Today was an eye-opening day, filled with the Holy Spirit and unforgettable moments shared with my team. I learned that ‘ATL’ is more than the short form for ‘Atlanta’. In World Race culture, ATL stands for “Ask The Lord.” Due to Cambodia’s endless random holidays, our normal ministry placements were cancelled, and as a squad, we did ATL ministry. Honestly, I was sort of nervous that nothing would happen. I worried that the Holy Spirit wouldn’t speak to me, or that I would confuse my voice with His. I wanted this to be a fruitful day, but I didn’t want my want and anticipation for a day full of miracles and jaw-dropping God moments to get in the way of what God had for our team. We got into our teams and prayed over our day, asking the Holy Spirit to show us what He had for our day. In that moment I gave up my worry to God. I asked Him to work in His own way and to fully guide my team as we embarked on this new way of spreading His Kingdom.
My teammate Abby felt a pull on her heart to go to the slums of Cambodia and to worship there. So we did.
So we packed ourselves, a guitar and a ukulele into a tuk-tuk and ventured to the slums by an abandoned railway track. When we got there it seemed empty, other than a few shacks with a couple people in them. We decided we would walk until we felt God calling us to stop and worship. As we started down the path beside the old tracks, some old buildings came into view. My heart broke as I was face to face with actual poverty for the first time in my life. There was garbage everywhere. We walked passed a building structure that had only one wall left standing. Old rags and materials were strung up to separate the area into “rooms”. I have never felt so unsettled as I witnessed these people physically living in garbage, and knowing it was all they had.
We came to a second structure, just like the first, but more cleared out. There were 5 or 6 kids running around and a few adults sitting or in hammocks. We felt the Lord telling us to stop. We asked if we could play music for them and they said yes, bringing us over to a corner of the room. The kids all got up on a platform, laughing, smiling and dancing as we played. As I sang and played, I watched these children in awe. They were covered in dirt, their clothes were ripped, some didn’t even have pants, but joy still radiated off of them.
Something that has hit me since being in Cambodia is the amount of joy and happiness the people here display, despite not having anything. The purest happiness I’ve ever seen in kids who don’t have toys, a bed or even a home. The Holy Spirit is so present in their hearts, but most of them have no idea. Not only do they not know the Holy Spirit is living within them, a lot of them have never even heard the name, Jesus Christ. The closer I grow in my personal intimacy with the Lord, the more heartbroken I am about that. The beautifully joyful children in the slums of Cambodia taught me the importance of appreciating the little things and delighting in every day. I have the knowledge of God and access to His Holy Word…what else do I need?
Our day was filled with more worship, some confusing interactions due to the language barrier and many more adorable children. We didn’t perform any miracles. We didn’t see anyone get saved. But we saw the Holy Spirit in a new way, in the joy of people who have absolutely nothing, in the slums of Cambodia (somewhere I never imagined myself being). The Holy Spirit is moving in Cambodia and I can feel it. I cannot wait for our next ATL to see where the Lord will take us and how He’ll use us to bring Kingdom.
