During the Saturday night training session, one in which Tuktaa was the leader, we had 16 young men and women from Cambodia attend who are working at the resort where the retreat was being held. Tuktaa started off by speaking to these people first, sharing a little bit of the gospel and how Jesus had died for their sins. Then she transitioned into the regular teaching, How to Know the Holy Spirit is Working in your Life. As she taught the information, I was struck with the knowledge that these beautiful people from Cambodia didn't need to know as much about the Holy Spirit in their lives as the simple message of the gospel of love in that, as best we knew, none of them knew Jesus as their Savior. The odds are that many of them had never even heard the name of Jesus before.
So, not wanting to try to interfere with our leader, I simply prayed, 'Lord, if You'll give me the chance to speak, I'll be bold and try to share the simple gospel story.' About five minutes later, Tuktaa said, 'Aachan Robert, would you please dismiss us in prayer.'
I walked to the front of the room, praying as I went, 'Okay, Lord. I promised You I would speak. Give me three words to share with these people.' And, immediately, three words came to my mind - special, love, and plan. So, I asked Tuktaa for permission to speak directly to the Cambodians and she graciously gave me additional time. I then asked one of our group, a Cambodian, if any of the people understood Thai. She responded, 'No.' So...I asked Tuktaa to come stand by me and asked Suphaap to stand by Tuktaa. I would speak in English, Tuktaa would translate the English into Thai and then Suphaap would translate the Thai into Cambodian. (Suphaap does not speak English.) I shared an extremely simple gospel message of only 5-7 minutes using the three words the Lord had given me. Understand that these people are common, manual laborers, workers in the fields. When I finished, I understood why the Lord had given me the first word - special - for, in these people's lives, there is nothing 'special' about them. They are at the bottom of the social ladder. However, they are so very special in the Lord's eyes and that was the focus of my sharing.
When I finished sharing about the Lord's love for them and God's plan for their lives, Tuktaa shared a little more with Suphaap translating for her. Somewhere in the midst of her sharing, she asked a question and, immediately, all 16 hands shot up in the air. She had asked how many wanted to become believers in Jesus Christ. It wasn't like one hand was raised and then another and then a couple of others. When she asked the question, every hand went up simultaneously! Then I heard her ask a question, using the Thai word for 'Bible.' Not a single hand came up. Then another question about 'phrakhamphii' - Bible - and, again, all 16 hands went up. (Later, I found out her initial question was asking how many had Bibles and her follow-up question asked how many would like to have a Bible.) Somewhere in this process, Tuktaa led them all in the sinner's prayer.
Then Tuktaa asked if any in our group had anything to share. Five different people in our group came to the front and shared their personal testimony about what Jesus had done in their lives.
Then, she asked the Cambodians if any of them had anything to share. One young man, almost sheepishly, raised his hand and was invited to the front to speak. In essence, he replied that he felt like God was calling him to be the leader for this particular group - to be responsible for learning about God and then sharing what he learned with the new group of believers. Holy mackerel!!! How remarkable is that. Whenever God has a purpose, He always has a way!
The next morning, we discovered another one of the Cambodians is adept at playing the guitar so he met with our worship leader and she helped him with some basic songs for them to sing during their group time until some other materials could be sent to them.
I asked Tuktaa what would happen next. She responded that someone from their church would return, probably on several occasions. This person would bring Cambodian Bibles and discipleship materials which could be translated into their heart language. In a short while, after this group has developed a good understanding of what becoming a Christian really means, they will baptize them and then this group will become a new church start.
What an exciting weekend this was. We went expecting to learn about how the Holy Spirit works in people's lives and, instead of just learning about it, we saw it first-hand. What a glorious experience it was. Praise His name.
