In Phnom Penh most buildings have open rooftops, balconies or courtyards on the roofs. People use these areas for hanging laundry to dry, eating meals and some even sleep on the roofs. The roof of our hostel has become a popular place for team meetings, personal time with the Lord and team worship. The people who own this hostel live in the apartment that opens out onto the roof, and they have made a habit of observing us any time we gather there. They curiously watch as we come together for worship and prayer, and I praise the Lord that we are being watched and that people are curious about what we are doing.
As I sit on the roof now writing this, I can’t help but be struck by the significance of where we have been meeting and where I now sit. I don’t think it is a coincidence that we are staying in one of the tallest buildings in our neighborhood or that we can look out over most of the city and see for a long way. On Tuesday afternoon we came up to the rooftop and made declarations over the city. We declared that nothing can separate Phnom Penh from the love of Christ and that the history of death and destruction will be broken and life abundant will flow through this place. We shouted love over this place and there was something just so powerful about speaking the words of life out loud over the city – literally, over it. Last night my team met on the rooftop for a time of worship together. The last song we sang was God of this City, and as we sang the words I was struck again with the significance of what we were doing. Though I knew it before, I just had an overwhelming revelation that He is the light to the darkness here, He is the hope for the hopeless here, the peace for the restless here, the God of the people here. Here, where I am now. He brought me halfway around the world to impact His beloved people here. He loves these people so much that He brought those who know Him to bring life to His beloved here. And He loves me and my teammates and squadmates so much that He brought us here to impact our hearts as well. As we were singing I literally stretched out my hand out over the city and just began to cry out to God in my heart for these people. God has greater things yet to come for Phnom Penh and I am so excited to be here and to be a part of what He is doing. We begin working with our ministry this afternoon, and I can’t even express how excited I am to see what God is going to do in us an d through us. I can’t wait to get involved in His work here and to impact the lives of the brokenhearted here in Phnom Penh, as well as to have my heart impacted with their stories. I want to be broken so that I can weep with those who weep, and to rejoice with those who rejoice. I just want to be Christ to the people that I come into contact with here. So from this rooftop I am declaring to you reading this that there will be testimonies to come of the greater things He is doing here, and I can’t wait to share them with you.
