Phrayer and Phraise in Phenom Phem

I apologize for thinking myself clever with my title. I phromise I won’t do it again. Well….phrobably not. Oh well, nobody is pherfect.

I have so much to write and many pictures to post, however technology issues have dogged me in Cambodia. My computer and phone woes have devoured much time and patience. Technology is  a mistress who invites you in and then leaves through the back door.  Proverbs 32:1. (yes I know there is no Proverbs 32).

Conference update: We completed our three day conference earlier today. It seemed to go well. Many prayers were answered. Praise God and thank you. It is very encouraging to see the gospel alive and well in the heart of a Buddhist culture. We talked with many of the church leaders in attendance (about 200). Despite the language barrier there was much mutual appreciation. We taught on biblical worldview with a focus on life issues including abortion.  The abortion culture is deeply entrenched in Cambodia but in a different way than in our culture. Here much of it is out of ignorance and misinformation even within church leadership. We have ignorance and misinformation on this issue also, but we have a level of awareness available that they don't. This conference was meant to bring truth and light into this arena through the presentation of the biblical worldview. Please pray that the truth given here will spread throughout Cambodia. Even if you just take 20 seconds right now it will make a difference.

Teaching through an interpreter was a new experience for me. You must trust the Spirit to deliver what needs to be delivered because so much is lost through the loss of metaphor, illustration, and non-verbals. If you think I'm boring in Rockford you should hear my teaching through a Cambodian interpreter. You'd never complain again. Well, maybe you would but it would be a couple of months.

Cambodia: I have only been in Phenom Penh so far. It is the capital and by far the biggest and most advanced city in Cambodia. This country is still suffering from the effects of the devastation enacted by Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge in the mid 1970's. Pol Pot, in order to bring about an agrarian utopia that was a mix of French enlightenment thinking, marxist idealism, and ancient Khmer brutality, destroyed over 1.5 million of the 7.1 million inhabitants. Many of those killed were the country's well educated. Children were separated from parents, brainwashed in political thought and taught to torture. Consequently, people, families, cities and culture were decimated. There is little beauty or art in the city with the exception of several Buddhist temples. Poverty is widespread. They are a people trying to recapture their identity. It will come if no new atrocities arrive, but what that identity will be remains to be seen.

I visited a park in the middle of the city which has a prominent Buddhist temple in the middle. The park is full of monkeys and even has an elephant that you can get a ride on. None of them are caged which makes for an interesting environment. My friend tried to take a picture of a small monkey with his iphone. The monkey tried to steal it. Apparently they frequently steal food from people's hands. I like the idea of untethered elephants in a park. It adds a little tension. I would love to see Rockford put one down by the dam.

Also in the park are many locals including families selling or begging to get money. The picture below is part of a family out begging. Their teeth were rotten and their parents, if they have both, were nowhere to be seen. There were many more like these kids. It was heart-breaking.

hope for the hopeless?

About 50ft. uphill from these kids was the temple which had a main worship area and many outdoor statues for sacrifices like this one to the right. The disturbing porcelain bust has neon lights behind it and many other artifacts all over it. It is covered with trinkets, food, and money. The contrast of the impoverished children nearby and the affluent statue makes one sick. How can this happen? Rather than feel haughty we must ask ourselves some questions. Has Christianity ever made this error? Certainly. Do we make this error? Unfortunately yes. This country definitely needs Jesus Christ, while many reading this already have Jesus Christ. However, have we allowed His view of the world to become ours? Have the down-trodden and oppressed captured our hearts and actions? Or are we stuck in the muchness and many-ness of life (Richard Foster quote) without giving a compassionate thought to the suffering in our midst? Are we too busy being disappointed in our spouse, children, parents, boss, pastors, friends, on and on, ad nauseum, to think beyond our own pain? Why do we choose to live like this? Do you want to keep living this way, or do you want to catch the wind of the Spirit in your sail?

It starts on our knees where we tell the truth about the darkness in our own hearts and how we have loved ourselves more than others. We call ourselves out by the names we have become.  Names like liar, hater, adulterer, pornographer, gossip, thief, sloth, glutton, jerk, bully, coward, etc...., and repent. Then we move in love to our family, friends and co-workers where we forgive and  bring life, real life in Jesus Christ to others. Then our love spills out into the streets and on to where the Lord calls. Maybe Cambodia, maybe to an orphan, or the city or our neighborhood. There are so many in need of Christ and real compassion. Pray about it, but remember it starts in our own heart not in someone else's.

Let us be the church rather than just people ignoring a dying world on our way to church.