It was a subtle beginning to a life changing event. We casually introduced ourselves to a Cambodian tuk tuk (moto-taxi) driver. His name was Don and we found out he was Christian. After a brief discussion, he let us know that he would love for us to visit his village to meet the people. Therefore, we agreed and set up a meeting to discuss the logistics of visiting his village.
The next day, Hannah and I found ourselves in a room with the other married couple on our team and several men. We sat around on the floor discussing how we were going to get to Don's village and what work we could do there. It was decided that we would leave early on Friday, January 11, 2013, to visit Don's village and his wife's village. The conversation ended with Don telling us that he had been faithfully praying for a year and a half for Christians to come to his village. He was so happy that his prayer had been answered.
The alarm clock went off at 6:00am on Friday morning and we hauled ourselves out of bed with the help of several cups of coffee. We walked outside and boarded a van for the three hour drive into rural Cambodia. This drive took us out of the city, down bumpy country roads, on a ferry across the Mekong River and across roads built on top of rice paddy dikes. Finally we arrived at Don's "village." The village consisted of huts built on stilts in the rice paddies. Dirty children ran shyly behind their mother's skirts and nervous smiles of the adults showed teeth in various stages of decay.
We exited the van and began to introduce ourselves to the villagers. At first, they were shy and didn't say much. We divided into teams and headed out to meet the people. Every house we went to was a similar experience. There were shy greetings and skittish children running around. However, at each house we began to explain that we were there to tell them about a man who had changed our lives and had given us great hope. As we talked and testified about what Jesus had done for us, crowds slowly formed at the houses. Interested ears followed our words and eyes began to glimpse the hope of love and peace we were bringing. Soon questions began to fly about who Jesus was and how to know him.
Before we knew it, Hannah and I were praying for person after person. We found ourselves talking to people who had never heard the name of Jesus, but asked us to introduce Him to them. We told them the truth that is Jesus and then walked them through prayers of acceptance. This happened at house after house all afternoon until it was too dark to see.
Never before have I truly understood the scripture that says "the harvest is truly great, but the laborers are few." I believe there was no limit this day as to the number of souls that were desperate for Jesus…we just ran out of time and resources to reach them all. I have been afraid my whole life to walk up to strangers and start witnessing to them. However, here, people are so desperate that witnessing is the easiest and most exciting thing I have ever done.
While there Jesus put an urgency in our hearts. We no longer saw men with broken bodies, women with rotten teeth and children with lice. We saw the children of God that were made for eternity and were headed to hell due to a lack of knowledge. It created a fire on the inside that cried out to reach one more because it may be their only chance. That day, I realized fully the consequence of our life on this earth. We have the ability, capacity and duty to save as many as we can during our time. I can never forget the faces of the ones we reached and the thought of those we never reached haunts me. Please don't take your faith for granted and hoard it all to yourself. It was made to be shared and millions need to hear about it as we speak.
As we were leaving the village, our translator had a huge smile on his face. We asked him what was on his mind. He looked over at us and said, "Any day I get to tell people about Jesus is a great day." We couldn't agree more. We love you and are praying for you all.
