By Jong Ho Lee –
In 1970, Joseph Kong walked through the jungle day and night for three days after communist forces took control of Kratie Province in Cambodia.
“During that time, I was so afraid of dying. I felt death,” Joseph said. “That night I cried out to God. I promised, ‘If You save me, I will worship and serve God.’”
At the time, Cambodia was in the middle of a civil war, and many people lost their lives under the Khmer Rouge regime.
Joseph grew up in a Catholic family and attended church, but as he grew older, he gradually drifted away from his faith.
After walking through the jungle for three days, he arrived in Phnom Penh, a city, and reunited with his family. However, as the war continued, he sometimes had to stay in a bunker to avoid rocket attacks.
“At night, we slept inside the bunker for safety,” he said. “I was calling on the name of God.”
In March 1975, Joseph left for Bangkok, Thailand, with his family because of his work. After they left, the situation in Cambodia became even worse.
In June 1975, applied and was accepted as a refugee in the United States. He found a job in Salem, Oregon. Later, he served as an interpreter in church Cambodians in the United States.
One day, a missionary from Cambodia visited the church.
“Joe, the way you have been saved from the killing fields was not by accident,” he told him. “It was God’s plan for you.”
That night, Joseph realized that he needed to dedicate his life to God and accept Jesus as his Savior and Lord.
From 1975 to 1986, he served as a layperson minister for 11 years. Then, in 1986, he followed God’s calling and entered full-time ministry.
“Through His providence, God saved me from the war,” Joseph said. “Through the gospel, He saved my soul.”
Joseph later became the C&MA’s National Director for Ethnic Ministries, leading ministries for various ethnic minority communities.
As he approached retirement age, Joseph decided to serve as a missionary in Cambodia. At the time, he had diabetes, which meant that contracting malaria in Cambodia could pose a serious risk to his health. Still, he signed a document stating that he would not hold the C&MA responsible and decided to go to Cambodia.
“So when we returned home in 1990, there were less than 1,000 Christian,” Joseph says. “But today, 35 years later, we have over half a million of Christian right now. So Cambodia right now has become one of the most open country to the Gospel.”
