I want to share with you the story of Setan Lee.
Setan (pronounced: see TAWN) joined us on this mission trip on Wednesday. Setan founded an organization called Transform Asia; you can find information on Transform Asia at www.transformasia.us. Also, you can find information regarding Setan Lee on this web site. You can order the book about his life and a DVD that shows the story of his life. Setan gave me his book and DVD when I met him and it took me a few days to read the book and watch the DVD in between clinics, eating and sleeping but I have finished both. It is truly amazing what God has done through his life and the life of his wife Randa Lee.
In 1975 the Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, ended the five year Cambodian civil war only to unleash a reign of terror as Pol Pot, following Marxist Leninism Doctrine, attempted to transform Cambodia to a pure agrarian society. Anyone who was educated, anyone who lived in or was exposed to “city” life was considered an enemy of the state. They were either executed immediately or saved to work mercilessly in the rice fields until they died either by starvation, exhaustion or sickness. There were three rules as a prisoner of the Khmer Rouge: don’t ask questions, don’t show any emotion, do either and you die. Millions were killed by the Khmer Rouge, so many millions that much of the land in Cambodia became known as the “Killing Fields.” Today one can go out into a rice field and start digging and you will soon uncover human bones. It was a reign of madness, evil, and terror.
Setan Lee’s father was a wealthy, well connected business man with many children. Setan, as a young teenager was well on his way to an education in the medical field in Paris along with his brother Monty. In April 1975 that all ended. Setan was rounded up with several other youth and ordered to work in the rice fields from 4:00 AM until Midnight every day with only soup to eat. Of the 1,000 youth in his particular group only 300 were left due to the harsh conditions. Then one day the guards found a student identification card in his pocket, this meant certain death. Setan was raised in a Buddhist family and had never been exposed to any form of Christianity whatsoever. He had never heard of the name of Jesus Christ, never knew there was a Bible, and never heard the word “Christianity.” As he was prepared for his execution he heard those beside them crying out to Buddha to save them. It was not working; one by one they were executed and he was the last in line. Out of shear desperation he cried out, “Lord of the universe, whoever you are, please spare my life.” As the guard lifted the bamboo rod to strike him on the back of the neck to break his spinal cord a loud voice screamed out, “Stop! We must investigate this man further!” They took Setan back to the concentration camp. He instantly knew that whoever he had screamed out to moments before had spared him. Eventually Setan was able to break free from the guards and decided to attempt an escape to Thailand. He would have to make a trek on foot that would take him over a month, across a land torn by war, with enemies on every side. To be captured meant certain death, he had no food, and the territory was filled with land mines, poisonous snakes and hungry tigers. He saw many on his trek that were killed by land mines, killed by snake bites, and mutilated by tigers. For his food he ate the leaves and whatever fruit he could find and drank water from the hollow of trees or from ditches. As he approached the Thailand border a wild man suddenly jumped out of the jungle and grabbed his arm. I’ll quote from the book now (in blue):
The man was dressed very poorly and seemed to be barely alive. After Setan gained his composure from being scared half to death, the man mumbled something that echoed peculiarly in his ears, “Do you believe in the Lord of the universe? Do you believe in the Lord of the universe?” As Setan searched his mind as to why these words rang so clear, he remembered what he had prayed before being spared from his execution. He had prayed for salvation from death to “the Lord of the universe.” As the man kept repeating “do you believe in the Lord of the universe?” Setan looked into his eyes and exclaimed, “Yes. I do believe in the Lord of the universe.” Then the man said to Setan, “his name is Jesus Christ.” And then almost as quickly as he had appeared, the tattered prophet disappeared. “I sincerely believe that that man was a messenger from God,” Setan explained. “I had never heard of Christianity, but that day I became a Christian. That was the moment of my conversion to Christianity.”
Since that time God has done amazing things through Setan’s life. He eventually founded Transform Asia, which is based in Colorado, for the purpose of reaching Cambodia for Christ. Setan travels with us, in our van, to each clinic. So far my main duties have been filling prescriptions in the pharmacy. Setan stands beside me filling prescriptions for hours during the clinics. I have spent four days in clinics serving the Cambodian people and reaching them with the Gospel along with Setan. I have witnessed many miracles and many Cambodian’s who have never heard the Gospel before, accept Jesus Christ as their savior. This is truly a blessing and a wonderful experience.
I want to share one of the miracles we have witness below. In each clinic there are individuals with problems with their eyesight. From blindness in one eye, to an inability to see well at all. Now before I go any further note that our clinics are conducted in broad daylight between the hours of approximately 9:00 AM until 4:00 PM. After one of our clinics Setan called the Pastor in the area for follow-up. He reported the testimony of one individual who received healing for their trouble eyesight. (Right now as I write this, I don’t recall if they had total blindness or blurred vision.) This person was actually complaining to the pastor about the experience and this is what they said. “All I wanted was for them to pray for me. Why did they have to keep shinning that bright flashlight in my eyes?!” When Setan reported this in the van as we were getting out we all laughed and rejoiced in the work that God was doing. It was incredibly encouraging! I am grateful the Lord has given me the opportunity to serve on this mission trip!
This one is pretty typical. We conduct it at the local Buddhist Temple, which would be like a typical "community center" back home. What I mean by that is that the local Buddhist Temple is the place many of them use for community type affairs, they may not be Buddhist but come to the temple for whatever reason and use that facility. So it makes sense to use the Buddhist Temple for our medical clinics.
