“You
should come to English class. There’s a Chinese person teaching
English. You have to see this!” proclaimed an English student to
her friend. The next day, her friend willingly came to the church
just to see this strange phenomenon a Chinese person speaking English
perfectly. “When I look you, I think you are Chinese. I see you,
you are like Chinese.” Yes, actually, I am Chinese! 🙂 Apparently
English is the ticket to a better future and it is unusual to see an
Asian face speaking English so well. Cambodian parents hope that
their children will be able to come to Phnom Penh to study and
improve their English to secure employment outside of their small
provincial, farming villages. As a native English-speaker, I have
the privilege of empowering these students with conversational
English skills.
As
they learn conversational English and new vocabulary, they discovered
new ways of asking us about ourselves and why we are in Cambodia.
They learned new words to increase their daily vocabulary. On the
first day, we shared our testimonies of God’s life-changing work in
us that brought us to Cambodia in the first place. The second day, I
taught musical terms, music instruments, types of music, emphasizing
that worship music is any music that points us to God. In Cambodia,
there is a common misconception that praise music is fast Christian
songs an worship music is slow Christian songs. The third day, I
taught what the Bible says love is based on 1 Corinthians 13 and 1
John 3-4. Through these community English classes, many students are
being drawn into the church.
I
never realized what simple and seemingly ordinary knowledge to me
could be so useful as an empowering ministry tool that could
drastically change the future of these students. It makes me wonder
what other simple and ordinary things I have been blessed with that I
can use to empower others. What skills do I have that I can use to
bless the church? even if I’m not perfect in English, maybe it’s
something as simple as hosting a gardening club, reading club, oil
drilling club, I don’t know… but what I do know is that God has
equipped each of us with tools to bless His church and to build up
His body.
