So, I have been really thinking about my trip to Cambodia the past couple of days. Today I decided to read all of my prayers that I journaled over the 12 day adventure. One verse jumped out at me, "For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthian 12:10 Almost every single day I prayed something about that verse. So, I thought I would write about it for a little bit...
First things first, I love to put verses into context. (I have a confession, I am cheating by using my amazing ESV Study Bible for most of this info!) Get the easy part done: This is Paul's second letter to the church in Corinth. He wrote this letter about a year after 1 Corinthians and about a year before Romans. The central theme, I think, is the relevance of Paul's suffering for his ministry. Chapter twelve particularly, is about how Paul's weaknesses have led him to boast in the Lord and not in himself. He is glad for his weaknesses.
"Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with my weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 9b-10
This was how I got through Cambodia, and this is how I get through life every day. I have seen that I am weak, and as I try and live for God and accomplish His will for my life, I have come to realize that I am just not strong enough to accomplish God sized feats. But there is hope in that! God promises to do it with me!
It's like what it says in Philippians 4, I really, truly know that I can do all things through Him who gives me strength!
When I was in Cambodia, a big one for me was aerobics. (I already wrote a blog on this that I encourage you to read.) A. I am not at all qualified to teach aerobics. B. I got completely exhausted almost immediately. I know I could not have done that without God.
Another one was not anything to do with me, but one of my teammates. Chris (big) had some pretty severe edema in both of his feet that made walking a challenge and also caused extreme pain. Yet somehow, through the true strength and power of our great God, he was able to do everything he needed to do for those twelve days.
I think about the disciples, who everyday give themselves as slaves to the work of God. They are able to do it so fully and so well and so tirelessly because of the Strength and the Rest and the Power and the Love that is our God!
I just think this verse is such a good one to carry around with you every day. It helps remind me of who I am in the grand scheme of things. It helps remind me that all of the seemingly huge things that God has for me are completely possible. It helps remind me that the same God who created the entire universe (Hebrew: Elohim) is the God who walks with me every day now (Hebrew: Yahweh)!
There is so much comfort in having someone to walk with on this journey of life, especially someone as big and amazing as my great God! It reminds me of a poem:
So, I know it says I am talking about four days, but the last two are both just plane rides so this isn't actually too long!
Friday 23 November 2012
This was one of the coolest days of the trip. Vince told us before we left, the reasons we do short term mission trips are to expand our worldview and encourage our partners overseas. We had already done a lot of this up to this point on the trip; we had seem Buddhist temples, Khmer Rouge torture camps, palaces, and brothels... We had met brothers and sisters in Svay Pak who loved and served my Lord in a way I have never seen before, and hopefully we lessened their burden for the four days that we got to serve alongside them. Today we hosted a retreat for IJM that was wholly focused on encouragement and relaxation for them.
I woke up feeling a little bit sick (just a stuffy nose and sore throat), but I was praising God that I hadn't gotten sick until after we finished up in Svay Pak! We loaded up and went to Gateway for another amazing breakfast, and then headed off to the IJM office. We got into another van and drove to the site for our retreat! I was a little bit tired though!
Ok, so maybe I was a lot tired...I told you I was sick!
Anyways, when we got to the place we had our retreat at we started with fun games! Pastor Wince (AKA Vince) broke us up into seven groups. We all closed our eyes and he assigned our group an animal. We had to make the noise of our animal to find the rest of our teammates! Pigs, lions, and horses were everywhere!
The next game we played was a little more violent -- clothes pin tag. To play, everyone got three clothes pins and tried to pin them onto other people. At the end of a certain amount of time, whoever has the most clothes pins is out. I was out in the first round!
I also lost the next game first! We played Never Have I Ever. The first ones were things like, "I have never shot a gun," or "I have never been in an airplane." After that game was over, we played the reverse, I Have. You only get a point if the thing you say has not been done by anyone else in the room. I thought I was golden for this one, because I said, "I have been surfing inside." But alas, Sandra, my very own roommate, had done it before! I was shocked! There were some really crazy ones when we played though. Some of the most memorable were "I have eaten a guinea pig," and "I swam with 8 whale sharks."
Then we got with our teams again! I had an awesome team! There were four other people in my group. This was an engineering game that I am pretty sure Chris (small) came up with! Every team got 10 sheets of 8 1/2" X 11" paper and about 5 inches of masking tape with which to make something that could support a study bible at least 12" above the ground. All of the teams came up with something different, some successful and some not, but our team totally won! We made a bunch of accordion folded papers and taped two sheets together to make it to 12" high! It worked perfectly!
So, this whole week, Chris' (big) feet have been swelling up from the plane ride. Today they were about the size of basketballs and were pretty painful to walk on or even stand. But, despite all of this, Chris was still determined to lead worship for at least twenty minutes! I can't remember what the first few songs we did were anymore, but I remember ending with "God of this City."
You're the God of this City
You're the Kind of these people
You're the Lord of this nation
You are
You're the Light in this darkness
You're the Hope to the hopeless
You're the Peace to the restless
You are
There is no one like our God
There is no one like our God
For greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this City
Greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this City
Greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done here
Singing this song of hope with my Khmer brothers and sisters to our God was incredible. Believing and knowing that God was going to change things. Seeing the things He is already doing in Phnom Penh and in Svay Pak and in all of Cambodia...
Then it was time for lunch! There was a pretty big spread. I think it was all Khmer food but I really couldn't tell you what most of it was. It was fun to sit and talk with a lot of the IJM workers over a meal. I really liked it!
After lunch, Pastor Wince sent us back into our groups to do individual studies. Each team had a different topic.
Team 1- Esther and Mordecai
Team 2- Jesus and the Bleeding Woman
Team 3- Gideon and God (My team)
Team 4- Paul and Timothy
Team 5- Barnabas and Saul
Team 6- Elizabeth and Mary
Team 7- Moses and Jethro
At the end of our individual group time we came together and shared. All of them were biblical examples of encouragement. What is encouragement? We got four definitions for it: 1. to inspire with courage, to give courage 2. to attempt to persuade 3. to spur on, or move forward 4. to give help to. Vince emphasized the importance of encouragement in our lives. We need to seek encouragement first from God and then from people; we also need to give encouragement to those around us!
After bible study, we had an unfortunate discovery; about $800 of our money had been either misplaced or stolen sometime throughout the day. So, we decided to eat cheap that night and went to Gateway again. I was feeling pretty sick at this point, so I asked for just a bowl or fruit, not on the menu, and Matt was nice enough to bring me some! I was so happy! Seriously, if you are ever in Cambodia, you have to go to Gateway!
After Gateway, Chris (big), Kara, Sandra and I went back to the hotel and everyone else went to Alf and Kelly's house to babysit so they could have a date night! Alf and Kelly were so sweet though! They came and brought me medicine before their date! Kara and Sandra were in our room making bracelets while I was journaling, but I think I passed out, despite the light and noise, at about 8PM. Nyquil really did the trick!
Saturday 24 November 2012
I was feeling much better today after almost 12 hours of sleep the night before! Thank the Lord!
This was also a day of encouragement, but much more for Alf and Kelly! We got to spend the whole day with them and just love on them! We started off by having breakfast at Gateway all together, and then we went to a craft show with Kelly, called Holly and Coconuts. We did some minor shopping there, and then we went to the Russian Market to really start shopping! That place is incredible! An example of deals there, new Nike's for $20 and a pair of Beats for $15. So far, I'm still pretty convinced that the stuff we bought is real.
For lunch, we went to a place a block or so away from the Russian Market. It is a Christian bistro called Jars of Clay. It was very good! I had this super unique salad that had mangoes and chicken and pesto! Mmmm...
Then, we found a place that had 75 minutes massages for only $10. Obviously, we all went and got one! They were incredible! I think my favorite part of the day was here, but it wasn't because of the massage! Dan was trying to have a conversation in Khmer with his masseuse and it was so funny! We were all laughing hysterically by the end of the 75 minutes!
Then for dinner, the one part of our trip I wish I could take back, we went to a fancy Italian restaurant. It was fun because everyone got to hang out all together and just relax after a long ten days! I got to sit by Krista and Chris (small) and we talked a lot! Krista left for the airport right after our meal, so I was glad I got to talk to her some at dinner.
When we got back to the hotel, we did our packing and somehow managed to take four hours talking and laughing before we went to sleep... I love Kara and Sandra! I miss our talks now that we are home.
Sunday 25 November 2012
I was NOT feeling good today, but I was determined to power through it! We were going to church in Svay Pak one last time before we went back home that night! Well, after we made it to church I discovered I was not the only one who didn't feel well. It turns out, both Chris (small) and I had gotten food poisoning from the restaurant the night before! I don't think I have ever had food poisoning that severe! And here is the real kicker, we had a flight to catch that same day! So, we missed out on the sermon that day. I was so upset!
Then, we went to Alf and Kelly's and I slept the entire day before our 11PM flight. I don't know what everyone else did...
We left at 11PM and went back in time. We had a ton of turbulence on our flight though, and that mixed with food poisoning is a terrible combination!
Monday 26 November 2012
We landed in Korea and I slept in the lounge while my team went on a tour of Korea. 8 hours later, I woke up and we all hoped onto another flight to California. When we landed in San Fransisco, we found out our flight had been delayed, but Sandra, our travel expert, got us all onto an earlier flight!
When we landed back in DFW I was glad to sleep in my own bed, but very sad that our trip was over. I had fallen in love with Cambodia and with the Khmer people I had met in Svay Pak and Phnom Penh. I hope that God will send me back one day!
Verse of the Moment: Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1 This verse was so true in Cambodia. The believers I met were so full of faith that God was almost tangible. That is what I crave here and now!
Song of the Moment: I have probably already used this song, but I want to use it again now.
So, I'll leave you with this: Do you believe that God is the God of this city? The King of this people? Wherever you are, do you know that God is in control and that God is working in all things for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28) and for the fulfillment of His perfect justice? There is power in knowing that these things are true. Trust God to do greater things in your city! Pray for those things, and pray expectantly!
Sorry, I did it again. I promised I wouldn't, and then I did. Life has been so busy! I really am trying to keep up with this!
So, I have been asked this question so many times, and because I am in the middle of preparing for a second overseas trip, I thought I would go ahead and address it the best that I can: Why do we go overseas to work when there is so much need in America?
Well, that is a very good point. There are people who are homeless in America. There are people who are hungry in America. There are people who are sick in America. There are people who are trafficked in America. There are people who are hurting in America. There are people who do not know Jesus in America. But these people also exist in other parts of the world as well, and unlike America, there are not people there willing to help them or to tell them about Jesus.
This map shows the percentages of the world population that profess to be Christian. Theoretically, the darker the purple is on the map, the greater the percentage people there are that are believers. There is a HUGE, MASSIVE, GIGANTIC part of the world between 0-10% on this map. It is called the 10-40 window. The people who live here are considered unreached, meaning they may never meet a Christian or hear about Jesus in their lifetime. Their religion is anything from Islam to Buddhism to Atheism depending on their location.
So, why don't we just let them go on believing what they believe? Because Jesus told us to go.
"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." Matthew 28:19-20
This is the last thing Jesus tells us. He says "go therefore;" or, because of my death and resurrection and the life you have because of me, go and tell others so that they can have life, too! Our response to knowing Christ and finding life in Him is to go to all nations and tell them about who He is!
"For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23) and "the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23).
These people don't have any hope if we don't tell them. And we don't have to do it alone, Christ does it with us. He promises He is with us always as we go!
"Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, and the very ends of the earth as Your possession." Psalm 2:8
Amen.
So, by saying all of this am I trying to discredit mission efforts in America? By no means! It is just as important that the Church works in America to proclaim who God is and how God loves. I am just saying, I feel called to go because God has given me a heart for people who have never heard about His love before, and who don't have any access to find out about Him.
