 Our Pastor, Charlie Phim, was born in 1953 in Cambodia. He was originally born Chhengly Phim. He attended a Cambodian college from 1966 to 1969 where he was student president. His favorite hobby was soccer. When the Communists invaded Cambodia betwe en 1969 and 1970, those who had or were pursuing an education were getting persecuted by the Pol Pot Regime. It was hard for Cambodians to get a college education or have career aspirations. At the end of 1969, Charlie and many other students left college to join the army. Charlie was sent to Vietnam for special training in the medical field to become a nurse. After he finished his training, he worked as a nurse for the military. During the conflict, Charlie met Eap whom he married in 1974. They had three daughters together. In 1975, the Khmer Rouge Regime invaded and gained total control over Cambodia. The Communists destroyed every aspect of their lives. They took away their education, their religion, and most importantly, their freedom. Many Cambodians were brutally treated and murdered during this period. This is his account: In 1979, my family and I escaped to a refugee camp in Thailand to live as refugees. During my two years in the camp, I volunteered to work as a soccer coach and as a physician’s assistant for the World Vision™ Foundation. In 1981, my family and I left the refugee camp to live in the United States. I was sponsored to go to the state of Colorado. Later, a friend invited me to move to Utah. Here I was introduced to the First Christian Reformed Church of Salt Lake. It was also here when I discovered the Bible. I decided to dedicate my life to Jesus Christ when I read Leviticus 26. Those verses reminded me so much of what happened in my home country. That same year, I was trained by the First Christian Reformed Church to become a pastor to lead the emergence of Cambodian immigrants in the area. I became a student in the Institutional Biblical School (now the Salt Lake Theological Seminary) and went on to graduate in 1987. I later became the pastor of the CCRC where I remain today to help spread God’s word. After graduating, I enrolled into Salt Lake Community College to complete the courses required by the Bible College in Michigan in pursuit of my master’s degree in Ministry. I was accepting to enter a Bible college in Michigan, where I attended the first quarter in 1997. Due to my first wife’s illness (lung cancer), I left the school to tend to her until she passed in 1999. (I later remarried and had two more daughters; a total of 5 beautiful daughters, 2 granddaughters, and 5 grandsons) Although I was not able to complete my courses for my master’s degree, I was blessed to be asked to translate the Heidelberg Catechism into the Cambodian language, where it will be used to help other Cambodians understand God’s word. |
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