This has been a Journey filled with variety––praying in desperately poor slums; working with the children of prostitutes; conducting a medical clinic and evangelism & healing outreach in a rural village; ministering in a large church; going to the homes of factory workers; installing water filters in the homes of the poor; and ministering on the streets at night among the prostitutes.
On Sunday afternoon, we conducted a medical clinic in a suburb of Phnom Penh. It turned out to be very small (there was a wedding and a large birthday party going on at the same time). We only had 74 people come through the clinic. However, as we compared testimonies among the team afterward, we discovered that 39 people had come to Christ. Imagine, over 50% of the people received the Lord. Yesterday, while on a boat cruise the river pilot gave his heart to Jesus. The same continues to happen at the hotel, in shops and on the streets.
The people of Cambodia are wonderfully gentle and kind. Everywhere, we are warmly received. We have been told that it is important to go very slowly with the Cambodian people because their Buddhism makes them not very open to the Gospel. We came prepared to largely “break ground” for a later harvest. However, what we have encountered here is just the opposite: everywhere people are open and ready to receive Jesus into their lives. They do so with great feeling. Four times I have heard team members say that when asking people if they would like to know Jesus, they have been told “I have been waiting a long time for someone to tell me about Jesus”.
Today we are in the middle of the factory district, conducting a medical clinic. This is our busiest clinic yet. Lots of people have come in from the neighborhood. When factory workers come in, we fast track them because they only have a few minutes available before they have to go back to work. All morning, people have been getting healed, then coming to Christ. Three of our Impact team went door to door to pray for the sick. After 30 minutes they had only gone to two houses––but in those two homes they led 10 people to Jesus.
One of the reasons that we take people on Journeys of Compassion is so that they can have frontline, hands-on experience in participating in Kingdom activity––and then take this back home with them. We are committed to equipping men and women for Kingdom ministry, not just giving them a memory to talk about later. On this Journey, something has been very clear: everyone was made for the Kingdom of God. This may sometimes seem counter-intuitive, but nevertheless it is true. In Mark 4, Jesus said that the Kingdom is like a farmer who planted seed and then went away. Though he didn't know exactly how it happened, all by itself the seed bore fruit. If we will determine to scatter seed wherever we go, we will see a harvest.
There has always been a temptation to “go slow” when it comes to praying for the sick or inviting people to give their lives to Jesus. That is why 2,000 years ago, Jesus told His disciples not to say “four months more until the harvest is ready” (Jn 4:35). It is the same today. I need to step over my insecurities in order to scatter Kingdom seed and then watch the “all by itself” principle kick in. “The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation.” (Ro 1:16)
We are in a land where 95% of the people are Buddhists, yet everyday (and all day) we continue to see people enthusiastically saying ‘yes’ to Jesus. This is not because of superior training, gifting or anointing on our part. It is simply that all of creation bends toward our Creator God and his Kingdom. When the truth of this is anchored in our hearts, we begin to live in His rhythm. It is then that we truly discover that everywhere, everyone was made for the Kingdom.
Add new comment