Love won

Two weeks ago, a few friends and I were tourists in Phnom-Penh and Siem Reap during a Cambodian holiday Pchum Ben (sounds like Pa-chome-pb-un). It’s a “darker” holiday, kind of like the “Day of the Dead” in Mexico or Halloween. To my surprise, during my time of rest, it was less about fear and darkness, and more about light and love. 

(Below: I found my favorite palm tree in the midst of a busy Phnom-Penh  street, while also hearing the sound of my favorite bird. I've only seen these trees and heard these birds in Hawaii, so it was a treat to see and hear some Polynesian gems here in Cambodia) 

Below: BCC Graduation calls for coconut ice-cream! 

Below: Romany, Lauren, Janea, and myself 

Below: Finally found post cards and postal service to send notes to my family and friends! 

Below: various shots from Wats and palace river fronts 

Below: At a Khmer Rouge prison turned memorial/musuem. We prayed at this spot but also know that we living here now are the answer to our prayers as God sends us out to be hands of healing, hope, and love for this hurting and developing nation.  

Below: Semy thought this angle was perfect for a photo!

We embarked on heading back to Poipet from Phnom-Penh on a night bus. We were supposed to be picked up from our hostel/guest house at 8:45PM. Come 9:15 when no one showed up, we began to feel as though we were on the Amazing Race TV show. We were going to have to beat the clock, hiring the nearest tuk-tuk to zoom us to our bus station. Before catching a tuk-tuk, I went inside a Wing (money exchange/ convenient store). There I chatted briefly in Khmer with the cashier. Here’s a transliteration of what was said, “Sewa-sa-day bong. Sok so by? Knyome mien lang-trong som-rap Poipet, gia-muoy Virak (Hello elder, how are you? I have bus for Poipet with Virak)…and we were supposed to have a ride, please help, the bus leaves at 9:45!” I couldn’t help but switch to English when I realized I was going to need more direct answers and quick help. To my delight, he understood me, smiled at my Khmer, as I handed him my (tou-ra-sap) phone. He talked to the bus company, and made it his personal mission thereafter to help me. Ten minutes later, and still no complete answer, he encouraged me and my friends to just grab a tuk-tuk from across the street. 

Time and time again, I have come to this country to serve, and somehow I end up being served. I’ve come to be a teacher, I continuously remain a student, learning and asking questions. I came to love, they are loving me. To continue my bus story, we made it on time, actually with time to spare. The tuk-tuk gave us a good price and the bus workers instructed us to wait. So we waited. Again, not our schedule, but we are rolling with Asia time here, a slower pace, go-with-the-flow, semi-chaotic, rush of time. A bus departs and a bus arrives. We watch as workers begin to try to put a moto in the bus we were soon to enter. It takes all hands on deck and is a funny scene to watch. The workers aren’t taking our bags and the bus is filling up quickly. We ask around, “Ni somrap Poipet?” (This is for Poipet?) “Yes, wait”. By this time it is 10PM already, and we haven’t loaded our things yet and the bus looks ready to depart, no answer, until suddenly, a bus worker points to a small open air truck-tuk-tuk hybrid, and says, “go there, go on there.” “Somrap Poipet?” (for Poipet?) I question. “Yes, now go, quickly,” he responds. We gather our things and rush off, now missing the bus we had been waiting for eagerly, hustling to catch. We all thought to ourselves, “as long as we get back to Poipet, whatever, let’s go.” From our positioning in the back of this truck, we couldn’t see what lay ahead, only what was in our peripherals. It was dark, but a major light-bulb went off for us. We get dropped off near a more fancy bus in a less chaotic square, and get on. This bus, unlike our previous one, was going to drive through the night. Our other bus was going to make bus exchanges at 3AM. Also, this fancier bus was roomier, we could tell just by looking in through the windows. Unlike our previous bus, the workers were eagerly and quickly taking our luggage, tagging them, giving us the receipt, and we were on our way. We joked, “Taking that random truck ride in the dark was like trusting Jesus. You have no clue where you are headed, but you know somehow it will work out. Plus, look how we just got upgraded for some reason, a nicer view, a cleaner bus, less passengers, less chaos, and all we needed to do was wait, trust, and follow simple instructions.” In Asia, it’s all about going with the flow. Not your own flow, no, someone else’s flow. You just have to remember, that in the chaos, to relax, it will all work out. Asia time is like Jesus time. Make a decision, wait on the Lord and trust Him, “you will not be put to shame” (Isaiah 54:4).  The next morning, 8 AM, only two hours after our bus landed safely in Poipet, I couldn’t help but smile, as I thought back on the past year already, I had been dropped off at this certain spot in Poipet many times already…it’s at the border, the transition. Physically speaking this place reminds me of walking out a new journey of faith in becoming a missionary full-time and in Asia. It’s almost been a year of summer and I have had some of the sweetest moments. It took trusting and waiting and currently, the Lord is having me trust and wait again. I am in transition. But, I look back to look ahead…He that has called is faithful, and He will get me to point B from Point A. He will do it, in His time, in His way, for His glory. I just need to listen and obey, and enjoy the ride. My friend, Jesus is trust worthy and worth the wait. His timing is everything and when we release our plans, needs, comforts, dreams, He always has an upgrade for us into the unknown.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------- The following are stories from the various cities our vacation and Jesus lead us to. I hope you hear that faith in God is all about the upgrade of radical and reckless love. We receive this love first from God to then share it with those around us, no matter who they are, their story, or background. 

Siem Reap Only when we allow God to love us can we allow Him to love through us. Romany (Khmer) from Long Beach California, working for Adventure in Missions/ Janea’s friend from the World Race, now our friend.            I am most impacted by her living witness to God’s goodness. Her family fled the Khmer Rouge but now she is back serving her people and ministering to them. We talked about the new wave God is ushering into Cambodia…once a Moses generation, reserved and preserved, whom God has actually called back, now is transitioning into a Joshua generation. I am blessed to be a part of God’s healing process for the Khmer people and nation as a whole. Sometimes love looks like returning to your roots and helping with your families healing process. Semy the tuk-tuk driver (I captured this shot of him, below)             A monk of 15 years, now more like the best tour guide ever, treated us like his daughters, taught us Khmer, rushed us to the top of a Phnom Tom (grandfather mountain) to see the sunset, opened up to us about the Khmer Rouge, and asked us questions about our faith. The main things we shared with Him is that our God does not live in temples made by human hands, but lives in us and we can worship Him in Cambodia, America, or wherever because He lives in and through us. He joked with us so much and bought us pineapple, traditional Khmer desserts, and coca-cola. He showed us pictures of his child, talked about his desire to be a teacher, and allowed us to sing worship songs to Jesus in some of the “holiest” places in Cambodia. He welcomed us and we all fell in love with Him (as in God gave us a huge heart to love Him beyond understanding). He’s our brother, and we just know that God is pursuing His sincere and passionate heart. We will continue to pray for him and hope to see him next time we are in Siem Reap. Sometimes love looks like running around famous sights but giving a person all of your attention and time. 

Phnom-Penh   Only when we realize that God is pursing us can we pursue others rightly. Christian from Nice, France             A seemingly-homeless beggar in a wheel-chair actually turned out to be a mute and paralyzed on one side father of the small boutique’s owner. We prayed with Him and He looked deeply into our eyes. I asked him, “est-que tu parles le Français?” He began to cry. I continued in French telling Him that “Dieu t’aime et il a donnait son fils unique” (God loves you, He gave His son)…and told him that if God brought us to Phnom-Penh to tell him how much God loves him, that it was worth it. “Est-que tu es soif?” (Are you thirsty?) He smiled. We bought him “French approved” as the label said, water and had to position the straw for Him. He continued to weep as he drank the cool refreshing water. We continued to pray for Him and we all looked into His sweet watery eyes. We told him today was a day to decide to let Jesus be his “ami et roi” (friend and King). He shed a small tear. The shop owner chatted with us, telling us his age, his medical problems and finally his name. “Il s’appelle Christian” (His name is Christian). We couldn’t help ourselves but release an uproar of excitement! “Vraiment c’est ca, c’est incroyable!” (Really it is? This is incredible!) Sometimes loves looks like speaking someone’s heart language and giving them a cup of cold water to drink. Michael the Texan living in Pattaya             We were at a noodle house, casually us girls chatting about atheism and how Venice, Italy as well as various Islands in the Pacific are sinking, how Louisiana is eroding, and how Angkor Wat was inevitably destroyed because of a drought and massive monsoons back in the day. In this side of Phnom-Penh we noticed more foreigners and particularly old white men. We chatted with our neighbor for a few moments, before He left and another patron sat near us. We didn’t edit our conversation and kept talking about God and the universe, and how nothing on this earth lasts forever, but everything is temporary forcing man to come to terms with God and eternity and how it is better to live with eternal perspective so as not to place our hopes, dreams, faith, all on those things which are so swiftly passing away. We were seriously just about to leave before we noticed our new neighbor this time, seemingly silent and sadly sipping and eating his noodles. “Where are you from?” we asked in English. “Wait let me guess…Texas?” “Yes,” he said with a grin. “Were you in the army?” “Yes”, he said this time more with a straight face, “the armed forces” he said as he looked away from us. One thing led to another and a few words he spoke still ring fresh to my ears now. “I admire your faith,” he said with glassy, tear stained eyes. “I am an atheist and it’s too late for me,” he continued. “We admire your serving our country,” we said to him and continued, “it’s never too late, you too can have this faith, perhaps if we only craved noodles so as to sit near you and chat about God, it would be worth it. Don’t you see? God is pursuing you my friend. Would you be open to allowing Jesus to reveal himself to you?” “Yes I would be open to it.” Our conversation transitioned and he actually paid for our bill to our surprise. With this we were strongly compelled to run after him to say thank you and to actually pray with him. We felt like Jesus as the Father who ran after His prodigal son. We knew that Jesus was all about leaving the 99 for the one and we had to find Michael. We ran a few blocks and finally stopped him to thank him and tell Him that Jesus loved him beyond words, and we asked to pray for him. Though he initially declined, when we walked away, we still prayed for him. Yet we had back up. A man named Jack from Japan joined us to pray for Michael from Texas. Sometimes love looks like meeting people where they are at and seeing them the way Jesus sees them. When we pursue people, they realize that God has been pursing them all along. Plus, the pursuit of love can be contagious, and others can’t help but join in.   The Ming (auntie) with the Coffee Stand near the Royal Palace             I bought two coffees from a Ming near our hostel. I was so eager to get back and enjoy coffee with Jesus and friends that I miss-stepped and dropped both coffees, making the biggest spill which somehow sprinkled coffee down all three flights of stairs. Encouraged by my friends, I decided to use what Khmer I knew to somehow explain the situation and see if the Ming would be willing to give me two free coffees. To my surprise, she was eager to do so and make it to perfection while inviting me to sit a while smiling, laughing, and chatting. I tell this story because I was utterly taken back by the kindness of the Khmer to me in such a fast paced tourist destination. Sometimes loves looks like being bold, and realizing that you are valuable and worthy, so if you spill, you are not a burden, but an opportunity to say hello again. Pastor Bo             A pastor from Long Beach California, equally having been impacted by the Khmer Rouge, returned to Phnom-Penh to set up various thriving ministries. We had something for him from another ministry here in Poipet and quickly met up with Him to drop off his things. In the transaction, it was simple, but He left a fatherly impact. He gave us three girls $10 each to have a fancier lunch in Phnom-Penh. Sometimes love looks like allowing others to sew into your life and to just receive it as a gift from the Heavenly Father. It’s weird how money can speak. No, I don’t believe you can buy friends, but I do believe, especially since being on the mission field, money sent from home or wherever says to me, “hey, you are not alone, we see you and know you are alive making a difference and we want to encourage you to keep going.” (QUICK SHOUT OUT: thank you to everyone who has ever or is currently, or will ever sew financial support into my life, your gifts truly impact my heart and remind me that I have family all around the world cheering and championing me onwards into the call of God for my life.) Poipet (Present) Map the tuk-tuk driver             We returned to Poipet via night bus arriving at 6:30AM. We reasoned prices with a tuk-tuk driver and were off to our home base. Somehow, me and the tuk-tuk driver, because we didn’t necessarily start off on the best terms, as far as his rates went, somehow became fast friends. So much so, he pulled over and we were going to get Gah-de-yo (hot Khmer rice noodles) together. The place was out of meat and so we opted to grab a quick coffee and briefly chat about his life as a tuk-tuk driver. He wasn’t Semy our Siem Reap fatherly friend, but more like an older tough brother or uncle, but somehow, we both enjoyed debating our business transaction and decided over coffee that we could be friends. Sometimes love doesn’t look alike. Sometimes loving one person doesn’t necessarily reflect or resemble the same love we share for others in a similar situation. For Map, it was early and he just needed a coffee. With him, love looked like meeting him but pursuing friendship when we should have been foreign acquaintances or just business as usual.   The cousin with the Red bracelet             The same day we arrived back in Poipet, that Sunday, a few of us Khmer and English speakers were just beginning to practice songs to sing at our Monday Base worship time, when a YDC Student (our Youth Development Center English School) arrived with his cousin. Quickly, as our Khmer staff brothers chatted with the students my friend said, “Chelsea, come, we pray.” “Okay,” I said. My friend continued, “Today, he will cut off his bracelet and give his life to Jesus, let’s pray with him and cut it now.” We prayed and rejoiced, it was a beautiful testimony to the goodness of God especially after having spent so much time on this love inspired missionary vacation during Cambodia’s darkest and full of red-bracelets holiday. 

The red bracelet symbolizes a Buddhist blessing and superstition. To cut this off, would mean to start fresh and lay aside an old way of thinking, a cultural strong hold, to instead choose to trust and follow Jesus and live a life of love not of reincarnation, superstition, morality or good works alone.

We just showed up to our day to day routine of worship music practice and God intercepted our attention to champion and encourage our new “brother in Christ” as He boldly cut off his red bracelet. Sometimes love looks like sowing seeds and other times it looks like harvesting what we never sewed. I love how when God created man, He got His hands dirty, he invested, and He got up close and personal. He breathed into Adams lungs. Like they do in the Pacific Islands, “the honi is a Polynesian greeting in which two people greet each other by pressing noses and inhaling at the same time,”- Google. Love definetly looks like how God came close to press noses with us through Jesus. 

We need to press noses with Him and then to those around us, pursuing them like Jesus pursues us. 

I’m glad I got up close and personal with those around me while on vacation and back on base, because now I can definitely say, "Love won during Pchum Ben".

John 1:5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. 1 John 4:8 There is no fear in love; perfect love drives out all fear.