What I know about Cambodia probably wouldn’t even fill a single page of a notebook. But some of my favorite things are made there by women earning a fair wage and people I care about care about Cambodia and its people and travel there to make the world a little better.
So, this book caught my attention because of its focus on the tragic period of Cambodia’s history when millions of people were killed in a genocide that doesn’t seem to get a lot of attention. Intended For Evil is the story of one man’s survival of these events and how his faith in God sustained him through it. (Disclaimer: I received a free copy of the book from the publisher, which in no way affects my opinion.)
That’s oversimplifying it, though. Radha Manickam has as much doubt as faith as he watches family members die and the life he knew is destroyed. He wonders how God can permit such evil, why he’s allowed to survive in the midst of so much death, and what hope he could possibly have for the future. This is no sappy God-is-in-control cliche but a realistic account of what it means to follow God wherever you find yourself.
Besides Radha’s personal experiences, the book is full of historical and political background, which at times felt a bit difficult to wade through. But for someone with zero knowledge of this time period, it’s helpful background and context.
The events in this book may have happened decades ago, but it’s relevant to world events today. What happened in Cambodia in the 1970s is happening in other parts of the world today, and someday we’ll read survivors’ stories of those atrocities.
If we’re not going to forget history, we need books like this one.
