When the Vietnamese invaded Cambodia in 1979, the Khmer Rouge fled north to continue a resistance movement from the jungles. It lasted until 1999, when the remaining leaders surrendered. Today most of the surviving leaders, hated by society, are hiding in jungle regions.

Former Khmer Rouge soldiers and their wives are baptized.

In early 1979, Hoeun, along with 1 million others, returned to Phnom Penh hoping to find work and food. But little remained of the once thriving metropolis. Younger and stronger than most, Hoeun found work as a motorcycle taxi driver.

The Vietnamese outlawed Christianity, so Hoeun remained quiet about his faith, not even telling his wife, when he married in 1980.

That same year, Hoeun, with only his brief university education, was appointed General Manager of Building and Transportation in the Ministry of Commerce, meaning that he was responsible for overseeing all of Cambodia’s new construction.

Hoeun knew of underground churches in existence throughout the country, but chose to remain silent about his faith because of his job—until 1990, when the government made Christianity legal, if only on paper.

Christians immediately announced their presence. Hoeun began openly preaching to everyone he encountered. His family and all the drivers in the Ministry of Commerce accepted Christ as Savior.

The many Christian organizations that appeared in 1990 from outside the country, engaged only in humanitarian activity, as proselytizing was strictly forbidden. But that year, Hoeun learned of a new missionary who planned to return to the country to preach Christ.