Yesterday I was sitting in an air conditioned room in a large Thai city, listening to a sermon on Romans. The glass front of the building was to my left, looking out on a parking lot and the main road. On the big screen was a PowerPoint slide of verses […]
I Will Forsake Everything and Follow Him: Truth Dawning P.3
“Can we meet a day early for Bible study? I have to attend a relative’s funeral on Wednesday.” “Sure, Granny!” This was the third time I was meeting with this elderly Cambodian woman to study the Bible. (Read about the first two days in Part 1 and Part 2.) Soon […]
Pressing Onward in the Race as a Single Woman
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the […]
I Want to Escape the Cycle of Reincarnation: Truth Dawning P.2
“I believe,” the woman insisted. “I truly believe. But I also still light incense and want to participate in [Buddhist ceremonies and rituals]. Can I still do these things?” “Granny,” I said, using a relational term of respect, “for we who follow Jesus, we cannot participate in any other worship. […]
So Jesus is Greater than the Buddha: Truth Dawning P.1
“This is the Holy Bible of Jesus,” I said, picking it up. “Have you seen or heard of this book before?” The elderly woman across from me squinted. “No,” she said. “Never.” I had the opportunity to open up the Bible and teach an elderly Cambodian woman about Jesus. She […]
The Miracle: God Answers
When was a time that God answered your prayer in an immediate, almost shocking way? I was recently reminded of this event in my own life: When I was in college, I had a green mechanical pencil of a particular brand that can (perhaps) only be found in a certain […]
The Rabbit on the Moon and the Language of Sound
I was sitting in my kitchen the other night in Cambodia, staring at my bathroom door, and it occurred to me: the bathroom, of course, has a three-inch threshold. You have to step over that to get in. This detail of architecture is so ubiquitous I never stopped to think […]
Teacher, Do You Believe in Ghosts?
I once read a comment that said, “Southeast Asia is haunted.” Cambodia definitely is. People are deeply animist, worshipping spirits of all kinds and seeking to commune with the dead. People see ghosts, interpret dreams, and go to fortune tellers. The language has vocabulary words for categories of spirits that […]
Let’s Play! (But Cambodian Style)
Kids love to play. That’s true everywhere on the planet, but even in games you can find cultural differences that alter the experience. Since I work in children’s ministry, the issue of games and children’s play comes up a lot. As a teacher, how much effort do I need to […]
What Does It Mean to Be “Teacher” in Cambodia?
Kids are kids everywhere, but in different cultures there are different cultural practices around teaching, learning, and even play. As a missionary focusing on children’s ministry, I wanted to develop for myself a style of children’s ministry that would fit naturally into Cambodian culture and be easy for Cambodian Christians […]