Speak Loud

Today I’m talking with Sara Im, who, after surviving a mass genocide in Cambodia that claimed 2 million lives, is a speaker and author of “How I Survived the Killing Fields.” She is a member of the Women’s Speaker Association and speaks to inspire listeners to thrive from pain to purpose, from corporate events to churches to schools. Today, she’s here to speak loud about never giving up on anything in life. Sara was born and raised in Cambodia, and was attending college at 21 when a military takeover in her country forced her out of the city and into the countryside to work in a labor camp. She experienced extreme exhaustion, sickness, and punishment for 4 years while forced to work in the rice fields. Often malnourished, Sara turned to prayer in her darkest moments, and clung to hope of seeing her family again. After four years, Sara recalls hearing noise in the distance that could have been gunfire or explosions. Though they didn’t know what was happening, the laborers—once 1000, and now around 300 people—w