The Kingdom of Cambodia.
Let me just say something about Cambodia.
I am absolutely in love with this place and these people.
There's something so special about this country. I've never felt more at home in another country than I do now, being here.
People smile at you as you drive by. Kids run up to you in the market, just to jump up and down and say hello. Cambodians are BEAUTIFUL. Just beautiful. It's like I can feel God's heart for His Cambodians as I see more smiles and get to know more people. He LOVES them. He REJOICES over them. They are such a unique expression of who He is.
The longer I have been away from home, the more my eyes have been opened to needs.
People need. A lot.
Poverty, human trafficking, genocide, prostitution, hunger, disease, injustice are ravaging the world. I have seen firsthand most of these things. I've seen the ramifications of others.
People need SO BADLY.
They need food, healthcare, education, sanitation, justice, peace.
So much is needed. So many needs to be met, so much needs to be done in order for these issues to dissapate.
The more I have seen, the more my eyes have been opened to what people actually need.
LIFE.
They need life. We all need life.
There is only one person in the history of the world who claimed to be the way to life, the truth, and life itself: Jesus Christ.
People NEED HIM.
We all NEED HIM.
I need HIM.
I need Him more than a bandaid to cover the wounds of my natural circumstances.
more than a policy change or an amendment.
more than another war to take out a corrupt leader.
more than a class on Healthcare Policies and Community Development.
more than the next meal of rice and beans.
more than the single dollar that people live on daily.
more than the very air that fills my lungs.
more than my own heartbeat.
We need Him.
Now, I acknowledge how important and necessary these things are. YES, let's meet needs! YES, let's come alongside and help to the best of our abilities those who are hurting, the poor, the sick, the orphaned, the widows.
But, here's the thing.
I can spoon out bowls of soup to the hungry until I can't feel my hands however, if they continually walk away, bellies full but souls empty, there's an issue.
An eternal issue.
The Kingdom of Heaven.
Oh the Kingdom of God, COME!
God's will on earth is that His kingdom would reign.
Freedom, life, wholeness, unity, peace, love, joy.
Those things are on His agenda for this world!!
And He's given us, the Church, the life of His Son Jesus to carry out and fulfill His agenda, His will.
"Christ in you, the hope of glory."
I have Christ in me, the hope of glory here on earth.
Oh I pray that His glory would be revealed through me, through the Church.
I pray that every thought, every inclination, every smile, every interaction would bring an encounter with the glory of God so that everywhere I go, His presence remains. That every person I meet would be left with an impression of the Living God, His only Son, and His Holy Spirit.
It doesn't matter if I'm halfway around the world from home.
It doesn't matter if I'm a "missionary".
It doesn't matter if I am at the grocery store or in the slums.
This is who I am.
This is my life.
Christ is my life and I have a mission to carry out.
I have a presence in me that must be made known!
