We found out after leaving our ministry in Vietnam that we would be working with a different host in Cambodia than we originally thought. That meant I e-mailed our new host about 48 hours before we actually arrived. To top things off, this is the first time this church has ever hosted a World Race team so this is a new experience for the pastor and his family. We showed up with our giant packs in the middle of the sanctuary, and this family welcomed us with generous hospitality.
Pastor Socheat does not speak much English, and neither do many people in this community. As we have been trying to figure out what is expected of us this month and what ministry looks like, several of my teammates and I have expressed concerns about misunderstandings or miscommunication. We want to represent Christ and His Kingdom well, and our hearts are always to love our hosts and the people in the community where we are serving. But coming into a new culture always presents opportunities for us to offend someone unknowingly, whether there is a language barrier or not.
With all of these challenges, I’m learning what it looks like to actually communicate your heart without words. The more I’m in places with people that don’t speak my native language, the more I realize how much we rely on words more than our actions to let people know that we care. Instead of actually showing someone I care, I just send them a quick text to say that and hope it will suffice. But what if we couldn’t do that? What if our words were taken away and all that was left was how we treated people? Would they still know that we love them? Would they know that God does?
I read a book in Month 2 (Nepal) called Ruthless Trust by Brennan Manning. In one of the last chapters, he says, “Our very existence is one of the never-to-be-repeated ways God has chosen to express himself in space and time. Because we are made in God’s image and likeness, you and I are yet another promise that he has made to the universe that he will continue to love it and care for it.” Since that time, I haven’t been able to get that out of my head. I’m supposed to be a word spoken by God to the world. My existence is one of the ways He reminds the world that He is still in control, still working, still bringing about the magnificent ending of the story He is writing.
Today we worshiped with the people here. I didn’t understand much of what we said, but I saw that these people love God. I saw it as I watched Pastor Socheat studying diligently to prepare for his message throughout the week. I witnessed it in how people here welcomed us and made us feel at home. I experience it each time I walk down the street and a child smiles at me and says, “Hello sister!” They are the Body of Christ in Kampong Cham, and I get to be an expression of Christ here, too.
This month, I am learning how to be a living picture of God’s love for people because I can’t rely on my words to tell them. I am experiencing what it means to depend on God to communicate through me what He is saying, which is much more beautiful and powerful than I could ever put into words.
