Dear brothers and sisters,

I am grateful for your prayers! Five straight days of teaching last week were filled with God's grace. Because of God's marvelous working, I even felt greatly moved! I want to share this with you in this letter so that together we can praise the God who alone performs miracles.

Flexibility training

Teaching here is not like in Hong Kong where everything goes according to plan. Missionaries have to prepare their hearts for a lot of unforeseen things to happen at any time. Although two weeks earlier I had given my lectures to someone to translate into Khmer, not until the first day of class did the interpreter tell me that he had finished less than half of the translation, and he had not made photocopies for the students as had been planned. On top of that, his motorcycle had a problem that day and he arrived over an hour late. Fortunately, some of our college students had that day off and were in the village, so that someone could interpret for the morning devotional time. Then, just as I was about to start teaching, the interpreter arrived. Thank the heavenly Father for giving me a heart filled with unshakable peace when coping with these sudden changes.

From exhausted weakness to the fullness of God's grace

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." 2 Corinthians 12:9

The first two days, after teaching I felt totally exhausted. In the evenings I couldn't face looking at that pile of reading material again. I just went to sleep without preparing the lessons. When I woke up in the morning, I was not only still tired, but felt a little defeated and lost as well. I didn't know how to go on teaching, except to take the lecture notes and explain them without having any real teaching plan. I knew that my creativity was limited, so I just let go of it and trusted completely on the heavenly Father. That day I remember that before starting the first session, I first told the students about my exhaustion and invited them to share their own worries also. Afterwards we prayed together, calling on the heavenly Father to help.

From that time on, the heavenly Father let me experience His wondrous power. Each day after that was like seeing the changes in a drama. The students changed from nodding off to sleep to being totally involved. The homework went from superficial to expressing deep levels of needs and problems. I also went from fear and trembling to expressing myself easily. From time to time I also put in some different teaching methods and ways of showing things, such as movement, giving more inflection and expression in speaking, etc. Looking back, even I myself could hardly believe that I was the one teaching like this.

I also asked the heavenly Father to show me His will through this teaching experience, whether I should stay on in Cambodia or leave. He knew well that I needed a definite confirmation from Him. As a result, He let me get the same response from each student that they all wanted to learn more about related topics. I never ever expected that. Just thinking of how the heavenly Father hears our every cry, I am tremendously moved! And, I am shaken by how the Lord is working in my life!

Cooperating together

From this time of teaching I also saw the value of working together. If there had not been a top notch interpreter to assist, I believe that the effectiveness of the teaching could have been totally different. Since he was also the translator for my written materials, he already knew the contents of the lessons I was lecturing on, so he could figure out how to work together to give a better flow. He also was able to come up with local, down to earth illustrations to help me explain, so that when the students heard, they could understand more easily. I believe that this kind of cooperation, which I had not expected, was the heavenly Father's beautiful arrangement!

The preciousness of being served

If I had had to stay overnight by myself in the village for the five days of teaching, that would have been very boring and lonely. Thanks to the heavenly Father, each evening Rebecca Chung came back to keep me company. She not only helped me by translating and answering questions when the students were doing homework, she also fixed breakfasts for me, kept things cleaned up, and did a lot of other things. Even more important was that she spoke Cantonese with me to share our feelings about each day. One day there was a heavy rainfall at dusk, but she ignored the dangers of slippery and flooded roads and insisted on coming to the village to help me. Thank the heavenly Father for giving me this time to experience the preciousness of being served.

Pray . . . . . .

Teaching gave me more awareness of the local people's difficulties and spiritual thirst. Please pray about starting a ministry here in Cambodia relating to counseling or emotional and spiritual healing. May those who have been hurt experience healing in the heavenly Father's love!

Miu-ling Lee 
31 May 2003
Phnom Penh , Cambodia