Life in Siem Riep so far: From John's Perspective 23
December, 2012
When we go out in a tuk-tuk in traffic, I am SO GRATEFUL
that we are right in the palm of God's hand. There are no discernible traffic
laws here. If the light is red, traffic is stopped, and our driver wants to
turn left, he runs up into the service road, or the sidewalk, and heads parallel
to, and against the flow of traffic, until he can merge over, with no signaling
except his little toot toot motorcycle horn. Any vehicle ahead of us generally
has the right of way, unless there is enough room to squeeze by, on our side of
the road, the opposite lane, the service roads, or either sidewalk. It seems to
be a requirement that every vehicle attempts to pass any other vehicle ahead of
it, even if this means 3 abreast on a one lane road. Amazingly, we are no
longer terrified. Thank you Lord!
We have been attending the Christian Fellowship church of
Siem Riep services in English, and are starting to form relationships there.
It's an amazing thing to praise and worship our Father with Philipinas singing,
an Australian playing guitar, a Japanese on a African drum, and anyone else
with musical or vocal talent joining in. Our pastor is from Northern Ireland,
and sounds like it. God is praised, the Word is preached, and we are all
grateful. Hallelujah!
Every Sunday morning, since we have been in Siem Riep, we
have joined in worship at the campus across the river, which I don't yet know
the name of. Hymns in Khmer are strange to us, but the lessons are bi-lingual,
and we have been able to participate in some counseling and ministry there. Our
presence as older Christians is having a positive effect. One of the university
directors has asked me to prepare teachings for one Sunday a month, starting in
January, which I am pleased to do. It is truly heartwarming to see young Khmer
men and women coming to the Lord, and growing in the knowledge of Him. Their
families and culture are not accepting of faith in Jesus, and it can be hard.
Jackie has been sick almost all this week, so I have gone
to the Y.W.A.M. base by myself. Corporate worship is really good, in spite of
the language differences. A few days ago I was able to talk with a young man
who was leaving for Nepal that night. He has ministered there before, and has a
heart for agriculture and animal husbandry. I shared some of the Korean Natural
Farming principles with him, and he got really excited. Father told me to
invest in him, so I gave him a K.N.F. Book to use when he got there. I have
also met a young man from Singapore, who has a heart for teaching food farming
to the Khmer villagers where we work. I'll be working with him more soon. Now I
need to figure out how to get more KNF books.
Next week the base director will take us out to all the
villages and locations where we are working in Siem Riep province. We came here
as servants, with no agenda other than to be of help any way we can. Father's
plan is set in His mind, and will be revealed to us, in His perfect time. Last
night we were privileged to be part of a first ever event in Siem Riep. A group
of about forty of us from church went down to Pub Street (think Tenderloin Area
in San Francisco) in the heart of town, and sang Christmas carols. We were
blessed, many of the restaurant and bar patrons were blessed, and we showed
that Jesus is the King of Pub Street too! Tourists stopped their strolling, and
some joined in. Praised be Jesus Christ!
Please pray for Holy Spirit to have His way in the hearts
of the people of Cambodia. They are so lost, and without direction or hope.
What a grand adventure that Father has taken you on! So good to read of your transition and explorations at so many different levels! Merrrrry Christmas!!!
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