Killing Fields, Living Fields...
Even though this is the title of a book depicting the life and times of the church in Cambodia during one of the most recent human atrocities, it very much speaks about the country as a whole these days.
A country that only came out of a bloody time of war and occupation as recently as 1993, it’s slowly busy recovering to its once promising future which was laid bare by a regime of brutality and inhumanity a mere 30 years ago when anyone who seemed to be influenced in any way by the Western world was murdered. From babies to the elderly, those who practised an occupation, spoke any other language, worshiped any god, wore glasses, opposed the reigning leaders or in any way did not conform to traditional Khmer lifestyle was blatantly murdered.
This left this nation without any hope for a future...
Who will teach when there’s no teachers? Who will cure when there’s no doctors? Who will serve when there’s no love?
Once again God showed His never ceasing presence and upheld His church through these very tough and trying times, growing them steadily, raising up leaders and establishing His Kingdom inside a broken nation.
We had the privilege of tasting some of this the last month...
We spent most of our time in Phnom Penh visiting and interacting with a multitude of different ministries. These ranged from orphanages, house churches, a ministry that provides an alternative for woman who gets sold into the thriving sex trade industry by their families, a centre where deported American-Cambodians can find solitude in a culture which should be theirs, but is totally foreign to them, and a island where widows can make a living for themselves by being taught trades and skills...these are just to name a few!!
We also got to visit with some home cell groups and were able to encourage and share with then. Some of us even got to preach in one of the churches we visited and were able to testify to God’s great love for us!!
I never thought that teaching English in a foreign country would be checked on my list of things to do...but it most definitely is now. It was more challenging than I ever imagined it to be, but it taught me just as much and I believe that the children would at least be able to say ‘thank you very much’ with the proper pronunciation...
Equally valuable to all these experiences is the process through which God took my team and I during this time...
With only two months left of our time together, God thought it time to come and show us areas in our relationships and lives where some much needed chipping, cracking and re-moulding needed to be done.
Each of us receives from God gifts, talents and relationships in life...what we do with these will be reckoned of us on the Last Day.
We as a group were given each other for this year to grow and to love, to encourage and rebuke, and this is what we got challenged on.
Have we been doing this??
Are we doing this?
Honesty, transparency, humility, respect and trust...and above all Love... All virtues of a righteous life.
But are we pursuing this in our relationships?
Without these there will never be unity in a team. Without faith and perseverance these will never be achieved.
Being honest with yourself about your own faults and failures...it’s humbling, but not nearly as much as then being honest with those around you about these things, and then living a transparent life for all to see...and keep you accountable for.
Embracing this humbled position takes dying to self and is definitely one of the hardest things in life...but worth every breath as it fills your cup to overflowing with the Spirit, and enables you to treat those around you with respect...respect that is not forced or earned but respect that God puts in us.
And when we speak of unconditional love, then it probably contains an element of unconditional trust in that...trust to share, to love, to live!!