Cambodia! Month
9 equals Vinny needs sleepyJ As tired as I was this month
it was one that I will forever treasure. This month we worked with Teen
Challenge that was located basically in the middle of endless rice fields.
Working with teen challenge was such a joy for me. This teen challenge was
specifically for males that are addicted to some kind of drug. The hardest
thing to see for me this month was that the boys ranged from five years old to in their
fifty’s. These men and children
were addicted to a range of different drugs but mostly sniffing glue.
Personally I did not know that sniffing glue was such a serious drug overseas,
especially for young boys. I witnessed it first hand in Johannesburg, South
Africa when I was parked in a KFC parking lot and beyond the fence was a group
of homeless people. A few of the men in this group of homeless people would put
a bag over their face and inhale the glue and then suddenly trip out. It was
actually fairly disturbing watching it from a distance, but it made this month in
Cambodia more real to me.
I really enjoyed this month of ministry because I had the
honor of discipling the men (ages 16 and up) each morning for about an hour and
half. My main focus was teaching them why Jesus died on the cross and whom the
Holy Spirit was. It is funny how when you start teaching things you actually
learn more than you teach. The more I taught the more I studied and prepared
for these men. The Holy Spirit would teach me so much in my efforts of teaching
about Him. What a gracious God though when I have practically no resources
being out in the jungle He taught me that all I need is Him. We had a powerful
time this month and by the middle of the month all the men made a decision to
accept Christ as their Savior and to follow Him praise the Lord! Towards the
end of the month some of the men were even prophesying over each other, which
was such a joy to see.
There was a family day in the middle of the month, and many of the men and children went to their knees and asked for their parents forgiveness. It was a very moving time for all of us I tear up just thinking about it.
My teammate Em’s taught the children how to use their imaginations and let God bring to their minds pictures or visions of how he see’s them. It was incredible to see some of their pictures.
My boys I will greatly miss them.
Dear friends Sam and Pitbull (our nickname for him). These guys are going to do great things for the Lord.
By the end of the month we became pros at picking rice and planting it:)
It was a dirty job, but we had so much fun learning from the boys on how to perfect the rice.
After a long hard day in the rice fields we would go to the nearest water hole and clean up. It was a blast!
I know what your going to say I look like Jesus… who better to look like though right:)
We would run to this bridge and see the most incredible sunsets over the rice fields and the distant mountains.
I had to put these pictures in of these two precious girls. Whenever she saw the camera pointed at her she would give us a little pose.
What was so amazing to see this month was the affect that
our prayers and words had that we spoke over these men and boys. Most of this
year the Lord has really put prayer on my heart. I felt like He wanted me to
study prayer and to learn how to really pray effectively. I have been reading
books by Watchmen Nee, Derek Prince, and just studying God’s Word about prayer
and it has really blessed me this year. One example that we saw first hand was
a man who had two of his sons with him at teen challenge. His sons were very young only four and
five years old. The reason his sons were with him was because their mother was
also addicted to drugs and she was at another rehabilitation center. When we
first arrived at teen challenge you would of never known that this guy had two
sons because he never played with them or even paid attention to them. After
this man accepted Christ into his heart we prayed over him that he would have a
new love for his children and his wife. As the days went by we saw an instant
transformation in this man. He would play with his sons and you would catch him
even hugging on them, which was so special to see.
These are the precious boys whose father has come back to loving them the way they should be loved. Please pray that these boys will be raised in Christ and be mighty men of God someday.
I think as believers we sometimes
forget the power we have in prayer. The Lord has entrusted us with the name of
His Son Jesus to use as a seal in prayers. We must use caution however on how
we use that name. I have learned several valuable lessons about prayer, and
that is of course we can not through prayer make God do what He does not want
to do, however He waits until we pray for that which He desires to do before He
does it.
Ephesians 6:18 And pray in the
Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in
mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
We have so much authority and
power as children of the living God and we do not even tap into it. There is a
quote by Watchman Nee in The Prayer Ministry of the Church that I really enjoy.
He states, “This is authoritative prayer. Not doing anything in your strength,
but doing it via the throne. Authoritative prayer is not begging God against
His will, it is notifying Him of what you know must be done and He will do it.”
There have been so many times in my walk with the Lord where I approach His
throne in prayer asking and begging Him to do things for me, when in reality He
says I am not doing anything, I gave you that power and authority when you made
Jesus your Lord and Savior. Another valuable lesson I have learned about prayer
is that I should not thank God for the attack by the devil. What I mean by this
is when I am being attacked I need not to thank God. He does not want me to
thank Him for attack or trials He wants me to take the authority and victory over the
devils attack and drive it out of my life. I am so thankful that He is such a
patient God when it comes to my faith, and believing in the authority and power
I truly have.
I know this is a longer blog, but
I would just encourage you to not give up in your prayer lives, but to go even
harder. It is time to stop asking and begging God to take away your problems and start taking the authority you have as a believer and cast the devil out of your life, your families’ lives, and your friends’ lives. The Bible says that our spirit is already seated with Christ in the Heavenly realms. It may take me a lifetime to understand that fully, and to walk in that fully, but to know that when we pray we bring Heaven to earth is such a powerful thought….
“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in Heaven.” Matthew 16:18-20
I would like to leave you
with this quote from Watchman Nee….
“We have His life and have been
delivered out of the power of darkness and been translated into the kingdom of
the Son of God’s love; consequently, we possess heavenly authority. At all
times and in all places we hold the authority of Heaven. We may control earthly
affairs by means of Heaven…”
