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understandings deeper By Robin Steinke


Her name is Sokhey (pronounced soak-eye) Muy. Her journey to the United States began years ago as a 4-year-old in a refugee camp sponsored by the Lutheran World Federation.


Sokhey’s father, Thour Muy, and his family were in a camp in Thailand after they escaped the Khmer Rouge regime, which is estimated to have killed as many as 2 million Cambodians during the late 1970s. One day her father grasped her hand and headed for a waiting bus. At last a pathway to a new life was opened for their family.


A Pennsylvania congregation had said yes to hosting a refugee family. Thour was delighted to end up in the U.S. since his oldest son, Chamroeun “Cham” Muy, had already made it to this country alone at age 20.


Cham had escaped Cambodia by himself with a small bag of belongings. He knew if he were caught in Thailand he would have been arrested. On one occasion during his escape, he slept on a bench and woke up to discover someone had stolen his shoes. So he walked on the hot ground with no shoes. He found work as a slave laborer in a restaurant and saw one of his friends who came to eat there. This friend connected Cham with the LWF-managed refugee camp, which eventually helped him on a path to a new life in Pennsylvania.


When Cham came to the U.S., one of his sponsors invited him to go shopping and urged him to pick out whatever he wanted. He chose one shirt and two pair of pants. It was the fi rst time he had ever owned two pair of trousers. Cham later was issued several uniforms when he served in the U.S. Army.


On July 12, 1977, Sokhey and her family landed in Allentown, Pa. There they were welcomed by their congregational sponsors, who helped them get naturalization paperwork and support services. Their new Lutheran friends helped her father fi nd a job and assisted the family with rent in their early years. Thour was so grateful that he was able to feed his family and have a safe place to live.


The Muys worked hard, saved and hoped to create a better life for themselves. They attended a Lutheran church in Allentown even though they couldn’t speak English.


42 JULY 2016


Series editor’s note: At the 2016 ELCA Churchwide Assembly in August, the global dimensions of our self-understanding as “church” will be a major focus. This article helps us go deeper in pondering what it means to be members of the Lutheran World Federation. –Michael Cooper-White, president of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg (Pa.).


SOKHEY’S STORY—IN PRAISE OF A GLOBAL COMMUNION


helped us belong, gave us a second chance at life.’


Thour Muy and his daughter, Sokhey Maudlin. Their family escaped the Khmer Rouge and settled in the U.S.


‘Being in the church


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