“Even if you run away from me, over the mountains through the valleys, I will not rest and search east and west to bring you back with me. Even if you sail away from me across the oceans and the seas I will move again like the mighty wind and blow you back to me. I will walk your way and call your name and wait for your reply. I will leave behind the ninety-nine, oh that you would be mine.” -Runaway by Jess Ray.
“Hallelujah, Amen!” She exclaimed with great joy. These words united three people in the Cambodian market place today. There is an elderly widowed woman who sits in a corner of the market place each day with a basket in hand to ask for money. About eighty-five years old, this woman has lived quite an extraordinary life. She lived through the genocide when she was in her forties. With light in her eyes, a beautiful smile even without teeth, and joy though she spends her days asking for money in the marketplace, she captured my attention two days ago as I was exploring through the market. My friend Katie and I were sent out in the city along with our team to spend the day in the city and see where God may guide us.
In the morning, Katie and I walked to the market place to say hello to the woman. She greeted us warmly and we knew that we wanted to visit her later in the day with something to give her. We headed to a coffee shop to write a note for her. Katie and I headed up the staircase to the top floor of the coffee shop. On the upstairs, a 23 year old woman named Davy takes care of the upstairs. She kindly wrote “Jesus loves you” in Khmer about ten times on little pieces of paper for Katie and I to give to the women at the market and anyone else throughout the day. Katie shared a little bit about Jesus with her and we hope she will come to church with us on Sunday! It is so amazing how God orchestrates meetings.
After the coffee shop, Katie and I headed to the smoothie stand by the market place to pick up two smoothies for the women at the market. In the morning, Katie and I only saw one of the women, yet we bought two feeling that the second woman would be there. When we walked inside, the second woman was there! She was sitting on the ground in an aisle way next to the first woman. The market place is filled with fish, vegetables, meat, fruit, and spices! Katie and I kneeled down and handed her the paper and the smoothie. She has a beautiful smile too though she also doesn’t have teeth, blue eyes, and dark skin. She is about 80 years old. She read the paper and smiled and raised the smoothie up in the air to say thank you and spoke to us in Khmer. She seemed to be Buddhist based on her prayer. She is a really sweet woman!
A couple steps away, the first woman was in the same spot as in the morning time. We kneeled down and handed her the note and the smoothie. She smiled so big and let out a little giggle! She gripped Katie and I’s hands and said with beaming eyes, “Hallelujah, Amen!” It was a beautiful moment and Katie and I filled with joy because this woman knows the Lord! You could see it in her eyes! She spoke to us in Khmer and seemed to be praying over us. Amazing! Katie was beaming with joy and twinkles in her eyes. After that, we prayed over her and then said goodbye for the day. It was such a special moment!
Katie and I were so excited as we left the market thinking of the moments with the two women. Later in the day, Katie and I were at the same coffee shop as the one in the morning. At the table beside us, a man asked us where we were from. It turns out, he is from New York and enjoyed Cambodia so much that he has lived here the past couple years. He has been a doctor all around the world and adopted a son. He has lived quite an amazing life! Throughout the conversation, he shared that he was raised catholic, yet no longer has a faith. Katie and I got to share a little bit about Jesus and hear more about his life. We hope and pray to see him again! Katie and I prayed that he would have a dream about Jesus that night.
In the Thai village, two European men, came into the village to explore and stumbled upon our home. In previous writing, I shared about this story! They came and joined us on our porch and asked a question about the book we were reading. Through our time together, we got to hear about their views on faith and we got to share our faith in Jesus! One of the men from the Netherlands shared that he has lots of coincidences that one may say is God pursuing him. Yesterday, our teammates were at a coffee shop, and that man was there! Amazing! They talked to him and shared with him that God is absolutely pursuing him and there is no way this is a coincidence! The Lord is chasing after him! His next destination is Vietnam and ours is too. We hope to see him there!
Thank you so much for reading! 🙂
