Mugged by a monk
Cambodia is full of monks. I see monks roam around town in their bright orange robes speaking to people, blessing them, and getting food or rides from them.
One day I went on a run and was meeting up with my teammate at Phnom Penh’s Olympic stadium. I arrived very early and waited for her.
Next to the stadium was a beautifully decorated temple I decided to look in it as I waited.
Entering through the gate, I saw a few monks sitting at a table enjoying each other’s company. One called me to come and join them. I was thrilled; I had never met a monk, I had only seen them walking around. If you don’t know anything about monks, let me help you. Monks are like Buddhist nuns (except they’re men and bald). Women can not touch them or hand them anything because they are considered “holy”. If you are a women and you would like to speak to a monk, you must sit when you talk with them, so I sat.
They brought me tea and we talked for almost two hours about everything from what do monks do, to American politics, to why I’m a missionary. During the conversation, some monks came and went but one stayed the whole time. He was very curious about my life and later briefly mentioned to me that he was thinking about no longer being a monk.
When conversation came to a close and I realized what time it was, I explained that I had to leave. Before I left, we snapped a photo, he added me on Facebook and off I went to meet up with my teammate.
Later that night he messaged me. He had so many questions for me about life, and he wanted to meet again. I was so excited because I wanted to expand more on what gave me life, and again why I am doing what I am doing. Shortly after I agreed to meet with him, the messages got weird. His questions turned into him asking if I had a boyfriend and if I wanted one. These are questions monks clearly are not supposed to ask. I wanted to meet at a public place where people and my teammates would be around, but he insisted on me coming to his home where all the monks live. The conversation made me uneasy and I decided not to go.
I told my Cambodian friend about this monk and if this was normal of monks to reach out like this.
“NO!” She replied and was very adamant about me not meeting him. “Monks have been in the news for drugging women, having prostitutes in there homes and even hurting people. They are not like what they used to be. They drink and smoke and lie and cheat.” She said.
I was amazed. I had already had red flags to not go and see him again because of the inappropriate comments he had sent me, but I did not expect to get that response.
We ended up not meeting again but I sent him a message explaining who the God I serve is and how I desired for him to know the one true God. I new there were many things that he felt kept him captive and explained that Jesus Christ is the only one who will truly set him free.
So why do I blog this story? Well, I think often in our lives we categorize people. We say you (insert persons name) are like this… So that means you must do this. Which is not true. By categorizing we take away people’s humanity. We box them in and give them no room to mess up. I wanted to share the gospel with this monk so bad, but I saw him as a project and not a person living in sin.
People are not who we think they are at first glance. No one is. We must see people with their needs, dreams and imperfections in order to love them right where they are, or even from a distance using Facebook.
