Black Church History… ooh, this is something that excites me!
The link to follow is https://www.pbs.org/video/the-black-church-episode1/. *The video has a little content not appropriate for little children as they address topics and will show images hard to bear.
A little about me before I turn it over to Black History Month and the Black Church…
I am a daughter of Christian Cambodian Refugees and Cambodian Genocide survivors Chan Ham and Soun Chan. My parents are faith-people and their parents came to know Jesus before them. As a Khmer woman and a Christian, I loved my upbringing with songs and worship and food and fellowship surrounded by God’s people and the Bible as a big focus of Khmer Church. About a year ago, when I went to see my parents, I was reminded of the Khmer Church… fellowship, greeting, songs from the children’s group, songs from the middle school group, songs from the high school and young adults, special songs from a congregation member, songs from the men’s group and songs from the women’s group… *insert tear smiley emoji* it was special. The Khmer Church survived the Genocide!!
From infancy, I had the privilege of being one of many Khmer Churches in the United States! My father continued preaching and teaching and sharing this beautiful news that once we were sinners and enemies of God, but Jesus’ love he went to cross willingly. Jesus died and rose and paid the penalty, bought us back so we could be right with God. I love redemption! I love listening to stories or reading stories and watching movies that have that element of redemption. Why? It draws us back to worth and value… we are priceless… made in God’s image. Royalty in the heavenly sense…
You and I… we are alike no matter the nation we are in.
You and I…we are alike no matter what language we speak.
We are alike no matter the skin color.
What make us alike is our needs… we have a brokenness that needs forgiveness and repair. In Jesus, we are able to receive forgiveness of sins …NO MATTER what you have done… Christ’s love is describe in John 3:16 &17
John 3:16-17 New King James Version 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
Amazing grace How sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me I once was lost, but now I'm found Was blind, but now I see 'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear And grace my fears relieved How precious did that grace appear The hour I first believed -written by former slave trader... he was lost... but he turned from his ways and did not condone slave trading/slavery. John Newton, 1772 In 1778 he writes: “It will always be a subject of humiliating reflection to me, that I was once an active instrument in a business at which my heart now shudders.” as he reflects on the shipwreck and slave trade. https://www.biography.com/news/amazing-grace-story-john-newton
If you are looking to hear about when Africans came to the United States and the history of the life of the black church in particular, you’ll want to watch this one hour and fifty minute video.
As a Cambodian American, I value having grown up worshiping in both Khmer and English. I found this video to be insightful, I hope it blesses you.
Abundant Mommyhood 