I wrote most of this on Saturday night, Nov 29th (the same time I wrote the Newsletter and the post, "Lazarus"), but didn't want to overwhelm you too much, so I saved it for now! This post is mostly stories that I've heard and been a part of the past few weeks, and ways that you can Pray for specific individuals! Please pray for each of them as you read ...
Another sister ...
The first week of class, I gave my student sheet to fill out
their information. On the sheet, I asked if they went to church, the name of
the church, if they were a Christian, and if so, how long they believed.
Tut-se-ah has been going to one of the local churches for a few months, which I
knew already, but she answered “yes” she was a Christian. I honestly thought
she was just confused and was thinking it was about going to church. About a
week ago, I finally asked her about it. She said, yes she’d chosen to believe
in Jesus about a month earlier! Praise the Lord! I asked her a few questions
then later one of the strong believing girls talked to her about it. Like many
other Cambodians she had a problem, prayed to the True God about it, and He
answered, so she believed!
Baptism ... Tut-se-ah & Sa-rye
She’s learning about baptism and is planning on being
baptized in January. Sa-rye has been going to the same church and is also
planning to be baptized in January. Please pray for both Tut-se-ah and Sa-rye,
to continue to grow in love and obedience to our Lord, Jesus Christ. Also, many
times Cambodians do not tell their parents right when they believe and don’t
tell them they’re going to be baptized because the parents will forbid them
from being baptized. God commands us to honor our mother and father, but at the
same time we have to obey God over our parents. Pray that God would give them
wisdom in talking to their family and that whenever they do, their families
will have a soft heart.
P2
Speaking of hardship with families … nobody has heard from
P2 in several months. He finally chose to follow Jesus at the end of July and
has only been able to go to church a handful of times since then. When his
sister was out of town a couple months ago he came to the student center. He
was having a really hard time. One of the worst things is that he doesn’t have
contact with other brothers and sisters in Christ (the body of Christ). He's no longer on Facebook, and from what I understand, nobody from the church has been able to get ahold of him. Pray
for P2 as the Spirit leads you.
Afternoon Bible Study
At the beginning of the term, one of my students asked me
what I do on the weekend. I told them that on Sunday morning I study the Bible
with some of my students … I just said it as information. After class So-pay-ak
asked me about it because she wanted to join. This is very out of the ordinary
in America, but even more so here for people to invite themselves to something.
She’s really hungry to know God! Unfortunately, she’s not able to join that
Bible study, but fortunately, it’s because she goes to church at that time. This
week I started studying with her after class. A couple other students want to
study too, but they don’t come regularly. Through this time I’ve gotten to talk
to her more. She said that sometimes she thinks she believes Jesus, but
sometimes she doesn’t. She is close! Pray for God to continue to open So-pay-ak’s
heart and give her faith to really believe. She’s also been having some
problems with her health since March. Ask our gracious Father to use this
problem to heal her, so that she will follow Him and be a witness for Him! Pray
also for her friend, Sau-vwree. She also has some problems and is comparing Buddah
and Jesus. Pray that Sau-vwree will see that Jesus is The Only Way!
On Thursday, So-pay-ak, Dah-lean, We-ray-ak, Tia-vwee, Bo-pah, and Ne-ung joined the afternoon Bible study. The first 3 are not yet believers, and the last 3 all claim to be Christians. Ne-ung is a member of LS Church (and was actually baptized on the first Sunday I was in Cambodia)! I plan on asking her to help me lead the group. I'm praying that Ne-ung will see this Bible study as an opportunity to learn more herself, grow in her own relationship with God, reach out to the others in the group, and learn how to lead so that in the future she'll be comfortable to start a group herself!
Possibly another sister!
Earlier this week, a small group of us were talking and
So-pay-ak asked Bo-pah if she was a Christian. Bo-pah said, “yes.” They talked
for a minute, then I asked Bo-pah about it. How long? à about three months. Oh, I
didn’t know à
That’s why I study the Bible on Sunday. Ren-treeah studies too and he’s not a
believer à
Yea, but he’s interested … then it was time for class to start, and I was so
surprised I didn’t know what else to say. On top of that, I felt very
inadequate, not knowing what to ask, and her English is very poor and my Khmer
is even more limited! J
On the following Sunday (a couple days ago) I was able to talk to her more. Ren-tree-ah's class rescheduled for that time so he came really late & Bo-pah and I started talking before he got there (that means there was no translator). From our hour long conversation, I think she may really believe! I tried talking to her about what it means to follow Jesus and for Him to be Lord. I asked her if she wanted to be baptized and she responded, "my mom is Buddhist." The conversation led into the fact that God has the MOST authority and sometimes obeying God means breaking the law (in some countries), disobeying parents ... Pray for Bo-pah to be willing to follow Jesus in baptism and for grace with her parents. Also pray for Ren-tree-ah to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ!
This Sunday, the 8th, I will study with Bo-pah and Ren-tree-ah about the importance of the Body of Christ. I'm praying that they, especially Bo-pah, will be encouraged and have a desire to go to church. They could go in the morning (30min earlier than the time we usually meet) to LS Church, where they both know Ne-ung. Or, they could go in the afternoon to LOL. There are other good churches in the area, but these are the two that we are most connected with. I've considered inviting them to the church I go to in the afternoon, HOL, but I think it's best for them to not follow me, or feel obligated to go to church to please me. I also think they'll have better opportunities to grow ... at LS or LOL. All that being said, this Sunday will be our last meeting for Bible study. If they are interested in learning more they can go to church, and / or be a part of the afternoon Bible Study!
Pray for Humility ...
We-ray-ak has started studying again and as always, he has a lot of questions. I think he is determined to have ALL the answers before he’ll choose Jesus. The problem is we CAN’T know everything! I’ve shared my favorite verse with him many times, “… Isaiah 55:8-9. He had some question and we ended up talking about peace and joy … He said, “I want to know that feeling!” Pray that We-ray-ak would humble himself and accept the FREE gift of grace at the HIGH PRICE of dying to himself to live for Jesus.
A couple weeks ago Chan-Da told Crystal that she's been praying to God that she will believe! Please pray with us! And praise the Lord that she is so close! Just about a year ago she'd said she had no interest in studying the Bible. With God all things are possible! Also be praying for Rah-chanah. They've both said they'd go to church on Sunday! Pray that some action would follow those words and that God would open up both of their hearts!
Thank you for praying for each of these people! If you've read and prayed for those I written about in my Newsletters and other blog posts, then you've already had a part in P2, Tut-se-ah, and possibly Bo-pah coming to faith!!! Praise the Lord, and thank you!
