I want to tell you all about an awesome experience we were
able to be a part of here in Cambodia. At the local church we are working with
here there is an American girl named Heather who has started an outreach group called the
harvesters. This is a missions group made up of locals. Heather is teaching
these young adults to reach out to their own people with the good news of Jesus.
She presented our team with the opportunity to go on a three-day missions trip
with them to a local province to share the gospel, help run a kids program, and
help the local church there with a painting project they had started. We jumped
at the chance to work along side these students. They have taught us so much
about what it looks like to love Jesus and love people.
14 of us loaded up in a 10-person van and headed an hour
northwest to one of the provinces that this church has begun to impact. The
painting went great! It was a little more than we could handle but we got most
of it done the first day we were there. Part of the team went to run the first
outreach as others stayed back the first night to continue painting.
The next
day started with painting and then right after lunch we hopped into the van and
headed down a long, dusty, dirt road to another church to do our kids program.
This place blew us away! As we arrived we saw about a hundred and twenty kids
walking down the road and into this church where they would hear the gospel,
see a few skits and dramas from the bible and sing some songs to Jesus. This
ministry started by the church’s people walking up and down this hot dirt road
and inviting just about every kid they saw. Kids always amaze me. It’s no
wonder that Jesus said you must have faith like a child.
The kids loved the whole program!
They laughed at us white-skinned crazy people, sang at the top of their lungs,
and listened intently to the stories shared out of God’s Word…..and yes I do have some make up on in this picture…I’m not proud of it but it got a few laughs.
As we ended they
all recited a scripture verse together. It was so incredible. All of these poor, dirty, humble, little kids declaring the word of God together. Declaring that
there is a maker in heaven who has made them all unique and who loves them all
very much. It was one of the most memorable experiences of the race. If we had
11 months of ministry of this I would never come home. It filled us in a way
that words can’t tell.
This is my version of a workout on the race. Kids love being thrown like this!
That evening we returned and had
some delicious dinner and later joined the youth for a service at the church.
This was so awesome to be a part of! This is a group of young people who love
the Lord and worship Him with passion. What was so incredible to me was that
there was no adult present that night. The whole youth night was run by the
teens! Worship was lead by teens, the message was shared by teens, the fun
games were lead by teens. We had a blast with these kids. It was extremely
powerful to see this group of young people willingly and joyfully lead their
piers into worship and the Word of God. Some would stand and give testimony of
what God had done and continues to do in their hearts and lives.
There is something so special about
the church here in Cambodia. It is full of life and passion. Teens and even
children worship with joy and volume! They not only lift their voices to God in
praise, they walk out of the doors of their church and live out what they sing
and believe. We sang the song “Tell the World” by Hillsong United and I have to
say that these youth and this church live out the words of this song. They are
proclaiming to the world around them that Jesus lives, He changes lives, and
that He died for them!!!
Lyrics by
Hillsong United
“Don’t
want to stand here and shout Your praise
And walk away and forget Your Name
I’ll stand for you if it’s all I do
Cause there is none that compare to You
Cause all I want in this lifetime is You
And all I want in this whole world is you
Tell the world that Jesus lives
Tell the world that, tell the world that
Tell the world that he died for them
Tell the world that he lives again
No longer I but Christ in me
Cause it’s the truth that set me free
How could this world be a better place?
But by thy mercy and by thy grace
C’mon, c’mon we’ll tell the world about You
C’mon, c’mon we’ll tell the world about You
Tell the world that Jesus lives
Tell the world that, tell the world that
Tell the world that he died for them
Tell the world that he lives again
C’mon, c’mon we’ll tell the world about You
Tell the world that
Tell the world that
C’mon, c’mon we’ll tell the world about You
Tell the world that
Tell the world that
About You!!!”
