Quick ministry update! 2 weeks ago I walked into a Pagoda (Buddhist Temple) and now I am a professor there! One of the first people we connected with in the pagoda was the president of The Buddhist University in Battambang which is located at the back of the Pagoda. After getting to know him we met his friend Talo who is his right hand man. We have conversed with them for hours over the past few weeks and we let them know we would love to help them. At first they were going to have us go into a classroom and help the professors with pronunciation and conversational skills. They had a meeting about us helping this past week and decided instead to have three of us guys lead a class all on our own and we are allowed to teach however we want and over any topics, they just want it to be conversational. This is super cool registration is currently open for our class and we have monks signing up everyday! Im also still teaching a lot of young men and boys in the evening so I am very busy, but I love it and am so excited for the remainder of my time here in Cambodia.
These are a few thoughts I have been processing through and a prayer that has come as a result of these questions.
How many thoughts do I have about myself and my desires? How many thoughts do I have about God and His desires? Im constantly thinking about what I am going to do, what I am going to eat, and what I am going to say. Everything is about me, even while I have been trying to live on mission. Thoughts like “How can I get comfortable?” Or “What do I need right now?” constantly come in my head. Even good things like “How can I further the Kingdom?” And “How can I serve others” still have me in them. I need to get to the point where I completely die to myself and that is so hard. I have begun to realize that none of this is about what I can do, but rather what He can do and it doesn’t even have to be through me. I can pray for God to work miracles, lead others to Christ, and spread the Kingdom all through my teammates and my soul purpose could be to simply pray for Him to work through them. God doesn’t need me, He wants me though. I need Him, but don’t want Him as much as He wants me, because that would be impossible! He loves me and wants me more than I could ever imagine. Everything has always been about me and it is time for that to end. God allow me to die to myself and be filled with your desires.
