Saturday 23 May 2015

Back in Australia safe and sound

I'm back in australia. The last month of outreach in Cambodia has been a blast. We got to travel all over the nation spreading the good news of the kingdom, blessing the people and being blessed in return. The country has less than 2% Christians, but the Christians that we met were on fire for the Lord. Their churches were unified and the people welcomed us with open arms.
We worked with destiny rescue, which rescues girls from the sex trade and gives them a home and education. We toured their homes for a week in 2 different cities and also visited a denim factory where the girls rescued work and make quality jeans for a christian brand called JC denim. It sparked my interest in working in a non profit organization while using my business degree. I also loved just playing with the girls and the day we went to the market with them to buy food for lunch and then made it together. The kids taught us a song in Khmer (pronounced kumai) that I can show you if you ask. Trust me, it's worth it.
Part of that first week was also going to 2 temples, the monkey temple and angkor wat. We did a prayer walk through the monkey temple and it was spiritually heavy there. We prayed for eyes to be opened and people to turn towards god and away from buddhism. God also gave us revelations of us as God's temple and how much greater God is than any statue.
We also went to the killing fields where thousands of people were killed in the 1970's for reasons like wearing glasses, having soft hands, or were educated. It was good to see what the country has been through and to see how much hope the nation already has for a better future because of the church readying the land for the harvest of new christians.
The next week and a half was spent at Crossings Cambodia, which is a ministry in Battam Bang that works with street kids. we picked them up at 6 am from a dilapidated train station, under the covers of street markets, and in the slum areas of the city. They got fed, cleaned, and the older ones went to school whIle the preschoolers had their lessons and play time at the facility. The kids were so loving and wanted piggy back rides and to play games like rock paper scissors with us all the time. The staff were so patient and loving with the children, and I fell in love with the kids right from the start. While we were there, we also got to go to a crocodile farm and hold a baby crocodile as well as eat fried rat. (The rat tasted exactly like chicken.)
The next week and a half we went to a village near Phnom Penh. Our days looked a bit like this.  We stared our days with an hour of quiet time with the Lord praying and reading the Bible. Then after breakfast, we spent our time plowing the land in the mornings and leveling the ground near the village school. Then we'd bathe in the pond close by and have some lunch that our contacts wife had prepared lovingly for us. After lunch we taught English classes in their school to children age 6-16. Then from 3-5 pm we had one on one's with teenagers from surrounding villages who wanted to practice their english. I loved learning more about the people individually and building them up and encouraging them in their faith. Some were christians and some weren't, so it was also a good time to evangilise. Theyes are all such beautiful people and so open to learning new things about us and about God. Then, on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday we had bible studies in the evenings. We prepared skits, shared our testimonies and devotions.
One of my favourite times was when we had a fun night with the village. We had a bonfire, Cambodian music, and spicy papya salad. We played a game called freeze dance with the people where we had to dance when the music played and stop when the music stopped. Then, they could move us and do anything to make us move to get us out. I had so much fun dancing so outrageously around the fire and ended up winning the game. Their joy was contagious.
The last night in the village, I was looking up at the stars in awe, praying and thinking about when God showed Abraham the stars and promised him many descendents. I was thinking about how many promises He's already fulfilled in my life. During outreach I would pray for Him to give me His strength, and learned so much more about how God does everything for His glory and to give Him praise. I then asked God why He made the stars and He told me it was His glory manifested. It gave Him glory to make the stars and it gives him glory every time we look at the stars and praise Him. It gives Him glory when we look at beautiful things and people and proclaim that they are beautiful because God made them beautiful.
So right now, I want to proclaim to all you readers that you are beautiful because God made you beautiful. And when you believe that for yourself and proclaim it to others as well, you are bringing God glory and praise.