Escaping Into God’s Hands: Scott and Naren Hollinger Celebrate 40th TWR Anniversary
[estimated reading time: 10 minutes]
When a teenage girl escaped the “killing fields” of Cambodia in the 1970s, she did not yet recognize the hand of God that would lead her to rebirth, marriage and a career with TWR.
Naren
Naren Hollinger, who grew up in a Buddhist family amid a Buddhist culture, was 17 when the Khmer Rouge, led by dictator Pol Pot, took over Cambodia. From 1975-79, the regime killed millions — nearly one in four of their own people — in a genocide memorialized by the 1984 movie The Killing Fields.
For Naren, her preparations to graduate from high school were exchanged for a desperate quest for survival.
“I escaped the country, Cambodia — twice!” Naren said.
Her escape on foot to Thailand meant walking about 300 miles, said her husband, Scott Hollinger. That's roughly the distance from Chicago to St. Louis.
“Because of the war, there were no resources,” Naren remembers.
“There was gunfire, dead people, and you ate and drank what you could find along the way.” she said.
Naren worked and lived in a Thai refugee camp for several months. When the Thai government replaced the refugees back to Cambodia, Naren walked back to Phnom Penh, the capitol of Cambodia, to search for family members.
Naren’s sister, married to a U.S. Navy officer, was living in America. She asked the Red Cross to find Naren. Once she was found, they sponsored her emigration from Cambodia. In 1980, “I finally arrived on U.S. soil in Hawaii!”
When the Navy moved her sister’s family from Hawaii to Georgia, Naren went with them. It was her brother-in-law’s assignment to the island of Guam in 1985 that changed the trajectory of her life.
Scott
An Indiana native, Scott Hollinger was raised in a Christian home and was in church “all the time” including Sunday evenings when, he recalled, his friends were watching The Wonderful World of Disney. At age 9, he and a friend trusted Christ as Savior at vacation Bible school.
When he was 16, Scott dedicated his life to full-time Christian service at church camp. That fall in high school, he took one of the only radio and television classes, thinking it would be an easy A but soon realizing he enjoyed radio.
During his junior year of college, Scott began to get uncomfortable with the idea of working in secular radio. His pastor suggested Christian radio, and Scott laughed, thinking it was for old people. His understanding of radio was his part-time job at a local radio station playing pop rock groups, which was his world then. Next, his pastor mentioned missionary radio, but Scott had no idea what he was talking about. His pastor gave him two books to read. One was Towers to Eternity by TWR founder Paul Freed. The books sat on a shelf until the following year. One rainy summer afternoon while his landscaping job was on pause, Scott picked up Towers to Eternity and read it straight through.
Impressed with TWR, he wrote an inquiry letter, and a TWR representative came to meet Scott and his pastor at his church.
Scott needed $1,150 to go to Guam, which included airfare and expenses. His church raised $1,149.90. The pastor happily added the last dime.
At the end of Scott’s 18-month short-term service on Guam in 1983, he wrote a letter inquiring about a radio producer job at Moody Radio. Once he had accepted his role with TWR, a misdirected letter arrived inviting Scott to Moody. The letter had traveled to Guatemala, Guam and eventually to Scott in Indiana. He knew God delayed the letter – so he would end up serving with TWR.
The Hollingers on Guam
“Guam totally changed my life. Totally! I look back and see how God led me there.” Naren said.
It started when Dan and Rose Ellen Blosser, TWR missionaries on Guam, responded to Naren’s sister, who had advertised a gas dryer for sale in a newspaper ad. Naren opened the door to the Blossers, and a lifelong friendship began.
Before moving to Guam, Rose Ellen taught school as a missionary in Hong Kong and Cambodia. Rose Ellen saw Naren and asked if she was Thai. When Naren said she was Cambodian, Rose Ellen greeted her immediately with “Chum Reap Suor,” which means “hello” in Naren’s native Khmer tongue. Because of Rose Ellen’s love for Cambodian people, she connected with Naren, the first Cambodian she met on Guam. Rose Ellen began teaching Naren English and the Bible.
The two women bonded like family. Rose Ellen understood Buddhist culture. She taught English with the Bible, which ultimately led to Naren’s salvation.
“The way I see it, only God could save me through that time,” Naren said. “I found the Lord as my Savior. I thought God was not for my culture, but I learned salvation is for everyone.”
Scott met Naren’s family when he bought end tables and a coffee table that her brother had made. They still have the furniture today. “He’s a great woodworker,” Scott said. He did not meet Naren at that time.
God grew Naren in her faith, the Blossers’ friendship and her church community. Meanwhile, Scott returned to Guam from the U.S., where he had been raising support to serve on Guam as a full-time missionary. Scott and Naren were in their 20s when the Blossers introduced them at their church.
Rose Ellen Blosser recalls:
“One of the memories we remember most was his [Scott’s] ‘No way am I staying on after my term is over.’ Scott was intent on going back to Indiana for basketball season. Somehow, the Lord kept him on Guam each time. … He met Naren after a couple of years, and Dan had the privilege of walking her down the aisle and giving her to Scott. They are two of our oldest friends from our Guam days and very special to us now.”
Today, the Blossers still serve with TWR from the U.S., and their friendship with the Hollingers continues to be strong. Dan Blosser shared that he and Rose Ellen consider Naren, who is 4 feet, 10 inches tall, their “little Cambodian daughter.”
When Scott and Naren first met they became friends, but they weren’t thinking about marriage. “I became more and more impressed with Naren and her story,” Scott said.
The two began double dating with friends. Their first double date was at a “really bad Mexican restaurant,” they said. They were both out of their culinary comfort zones and preferred the fresh flavors of Asia and Guam.
As dating progressed, Scott and Naren fell in love and planned to marry. At that time in 1986, TWR international missionaries needed approval for marriage from TWR leadership.
The TWR personnel director was concerned with Naren being a new Christian and with Scott and Naren differing in cultural backgrounds. “God called you to the mission first before you met me. It is OK if they do not let us marry,” Naren said. It was a two-year process.
Feeling he was not being trusted to make the right decision, Scott was ready to quit, he said. Other TWR staff and his pastor talked him into staying.
In love and desiring to continue serving the Lord with TWR, Scott and Naren agreed to a few steps TWR set forth. Naren would take a certified Bible course and become a U.S. citizen. As a couple, they committed to premarital counseling. Scott knew Naren would be accepted once they took the natural steps.
Surrounded by church and TWR family, the couple married on Guam in March of 1987. Scott’s friend from those early Guam days and TWR colleague, Harry Bettig, served as his best man. The Bettigs are longtime TWR missionaries and friends of the Hollingers. Harry said:
“It has been a privilege to know Scott and Naren for over 40 years now. It started on Guam playing basketball and tennis, ‘boonie stomping’ (hiking off established trails), announcing at KTWG, English program production, and enjoying a meal in the Hollinger home were all memorable activities. Now working together in the TWR U.S. office has made this a lasting friendship.”
“We were the first TWR couple to marry on the field [who came] from different cultures.” Scott said. “We would not be the last!” The Hollingers recently celebrated 37 years of marriage. Their first son, Christopher, was born on Guam in 1988.
In 1991, the Hollingers moved to TWR’s U.S. office in Cary, North Carolina, for Scott to work in Personnel. It did not take long for him to figure out that recruiting was not his strong suit, and he missed working in the radio studios. When TWR Bonaire offered Scott the English programming manager position, he was elated.
Living in North Carolina just three years, Naren was not ready to go anywhere else. She had just given birth to their second son, Timothy. For Naren, the Caribbean was another culture and place about which she says she “had no clue!”
After a six-week vision trip to Bonaire, the Hollingers knew God was leading them to move there. Naren said, “Yes.” It was confirmed when their full-time support came in before their house sold. Scott said, “God did it! There is no way I could do that kind of stuff.”
For five years, Scott led the Caribbean English ministry, which was part of the Caribbean Gospel Network (CGN), while serving on Bonaire. The summer of 2000, the operations office and the Hollingers moved to Miami. Scott continued producing the CGN, while Naren duplicated Caribbean Bible programs on CD for distribution.
“We closed the Miami office in 2003 due to changing ministry needs. CGN basically ended when the Caribbean program producers were able to send their programs to the radio stations without the help of the Caribbean Gospel Network. I worked myself out of a job. That is one of our greatest joys,” said Scott.
Naren shared, “Looking back at the steps, that the Lord put Scott in a place he did not enjoy [Miami], but Scott continued the friendships and connections for voicing and to grow the ministry.”
Scott agreed, “The connections made there have become lifelong friendships now.”
One such enduring friendship exists with a former college intern who still works with TWR today. Also, Stacy Rose, a Jamaican actress, has provided TWR with voicing work for many years.
TWR Chief Content Officer Jon Fugler, Scott’s supervisor, shares his thoughts about the Indiana native:
“Scott is one of the most creative people I know. He brings programs, projects and ideas to life. And when it comes to recruiting content talent, he seems to know someone in every corner of the world. I’m amazed at that. In his four decades of service, he has built relationships globally that help us fill programming needs today. This happens regularly.”
The Hollingers now have served in the TWR U.S. office for 20-plus years. Scott currently works in global content and helps ministries develop new media content. Naren works in ministry services and assists in the distribution of listener follow-up materials for the Spanish broadcast of Thru the Bible. As needed, she serves in hospitality and caring for the TWR Lodge in Cary.
When they are not working at the TWR office, Scott and Naren enjoy bike rides and other outdoor activities. The couple also has become fans of good Mexican food, and they still enjoy tropical Asian dishes with lots of rice.
Images: (top, right) Scott and Naren Hollinger with their two sons and daughter-in-law, (Scott, left) Scott Hollinger began serving with TWR on Guam in 1983 in what was meant to be a season of short-term service, (group, right) Naren (bottom left corner) saw her faith and community grow as she connected with other Christians on Guam, (wedding, right) Scott and Naren Hollinger were the first TWR couple from different cultures to marry on the field, (studio, left) Scott, Naren and their young sons, Christopher (left) and Timothy (right), (bottom, right) What began as a short-term stint in missions has now become a 40-year legacy of service for Scott, Naren and their sons.
