The following stories are those of listeners to KRUSA-FM, Phnom Penh. Radio listeners in this country rarely write letters. Thus most accounts are learned through chance encounters, or when listeners purposely visit the radio station. The accounts in this listing are taken from KRUSA's winter quarterly report, which contained some photographs not included here.

December 2006

Anching is seventeen years old, a student and living quite some distance from Phnom Penh. She is not a Christian but she enjoys listening to the Sunset program hosted by Somaly because she thinks the program is good for young people like her. On a holiday, she visited her sister in Phnom Penh and took the chance to see her favorite radio host for the first time.

Sixty-four year-old Him Chanthou started listening to FEBC in 1996 through the short wave broadcasts from the Philippines. He came to know the Lord through the radio. Three years later, he started a church in his house, which grew to become a congregation of about 70 people. Asked how he pastored the members, Chanthou related how he used to tape the radio programs on his cassette recorder especially the teachings on tithes and offerings, how to sing, and how to worship God. "I would play the recording, turn it off and ask the people to open their Bible and let them compare what they heard with what is written in the Word," Chanthou explained. It was not easy at first. Because he was a pagoda priest in the village and a headmaster in the public school, people looked up to him with great respect. But when he became a Christian, villagers started to ridicule him for following a "foreign" God. This did not discourage him from persisting in his new-found faith. "Life as a Buddhist is also good but it does not save as Christ does. We all sin but by praying and confessing to Him, we are saved," he shared. He used to drink, smoke and curse a lot but when people saw him change his ways, they became interested and began attending the church in his house. Nowadays, Chanthou continues to lead his flock, relying on FEBC's short wave broadcasts for Bible teaching. With his radio-cassette recorder now broken, he asked us to pray that the Lord will give him a new one so he can continue teaching his congregation with the help of the broadcasts.

Some days listeners surprise us with tokens of appreciation for what FEBC means to them. Pastor Eang Sokhea and his wife did just that when they brought a whole bunch of bananas and several pieces of gourds fresh from their harvest. Pastor Eang was among those who received five sets of wind-up radios for his church last August.

Kim Sopheap was a picture of great joy even before she held her new radio in her hands. Her countenance was a complete change from when she first visited us last year. When asked why she looked so happy, her face glowed as she broke into a big smile and shared what happened. She thanked the Lord for taking care of her and her children. Her husband died of AIDS five years ago. Since then she has been seeing the doctor regularly for checkup and each time she gets a clean bill of health and so do all her children who could have been infected. She attributes everything to God's goodness, which is what is keeping her peacefully happy. This wasn't always so, we found out later. Back when her husband was very ill, she would do anything, even stole the neighbor's chickens, just to feed her family. She recalled a very difficult and hard life until she came to know and believe in God through a neighbor's witness. Not long after, she discovered Family FM on a borrowed radio and started listening since then. It was through listening to the broadcasts that her husband came to know the Lord five days before he died. Throughout this time, Sopheap experienced God's comfort and encouragement through the radio programs. Not One Minute Without God is the title of her favorite song, which she often hears on our station. "Listening to Family FM gives me so much joy and helps me grow in faith," she testified. When her radio stopped working, she knew she just had to take a chance and see if she could possibly get one from FEBC. She came and got her request. We haven't seen someone so delighted in receiving something like a radio!

[One man whose identity must be kept confidential] never fails to visit us whenever he comes to Phnom Penh. His heart's one desire is to be able to leave the monkhood but fears that if he does his mother will disown him and he will have nowhere to go.

When they cannot come, they call. In fact, more people phone up than come and visit. Many times they just want to join the discussion on the air, answer a question or chat with the announcer. One particular caller rang us up off the air. In not too many words, he said, "I want to become a Christian. How?" We don't get many calls like this. Often when we do we are caught by a warm surprise realizing how God can touch and draw people's hearts to Him through every little thing we do on or off the air.

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