A New Time

A time has come when the things I've learned, the things I've seen, the things I've been taught, and the things God has revealed enter into a filter.  This filter removes all that is not genuinely believed, all that I do not truly hold on to tightly.  Now that DTS is over something happened, not only in me, but in many who I have graduated with.  God seems to hide himself.  He brings glimpses and whispers of His great love for us, but He does not yell, He has changed how He chooses to speak to us.  He is absolutely still there, He has not run, but He has challenged us to continue to delight in Him.  To delight when we do not have the same community who strengthens and encourage us continually.  To delight when real world problems are back and we are back in the middle of them.  To delight when the future is uncertain and the past 6 months feel like only a dream. 


The filter I wrote of is the world outside of the YWAM community that we have lived in.  We choose to let the world filter out if we have truly been changed.  We choose to let the filter deny us of the joy we shared together as we sought after God and found Him more glorious than we ever had.  It is a choice we make.  The filter does not strip anything we do not let it.  It is our choice to believe.  It is our choice to hold on to all that we have been taught, all that we have learned and seen.  

I have been back home for a few of weeks now.  I have not had much time to remember and think on all that God has done.  I came back to my brothers wedding and two days later to three weeks of working on a harvester.  It seems quickly the time has come for decisions.  Decisions about work, about ministry, about what is next in this life.  I'm not so sure there is a job on this earth where I would find joy.  Never before had I found such joy in something than while in Cambodia.  Everyday I would wake up with joy, with expectation knowing that I would be with the children at the orphanage or at the village.  To hug them, to teach them about God, to play with them and watch their smiles as we came.  There is no greater joy than serving God, than being with God and serving with God.  To watch as He moved the hearts of a classroom.  As He used the words from my mouth that in one minute could be speaking poorly of someone else, but yet people's hearts were moved in that class.  And it was clear that it was not my words but the Spirit of God was there.  It was clear that God did not need me, but He chose to use me.  It was clear that Zechariah 4:6 is indeed true.  That it is "Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord of hosts."  That He carried me there and that He can and will carry me here. 

 

Koh Samet

     Outreach is officially finished and debrief is here in full force.  I have many more stories and pictures to share with you, but I wanted to keep you updated on where I am now.  I’m on an island in the Indian Ocean, in the Thai Gulf and it is beautiful.  The water is not quite as clear as I would have thought, but it is very warm.  Our speedboat ride to the island was very very choppy.  It was more like an old theme park ride that feels like it’s about to fall apart.  The 11 girls on the team were screaming as we jumped from wave to wave.  We made it to the island where all 13 of us fit into a taxi.  The taxi we road was a green pickup with benches in the cab.  It took us about 15 minutes down a narrow, hilly, pot hole infested road to make it to our bungalows.                

     After 2 days in the enormous city of Bangkok, I’ve finally been able to relax and enjoy the warm ocean with only a few other people here at our beach.  It’s hard to comprehend that I’m on an island in Thailand.  When I look out I can see a few other islands popping up in the horizon and an amazing morning sky.  I woke up for sunrise and you can see a few glimpses of what I saw this morning down below.

     After 3 months of a schedule that didn’t ever stop it’s nice not to have anything to do but enjoy a couple days here in a faraway land.  Thank you all for being a part of this journey by praying, and encouraging me during this time.  I hope to share more as I process all that has gone on and I’ve got plenty of more pictures to share with you.  Today I go back to Hawaii and start my 4 consecutive days of travel with a wedding somewhere in the middle.  It’s time for breakfast on the beach, don’t be too jealous…

The Not So Secret Life of Poipet

     Battambang is now only a memory.  A very good memory filled with many great experiences and great relationships.  It’s a time that I won’t soon forget.  There's a whole lot more pictures and stories for me to share, and maybe when I'm back home I'll have a few days to reflect and share with all of you all that happened.

     Now I’m in Poipet.  A city that makes all the evil in the world that I have seen before seem like a drop in the bucket.  Prostitutes and their pimps walk the streets, moto drivers constantly asking if other men want a “massage boom boom”, there are about nine casinos in the stretch of a mile, brothels are not difficult to find, children, men and women are trafficked across the border each day to work, people cart over illegal goods each day that the government simply taxes, people travel to Thailand to work illegally and are brought back by the police a few times a day, and children are left near the border as their parents cross to work each day.  We’ve even seen prostitution and many extremely disturbing things here in our hotel. 

     Since being here I’ve witnessed all of the above, but have also seen and been involved with a few things that are helping this city.  We arrived on Saturday and on Sunday I was able to preach here in two services.  I’ve been to a slum area where the Pastor of the church and a few others are teaching the children about the Bible and English.  They often have them driven over in an old Camry where they pack about 15 kids in.  It’s quite a site, but not that strange here in Cambodia.  We’ve had a chance to meet with an organization called CHO that is doing a variety of things that are helping this city.  I’ve been to a few slums where a few of us played with the kids and took lots of pictures with them. 

Here are a few pictures of all the things I mentioned above.  

Goodbyes

     It has arrived.  The end of my time here in Battambang.  Today I had to say my first goodbyes as it was the last time I'll be going to Ghost Head Village.  It was difficult, but the hardest goodbyes will be to the orphanage children on thursday and all of my students on friday.  I'm not looking forward to having to say goodbye to the people I've loved and poured into for 2 months.  But with our time here ending that means there is a new beginning.  

     Our team will have one week in Poipet, aka the armpit of Cambodia.  We don't have much of a plan, but we are going to trust God to lead and guide our team while we are there.  There is no lack of pain, struggle, prostitution, trafficking, sex slavery, gambling, alcoholism, poverty, racism, and many other things in this city.  It's right on the Thai border leaving it almost a safe haven from all authority.  Cambodian government looks the other way from all that goes on in this place because it is so close to the border.  I'm excited for our time there.  I believe we will really be able to shine in the midst of intense darkness.  We will have to be bold and overcome the fear that will hit us when trying to minister to the people.  

     We will leave for the 3 hour journey to Poipet this Saturday and from there we will make our way across the Thai border to Bangkok the following Saturday.  We will spend about two days in the city, getting to experience all that is Bangkok.  We will make our final journey to an island called Koh Samet where we will have to take a boat in order to experience its beautiful white beaches.  Entering Thailand means the end of our outreach and the final stage to my DTS. 

      Although it's nearly finished, God is not. There is much more He wants to use our team for and much more He wants to do to love the Khmer people.  It is up to us how much we want to see Him grow us and use us in this final stage of our journey.  He's waiting, we just have to be willing.  

    Sorry for the lack of pictures lately, its not that I haven't been taking any.  It takes awhile to get them all edited and uploaded.  There will be many to come in the future when my schedule is not so full.  Thank you all for supporting me during this time and for taking the time to read.  Your prayers are changing things and helping me a lot.  Continue to pray for these last couple of weeks.  I want to go back to Kona with a bang, knowing that I did my part here in this amazing country.  

Angkor Wat

This is Angkor Wat.  Built in the early 12th century I'm pretty sure this is the oldest thing I've ever seen, touched or photographed.  Luckily the sky cleared up just enough to get this shot with a little bit of blue sky.  It began to rain as we walked up to the temple, but I looked around and saw that it must just be a passing cloud.  Me and a couple other friends hung around for about 2 hours walking all around and in the temple.  The skies cleared and we walked out to this perfect spot in front of the water.  It was an amazing day touring various temples.  The whole area where the temples are is bigger than the city of Siem Reap where they are located.  I'll post some of the pictures in the near future along with more details from my trip to Siem Reap.  For now you can enjoy this one.  It's probably a once in a life time opportunity, but you never know...

Around Town

   Have a look and see Battambang for yourself.  

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