The sign at our guesthouse reads Kingdom of wonder. Our squad mentor gave us the name Wonder church when we started this journey.
We bring the kingdom of wonder. God put that in us. He made it so that we can carry a whole kingdom with us if we choose to. I wanted to share some of the wonder with you.
Every day this month, I get to spend time with Jesus and then go out and have conversations with people, hearing their stories and sharing mine. It’s my favorite.
I’ve realized that just being here changes the spiritual atmosphere. We declare light and goodness and testimonies as we walk because we can forthtell things into existence and we acknowledge how powerful God is.
He reminded me this morning that He uses the ones closest to Him. Keeping the main thing the main thing. We can’t go wrong when our eyes are fixed on Jesus.
So here I sit, just sitting in that promise and sitting in His presence. Contentment. Peace.
He also loves us each uniquely, just like we love one another uniquely. He loves us for who we are, all our different parts of our personalities.
This month, I’ve really grown in understanding more of who I am. Our team and the other team we are here with have been reading something called an enneagram. It helps paint a bigger picture of why we do the things we do.
God has literally brought me from a place of brokenness and immaturity to a place of restoration and maturity, knowing my true self and knowing who God truly is. I’ve realized that, unlike a lot of the church, I want to recognize that people are different than me, and I want to walk with them as they walk into maturity, and not condemn their less mature sides.
He’s also given me the perfect community to point out the truth at the exact moment I’m fighting a lie.
He’s shown me the beauty of routine. We see the same people every day at the coffee shop, smoothie shop, and taco stand. And then he’s brought in other people who we choose to stop by and spend time with each day.
We met a man named Rick. He owns a fair trade company that employs people with disabilities. There is a high percentage of people with disabilities here because of the genocide and he wants to give them a purpose and show them they can sustain themselves. We choose to bless him by just popping in and saying hi.
We met a woman named Mali. She works at the children’s hospital and she is so kind and so smart. She speaks perfect English. She had never heard the name of Jesus. We shared with her who he is and prayed for her to encounter Him.
Yesterday, we ran into our a friend, Dennis, who we met back in Thailand. He had come into our small remote village to see the Long neck people. A couple of my teammates had a long conversation with him on our bamboo porch about how much God was pursuing him but he didn’t see it yet. And now in Cambodia, as we sat in a little coffee shop up on the second floor, we ran into him again.
We don’t live in a world of coincidences.
We live in a world of an all powerful and all knowing God who loves and pursues each one of us.
As we left, we said that if we run into him in Vietnam, he has to at least have a conversation with us about this not being a coincidence. I’m pretty confident we will run into him in Vietnam.
God’s love is truly indescribable. You can’t describe it fully. It’s just this overwhelming feeling. I’m praying for that overwhelming feeling for Dennis.
I’ve seen how to be all things to all men. We each have a story, a family, a culture, and a language. It’s not up to us to come in and just share the story of Jesus without having some context clues and knowing where a person is at. The gospel can speak for itself but we want to know these people and see them.
Tonight, I got to be a part of a church that brings in teenagers from the villages by the truckloads so they can all worship together. God is working. There were only 300 Christians left in Cambodia after the genocide. Look at Cambodia now. He’s here and He’s working. He’s working in so many hearts, including mine.
I know He’s doing so much where you are as well.
A.W. Tozer once said that what comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.
So what comes to your mind?
What has God done this week, this month, or this year that you’re thankful for?
What new side of God have you seen that you want to praise Him for?
Please share! God is doing so much all around the world!
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the Lord, He is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! FOR THE LORD IS GOOD; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.
