Group including former refugees take part in mission trip to Cambodia

By Kim Kimzey
kim.kimzey@shj.com

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From left, Mary Hensley, Pastor Sam Duong with his son, Calvin, Vanny S. Sap and Docnga Sap talk about their trip to Cambodia.ALEX HICKS JR./alex hicks@shj.com

Docnga Sap of Wellford fled Cambodia’s “killing fields” more than 30 years ago.

For five months, he sought refuge at a camp in Thailand. Sap noticed that hundreds of children in the camp received meals each morning.

“I ask somebody, ‘Who is the rich man to feed the children every day?’ ”

The person responded “Jesus.”

Sap noticed how some people treated the refugees with kindness. He questioned why they were kind. Someone told him “Jesus.”

Sap converted to Christianity in that refugee camp. He also lived at a camp in the Philippines before he and his wife, Vanny, arrived in the United States in 1980. They lived in California for 16 years before moving here.

Sap had not walked on Cambodian soil in 31 years. And it had been 40 years since he last saw his home village of Pong Tuk. Sap longed to return there, help the villagers and share the gospel.

Sap was able to realize his vision last month. He and Vanny journeyed to Cambodia with a small mission team organized by the Rev. Sam Duong, pastor of the Cambodian Ministry in Spartanburg.

Duong also survived the Khmer Rough regime. He fled Cambodia to Vietnam. He returned to Cambodia, but later left for Thailand and eventually the Philippines. Like Sap, Duong converted to Christianity in a Thai refugee camp.

Duong now lives in Charlotte, N.C., and is pastor of two churches, including a church in Greensboro, N.C., and the Cambodian Ministry sponsored by United Baptist Church in Spartanburg. The Cambodian Ministry is the only Cambodian-language Southern Baptist church in South Carolina.