Last week I officially said goodbye to Cambodia.
Before we left our ministry site, a close friend of our ministry host and myself, Rambo, asked me out to breakfast before we hit the road.
We sat at a typical Khmer restaurant, basically just a tin roof over our head, eating our final meal together. As I ate I realized, our time in Cambodia was finally over! An entire month of the good, the bad, and the crazy was gone in a flash. My first month of the World Race was over.
It was a bittersweet thought, remembering all the awesome relationships I made, while I ate my hotdogs wrapped in a fried tortilla (The American Breakfast). The thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a blasting song coming from the nearby Temple, of a man signing/chanting in Khmer. I asked Rambo a question that had been on my mind the entire month but had forgotten to ask, what is the song for? Is it a call to prayer? Buddha worship?
He responded, “It is a very, very sad song, for a funeral. The wealthier the family of the deceased, the longer the songs and chantings play. Everywhere from about 2 to 4 days, all day and all night.
“He is singing about the depth of grief they are experiencing with this loved one being torn away and having no idea where their soul goes, how there is no hope…”
My heart sank at hearing the translation, these people have no hope…
My heart grieved with this family. I saw and lived amongst Buddhists for the last few weeks and observed many who worship Buddha with everything they had to offer. Yet, they still didn’t have any relief or hope that their worship had been approved. I saw nothing but hopelessness and fear in their eyes. There was no peace.
It was at this moment, I realized the full weight of the message I am carrying around the world. I am not seeking converts. I am not winning a debate of who is right. I am not selling my religion.
I AM BRINGING HOPE TO THE HOPELESS
Rambo confirmed this message to me. Being Khmer himself, he knows the power of the good news more than anyone. I have yet to meet someone with a heart as deeply moved to share the gospel with the Khmer people and to bring hope to all living in Cambodia than Rambo.
Saying goodbye to him that morning, and all the amazing people we lived life with, was really hard. I forever left a piece of my heart in Battambang. A part of me felt like this lesson about hope came a bit late. I was wondering why God revealed this message to me in this way only to leave the next hour.
A few days went by as my squad and I “debriefed,” where we recapped what we learned that month, received discipleship, and much needed rest. We arrived in Thailand after a crazy long day (watch a video about it HERE.)
The thoughts that I learned this lesson about Buddhism too late still lingered in my mind. We found out that we are ministering in a variety of areas this month and each team has a specific focus. As it turns out… a focus of our ministry is to go to the Buddhist temples and chat with the monks. God definitely has a sense of humor. I get to share the gospel with monks DAILY!
Some of the many temples here in the city of Chiang Mai, Thailand have pop-up tents where anyone can go and chat with the monks during set hours. The monks want to work on their conversational English and talk about Buddhism as well as other religions. I can see by the ministry that we were assigned that God has me right where He wants me.
Please be in prayer as I build relationships with these men who are monks. Pray that the message of the gospel of hope, love, and peace would be made clear and shine brighter than ever.
