From the oppression and terror of the killing fields in Cambodia, this is the story of how one man's conversion led to a rebirth of faith that brought hope to a nation. Commissioned by Communists to spy on a Christian evangelistic crusade, Barnabas Mam instead discovered Jesus and came to faith in Him. After spending four years in prison camps at the hands of the Khmer Rouge Barnabas emerged as one of only 200 surviving Christians in all of Cambodia. God raised him up to became the foremost evangelist and church planter in a land broken by genocide. An inspiring story on a personal, church, and national level, this is more than a narrative--it's a blueprint for success for church growth of the most powerful kind.
Church Behind the Wire
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From the Back Cover
"You may have heard of the Killing Fields. You may even know it is a five-year epoch that fits somewhere within the complex history of the Vietnam War. You may not know that there are specific places in the Cambodian countryside where the bones of our people still emerge from the ground after a heavy rain..."
Barnabas Mam's conversion to Christianity in the 1970s coincided with the rise of a notoriously deadly regime. One of only 200 Christians to survive Pol Pot's genocidal campaign known as the Killing Fields, Barnabas proceeded to become the foremost evangelist and church planter in Cambodia. Church Behind the Wire is his story.
Barnabas Mam has been the regional director in Asia for Ambassadors for Christ International since 2007. He joined the Communist party as a teenager and was converted to Christ while spying on a Christian evangelistic meeting in the early 1970s. He was later arrested and sent to the Killing Fields where he spent four years in captivity. After his release, Barnabas was forced to flee the country where he spent another eight years in a refugee camp in Thailand. After returning home, Barnabas helped rebuild the church in his native land. Over 400 churches have been planted in Cambodia since.
About the Author
BARNABAS MAM has been AFCI's Regional Director for Asia since 2007 and is one of only 200 Christians to survive the Killing Fields of Pol Pot. He joined the Communist party as a teenager and was converted to Christ while spying on a Christian evangelistic meeting in the early 1970's. He was later arrested and sent to the Killing Fields where he spent four years in captivity. After his release Barnabas was forced to flee the country where he spent another eight years in a refugee camp in Thailand where he began the ministry of church-planting. After returning to Cambodia, Barnabas helped rebuild the church in his native land, and over 400 churches have been planted since 1998.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By Steve
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
EXCELLENT. Could not put it down. Must read for mission-minded Christian. Amazing story of faith and perserverence. Challenges all who have settled into the "American" way of life.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By Paul Hanak
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Persecution is a present reality for many people. Barnabas Mam in his book, Church Behind the Wire, helps us understand how one can go through such an experience and come out on the other side with a vision of God's mercy, grace and goodness. Having worked directly with Barnabas for several years as International Director of AFCI, I know that the words written here accurately reflect his life and commitment. Because of what he suffered, and how he handled it, the inspiration gained from this book can be instructive in the way we choose to deal with adversity. In addition, reading this book will give insight into one of the greatest genocides of the last century and also provide hope for those who are suffering today.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Barnabas Mam knows the love of God. That's it, plain and simple.
Of course, there is more to it: the story of the Cambodian church in the years of the Killing Fields and the refugee era that followed is complex and sometimes horrifying. Nonetheless, that single theme comes through: Barnabas Mam knew the love of God in the most frightening, dangerous situations imaginable. That love in turn empowered him to pour out his life for his fellow Cambodians, that they, too, might know the power of the gospel.
Barnabas Mam was a nominal Buddhist, then a committed Communist, then - and now - a devout Christian. His story in Church Behind the Wire: A Story of FAITH in the Killing Fields highlights the power of God to change hard hearts and to work through remarkable suffering, and the Cambodian experience of the last four decades is a profound illustration of Tertullian's maxim that "the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church."
There are enormous lessons here for a Western church often caught up in the American dream of wealth and comfort and ease, for an evangelical culture that sees apathy or dislike as "persecution," and for believers who think of Jesus primarily in terms of personal fulfillment. The American church has not known persecution; Christians here have not known even societal condemnation, much less massacre. Rare is the believer who has faced anything worse than veiled scorn for his beliefs - and depending on which part of the country one lives in, the scorn might be flowing the other direction.
Yet Barnabas Mam isn't delivering a critique of Western Christianity, though he does comment on some of our oddities occasionally. He is telling the story of God's goodness in the midst of horrors we can only grasp. If his proclamation of God's faithfulness in the face of real threats is convicting and challenging, that speaks to our faltering, not his message. Again: the book is oriented on a simple theme: that God is good, and his love is always with us.
Because Mam hews closely to this theme, the book isn't merely challenging; it is thoroughly encouraging. It is apparent that the gospel - the good news - of Jesus Christ has profoundly shaped his life, and so the gospel shapes the book, and so this book reminded me to look again and again at the great love of God revealed in Jesus Christ. Reading turned my heart to worship more than once. How many memoirs can make that claim? In a day overflowing with memoirs, this one stands out, because Mam has no interest in making himself look good. His weaknesses, sins, and failures are writ large on these pages. But God's grace, favor, goodness, and miraculous power are writ even larger.
Here, too, are good reminders for the Western church, especially the more cerebral types. (I'm looking squarely at my own Reformed cohort in particular, here.) The reality of God's present activity in the world couldn't be more apparent in Mam's story. Prayers answered, provision made, protection given - this is God in the now, presently working in the lives of his people in ways that we ought not hesitate to describe as miraculous. We need to hear this, as a people who often intellectually affirm God's power but rarely pray as though he will actually do things. Intellectual assent to great truths is important - but if that assent does not carry through into our prayers and our choices, it is ultimately meaningless.
The other side of that coin is the reality that Barnabas Mam and his people were praying not only for personal comfort, but for real change in hard hearts and a broken nation. They prayed not only with the expectation that God could move, but with much greater aims in mind than ours. We content ourselves with prayers for God to make our comfortable lives even more comfortable, to remove even the hint of suffering. They prayed for God to use their suffering (as well as to save them from it), and for their people and nation to recognize his goodness. The fruit was and is flourishing churches and slow but real healing of deep, deep scars. Again, Mam's story challenges us to examine our priorities and the aims of our prayers. Do we put the advance of the gospel front and center practically as well as verbally, or do we allow ourselves to be distracted by other ends?
The book wasn't without its occasional missteps. It's clear that Mam has little time for "high-sounding theology" (his phrase), and he several times sets theological clarity against deep fellowship. The value of right doctrine, it becomes clear late in the book, has been a painful lesson for the Cambodian church to learn, as it now battles against cultism operating in the name of Christianity. I certainly share his high value for unity among God's people, but where he sees these elements of the faith in opposition, I see them complementing one another. I would love for him to value truth - which many believers have bought with a price just as great as that the Cambodians paid for their fellowship - just as much as I wish my Reformed friends valued real unity over theological nitpicking.
On the whole, though, I really enjoyed the book. Mam, it is clear, really loves Jesus, and the gospel has shaped his entire adult life - and through him, many thousands of believers in Cambodia. Praise God! Would that we all held the gospel so dear and knew it so clearly. Kitty Murray, Mam's coauthor, deserves some serious commendation as well: this book was exceptionally well-written, with some really beautiful and powerful turns of phrase throughout.
I will leave you with the marvelous thought with which Mam and Murray close the book (and encourage you to read it for yourself):
"I began my story by telling you about worship in a Cambodia that was essentially a prison state. It ends with worship in a healing Cambodia. The common thread is worship of a God who is ever worthy. This is what it means to be home."
Of course, there is more to it: the story of the Cambodian church in the years of the Killing Fields and the refugee era that followed is complex and sometimes horrifying. Nonetheless, that single theme comes through: Barnabas Mam knew the love of God in the most frightening, dangerous situations imaginable. That love in turn empowered him to pour out his life for his fellow Cambodians, that they, too, might know the power of the gospel.
Barnabas Mam was a nominal Buddhist, then a committed Communist, then - and now - a devout Christian. His story in Church Behind the Wire: A Story of FAITH in the Killing Fields highlights the power of God to change hard hearts and to work through remarkable suffering, and the Cambodian experience of the last four decades is a profound illustration of Tertullian's maxim that "the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church."
There are enormous lessons here for a Western church often caught up in the American dream of wealth and comfort and ease, for an evangelical culture that sees apathy or dislike as "persecution," and for believers who think of Jesus primarily in terms of personal fulfillment. The American church has not known persecution; Christians here have not known even societal condemnation, much less massacre. Rare is the believer who has faced anything worse than veiled scorn for his beliefs - and depending on which part of the country one lives in, the scorn might be flowing the other direction.
Yet Barnabas Mam isn't delivering a critique of Western Christianity, though he does comment on some of our oddities occasionally. He is telling the story of God's goodness in the midst of horrors we can only grasp. If his proclamation of God's faithfulness in the face of real threats is convicting and challenging, that speaks to our faltering, not his message. Again: the book is oriented on a simple theme: that God is good, and his love is always with us.
Because Mam hews closely to this theme, the book isn't merely challenging; it is thoroughly encouraging. It is apparent that the gospel - the good news - of Jesus Christ has profoundly shaped his life, and so the gospel shapes the book, and so this book reminded me to look again and again at the great love of God revealed in Jesus Christ. Reading turned my heart to worship more than once. How many memoirs can make that claim? In a day overflowing with memoirs, this one stands out, because Mam has no interest in making himself look good. His weaknesses, sins, and failures are writ large on these pages. But God's grace, favor, goodness, and miraculous power are writ even larger.
Here, too, are good reminders for the Western church, especially the more cerebral types. (I'm looking squarely at my own Reformed cohort in particular, here.) The reality of God's present activity in the world couldn't be more apparent in Mam's story. Prayers answered, provision made, protection given - this is God in the now, presently working in the lives of his people in ways that we ought not hesitate to describe as miraculous. We need to hear this, as a people who often intellectually affirm God's power but rarely pray as though he will actually do things. Intellectual assent to great truths is important - but if that assent does not carry through into our prayers and our choices, it is ultimately meaningless.
The other side of that coin is the reality that Barnabas Mam and his people were praying not only for personal comfort, but for real change in hard hearts and a broken nation. They prayed not only with the expectation that God could move, but with much greater aims in mind than ours. We content ourselves with prayers for God to make our comfortable lives even more comfortable, to remove even the hint of suffering. They prayed for God to use their suffering (as well as to save them from it), and for their people and nation to recognize his goodness. The fruit was and is flourishing churches and slow but real healing of deep, deep scars. Again, Mam's story challenges us to examine our priorities and the aims of our prayers. Do we put the advance of the gospel front and center practically as well as verbally, or do we allow ourselves to be distracted by other ends?
The book wasn't without its occasional missteps. It's clear that Mam has little time for "high-sounding theology" (his phrase), and he several times sets theological clarity against deep fellowship. The value of right doctrine, it becomes clear late in the book, has been a painful lesson for the Cambodian church to learn, as it now battles against cultism operating in the name of Christianity. I certainly share his high value for unity among God's people, but where he sees these elements of the faith in opposition, I see them complementing one another. I would love for him to value truth - which many believers have bought with a price just as great as that the Cambodians paid for their fellowship - just as much as I wish my Reformed friends valued real unity over theological nitpicking.
On the whole, though, I really enjoyed the book. Mam, it is clear, really loves Jesus, and the gospel has shaped his entire adult life - and through him, many thousands of believers in Cambodia. Praise God! Would that we all held the gospel so dear and knew it so clearly. Kitty Murray, Mam's coauthor, deserves some serious commendation as well: this book was exceptionally well-written, with some really beautiful and powerful turns of phrase throughout.
I will leave you with the marvelous thought with which Mam and Murray close the book (and encourage you to read it for yourself):
"I began my story by telling you about worship in a Cambodia that was essentially a prison state. It ends with worship in a healing Cambodia. The common thread is worship of a God who is ever worthy. This is what it means to be home."
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating story
Having seen the "Killing Fields" in Cambodia I found the insights and experiences given in the book by Barnabas Mam were a challenge to us who have lived in relative... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Aussie Allan
5.0 out of 5 stars
Challenging book
The next time you think your life is hard, pull out this book and be challenged to praise God in the midst of your troubles like this man so faithfully did! Read more
Published 4 months ago by janice brown
5.0 out of 5 stars
You thing you have problems in your life?? Think again...
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If you ever wondered why bad things happen to good people, This book will take you where you have never been... Read more
If you ever wondered why bad things happen to good people, This book will take you where you have never been... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Werku Sameshima
5.0 out of 5 stars
Reality Check
There's something about the Christian life that is so contrary to the human disposition; there is something so completely backward about this life with Jesus. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Abigail D. Kelly
5.0 out of 5 stars
Church Behind the Wire
The "Church Behind the Wire" by Barnabas Mam is a book that exudes hope out of situations where there seems to be little. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Curt Knapp
4.0 out of 5 stars
A very moving story
Wow what a moving story! This book is not a light read but is definitely worth your time. The author of this book retells his story in an engaging manner. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Irene's Christian Reviews
