*I'm in Vietnam: it's a closed country, look it up and you'll understand my words.
In Cambodia……
I was staying in Kampong Cham, the third largest city in Cambodia? (I think) Anyways…when we first left for Kampong Cham we were told that we would be going to the Prison. So my expectations for the month were: "okay cool, I have no idea what that looks like….I'm kinda nervous, no actually I'm really nervous to be going into the prison in Cambodia."
Well…once we got settled into our new home, we were told that there were some political issues going on in Cambodia. So it was kind of up in the air if we were even going to be going into the prison or not. So my team and I were like, "okayyy, so what are we going to be doing this month?" Well, turns out the Big Guy had huge plans for team Holla-lujah, because not only did we get approved to go into the prison, but we had a full blown schedule the entire month. (Which I will tell you about through separate blogs)
The prison….
Well, I mean I never have been to a prison (don't even know what a prison looks like in the states), but I DO know that it looks nothing like I saw here in Cambodia. I mean the prisoners pretty much work the whole prison. They're not behind glass, they're barely behind bars…when we entered the prison we had prisoners opening the gate for us (hahaha… we found it pretty funny) and once we entered they were all around us. There were no boundaries of how close they could get to you, and there weren't very many guards either. Am I scaring you a bit??
Yeah, I was nervous the first time, especially having 800 some prisoners all around us, but at the same time as I walked through the prison, there was a peace inside of me. I knew there was something Papa wanted to show me in this prison. The question was…What?
The first time we were there, we went as a whole team. We started out with some singing and played the guitar. And as we sang, I felt the Spirit all over the jail. There were smiles ear to ear on these people's faces. Did they know what we were singing?….nope. But When we sang a song in their language, they joined in and I could just see the light shine in this prison, (it's so hard to explain, but I experienced it). And that's when I heard Papa say, "Just watch and listen, be still, so I can show you how BIG I am." So I did.
We had 30 some prisoners sitting in front of us, sitting and waiting to hear what we had to say, and as we sang the song "Beautiful Things" by Gungor I got chill bumps all over. I was thinking, this is exactly why we are here. All of these people in this prison (including myself) need to hear that Papa loves them. They need to hear that Papa already knows them personally, Papa forgives them of their past, that He will wipe their slates clean, that He can make them new, He's the only one who can take their loneliness away, because He wants nothing more than to have a relationship with them. And He says that He will do all of these things, as long as we believe. (That's it. There are no "religious" rules or practices that we have to do. It's not about all the good or bad things we do in life. He is not Santa. There is no good and naughty list.We don't have to prove ourselves worthy to Him, and that's the best part. It's free, if we choose it. He is a Father who loves His kids, who teaches, guides, disciplines, and tests them. And He is a Father of grace and patience who forgives us when we fall and try to control things and do it our way.) *John 3
Everyday we came to the jail to tell them these things. We told stories of what Papa has done in our lives, we told them why we were in Cambodia, and we read many passages from John to them. At times it was difficult to tell them these things. Not because we were afraid they would reject it, but because of the language barrier. "Lost in translation" became a phrase my team began to use. Lets just say we learned a lot of patience when it came to translating. It's funny when you talk for 30 seconds and the translator talks for 3 minutes.
Anyways… everyday we returned to the prison it was like we were celebrities. Smiles, hand shakes, and hellos all over the prison greeted us every time. They started to ask us for The Book, which was HUGE because they were so shy the first time we were there. They barely talked to us or asked us questions. But by the end of the month, Papa provided us with 30 Books to hand out to the prisoners, and they had so many questions for us about Him and about The Book. They just wanted to know more! His presence was definitely all over that place! And as we left, the Warden even told us that he could see a difference in the prisoners and that we were welcome to come back anytime!
So ridiculously cool! I didn't know what to expect at first, but I know I experienced way more in that jail than I could ever imagine. And the best part is…it had nothing to do with what me or my team did. It has everything to do with what Papa did, and is still doing. He got us into the jail, He spoke through us, and He softened hearts and opened eyes and ears.
Thank You Papa for how Big You are, and for bringing peace and joy into this place!!!
