Yesterday, we had a day trip for those who came to the Kynome Chngall Nah workshop. Before we left for the trip, Mr. K shared with them about repentance ... and asked them to write on the card what percent they believe. (Here students often give a percentage of how close they are to following Christ). 50% means they're interested and seeking the truth, but aren't really sure. The card also gave an option for people to check if they had free time and wanted to study the Bible. Please pray for those who are interested and for Bible study leader(s).
Today Maum went to LS church. They had communion and she took it. She said that yesterday she wrote 75%, but after she thought about it last night and today, she decided to believe 100% AND she wants to be baptized. Tut-se-ah, Sa-Rye, and Choon-E have all been going to LS for at least half a year. The first two believe already, but Choon-E has yet to. Today Maum told Choon-E that she was next! :-D
PLEASE PRAY for Maum. Pray that she'll really understand what it means to follow Jesus. Pray that she would not forsake the assembling together as brothers and sisters in Christ. Pray that she'll understand the importance of the Body of Christ and her role as a member. Pray for her to be wise and bold about sharing her faith with friends, co-workers, and especially her family.
Pray also for Choon-E to see that following Christ does mean giving up everything, but also that she'll know that it's WORTH IT!
Praise God, for He's GggggREAT!
Sunday, March 9, 2014
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Praise / Pray ...
In my December Newsletter, I wrote about how I don't understand why Cambodians decide to believe / follow Jesus, but they don't tell anyone. They wait until they're asked, or until something brings it up. (This is not true for all cases, but I've found it's very common)
I'm the kind of person that likes to know a lot of information / details ... (some things I could care less, but if I do care, then it drives me crazy until I know). I'm having to learn to let that go (from this situation and many others) and I'm far from "learned."
In the March Newsletter, I gave a list of names of people who've said they believe / follow, but haven't or aren't ready to be baptized. One that I've forgotten about is Vwa-dtie. She's studying with Crystal from 6-7 and at the beginning of the term she said that she'd believed for a few weeks. Her aunt, who's my age, has believed for 5-6 years and has been taking Vwa-dtie to church for a long time. *** Just today when another student from her class asked if she was a Christian, she said "she doesn't know God yet." Pray that she would truly know God!
Today, I was talking to Sah-vwahn, and after talking for a little while, I asked him what he thought about Jesus, Christianity ... "Oh I like Christians! They never lie. They have love ... " Before he always blew off people who invited him to church, or talked to him about Jesus, but now he thinks it's good...
- Then I asked, "so you think it's good, but you don't follow yet, right?"
> He said, "no, I follow."
- You believe Jesus?
> Yes, but I'm not baptized yet.
- Have you told anyone? Does anyone know?
> I don't know / no
- Does Sa-Rye know? (Him and Sa-rye are/were best friends.)
> (With a not sure look) Sa-rye ...uhh, I maybe no.
- Do you want to be baptized?
> Yea, I want ... but, not yet.
I shared Romans 10:9 "that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." I explained how Christians still lie, still sin ... We're still human. I also said that after a person believes and chooses to follow Jesus / they confess Him as Lord, that means they say He is Lord. They should tell other people that Jesus is Lord and tell them about Jesus ... The conversation was not all of this verbatim, but -ish. I hope it went more smoothly than how I'm typing it out (what I remember).
After that we started talking about other things. I don't know where Sah-vwahn stands (whether he's truly given his life to Christ, or if he's just really, really close) & it's not necessary that I know, but please be praying for him!
Pray for his friend, Sa-rye, who's believed for about 9 months and was just baptized about 6 weeks ago. Sa-rye is a naturally fun and crazy guy, but he's been a little extra crazy lately. Maybe it's good, I don't know. Even during the Bible study class, he plays around a lot.
Here's a few pictures of Crystal's 6-7 Bible Study class. Please be praying for them. A couple have been brothers and sisters for a while, several just in the past few months, and several not yet!
Crystal leaves in a few days. I'll be teaching one of her classes. Another class has been split, and half have joined my class and half Brandon's. That leaves the group pictured above. Please pray for a leader to teach that group. There is someone Mr. K has in mind, but please pray for wisdom!
I'm looking forward to the day that we can call all of them our brothers and sisters! Pray for protection against the evil one. Any of them could get a job, or something else happen that would pull them away from continuing to learn and be in God's Word, with God's people. Pray that those who've yet to surrender, that they'll really seek after THE ONE TRUE GOD!
I'm the kind of person that likes to know a lot of information / details ... (some things I could care less, but if I do care, then it drives me crazy until I know). I'm having to learn to let that go (from this situation and many others) and I'm far from "learned."
In the March Newsletter, I gave a list of names of people who've said they believe / follow, but haven't or aren't ready to be baptized. One that I've forgotten about is Vwa-dtie. She's studying with Crystal from 6-7 and at the beginning of the term she said that she'd believed for a few weeks. Her aunt, who's my age, has believed for 5-6 years and has been taking Vwa-dtie to church for a long time. *** Just today when another student from her class asked if she was a Christian, she said "she doesn't know God yet." Pray that she would truly know God!
Today, I was talking to Sah-vwahn, and after talking for a little while, I asked him what he thought about Jesus, Christianity ... "Oh I like Christians! They never lie. They have love ... " Before he always blew off people who invited him to church, or talked to him about Jesus, but now he thinks it's good...
- Then I asked, "so you think it's good, but you don't follow yet, right?"
> He said, "no, I follow."
- You believe Jesus?
> Yes, but I'm not baptized yet.
- Have you told anyone? Does anyone know?
> I don't know / no
- Does Sa-Rye know? (Him and Sa-rye are/were best friends.)
> (With a not sure look) Sa-rye ...uhh, I maybe no.
- Do you want to be baptized?
> Yea, I want ... but, not yet.
I shared Romans 10:9 "that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." I explained how Christians still lie, still sin ... We're still human. I also said that after a person believes and chooses to follow Jesus / they confess Him as Lord, that means they say He is Lord. They should tell other people that Jesus is Lord and tell them about Jesus ... The conversation was not all of this verbatim, but -ish. I hope it went more smoothly than how I'm typing it out (what I remember).
After that we started talking about other things. I don't know where Sah-vwahn stands (whether he's truly given his life to Christ, or if he's just really, really close) & it's not necessary that I know, but please be praying for him!
Pray for his friend, Sa-rye, who's believed for about 9 months and was just baptized about 6 weeks ago. Sa-rye is a naturally fun and crazy guy, but he's been a little extra crazy lately. Maybe it's good, I don't know. Even during the Bible study class, he plays around a lot.
Here's a few pictures of Crystal's 6-7 Bible Study class. Please be praying for them. A couple have been brothers and sisters for a while, several just in the past few months, and several not yet!
Crystal leaves in a few days. I'll be teaching one of her classes. Another class has been split, and half have joined my class and half Brandon's. That leaves the group pictured above. Please pray for a leader to teach that group. There is someone Mr. K has in mind, but please pray for wisdom!
I'm looking forward to the day that we can call all of them our brothers and sisters! Pray for protection against the evil one. Any of them could get a job, or something else happen that would pull them away from continuing to learn and be in God's Word, with God's people. Pray that those who've yet to surrender, that they'll really seek after THE ONE TRUE GOD!
Saturday, February 22, 2014
Kyñome Chngall Nah!
Yesterday we had Part 1 of the Kyñome Chngall Nah ( I Wonder A Lot) workshop. There were about 40 people who came, including leaders and servers, so there were about 25 non-Christians who came! As explained in the previous post, this workshop is for the non-Christians who have questions about Jesus / Christianity / Cambodian Christians ...
We had times of GAMES (not pictured), SNACKS ...
PRIZES (Lucky Draw) ...
DISCUSSION about common questions most Cambodians have about Christianity.
ANSWERS to those questions.
My team leader made video's for this workshop several months ago, before the afternoon church did the same workshop. The videos have different people asking the questions, then other people explain the pre-scripted answer based on what the Bible says.
and HANG OUT after the workshop!
Please pray for Dee-nat. She had a lot of questions and seemed really interested! Also pray for her friend Eye-ling, who asked "who's Preah Je-ma-jah?" which is "Lord" in Khmer. Pray that God would be preparing the hearts of these two young ladies, to be "good soil," that He would give us the opportunity to share with these girls, that we would be obedient, and that He would give them understanding!!!
I'm Constantly Amazed - I serve an awesome God
Tear-E is a girl that came to our organization about 2 years ago (a few months before I came on a team, Summer 2012). She was in Crystal's class, and Crystal was having opportunities to share with her, then my team came over the summer and Marie and I were also able to share a lot with Tear-E. She was SO close to believing. When my team left, we continued to pray for her, and Crystal was able to study the Bible with her ... As I was preparing to come back, I mentioned her name many times, as someone to pray for. Finally, a year and a month ago, this young lady surrendered to follow Jesus Christ!!!!!!
I was able to see her baptized a short time later, then watch her grow into a young woman of God these past 13 months! It's truly amazing to see how God has worked through her and is continuing to mold her to look more like His Son!
She was one of the MC's for "Kyñome Chngall Nah", our program yesterday. I was blown away by how she did. She was the ONLY leader who came on time (to the pre-meeting) and she helped clean up and prepare for the workshop! During the program she was confident and comfortable. She took initiative and helped lead the entire program, then assisted the groups during discussion time.
Not related to the program, but to how God is working in Tear-E ... My class will be studying baptism (probably at the end of this week), and I videoed Tear-E's baptism. So last week I asked if it would be okay if I showed my entire class that video. She happily agreed! Then I explained that I've shown it to a couple individuals before, but I wanted to get her permission before showing it to an entire class. With such joy and confidence in her voice, she responded, "Yes, you can show them that I follow Jesus!" AMEN! Praise God for how He's worked through her. Please continue to pray for our sister, Tear-E: for her relationship with God, for her family to one day surrender to Him too, and for every little detail in her life to bring her closer to the Father and to bring others to Him too!
We had times of GAMES (not pictured), SNACKS ...
PRIZES (Lucky Draw) ...
DISCUSSION about common questions most Cambodians have about Christianity.
ANSWERS to those questions.
My team leader made video's for this workshop several months ago, before the afternoon church did the same workshop. The videos have different people asking the questions, then other people explain the pre-scripted answer based on what the Bible says.
and HANG OUT after the workshop!
Please pray for Dee-nat. She had a lot of questions and seemed really interested! Also pray for her friend Eye-ling, who asked "who's Preah Je-ma-jah?" which is "Lord" in Khmer. Pray that God would be preparing the hearts of these two young ladies, to be "good soil," that He would give us the opportunity to share with these girls, that we would be obedient, and that He would give them understanding!!!
I'm Constantly Amazed - I serve an awesome God
Tear-E is a girl that came to our organization about 2 years ago (a few months before I came on a team, Summer 2012). She was in Crystal's class, and Crystal was having opportunities to share with her, then my team came over the summer and Marie and I were also able to share a lot with Tear-E. She was SO close to believing. When my team left, we continued to pray for her, and Crystal was able to study the Bible with her ... As I was preparing to come back, I mentioned her name many times, as someone to pray for. Finally, a year and a month ago, this young lady surrendered to follow Jesus Christ!!!!!!
I was able to see her baptized a short time later, then watch her grow into a young woman of God these past 13 months! It's truly amazing to see how God has worked through her and is continuing to mold her to look more like His Son!
She was one of the MC's for "Kyñome Chngall Nah", our program yesterday. I was blown away by how she did. She was the ONLY leader who came on time (to the pre-meeting) and she helped clean up and prepare for the workshop! During the program she was confident and comfortable. She took initiative and helped lead the entire program, then assisted the groups during discussion time.
Not related to the program, but to how God is working in Tear-E ... My class will be studying baptism (probably at the end of this week), and I videoed Tear-E's baptism. So last week I asked if it would be okay if I showed my entire class that video. She happily agreed! Then I explained that I've shown it to a couple individuals before, but I wanted to get her permission before showing it to an entire class. With such joy and confidence in her voice, she responded, "Yes, you can show them that I follow Jesus!" AMEN! Praise God for how He's worked through her. Please continue to pray for our sister, Tear-E: for her relationship with God, for her family to one day surrender to Him too, and for every little detail in her life to bring her closer to the Father and to bring others to Him too!
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
I Wonder A Lot ...
"I Wonder A Lot" is the title (translated into English) of the workshops we will be doing over the next few weeks. The purpose of the workshops is to bring in non-Christians who are interested about Christianity and let them hear what the Bible says on some questions they may have. After the workshops end, we're hoping to be able to start some Bible studies with the students who are hungry to know more.
Have you ever hated or become angry with Cambodians who believe in Jesus and share the gospel with others?
Why do Christians try to persuade others to believe in Jesus? Do they get money from foreigners or an organization? What's in it for them?
I love my country and my people. If I follow Jesus, will I be throwing away my Cambodian culture?
My friends and family say that if I believe in Jesus, I am not a real Cambodian. Is this true?
I have heard that Christianity is a foreign religion or "their religion." Because most Cambodians feel that Buddha is the god of Cambodia, shouldn't Cambodians follow Buddha?
There are two men. One spends a lifetime in sin but believes in Jesus before he dies. Therefore he has salvation. The other man seems to spend his whole life doing good things, but never has salvation because he doesn’t believe in Jesus. How can this be? It seems like God is not just!
Why did God create Satan?Why doesn’t God destroy Satan?
Why does God allow evil and suffering?
Have you ever held the view that all religions are good – they all teach people how to be good and how to have peace?
I heard that Christians do not respect their parents. Is this true?
Why don’t Christians burn incense?
If Jesus is the one true God why was he born after other gods?
These are some of the questions that are commonly asked by Cambodians. For the workshop, we will bring up the question, have some discussion time, then give the answer! (All of this will be done in Khmer, with Cambodian believers leading everything)
This Saturday afternoon (BKK) / early morning while you're sleeping (CST), is when we'll have the first workshop (Feb 22nd)! Next Saturday (March 1st) we'll have the 2nd part of the workshop, and on the 8th we'll go on a small trip with the participants.
Please pray for us and our brothers and sisters who are helping to lead:
- Pray that God will give us LOVE for those who come
- Pray that He'll give us wisdom / the words to speak
- Pray that we'll be able to connect with those who come
Also pray for the Holy Spirit to be stirring up hearts and give people a strong desire to know the TRUTH!
-Pray for Him to prepare "good soil" hearts
-Pray for open schedules.
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
I Surrender All ...
If you've ever sat in front of me at church, or have heard me sing, then you probably already know that I am tone deaf (whatever that means). Tone, pitch ... all of those music words mean nothing to me. They might as well be a different language.
A lot of the time I am hesitant to really praise God (through singing):
1. Because I'm self-conscious about my singing abilities (or lack there of). Or a better way to say it, I care about my image and don't want people to judge me or think poorly of me because of the way I sing.
2. I am sometimes trying to be considerate of the people around me. For the most part, I've learned that I just have to praise God, no matter who's listening, but I wonder if I should tone it down to not hinder those around me.
We all love hearing the people with great voices. There is one girl, Lay-ak, who really has the voice of an angel. I absolutely love when she leads worship! However, I really enjoy hearing people with not so angelic voices, praising God. (Side note: Why do we assume angels have amazing voices?)
Last Sunday, I was incredibly encouraged and humbled as I heard and praised alongside a fellow tone-deaf sister. It's well known that she doesn't have a beautiful singing voice (according to worldly standards), but she sings her heart out and truly worships our God ... with a joyful noise!
Here is "I Surrender All" in Khmer, that I recorded Sunday. You won't understand the words, but you know how it "should" sound. I think you'll be blessed if you listen. And if you were blessed with the ability to sing well, or have worked really hard for many years ... don't be discouraged by those around you who "can't sing."
A lot of the time I am hesitant to really praise God (through singing):
1. Because I'm self-conscious about my singing abilities (or lack there of). Or a better way to say it, I care about my image and don't want people to judge me or think poorly of me because of the way I sing.
2. I am sometimes trying to be considerate of the people around me. For the most part, I've learned that I just have to praise God, no matter who's listening, but I wonder if I should tone it down to not hinder those around me.
We all love hearing the people with great voices. There is one girl, Lay-ak, who really has the voice of an angel. I absolutely love when she leads worship! However, I really enjoy hearing people with not so angelic voices, praising God. (Side note: Why do we assume angels have amazing voices?)
Last Sunday, I was incredibly encouraged and humbled as I heard and praised alongside a fellow tone-deaf sister. It's well known that she doesn't have a beautiful singing voice (according to worldly standards), but she sings her heart out and truly worships our God ... with a joyful noise!
Here is "I Surrender All" in Khmer, that I recorded Sunday. You won't understand the words, but you know how it "should" sound. I think you'll be blessed if you listen. And if you were blessed with the ability to sing well, or have worked really hard for many years ... don't be discouraged by those around you who "can't sing."
Saturday, February 8, 2014
Weddings ...
This post will mostly be of pictures from the three different weddings I've been to (the past three months).
Below is a picture of the three different wedding invitations
Wedding #1 - My FIRST Khmer Wedding
(For this wedding, I actually didn't know the bride or the groom, but the bride's brother is a friend of mine / one of the past volunteer teachers)
The outer envelope The information
All three (there's a map on the back of the outer envelope)
* Not pictured - the gift envelope ... If you receive and invitation, you should give at least a $20 gift to pay for your invitation, the big meal you'll eat at the reception, and help with other costs.
The bride and groom wait outside to greet / take pictures with the guests. This is a picture of a picture. The group I went with (minus one person).
Wedding #2
(For this wedding, I know the bride. She was one of my students. We got to the wedding too early, so we didn't get to take a picture with the bride and groom.)
The invitation The first page
The next page The gift envelope
The envelope, invitation, and gift envelope A picture I took
Pictures I stole from Facebook. I saw her in both of these dresses & one more.
Something different between Khmer weddings and American weddings (that I've been to), is Khmer weddings apparently last 1 or 2 days. Here you only go to the reception unless you're really close with the bride / groom. So you basically, just go eat a huge meal, see the bride and groom as they walk around and say hi, (many Cambodians drink), and there's dancing at the end.
I've only been to one American wedding where there was a meal served.
Wedding #3
(For this wedding I know the bride and kind of know the groom)
This is a very unique wedding, for multiple reasons. The bride is Khmer and the groom is Dutch. They had an outdoor wedding ceremony (that friends and family attended), which was immediately followed by the reception ( a buffet then dancing). I took several pictures of this one.
The invitation The invitation opened
The gift envelope Two friends welcoming / checking in the guests
A friend of mine People I know, coming in
The bride walking down the aisle The vows
Announcements in Dutch, English, & Khmer :-D Me & a friend (with 2 photo bombers)
I'm not sure if you noticed from the pictures, but traditional Khmer wedding attire (for the ladies) is similar to American prom dresses! The ladies also put on a TON of make-up, fix their hair (almost like prom style), and wear fake eye-lashes.
Below is a picture of the three different wedding invitations
Wedding #1 - My FIRST Khmer Wedding
(For this wedding, I actually didn't know the bride or the groom, but the bride's brother is a friend of mine / one of the past volunteer teachers)
The outer envelope The information
All three (there's a map on the back of the outer envelope)
* Not pictured - the gift envelope ... If you receive and invitation, you should give at least a $20 gift to pay for your invitation, the big meal you'll eat at the reception, and help with other costs.
The bride and groom wait outside to greet / take pictures with the guests. This is a picture of a picture. The group I went with (minus one person).
Wedding #2
(For this wedding, I know the bride. She was one of my students. We got to the wedding too early, so we didn't get to take a picture with the bride and groom.)
The invitation The first page
The next page The gift envelope
The envelope, invitation, and gift envelope A picture I took
Pictures I stole from Facebook. I saw her in both of these dresses & one more.
Something different between Khmer weddings and American weddings (that I've been to), is Khmer weddings apparently last 1 or 2 days. Here you only go to the reception unless you're really close with the bride / groom. So you basically, just go eat a huge meal, see the bride and groom as they walk around and say hi, (many Cambodians drink), and there's dancing at the end.
I've only been to one American wedding where there was a meal served.
Wedding #3
(For this wedding I know the bride and kind of know the groom)
This is a very unique wedding, for multiple reasons. The bride is Khmer and the groom is Dutch. They had an outdoor wedding ceremony (that friends and family attended), which was immediately followed by the reception ( a buffet then dancing). I took several pictures of this one.
The invitation The invitation opened
The gift envelope Two friends welcoming / checking in the guests
A friend of mine People I know, coming in
The bride walking down the aisle The vows
Announcements in Dutch, English, & Khmer :-D Me & a friend (with 2 photo bombers)
I'm not sure if you noticed from the pictures, but traditional Khmer wedding attire (for the ladies) is similar to American prom dresses! The ladies also put on a TON of make-up, fix their hair (almost like prom style), and wear fake eye-lashes.
Friday, January 31, 2014
Chinese New Year
International New Year
Chinese New Year
Khmer New Year
"Traditionally, the festival was a time to honor deities as well as ancestors." (Wikipedia)
Here's a link if you'd like to know more about the holiday, and it's easy to read! Chinese New Year
I haven't asked anybody here, what Chinese New Year means to them, but here are some of my observations:
- Fire: Every family creates a fire pit outside in front of their house where they burn fake money and some other paper things. I saw this last year with my landlord and this year as I drove down the main road.
- Food: They cook food (I think Chinese noodles & chicken...) and buy fruit (bananas, apples, oranges, and grapes ...) and Chinese bread, and of course they have rice, then they offer them to the spirits / their ancestors. Afterwards, they eat the food. Below are some pictures.
- Offering: Sometimes they even buy paper houses and cars ... I'm not sure if they burn them, or what they do
- Daily happenings: Every time I asked my students what they'd do for Chinese New Year, the answer included playing cards. Many of them also went to their home towns. Driving down the streets, most of the shops were closed, but in front of many houses I could see the family gathered around playing cards (from what I hear, they play for money).
- Performances: Both last year and this year, I saw the traditional performance of men under a dragon costume, dancing. This takes place on the main roads, in front of large businesses. Usually, people will stop along the side of the road to watch, or be rubber-neckers and watch as they drive by.
What did I do? I didn't have any plans, but Thursday morning after I finished studying with our sister, Night, she invited me to go eat lunch with her family. (The food her family had offered to the spirits) I'm thankful that the Bible speaks on this topic: "Now concerning things sacrificed to idols ... But food will not commend us to God; we are neither the worse if we do not eat, nor the better if we do eat." (See 1 Corinthians 8)
On the way there, I prayed that God would blind me to any food that I would be hesitant to eat and that I wouldn't be a hindrance to her family knowing Him, but that He would work in their hearts (even through this short amount of time), so that they would come to know Him.
I got to eat with Night, her mom, her sister, and her sister's husband. Her brother-in-law is an extrovert and has pretty good English, so he talked to me a lot. Her sister is a little more like me and her English isn't much better than my Khmer, but after some help, we talked too! We laughed and ate until I was ready to pop, and then I was given more food to try!
Please PRAY for Night's family to seek truth, love, hope ... which can only be found through dying to self and giving their lives to Christ. Night's sister talked about wanting to come study English with me. She was excited that it was FREE! I asked Night if she thought her sister would really come on Monday, and she said "50%". Her sister is 28 (a little older than the other students) and a little lower English level, but please pray for God to move as He desires!
Also pray for our other brothers and sisters here to have wisdom (know when to speak up and when to be silent), that they'd be salt and light in their families, and that God would change the hearts of their family members (and friends).
Chinese New Year
Khmer New Year
"Traditionally, the festival was a time to honor deities as well as ancestors." (Wikipedia)
Here's a link if you'd like to know more about the holiday, and it's easy to read! Chinese New Year
I haven't asked anybody here, what Chinese New Year means to them, but here are some of my observations:
- Fire: Every family creates a fire pit outside in front of their house where they burn fake money and some other paper things. I saw this last year with my landlord and this year as I drove down the main road.
- Food: They cook food (I think Chinese noodles & chicken...) and buy fruit (bananas, apples, oranges, and grapes ...) and Chinese bread, and of course they have rice, then they offer them to the spirits / their ancestors. Afterwards, they eat the food. Below are some pictures.
- Offering: Sometimes they even buy paper houses and cars ... I'm not sure if they burn them, or what they do
- Daily happenings: Every time I asked my students what they'd do for Chinese New Year, the answer included playing cards. Many of them also went to their home towns. Driving down the streets, most of the shops were closed, but in front of many houses I could see the family gathered around playing cards (from what I hear, they play for money).
- Performances: Both last year and this year, I saw the traditional performance of men under a dragon costume, dancing. This takes place on the main roads, in front of large businesses. Usually, people will stop along the side of the road to watch, or be rubber-neckers and watch as they drive by.
What did I do? I didn't have any plans, but Thursday morning after I finished studying with our sister, Night, she invited me to go eat lunch with her family. (The food her family had offered to the spirits) I'm thankful that the Bible speaks on this topic: "Now concerning things sacrificed to idols ... But food will not commend us to God; we are neither the worse if we do not eat, nor the better if we do eat." (See 1 Corinthians 8)
On the way there, I prayed that God would blind me to any food that I would be hesitant to eat and that I wouldn't be a hindrance to her family knowing Him, but that He would work in their hearts (even through this short amount of time), so that they would come to know Him.
I got to eat with Night, her mom, her sister, and her sister's husband. Her brother-in-law is an extrovert and has pretty good English, so he talked to me a lot. Her sister is a little more like me and her English isn't much better than my Khmer, but after some help, we talked too! We laughed and ate until I was ready to pop, and then I was given more food to try!
Please PRAY for Night's family to seek truth, love, hope ... which can only be found through dying to self and giving their lives to Christ. Night's sister talked about wanting to come study English with me. She was excited that it was FREE! I asked Night if she thought her sister would really come on Monday, and she said "50%". Her sister is 28 (a little older than the other students) and a little lower English level, but please pray for God to move as He desires!
Also pray for our other brothers and sisters here to have wisdom (know when to speak up and when to be silent), that they'd be salt and light in their families, and that God would change the hearts of their family members (and friends).
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