An elderly American woman, Leith Richards, came to live in a neighbouring village. She started a public library. She called it Light for Living and wanted to employ a local student who could speak English. Even though Leith was a Christian, my family insisted that I apply for the job. Each working day began with English tuition and a Bible study. Reading woke up my mind. If God created everything, he needs nothing—so offering food to idols is pointless.

One day, I couldn’t kick start my motorcycle. I prayed to Jesus, “If you start my motorcycle, I will believe in you.” The bike started with the next kick. Coincidence!

My family realised that I could earn more money in a big hotel and decided to send me to Phnom Penh. The prospect of living alone in the capital filled me with dread. I prayed to Jesus, “If you stop me from going to Phnom Penh, I will believe in you.” That night, my father came to me and said “If you want to stay, we will not make you go.” Just another coincidence.

When a primary school was built in my village, I had a second chance for an education. The teacher put me in grade 4. That may have been right for my age, but because I had not completed grades 1 to 3, I found it tough. 

When I was about twelve, my older brother drowned. He had been travelling down river to the market with his father-in-law. Their dugout canoe capsized in the wake of a boat heading upstream to pick up timber. The larger boat did not turn around to help or even pause.

After only three months, my parents pulled me out of school. I was old enough to help my uncle saw wood in the forest and earn money. Even though I had not made much progress, I was very sorry to leave school. 

I have an older brother and sister and a younger sister. When I was very young, my brother was possessed by an evil spirit. To cure him, the shaman told us to sacrifice animals. Eventually my brother recovered but only after we had sacrificed all our livestock and the numerous chickens we borrowed from our relatives and neighbours. Our family was in debt and impoverished. We lived in a simple bamboo house, in the forest outside the village.

My parents sent my older brother to an evening literacy class. He was very scared walking alone from our forest home to the village. The path was dark and in those days evil spirits were everywhere. My brother was the first person in our family to become literate.

When I was still young, the gospel came to my village. My parents didn’t fully understand it but they were thrilled to hear the good news about a God who is stronger than the evil spirits and has the power to heal. They became followers of Jesus.

My brother went to the YWAM Bible school and became a Sunday school teacher and literacy teacher. My older sister, Toy, and I went to primary school in the daytime and to our brother’s literacy class in the evening. We learned to read and write first in our language, Kavet, and then Khmer. Then we learned to teach others to read and write.

I hope to train as a primary school teacher or health worker so I can help our entire village. We used to think that sickness was from the evil spirits. We did not know that malaria comes from mosquitos or that diarrhoea comes from unclean food and water. Our family was the first in the village to build a toilet.

I get great satisfaction from making manuscripts flow smoothly and meeting deadlines. Books are important for all of us and should be accessible for everyone. Books are our memory.

At DTS I held a book for the first time. We studied the Bible, memorised verses and learned oral Bible storytelling. I asked God to help me learn to read the Bible. On my phone, I recorded my friend reading the Bible. Then I listened to the recording while examining the text in the Bible. Over several months, one by one, I learned the Khmer letters, then words and sentences.

The following year I started a youth group at our village church and enrolled at the village school. Because I could read, I advanced directly to grade 6. The other students were 11 to 13 years old. I started at the bottom of the class, but within a few months I was top of my class. At age 18, I enrolled at the district high school and moved into a dormitory, but after a month I had to drop out. I had run out of money.

Please pray that I will stand strong and persevere. Pray that God will use me to bless my community and bring the good news to dark places.

Please pray that I will preach the word and be ready at all times to correct, rebuke and encourage with patience and careful instruction.