<div>I feel so privileged to know this faith-building true story of a family who dared to love one another when love was outlawed by a cruel regime. It's a story of grief and miracles, trauma and budding faith, darkness and light. 
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<div>It's been a team effort to get this book written, edited, and published--<strong>the next step is to translate it into other languages and to get the word out</strong>, so this story can bless and challenge others!
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<div>Read on for more about background behind the story and to find out how you can help!
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<div>Warmly,
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<div>Abby
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<div><strong>A God of Love</strong>
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<div>When Sovath was a little boy growing up in Cambodia, his mother told him an old Buddhist poem about a "God of love."
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<div><em>"In the palms of his hands and in the flat of his feet</em>
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<div><em>Will be the design of a disc,</em>
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<div><em>In the side will be a stab wound; and his forehead</em>
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<div><em>Will have many marks like scars."</em>
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<div>But when Sovath was 10 years old, the black-clad Khmer Rouge army overthrew the government of Cambodia, and love was outlawed. Sovath was forced from his home, forced to think of survival over the promised God of love.
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<div><strong>A God He Did Not Know</strong>
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<div>At 11, Sovath was separated from his family and sent to a children's work camp, where food was scarce and death imminent. With the help of a friend, he ran away, determined to find his family. But after 70 kilometers of walking with no food, Sovath knew he was finished. He looked around him at the identical-looking roads flanked by rice paddies. Then he looked up.
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<div>"If there is a God, please help me find my family... so I don't have to die alone!"
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<div>In the end, his family miraculously found <em>him</em>, and because of their love and care, he survived--though not without scars.
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<div><strong>Meeting the God of Love</strong>
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<div>Several years later, Sovath faced a new struggle. While evading soldiers as undocumented refugees in a Thai refugee camp, Sovath's sister became a Christian.
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<div>And she wanted him to do the same.
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<div>Sovath could not leave Buddhism! It was an integral part of his identity, a way to stay connected to the family the Khmer Rouge had tried to take away from him.
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<div>Yet he was drawn to Jesus, whose stripes and marks were inflicted because he loved Sovath and wanted to save him.
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<div>In the midst of Sovath's struggle, Jesus, the God of love, appeared to him in a vision. He bid him to follow, and experience deliverance not just from the black-clad soldiers of his childhood, but from the inner wounds they had inflicted.
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<div><strong>Why This Fundraiser?</strong>
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<div>Sovath left Cambodia and married. His daughter later returned to Cambodia as a missionary to her people.
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<div>Soon, Sovath’s family began to realize just how much God had done for them. Sovath and his family wanted their testimony written down as a book.
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<div>Meanwhile, I was praying they would ask me to write their story.
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<div>One day, they did.
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<div><strong>Will You Help Us?</strong>
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<div>This fundraiser has already helped to cover the cost of researching, editing, and marketing! Our next goal is to translate and market the book far and wide.
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</div><img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/72584873_1759853282237602_r.jpeg" width="100%" />
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<div>It is the dream of Sovath and his wife that God be glorified through his story.
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<div>Will you help make their dream a reality?
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<div><strong>Who Am I?</strong>
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<div>In short, I’m Abigail Follows, author and overseas gospel seed sower. Here are a few kind words about my first book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Song-Himalayas-Memoir-Mountains-ebook/dp/B095J7B21F/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Hidden Song of the Himalayas</a>:
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<div>"Memoirs are not usually my genre . . . But this one absolutely blew me away . . . The story flowed like a novel, but it was achingly, breathtakingly real." - Amanda
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<div>"Hidden Song of the Himalayas is a work of art with a purpose of the highest order." - Kody
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<div>"I was profoundly moved and impacted and inspired by the reading of this book . . . She opened up another world to me and pulled me in." - Melvin
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<div>"As someone who struggles with following Nonfiction and trying to concentrate and absorb everything, this one was a dream. I got sucked in as though it (were) a novel . . . I was fully aware that it was real life, but the author is a natural storyteller." - Aryn the Librarian
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<div>"As someone who has read a lot of missionary memoirs, I'm going to say this is one of the best I have read. It's funny, honest, and deeply spiritual; fast-paced and well-written. Abigail quickly pulled me into her world and made me feel part of her journey . . . " - Mercy Maude
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<div><strong>Fine Print:</strong>
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<div>This fundraiser is not affiliated with my mission sending organization, but is a personal project I'm undertaking during my free time. &lt;3
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<div>Feel free to email me at abigailfollows AT gmail.com if you have any questions!
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Anonymous

Midori Sliger

Chankiriroth Sim

Christine Maccarone

William Hurtado

Douglas Woods

Sovath Sim

Michelle Murray

LaRenne Lacey

Translate Faith-Building Survival Story!

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