“I
have found that there are three stages to every great work of God; first it
impossible, then it is difficult, then it done.” Hudson Taylor
One of my weaknesses is my love
for bibles. When I go to any library or
bookshop, the first thing that catches my attention is a bible. Last Wednesday I happened to go the library
here at the OMF International Centre here in Singapore. And true to myself, I looked at a few books
but ended up in the bibles section almost immediately. But these bibles were not my regular kind of
bibles. For starters, they were not in
my language or a language I understand. They
were not even in a script I understand. As
I took one to look at, I found out that it was a Khmer Bible (the language and
culture I am going to in Cambodia). So I
was even more interested and started going through it. As I perused it, I could not tell whether I
was in Psalms or Genesis or Ezekiel and neither could I tell the number of the
chapters. But something interesting
happened, I got really emotional and I started crying. So I put the bible down and left the library
prematurely.
At this point I know you are
wondering why I got too emotional of at a Khmer Bible. I also wondered and as I continued to process
my thoughts and my feelings, I realized that I have been thinking a lot about
crossing cultures to the Khmer Culture.
I have many mixed emotions. Let
me see if I can share a few with you here.
Top of the list is my love for the Cambodian people – I feel an
affection to a people I have never met and as I process my thoughts and my
feeling, I am asking myself, will I still love them when I see them? Will my heart still go out to them when I see
them in the next two weeks? Even more
scary to ask, will they love me? Will
they accept me? How long will it take for me to learn their culture and their
language? Will I ever be at home within
the Khmer culture?
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| Isaac giving us his testimony outside his jewelry shop at Tekka Market in Little India, Singapore |
But as I consider my uncertainties
of crossing into a new culture, it would be wrong of me not to mention how God
has continued to encourage me in many different ways. First, during our cultural plunge experience
on Wednesday, my group and I were sent to Little India. Singapore has a very rich and diverse culture
and they in fact have four national languages.
As we went through the markets and streets in Little India, we could not
help but observe the rich Indian heritage.
One of my highlights was meeting Isaac who happens to be a believer in a
jewelry shop. It was very encouraging to
meet him because I did not expect to meet a believer there at all. I felt like God was telling me that he has a
remnant everywhere. Isaac told us that
he came to faith through dreams of Jesus and now he evangelizes to those around
him. Praise God!
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| Braiding Lois' slippery hair |
Second, on Saturday I got an
opportunity to braid one of my fellow Orientation member’s daughter’s
hair. Someone, may wonder, why would
that be an issue? Well, if you come from
Kenya, then braiding hair is not out of the ordinary. But then braiding “slippery” is a
cross-cultural experience not only for the little girl who was braiding her
hair for the first time but for me who braided “slippery” hair for the first
time. But it is really all about
hair? I don’t think so. The little girl admired my hair and wanted
her hair done the same way. It showed me
not only appreciation for me but also for my culture. I was so encouraged that she would endure a
whole two hours to have her hair braided by a “stranger” or am I?
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| Speaking to Buddhist monks outside a Hindu Temple in Little India, Singapore. |
The third thing God used to
encourage me is a whatsapp message from one the girls I was discipling in
Campus in Kenya. Here is what she wrote “….However you have been on my mind all
through.... You came to my life and made everything beautiful... Today i
approach this life differently..today i am more wise, today my relationship with Jehovah is not as
it used to be, today i am better because
you came through.” This encouraged
me because as I thought about crossing cultures, it will probably be a long
time before someone could say these words to me. It would be a long before I could share the
gospel in a culturally appropriate manner in the Khmer language. But when I remember of what God has used me
to do in the past, I am encouraged that he is able to do it again in the future
despite the time it will take. For now,
I have to let God shape me more into his image as I observe the culture around
me and as he strips me of my prejudices.
So while I consider the above
quote by Hudson Taylor, that which seems impossible right now in term of culture and language
learning, will eventually be done through God’s strength.
So:-
- Praise God for Isaac and others like who are reflections of God’s light in a very dark world. Pray for boldness as he shares Jesus - he told us that people hate him because he preaches Jesus to them.
- Thank God for how he encouraged me through Isaac’s story. Pray that I will continue to notice God’s work of grace in my life and in the lives of those around me since he is always working (John 5:17)
- Pray for God’s enablement as I transition from Singapore to Cambodia on Nov 20th and as I learn the language and culture of the Khmer people. Pray that I will fit well within the OMF team in Cambodia and for a language and culture helper.
