About 5 years ago, when I went to my first small group bible study at Vineyard Campbellsville, I had my first experience with a prophetic word being spoken over me. I was pretty caught off guard by it at the time, but there was no denying it was from the Lord. I know that because the woman who spoke it had no idea who I was, yet said something that is still with me 5 years later.
So here’s what happened. We were praying and she lifted her head in the middle of her prayer. She’d had a vision. I was kind of freaked out by this since I’d never been around anyone who got visions from the Lord. She continued to tell me that she saw me standing, overlooking a rice paddy full of people. My heart was full of passion and I was praying for the people as they worked. The interesting thing is, she had no idea God was calling me to Asia. She didn’t know anything about my passion for China, and I’d never had a conversation with her prior to this prayer time.
Since that night I’ve been waiting for a time that God would allow me to stand over a field of workers and pray for them. I’ve waited to see rice paddies that span miles, and I’ve anticipated pouring out the love of Christ on the people that are working in those fields.
As we have driven through Cambodia over the last few days, I’ve watched intently for any such field to no avail. After over 15 hours of riding in buses around the country I realized why. It’s dry season here. There are no rice paddies at the moment because the fields are completely dry.
Herein lays the irony. I’m dry.
I’ve been looking forward to hitting Cambodia since the race began. I had these great expectations for how it would be to finally get to live in asian culture again, this time for much longer than my previous 10 day experience in China. I just knew my heart would come alive and I would spring into action like never before. Instead, I feel like I walked into this country and hit a wall. I thought at first I was just tired. Then I was sick for 3 days and I blamed my sickness. But now I’ve run out of things to reason my way around this.
Satan has a strong grip on this country. The people here are beautiful, but they’re hopeless. My heart breaks every time I see someone lighting a stick of incense or bowing to one of many idols scattered around this city. There’s a war going on here.
I miss God. It’s hard to live in a place where a church service is drowned out by idol worship. The spiritual attacks are real, and it’s a constant battle for us. So, please continue to pray for us as we pour ourselves out as an offering to the one true God. May we bring Him the glory He is due, and may we look to Him for every step.
The fields are being prepared for harvest. I’m looking forward to being a part of the work no matter what state the fields seem to be in at the moment. This is only a season.
