er vi ce s were held at thechurch in Santa Cruz, Feb. 22. Craig Fox conducted the service and was ass is ted by Bill Jes supand Gale M cGui re. He is su rvi ve d by his wife ofseventy years, Mrs. Laura Allison and a daughter,Rosemary Phillips,

Coming Events

I n t e r m o u n t a i n Youth Wo r k e r s C o n f e r e n c e to beheld at Firs t church, Boise, ID, Apri l 10-12. DavidRoadcup , Tim Coop, Paul Schlieker, and GaryZustiak are the scheduled speakers.

O r d i n a t i o n s

Terry Allcorn, 1985 graduate of Kentucky Christian College, was ordained at Sebring (OH) Churcho f C hr is t, O c t. 13, 1985. H e an d his wife. Ja c

queline, are now in language school in Edinburg,TX , preparing for new church work in Puerto Ricowith John and Mary Recce, Pictured with Terry arethose men who part ic ipated in the service ; MikeHazel ton, Clyde Allcorn (father), Don Andrews,Roger Grecnamyer, Jerry Billingslcy. Gene Kitzmil-ler, Bruce Slagle, John Studcbaker. and David Car-rick. Virginia Studcbaker (mother-in-law) and Jacqueline Allcorn provided special music.

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nhem paul sokum 1986 cambodia

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