Valentine's Day
Young people are more open to new things, new trends and new cultures. Many businessmen grasp this characteristic in order to market their products and services to this big target group in Cambodia, in areas like fashion, cosmetics, life styles and festive celebrations. Valentine's Day on February 14 has become a special day for the young people here in Cambodia. Even though it is not a public holiday, I see many people busy buying flowers, chocolates and gifts for their loved ones.
Valentine's Day is a foreign festival, but many young people treat it as an opportunity to express their love, even though it contradicts their conservative social expressions. On that day, I took my computer to the Internet server shop for repairs and noticed that the receptionist already had a rose on her desk. Along the street and in front of the mall, there were many booths to sell flowers or gifts. Moreover, some shops also decorated their windows to remind people of that special day. Of course, we know it is also a good chance to make good money. One rose costs $1, which is not cheap at all according to their living standard. However, I still saw lots of girls along the streets who were holding flowers or gifts. It means that many people are quite serious to follow what this foreign festival suggests they should do. However they probably do not know that the real meaning of this day is to remember the martyrs of early church history. In recent times, the emphasis has changed from sacrificial love to the love between a man and a woman.
I have a strange feeling when I see the great impact of this foreign cultural aspect on Cambodians. At the same time, I wonder why our churches cannot make the same impact on the community. On the contrary, we are usually criticized for bringing ‘foreign values' to pollute the traditions of this Buddhist country.
Actually, love is a universal issue for all human kind, no matter what cultural values they have. People may think ‘love' is just buying something to please another, or to show to others that we are also loved and important. They may never experience real love that comes from God. They may accept the superficial way to make others happy for a while, but they may not know that love sometimes is painful and patient, as we learn from I Corinthians 13. I think it is the church's mission to reflect God's love in a substantial way in order to influence our community. The "worldly" people know people's need of love and make it an opportunity to take advantage of them; on the contrary, how can our "heavenly" people lead them on the way to encounter the eternal and great love of Jesus Christ?
The church may have lots of programs to attract people to come, but to what extent does the church live out the love that we have received from God? May God have mercy on our weaknesses and selfishness if we only focus on our comfort zone inside the church instead of on the goodness of our neighborhood.
Prayer points
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Pray that our church members can witness true love to the community
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3 members of the school project committee from Hong Kong will visit Cambodia in late February in order to discuss with the local contractors about the building work. May God grant us wisdom and mutual understanding within different cultural perspectives
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Pray for the preparation work for our Youth camp and Adults camp in April. We expect more than 100 people to attend each event
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There are lots of meetings before the annual meeting; may God grant us strength to serve each other
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Many church members' parents or relatives have had traffic accidents and sickness. May God have mercy and grace for their needs and teach us how to respond to the massive needs
I John 4:11
Davis Lam
Cambodia Mail Address: P.O Box 602, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
 
  
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Davis Lam
