As I sat in church this past Sunday I was absolutely amazed
by what I saw. Not only was it a
youth-oriented church, but it was youth-lead.
The youth of the church lead worship and offerings (the kids at the
church also gave offerings) and prayer and everything up to the point of giving
the sermon. When it was time for Pastor
to preach almost every kid pulled out a bible.
I saw more bibles opened at the church in a poor island village than I
do on a typical day at church back home.
The passion and intimacy these kids had with the Lord put me in awe.
Seeing how powerfully God is
moving in a country that is 90% Buddhist got me thinking.
Tangent 1:
Back in the
70s, a man names Pol Pot led a group called the Khmer Rouge to overthrow the
government. The Khmer Rouge set out with
a mission: to ruthlessly force a governmental reconstruction that resembled the
communist model of Maoism (from China).
·
All political and civil rights were
abolished.
·
Children were taken from their parents and
placed in separate forced labor camps.
·
Factories, schools and universities and hospitals were shut down.
·
Intellectuals, who included lawyers,
doctors, teachers, engineers, scientists and professional people in any field
(including the army) were murdered with their extended families.
·
Religion was banned, all leading Buddhist
monks were killed and almost all temples destroyed.
·
Music and radio sets were also banned.
·
Knowing a foreign language, wearing
glasses, laughing, or crying was cause to be killed.
Approximately 2
million people died and now 50% of Cambodia is under the age of 15.
Tangent 2:
I read The
Road of Innocence by Somaly Mam, which is about her life story of being
sold to a man who made her his domestic slave for two years before selling her
to be a sexual slave in the brothels of Cambodia at the age of twelve. She endured and witnessed unspeakable acts of
cruelty that haunt her to this day. She
managed to escape in her twenties but was unable to forget all the girls left
behind in the brothels. Since she
escaped, she has been rescuing girls as young as 5 years old from human
trafficking and providing them shelter, rehabilitation, love and a new
life. She is doing A.M.A.Z.I.N.G things
in Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand, but it will never end if
all we do is rescue these women.
We need to make
changes before the girls loose their innocence.
We need to change the idea and perspective these men have about women
and ingrain in their minds that rape is not acceptable. Not only that, but women need to know that
they are of value… not the dollar sign kind of value, but they are royalty in
the kingdom of heaven. They are
princesses in God’s eyes.
Bringing the random tangents together:
So here we are
in 2011 with the prostitution business worth over $500 million a year and Cambodia is
very much a part of the problem. Cambodia is a
source, transit and destination country for human trafficking. But as I said earlier, 50% of Cambodia is
under 15 years old. NOW is the time to
make changes. God is moving here. I’ve seen it, but I’m not content with just
seeing his work in the village we were at.
I’m ready for God to change this country. The youth is now a large chunk of the
population and they are eager to fill that need and desire that only Jesus can
fill. Now is not the time to forget
about Cambodia
prayer warriors. Now is not the time to
think that God will use someone else.
How amazing
would it be for Cambodia’s
rising generation to be filled with Godly men and women? When you see more Jesus followers than
Buddhists.. Or better yet, you look around Cambodia and no longer feel like
you are playing Where’s Waldo when looking for Christians.
