Saturday, October 10, 2009
BACK FROM CAMBODIA!

I'm soooo glad to be back in singapore. Cambodia was sooooooo awesome!!!!! So many testimonies. Gonna share a few here.

Day 1, we were still together as a whole group of 32, there was this particular event in a local church where brx shared something that really stirred up the passion in the locals there, challenging them to take that step to share the gospel. When we went around praying for those who responded to the call, for the very first person i prayed for, this gush of the Holy spirit flowed through me. Immediately i teared, coz i knew that God was doing something really awesome in that local church. It is now my daily prayer to pray for that church to grow more :)

Day 2, splitted into our different groups that morning, said our goodbyes and went to minister. We got to the home where the kids were staying in. We had to immediately go to the school just behind the home to start ministering. Had alot of fun with the lil school kids there, roughly around 4-7 years old i think? Because the school shares the same compound as the home, almost all of them are the orphans from the home. Anyways, after playing with the school kids, this teacher stayed back to thank us. God spoke to me through that teacher (that teacher is a christian btw).
TEACHER : Thank you all so much for spending your time n money to come to cambodia. We know that our country is poor, and its people like you who help us. We start this school to give these kids a foundation for their education, because these kids have no hope for themselves.
God then spoke to me saying, "I want you to be the one to bring hope to these children. This is your purpose for this trip.
Later in the afternoon, went to teach drums to this older cambodian teenager, he was 19. I'm not very well versed in drums, but i tried to teach him anyways. :) God helped me teach him.

DAY 3
-played my guitar by myself, and then a few kids came to me, then lots of kids crowded around me. Aft i "performed" for them, a few of them stayed back. They conversed to me in english, (some of them are actually quite good, especially those i taught in music). They asked if i could teach em guitar, so i did. These few kids are the home's musicians, and they play for the kids every sat n sun. I prayed for them in my heart for God to bless them with skills and passion to serve Him.
ALSO, after praying for them, i had nothing to do. As i was tired, i just lazed around, resting, when suddenly God told me to go help cheryl and edward. I honestly didn't want to, because they were at the school behind teaching english, and i wasn't very energetic at that point of time. However, i still went albeit feeling lazy. I went in and helped support cheryl for the lessons. After the lessons, cheryl came to me saying that my arrival was soo timely because they needed one more person to demostrate an activity for the kids, and just at that time, i popped out. Praise God! Thankfully i was obedient to Him :)

DAY 4)
Remember on how i said on day 2, that God said my purpose was to give hope? Well, God proved it one more time. During one of our bible studies with the kids, we asked them to draw out their aspirations and dreams. One kid that i taught guitar to showed me his paper. Inscribed on it was "worship leader". He carried on with these words, "you help me". Wow.. i was so touched at that point and God gently reminded me that i was to help these kids and give them a hope. God is sooo awesome!
Anyways, i taught this girl keyboard too. She was soo determined to learn. She kept practising the same song like.. over 20 times? She kept playing until it was time for her to have dinner. About 2 hours. Simply amazing.. I could sense that she really wanted to worship God with her music. Anyways, the rest of the team went to share their testimonies in the village, so i stayed in the orphanage and starting playing drums. Suddenly this bunch of kids came running to me, so i taught them drums too. They took turns to play, and they were as usual, pushy. Each wanted to play the drums first without taking turns. I taught them the spirit of sharing there and then. These kids rarely have something, and when they get something, they are definitely relunctant to share, but i definitely taught them to care for each other more :)

DAY 5) (LAST DAY AT CHILDREN HOME)
Went to a village with SNN. We prayed for this family who had this family curse of blindness. All 3 of this woman's children couldn't see properly. We laid hands on them and prayed for God to heal. Because i was squatting n praying for them, (the kids are really short.. so yeah), i felt this sudden stench. I knew that it was the evil spirit being cast out at that moment. Although not all 3 were healed, they could see clearer, and i know that God WILL continue to do His awesome works in them :)
Went to share christ in another village as well, only mangaged to witness to 2 homes. For the first home, salvation came to them through God's providence. I started sharing to them about myself, when suddenly my mind turned blank. Thank God for my teammates who immediately came in to help me out. We tried to share with that family, but it turned out that this woman and her household believed in all sorts of gods, including Jesus, and she turned us down. But later as the conversation deepened and we starting praying silently, that woman suddenly said that she went to church 3 days ago, and when she did, she felt a peace that was so strong, like she had no worry in the world. Then she said she wanted to be saved by Jesus, but just didn't know how. So we led her in prayer. The other house wasn't so keen on accepting God, so we just prayed for blessings for them.
We went back to the home, knowing well that it was our last night with them. I went to teach another teenager, about 20+, guitar. He asked me why i was being so good to him. I explained that i wanted very much to help him. Allow me to elaborate, for that last night, we had a grand finale for the kids, we had paper lanterns and mooncakes and other goodies for them, and we could play with them till later that night. The guy i was teaching asked "why don't you want to play with the kids, why do u want to teach me". As i pondered on his words later that evening, it dawned on me that when foreigners come, they normally cater to the younger and cuter kids, hence the older teenagers do not feel loved at all. I'm so glad that i managed to show him some genuine care..
I cried that night. All the students that i taught, about 5 guys n 2 girls, were saying so many touching things to me. In their simple english, their gratitude was even more real. I just broke down when they hugged me whilst whispering words of thanks to me, praying for me. I prayed for each and everyone of them. You couldn't imagine the pain i felt. In that short 4 days, i had bonded with total strangers, and had opened my heart to them, loved them, cared for them, prayed with them, blessed them, reminded them about God, and now it was time to say goodbye. They gave me cards and other gifts and i just kept crying on the bus trip home. God's presence was definitely strong that night. I left knowing fully well that i had accomplish my purpose that God had entrusted me with, bringing them hope.. :)

God taught me so much in this trip. I'm ultimately thankful to Him.. Other miracles and stories are just too long to be in this post, and if you're really interested, i will tell you if u ask :)