It is amazing how we go through the year with so little illness; there is so much sickness and disease in the areas we work. Unfortunately it caught up with us this week, Emma and I were sick for a couple of days, but poor Esther has been sick since last Saturday. She is feeling a bit better but is extremely weak and fragile. Please pray for her that she gets properly back on her feet soon with her usual bubbly attitude.
Last Sunday was extremely busy and when your wing commander is sick you know it’s going to be fun. We had church in the morning with another dedication, this time it was beautiful Melody, her mum Channak and dad Songva were so proud as they came to the front and promised to bring Melody up in the ways of the Lord. It was a special time for the church and I am sure you will join with us in praying God’s blessing for their little family.
After church a group of us got ready to go to our language teacher Rotha’s centre. Rotha and her husband Sinat are true living legends in our eyes. They both have jobs teaching Khmer and English during the day to raise the money to run their centre. The centre comprises of classrooms for English teaching free of charge to the local factory workers who are uneducated and unable to afford education. They do this five nights a week, giving up all their free time to impact people’s lives practically living out Jesus. At the weekends they have kids clubs and church all in this little centre. The bit that choked me up was the tiny little room with a mattress on the floor and a rail with a few clothes on it. Rotha explained this was their room, they put everything into Jesus and the pennies that are left help them to scrape by. They are amazing, it is not a sacrifice to them it is their duty too love the poor and show them Jesus through their loving actions. These people are the true heroes of this world.
Without Esther the thought of kids club becomes daunting when we are taking it, add to that Sokhom being in England and we have lost a major part of our team, but praise God we are richly blessed. Rotha’s young girls warmed the kids up with some games and dancing, then Dorae taught the children a new chorus brilliantly I might add. It was then over to Nita who spoke about the lost Son, finally Sophea did craft with them and we finished by giving out some snacks. In total there were about 70 children there and they all seemed to really enjoy it.
After the kids left church began there was a mixture of youth and adults and probably around 45-50 people there. Chamnap had the pleasure of speaking and God used him to encourage people and speak into people’s lives directly. Everything about the service was special, and if you knew the area they live and work in you would appreciate how they shine their light, their Saviour from the rooftop.
I believe God’s challenge to us all this week young and old, is how do each of us live on the edge for Him. Do we give our all until it hurts or do we muddle through, I’m not just referring to money in anyway, what about your time and your energy. Rotha and Sinat give everything for Jesus because they understand their lives belong in their entirety to him. How do you show the world that you belong to Jesus? Or do they even know you are a Christian, I used to live like that! How many of us stand tall and tell people we support this team or that team, wear their colours with pride, argue and defend our teams passionately, showing a commitment, a loyalty and even nearly shoving into the worlds face, and that’s what you do when you follow something with your heart. So my question is why are we not like that about Jesus, think about why are you passionate and in people’s faces about your football team, but a lot of people don’t even know who you believe in never mind what. We need to be more vocal in our neighbourhoods, in our home, towns and cities. We need to use Rotha and Sinat as our example, your mission field begins at home, and I wish that I had shown more urgency for my friends, family and work colleagues than I maybe did. The past is in the past now it’s time to let people know that “You Belong To Jesus”.