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The Dark Reality
The population of Cambodia consists primarily of the Khmer people (ca. 12.5 million), whose language is Khmer. In addition, Cambodia is host to numerous ethnic minorities, ranging in population from 2,500 (Kravet) to 32,000 (Tampuan). Most of these minorities live in the northeastern province of Ratanakiri, bordered by Vietnam and Laos. Just west of Ratanakiri is Stung Treng province, home to approximately 92,000 Laotians.
While Buddhism is the purported religion of Cambodia, including ethnic minorities, animism is the real life-controlling force, for which Buddhism provides little more than a thin veneer. Missiologist Gailyn Van Rheenen defines animism as
the belief that personal spiritual beings and impersonal spiritual forces have power over human affairs and, consequently, that human beings must discover what beings and forces are influencing them in order to determine future action and, frequently, to manipulate their power (Communicating Christ in Animistic Contexts).
After citing Stephen C. Neil’s estimate that 40 percent of the world’s population base their lives on animistic thinking, Van Rheenen asserts, “Because Animism frequently hides beneath the façade of other world religions, Neill’s already high percentage is probably a low estimate.”
The good news for the Church is that animistic cultures are ripe for plundering by Christ’s kingdom in a way that cultures under a secularist/materialist delusion are not. The missionary has no trouble convincing the Laotian animists of the reality of the supernatural, for he lives all his days in dread of it. Our message is simply that our Supernatural Force trumps his! In fact, He created and controls the spirits who dominate the animist; He has even conquered them, rendering them powerless to touch His people without His permission.
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