Gecko Tales

I am sure you are sick of hearing about Diamond Project Level 2 but I am going to go on anyway. Just to remind you, Diamond Project Level 2 has 23 students who have about an average of 5 years ministry experience. There are both ‘full-time” emerging leaders and those emerging leaders who run a ministry in their churches in addition to their work or studies. About one third of the DP 2 students are women. We meet every Saturday morning from 8 am to 12 noon. During the week, small groups meet for prayer and discussion of last week’s class or next week’s class. I have them meeting in coffee houses or tea shops, etc; so that they are taking the church to the people on the people’s own territory. People are already starting to take interest.

For the month of February, Rob, a former missionary to Japan, came and walked them through ‘Focusing Leaders’ which helped the DP students to examine their life histories to see how God had been shaping their leadership development in order help them gain a focused perspective of where and how God will lead them in the future (more about Rob in another letter). This first Saturday of March we began block 2, “Leaders and Personal Spiritual Formation.” Two vans picked up the DP students at our Teen Drop-In-Center for an exposure trip to Andong village which is about 14k west of the airport. I rode my dirt bike out there eating dust and dodging cows the whole way. It took me about 35 minutes from our house in Phnom Penh. Before I left, I had this conversation with Jordan:

Dad: “Jordan, wanna come to a village with me?”

Jordan: “How many days does it take to get there?”

Dad: “No days, just about 45 minutes by motorcycle.”

Jordan: “I’m already going to a village with my school.”

Dad: “What village.”

Jordan: “We are going to Kirirom and camping out with my class.”

Dad: “That’s a national park and resort, not a village.”

Jordan: “No, it’s a village.”

Dad: “Jo, it is place where people go to swim and hike in the forest.”

Jordan: “Oh, well….um, what village are you talking about?”

Dad: “This is a re-settlement village where there are lots poor people.”

Jordan: “Thanks dad, but I already made plans for today.”

I arrived about 45 minutes before the vans, and chatted with Pastor Abraham. The DP students arrived shortly and we had a short time of worship, and then Pastor Abraham gave his story of how God called him to minister to the poorest of the poor. He told us how that when he was a younger Christian, he was a part of Campus Crusade’s New Life church where he was in charge of a ministry to Executives and Professionals until he read James 1:27

"What God the Father considers to be pure and genuine religion is this: to take care of orphans and widows in their suffering and to keep oneself from being corrupted by the world."

This verse changed his whole philosophy of ministry, and shortly after when he heard about the plight of these squatters who were forcibly evicted from valuable riverfront property in Phnom Penh in 2006, and plopped down in a rice paddy 20ks from Phnom Penh with no water, sanitation, etc., far from their source of work, he made his decision. Eight hundred families were now living in shacks made of tarps and rice sacks. Abraham’s wife began to work for a Christian Dental clinic to support him as he went to minister among the evicted squatters.

After Abe’s talk on his calling and a history of Andong Village, I gave the DP students their instructions:

• Go two by two, each person interviewing an Andong villager.
• Do not preach, do not evangelize, just LISTEN and write.
• Come back to Abraham’s Church for re-hydration and debrief:

Assignment: Reflection Paper

• What was their story?
• What part touched your heart?
• What has changed in your life as a result of this experience?

Small group meetings this week

Discuss: “What does this interview exercise have to do with Personal Spiritual Formation?”

You may be asking what kind of missionary would tell his disciples not to evangelize. We should fire this guy!

It was a hot hour in the village and when we were done, I walked back a young man from Young Life who told me, “In 2006, when I heard on VOA what happened, I cried for these people and I prayed that someday I could visit and be able to help them. Today God answered that prayer.”

We met back at Abraham’s for a short debriefing where the students themselves suggested taking an offering for the children of village, which we did. I asked two people to share briefly about their experiences. Another young man gave exactly the same story about listening to VOA but he heard on the broadcast that there was a Christian presence in Andong so he rejoiced in that.

One young lady shared:

“I interviewed an elderly lady whose story was filled with struggle, sadness, and grief. She lived a life of hopelessness. When I was concluding the interview, she brightened up a bit and said; “But Jesus did build this here roof over my head for me.”

This exercise of finding the heart of God through listening to the voices of the poorest of the poor is more than an academic lesson in following all the right procedures for personal spiritual formation. It is a conversion. The DP students were converted by not-yet-believers! They were converted in a similar way in which Pastor Abraham was converted. God spoke to Pastor Abraham about his heart for the poor through scripture, and God spoke to the DP students about his heart for the poor through the voices of the poor themselves. Catching a glimpse the heart of God is powerful spiritual transformation. A.W. Tozer once said, “God speaks to the person who is listening”

Brian reporting live from Cambodia