Pastor Sim Ten, Khmer Rouge Genocide Survivor Passes Away

Sim Ten was a government employee before the Khmer Rouge period but had to wander around like many of his country’s people even in forests to escape the genocide. In 1976 he returned to his village to live as a secret Christian under the new Communist rule. He became a pastor quitting the government job when a democratic government came to power in 1992.

The Khmer Rouge era in Cambodia was a period of genocide and political upheaval that lasted from 1975 to 1979. During this time, the Khmer Rouge regime led by Pol Pot sought to create an agrarian utopia by forcibly relocating people from urban areas to the countryside and implementing radical policies that resulted in the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people.

He revived the old house church in his own property which was shattered during the communist rule. Though later in his life, he lived with his daughter in the USA he returned to his village to continue his ministry until his death.

Pastor Sim Ten’s funeral was held at the Mohaleap village in Kompong Cham province on Tuesday, 9 May 2023.