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Thailand1991 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses
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Though Brother Babinski got to talk only to the prince’s private secretary and left some Bible literature for the prince, permission to preach was granted, and in December 1958 the first four missionaries finally entered Cambodia and rejoiced to begin their evangelizing work in Phnom Penh.
Many among the large Chinese population in Phnom Penh spoke some English in addition to Chinese; and quite a number of the Vietnamese residents spoke both French and Vietnamese. The majority of the common people, however, spoke only Cambodian. Needless to say, there was a language problem. At first, meetings were held in English, and quite a few Chinese came. Then, meetings were arranged in French, and some Vietnamese attended. The missionaries tried to learn Cambodian, and some literature was published in Cambodian in order to reach the local people with the Kingdom message. But there was quite a turnover in missionaries, and none stayed long enough to become really fluent in the language. Some Cambodians studied and started to associate with the missionaries, so that during one year there was a peak of 13 publishers in the field service. The truth apparently had not touched their hearts deeply enough, since most of them drifted away.
Because of the changes in the political alignment of the government, by early 1965 it was evident that Westerners were no longer welcome in Cambodia. The visa application for Panayotis Kokkinidis, who had graduated from Gilead in 1964, was rejected. (He was subsequently reassigned to Saigon.) George and Carolyn Crawford, the last two remaining missionaries, were informed that their visas would not be renewed when they expired on May 27, 1965. Interestingly, four years earlier a formal letter had been sent to the missionaries, stating that they were to stop their public preaching. But this letter was never received, nor did the security police get their copy of it.
So the Crawfords had to leave Cambodia.
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Thailand1991 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses
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[Picture on page 224]
George and Carolyn Crawford have served as missionaries since 1963, in Cambodia,
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