Trip to Mondulkiri Province

Our church's two seminary students, Joshua Kung Ty and Daniel Sar, have completed their three years of training. When Miu-ling found out that their graduation trip would be to the mountain area of Mondulkiri Province in eastern Cambodia, where there are concentrations of minority peoples living, she immediately went through Joshua to approach their professor (who is a missionary from Hong Kong and also an alumnus of China Graduate School of Theology) to see if we could join their trip as our vacation. This is a place which has no public transportation going to it. It is necessary to rent a vehicle to go through the mountains and across the provinces. Actually, it is only a ten hour journey.

I never realized that Cambodia could have such clear and cool weather and such an expanse of green mountain tops. I said that it was like being in New Zealand. Miu-ling said it was like being in northern Europe. We took along sarongs, ready to stay in some kind of hill country housing of unknown style, where we would have to bathe at a riverside or next to a well. However, God arranged an inn for us with bathrooms and even hot water. Despite the low cost, it should be classified as a 5 star hotel. During the six day trip we encountered wet and windy thunderstorms, but every time we were safely back in the inn before they started - God is really good! On our way back, the road was so muddy and slippery that several of us had to help push the bus up the hills, and several others had to grab sticks or stones to put under the wheels when needed to keep the bus from slipping backwards. Look at how hard we worked: 

When we took a rough mountain track up into the forest so we could see the well known Bou Sraa waterfall , we had the opportunity to visit the CMA's Pnong tribal church there. We took turns with the local church people singing "How Great Thou Art" in the Khmer and Pnong languages. Lord, you are truly great!

During the trip, there were three mornings of quiet reflection in the Gospel of John, on the sections of scripture when Jesus was spending His final moments with his disciples. I had the chance for a long talk with the Lord. I thought back to three years ago when I was like these seminary graduates, looking excitedly forward to an as yet unknown future, hoping that I would be able to carry out the Lord's new commandment - to love one another, and to be sent and used wherever the Lord desired. Thinking back over the past three years, I realized that I had often failed in these areas. Peter had basically the same response as I did - an heroic desire to die for the Lord, but not enough courage to confess the name of the Lord. But what astonished me was: Why was I still here, such a weak person, but still saying that I want to serve the Lord? I think that this is because at various times the love of God has stirred me up. His greatness is in His ability to care for me in my weakness, and not cut me off. I want to keep on being molded and I am sure that He will use me. Right now I am a little perplexed: am I really serving God? ... Or is God serving me?! If you want to know the answer, please observe how a mother goes about teaching her children to do household chores. :-)