Hearts of Joy

Our conference for deportees was long and very rewarding. I spent the last few months in prayer and preparation. You always wonder if you will relate to the people you are sharing with and if God will open their ears and hearts to hear His truth. I guess nervousness is part of relying on the Holy Spirit to speak through an ordinary vessel like me.

We arrived early at the conference to set up and pray for the God's day of reconciliation and healing for these our brothers and sisters. As different ones arrived, I talked with them about their lives and what they were feeling. Most of them feel abandoned by their family especially their parents. I heard over and over again how anger was in their hearts because they have not heard from their parents since their deportation. Some have been supported by their parents but many have not and it has made their transition into Cambodia much more difficult. Cambodian life is based on a culture of family and friends. Jobs are hard to come by because you have to know the right people in order to get a job. When I asked how much they needed to get by on a month most of them would say between two to three hundred dollars a month. Not a lot of money but it also does not buy a high standard of living. As you can see the challenge is great and opportunities small.

Hope Now wanted to give them a time (conference) where they could experience the love of the Lord Jesus Christ and feel safe to express their feelings so healing could continue or begin. Roger did a great job of planning the flow of events with plenty of time for fun and fellowship. The meeting was at a very nice hotel directly across from the American Embassy. One of the great things was food. Breakfast, lunch and dinner was buffet style (all-you-can-eat) excursions into fullness. Many for the first time in many months could eat meat and enjoy the feeling of a full stomach. On little income of only two to three hundred dollars a month you cannot afford meat that often. Chantha and Sharon have both lost weight because they can only afford meat once or twice a week. But they do look heathy and are adjusting to life in Cambodia better than most.

Roger shared right up front that we were there to share Christ and they did not have to believe what were sharing but there is freedom in Christ and a deep sense of family. It was their choice whether or not they wanted to follow Christ. It is hard for them to follow the Lord because of the daily pressure just to survive. Temptations are strong to pull them into drinking or drugs to dull the pain they feel. Some are educated and some never graduated from high school. But all of them need encouragement, the Lord and love.

I talked to one lady who feels anger and bitterness inside since she was left to fend for herself; cut off by family in the USA. Another young man has only been here for three months, wants to work so he will not be a burden or embarrassment to his family back home. He is facing the reality that he has no Cambodian network to help in his search for employment. He is very bright and has skills that would make it easier for him gain employment in the USA but here it is a different story. A few had sport jerseys on of their favorite team back home and knew more about how they were doing than I did. I closed my eyes at one point in the conference and it felt like I was home in the states. Briefly, I could have been but, once I walked out into the hallway I knew this is Cambodia not Ohio.

Roger had many videos, games, testimonies, plus a magician (who might do hypnotism) coming after I spoke three times at the conference. We kept playing that part up all through the conference not letting them know that I was the magician too. At one part of the magic show I was going to hypnotize Roger to be a seal so he could catch a ball I would toss to him on his nose and balance it there just like a seal. When we got to that part of the magic show Roger transformed himself into a seal at the snap of my finger. When I tossed the ball up and he caught it on his nose they howled with laughter. It was good to hear them laugh.

I spoke three times starting with creation and the story of Adam and Eve who lost the innocence of paradise by rebelling against God and was deported to a country they had never been to before and could never return to the Garden of Eden unless atonement was made on their behalf. Most seemed very attentive and seemed to grasp the truth of sin entering the world with all of its consequences. My second time of speaking was on how God brings us from the feeling of desperation being orphaned in the world to the legal, moral and spiritual reality of adoption. Not just adoption in a superficial arrangement but deeply being transformed as a member of God's family. It looked like the concept was accepted by everyone in the room.

Now, for the closer. My last message was going to ask for a response. Whenever you speak and know you are going to reach for something that is out of your control Satan tries to shift your attention from the work of God and sideline it by "what ifs". Like a xylophone player striking the bars so they resonate throughout the room, Satan seeks to resonate with your fears or feelings of inadequacy. "What if no one responds". Whether you are sharing Christ to an individual or a packed room the feeling is the same and it is so tempting to never ask for a decision to repent and turn to Christ. This played heavily on my heart because up to this point we had not asked for a response of any kind. Now, can I stick my spiritual neck out and only to have it chopped off with no response? I had to ask for their response to the gospel message and eternal life in Christ.

My last message was taken from the parable of two lost sons in Luke 15. I would ask them to chose whom they would serve just like Joshua asked the children of Israel to chose this day whom they would serve (Joshua 24:15). The theme of the conference was "Chose Your Side". With my heart beat increasing as the message came to its conclusion I asked the pastors in the room to come up front and stand and then asked for a response to Christ from the men and women in the room. No one moved!

Then one stood up and so did others and soon eight men came forward to chose living for Christ. Some of them wanted change from habits that hinder their Christian walk. I could not see what was happening around me because two men stood in front of me seeking spiritual counseling. The first man wanted to rededicate his like to Christ. After we prayed together I had him talk to one of the pastors who lives and works in Cambodia. Standing a little off to one side was a man patiently waiting his turn to talk. I asked him why he came forward and he said that he wanted Christ in this life. He had never trusted Christ as his Saviour. Wow! I was so thankful that I did not listen to the music of fear and "what ifs" being played my Satan as I spoke.

I tell you there was more rejoicing in heaven when Bruce repented and trusted Christ than for all the pastors standing up front sharing and praying with those who came forward. We rejoice too - how about you?

Tuol Sleng

We stopped by Tuol Sleng this morning with a few friends from Cambodia. Tuol Sleng was one of the torture camps of the Khmer Rouge. On April 17, 1975 Cambodia fell into the hands of the Khmer Rouge and the death grip of Pol Pot secured the death of over a million Cambodians. Within 48 hours of victory the entire city of Phnom Penh was emptied of her citizens. The Khmer Rouge commandeered the school yard called S-21 as their headquarters for horrors unimaginable. They rounded up people from every social economic group and tortured them until they confessed to crimes against the Republic of Kampuchea. Once they confessed after days, weeks or months of excruciating pain they were driven out to the killing fields to meet their fate. From 1975-1978 the genocide demonstrated the depravity of the human heart. At the hands of a godless leader men, women, and children were sacrificed on the altar of communism.

In looking at the pictures below you can see the barbwire that kept prisoners held in detention without any means to escape. Tomorrow we serve at a conference to help those who are held by the same power that killed the innocent citizens of Cambodia from 1975-1978. That power of course is pure evil and personified in the devil himself. We will be speaking to many who are still held in the clutches of sin as much as the prisoners of Toul Sleng were held and tortured with barbwire and high fences. We are sharing liberation from death by the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Pray for our full day tomorrow. The Conference is from 8:30 a.m. until 9:00 p.m. We need the strength and power that only comes from the Holy Spirit. May God be glorified in everything that is done!

Roger's Here!

Roger arrived this afternoon at the hotel. We met in the lobby. He looked good but a little tired. He brought a co-worker from Hope Now in Fresno named David. David is a great example of what God does in the life of a gang banger who turns his life over to Christ.

We talked in the lobby for a while while Roger and David checked in and then we went to their rooms. Roger made all the reservations and his room is the only one with a plunge. As you walk out of his room on to a small patio there is a tank full of water to take a plunge when you want to be refreshed. Amazing! Roger could baptize right outside his room.

Both David and Roger were tired and we decided to meet at 5:30 to go to dinner. Roger wanted to use his American Express. Last trip he showed it around because the ad for American Express says that it is "accepted all over Cambodia". Well, we only found two places in all our travels that accepted it. So, we decided to eat at the one place that would accept it. The resturant is a little up scale and very nice. We met up with Kimho Ma and Sokhat, both deportees we met last year. Rob Cady from ABWE joined us too.

The trip from our hotel by tuktuk took more time than ususal. Cambodia is celebrating it's Water Festival and the street are crowded and roads blocked off to control all the motos, tukuk, cars, and everything else. It took some to get ther but we finally made it. Kimho Ma and Sokhat were there waiting for us.

We had a good meal with Roger picking up the tab. Free food is always best! I think that is the theme of the conference on Saturday. After dinner we had to try and get back to the hotel in the crush of people. As we were walking out of the resturant I notice a man sitting my himself and went over to say hi. It was our friend Matthew Robinson, whom we met last year.

I am praying for our opportunities to share Christ. Looks like they are starting to happen.