A Man of Peace
As me and my brother Jacob were walking down the dirt roads of a very poor village heading into the muslim community here in Kampong Cham we were looking for "A man of peace". A man of peace is described in Luke 10, and is the type of person we are looking for when we are reaching out to the Muslims. Its part of the "Camel Method", as decribed in the training booklet for reaching muslims. Little did we know we would find our man of peace, but he was the least of what we were expecting.
(Pastor Vot next to me, Jacob, Emily, Carly, Vots wife and Maricel)
Walking down this dirt road, Jacob and I were just talking about our faith and how to best reach the muslim, when I looked up to a house raised by stilts to see what looked to be a cross! I stopped in my tracks and mid conversation and said to Jacob, look at that! We both stared in awe, not expecting to see a cross on a house in a muslim community. It almost looked as if it were just moss that had grown in the particular pattern of a cross. So I was not sure if it was intentionally put there or an act of nature! As we stared in amazement, a humble little man came out from underneath the house. Greeting us, he asked " are you Christians"? We said, yes! And so we asked him the same question and he said yes, and this was his home and church that he was the pastor of. I looked at Jacob and said here is our man of peace!
(The entrance and cross, that led us to stop)
He invited us underneath the home out of the sun, and quickly grabbed a few chairs and glasses of water. We sat down again in amazement at how the Lord led us to a fellow brother living amongst the very muslims we had come to reach out to. Vot, is his name. He is 34 years old and has a wife and 2 beautiful sons. He told us how excited he was that we would be in the area and that we were Christians. And we replied with same excitement that we would be looking for a man of peace and then find him! God was truly at work here, and we knew it. Jacob and I had gone ahead of the girls as we were walking two by two, but at this time they walked right by the house so we shouted to them to come and sit with us and meet our new friend. Then two others walked by and we invited them, and then Maricel our contact and Ratchna a young girl who has been helping us translate. So now, its my whole team and our two contacts sitting here with this pastor talking about how God divinely appointed us all to meet! He grabbed several more chairs and waters for us all. His wife even went to the neighbors and grabbed some bannanas to offer us. This was true hospitality among a people who are so poor, my heart was warmed with their gracious and kind hearts towards us. We all talked for maybe 20 mins as we had to get going, but had the chance to get to know his story a little and decided to meet again with him. We prayed and then all said goodbye.
The weekend after we met him, Jacob and I decided to go to an old lighthouse that was right near the area of Vots house, to climb it and look over the city and village and pray for its people. After coming down we decided to walk in the direction of Pastor Vot's home. As we got closer he saw us and invited us in. We sat down again with him and just talked for about 20 mins. He shared with us how few people come to his church and that through the offering every week he recieves about $3. This is his only source of income! He does not work outside of serving his community through sharing the Gospel and even feeding those who are more poor than himself. My heart was sad in one sense but in another full of joy. His radiance and countenacne was like that of not many that I have ever seen. He was sharing with us how he is satifised in the Gospel and completely content. And he was not just saying this like many Christians do. He meant it. Every bit of it. I reached in my pocket not sure when was the right time to give to him, but it was now. I gave him $20. He was reluctant to recieve it and said that we were already enough of a blessing and encouragement to him. I said I give this not to you, but to the Lords work that you are involved. He accepted it, and thanked me several times. He asked us if we would come the next day which would be Sunday and encourage those would who be at his church. With great honor we said yes. We agreed to be there the next day at 2 in the afternoon, and then said goodbye.
(The fearst prepared for us)
The next day we returned, this time with our contact Maricel, who is a full time missionary here and brother Jason. Not sure what to expect I just had some general things that I would say to the church. As we got there he invited us underneath the home, and we sat down. Expecting to see some mid age to elderly people I saw all children. The congregation there that we would encourage were mostly children. I was taken back a little at this but also encouraged to see his heart for anyone who would just come to listen to us. There were about no more than ten children, 2 of them which were his own, his wife and one elderly women. Jake encouraged the pastor to continue and strive for knowing God through the Scripture, he challenged them to lead a life in line with the Word of God. I encouraged them that what they have in their heart is much more than the riches of the world. I told them about the scripture in the book of James that says, God chooses those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom of God. Brother Vot is truly rich in faith. Jason then shared a little on his heart as well and then we prayed and, his wife brought some delicious corn and sandwiches out for us. We laughed and enjoyed the presence of all the kids and then soon went on our way.
Brother Vot is truly a man of peace and someone who I will never forget. The Lord led us to him that day when we were looking for a muslim to reach out to. He used us to bless and encourage him, and we will possibly be referring him for sending future teams of the world race to serve with him in his community.
(Pastor Vot translating to the kids at his church)
(The old tower we climbed)
