Put yourself in a country where 95% of the people are Buddhist.
Imagine you are standing in front of one of the 10 man made wonders of the world.
There are tourists everywhere, cameras at the ready.
And you are going through in your mind how you got there.
A two hour drive to the Thailand/Cambodia border. A two and a half hour van ride to Siem Reap. Your first real Mexican meal in 5 months, an awesome night’s sleep and a cheap tut tut ride have brought you in front of the ruins of Angkor Wat, and there’s no doubt about it, they are impressive.
You walk down the long entrance, past the first building. You take a few pictures with your friends. It’s a bright, sunny day in Cambodia and you walk quickly to the main Angkor Wat to get into the shade. As soon as you step inside, there’s some sort of Buddhist ceremony going on, and yet you can’t help noticing all the broken Buddhas, the way the temple has decayed.
In some ways it’s beautiful and you understand why so many people flock to this place. It’s an amazing feat, built way back in the day and the fact that it’s main structure is still standing and keeping its shape is incredible. But in spite of all of that, with every step you take, you feel more and more sad.
There is no hope in this place. None.
It is broken down. Every Buddha is somehow destroyed or decaying or falling apart. Many are missing heads, so many that that fact is one of the first things we noticed. We walked on, closer and closer to the heart of Angkor Wat. The tourists got fewer and fewer. I grabbed a badge and climbed up a set of steep stairs to the main place, where the most important Buddhas of this place were set.
And here, I found a spot to sit alone. I pulled my Bible out of my bag and turned to Obadiah and Jonah, where I was reading. During Jonah’s time in the big fish, he said a prayer. In that prayer he made a statement.
“Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.”
(Jonah 2:8)
Here I was, sitting in front of one of the ten man made wonders of the world and it struck me that this whole building was dedicated to a worthless idol. I wasn’t sure what else to do in that moment, so I prayed. In spite of the buildings we build and the worthless idols some of us worship, God moves. He’s moving in Thailand, I’ve seen it and I know He can move in Cambodia too. These are two countries still enslaved in a religion where they have to “make merit” just to get a better life in the next life they have on earth. It’s a hopeless, never-ending, bad cycle for most.
On our way home, we packed into the van again for our three hour ride back to the border. The same 3 guys that had driven us there took us back again and spoke a little English. Brook, Christine and Caitlin shared the gospel with them during the return trip and God began to move. He is working, even in seemingly hopeless places like Angkor Wat. Sometimes we have to recognize what’s going on and be willing to share the good news.
