Ps Rueben and CK
Sokha and meBefore I continued, I prayed as you guys read any entry about the mission trip ( Island and Baray), God will speak and minister to you as well....
Oh yea..do not miss out on the funny and hilarious moments occured during the journey yea....:P
So let's start with Sunday Morning.... We have to wake up early in the morning for the earliest (extremely early) church service ever at 7.00am am ( which Malaysians are busy snoring away)...We went to the Somrong church which is opposite our homestay, where we need to walk on a long narrow muddy path to the church.. The church is made of bricks and also nipah roofs (atap nipah). One thing we notice upon entry into the church is that though they lack of many kinds of equipments that GEPC has ( aircon, carpeted area, nice cushion chairs..etc), there's something they are rich in....They are rich in their faith...In other words, they are sufficient in God....
The road to Somrong church
Somrong churchWatching how the villagers worship really touched our heart. Despite the church lacking of many things, they still choose to worship and praise God and be thankful for whatever they have...
One thing I’m truly amazed about them is that when the pastor/leader ask anyone to come forward to give encouragement/ testimony, some of them just stood up and come forward without a second thought. You can see the eagerness in their faces oso. This is unlike the GEPC style, or maybe the Malaysian culture: First we will pandang kiri, then pandang kanan, kiri again then " Oh got people go, ok la..next is my turn".
These people are truly amazing, you can see the excitement in them to come forward to express their love and give glory to God ( i would say the desperation to give thanks to God) They would not care how people would think or look at them. Kawan kawan sekalian, kita patut contohi sikap mereka yea....
A woman came out to sing a psalm, while a blind man played his er-hu to accompany her. Everyone joined in along, clapping their hands and also singing. It’s just wonderful and fantastic watching them. I guess this is what God wants us to do, to freely worship Him, without thinking much….Just worship Him for He deserves all the praises. Sometimes, even as Christians, even me personally, I will think much even when I come to worship God. I would think that, will these words be appropriate, or if I kneel down what would people think, what happen if this, what happen if that..…Worship does not seems to be natural anymore with that kind of attitude...
During the worship, although we dun really understand the lyrics in bahasa Khmer, I know that God totally sees their heart of worship....:)
Pastor Rueben shared an amazing testimony during the service. He shared about how his mother went through the distress of giving birth to him. He shared also about his life of growing up to be the man God wants him to be...Ps, Rueben, we (GEPC) are so blessed to have you around...:)
Ps Rueben sharingAs the first service over, we got some rehat time (few minutes nia), before the second service starts which is the youth/children's one.
During the children service, we started with some icebreakers where we need to know each other's name... one boy even have difficulty pronouncing Ps Rueben names...it turned out to be GOLDBERT!!! All of us were laughing non stop upon hearing Pastor's new name...
The praise and worship sessions were enjoying especially watching them singing and dancing endlessly. We wouldn't miss out the fun so we joined in along.
Children'youth Praise and worship session
The children were excited to praise GodLater, CK shared on something very encouraging tot he youths and the children there. He says that no matter how young we are, God is still gonna use us for His plans. He shared the examples of David ( s teeny weeny size dude which whack the King Kong Goliath with a sling shot) and even Little Timothy as well on how God had used them for His glory...
CK sharingWe had our 3rd service later at 2pm in Boeng Village ( Fishing Village)...The place is kinda far, so 4 of us have to sit on a tut tut to get there... Upon starting the journey, the tuttut have some difficulty of going up the slope.The driver turned behind and says “TOO HEAVY. KENOT MOVE!! We all look at one another for a moment…and then I guess through the conviction of the Holy Spirit, Ps Rueben and CK stepped down from the tuttut.... hahahha and as soon as they step down from the tut tut, HALELUJAH, the tut tut starts to move...
Tuttut We had a bumpy and scary ride to the village. Every cars, motorbikes and vans were like F1 drivers on the road, they will hon at one another non stop and would not give way to the rest..The tuttut looks so vulnerable and if you don't hold tight, you might get thrown off the vehicle along the bumpy road. Not only that, road accidents happen everyday due to lack of safety measure from the government as well the people themselves. Anyways, Thank God for His protection whenever we travel on the road.
Weather was extremely hot in Cambodia....However, the weather did not hinder God's people from coming to church. The villagers were ready to worship the LORD although the temperature was rising. In this village, I was blessed with an opportunity to share so I shared to the villagers about how to trust God and putting all our worries and fears aside.
The church in Boeng Village( Is actually a kindergarden which is used as a church on Sundays)
Do you see a wheel-chaired man in the picture above? His name is Tohl. He was involved in a road accident where his horsecart was bang by a vehicle from behind, smashing him against a tree, leaving him coma for 9 months in the hospital. Now he is half paralyzed and suffered from sores too. He has 3 children who is very young who could barely take care of him. So do keep him in your prayers:
Do you see a wheel-chaired man in the picture above? His name is Tohl. He was involved in a road accident where his horsecart was bang by a vehicle from behind, smashing him against a tree, leaving him coma for 9 months in the hospital. Now he is half paralyzed and suffered from sores too. He has 3 children who is very young who could barely take care of him. So do keep him in your prayers:
- Pray for God's healing upon his spine and sore
- Pray that God will provide finances to pay for his surgery
- Pray that God will provide someone to take good care of him
- Pray that God will continue to strengthen him spiritually, mentally and physically
Houses in Boeng Village (about the size of a normal bedroom)
Inside the church ( just a wooden building without instruments/PA system/ fan)
A man came up front to sing psalms as an encouragement to everyone
Me sharing
A little village girl Later in the evening, we went for an oxcart ride to a place to tengok sunset...yea I know Joann mentioned that Jasmine and me kena "dikejar" Ox. The story goes like this...Aunty Esther( the woman in charge of us), Jasmine and me were walking happily in the lorong...then suddenly we heard bells ringing from behind. As soon as we look back, we say an oxcart coming towards us....Scared after dipijak the ox, first thing to do is normally to "RUN FOR YOUR LIFE"...All of us ran for our life, is just that both of them ran straight ahead for cover, and only me so gong gong jump into the bushes beside the lorong...pandai rite!!!??? there you go, that was the story...
Ps Anba driving the oxcart(His expertise)
Sunset!
Along the way, we met some village kids
No toys, no Barbie dolls, just sands for them to play with...
The children were happy to meet and play with us . Being there with them makes a difference in their lifes.
This is where we were 'chased' by the ox
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There's a variety of insects and bugs in Baray village, so be prepared with the tools and gadgets to whack them..Both Jasmine and me had a battle against the insects..Hundreds of them were flying around trying to attack us. They try their very best to seep through the mosquito nets. Out of desperation we smacked the little fellas using our passports, torchlights, books and even the Bible while screaming away "In Jesus Name".. It's definitely a big challenge to sleep with these bugs when you are not in your own comfortable bed back at home.Nevertheless, it's quite fun too....Jasmine even 'converted' a lizard and make the lizard said its "sinner's prayer"...
This is what you need to prepare for war against the insects and bugsThats all folks for our day 1 experience in Baray....There's so much to write and share...my lap top gonna terbakar ady cox hav to work overtime....will continue on the next post.... c u
I
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