Today has been extremely rewarding. We had the privilege to visit and teach at 4 separate Schools on the Mat this afternoon, giving us all a wonderful insight into the work that CHO is doing in this part of Cambodia.
For me there were three things that stood out. The first was the real thirst for education. At the back of one class was a neatly dressed 18 year old boy, sitting amongst the younger chilren who I thought was one of the CHO staff. It turned out that he had never had the opportunity to learn and wanted to learn to read and write. Furthermore, as we began to teach in each village the adults gathered around the mat, often sitting down. Some of the younger men were a little bullish but the women and the older generation were clearly intrigued and interested in the message we had and believed in the education that their children were getting.
The second is the clear thread of God's message in the teaching that was being delivered by the CHO staff. The children all knew Christian songs and were open to the message that we were seeing and hearing through small plays and stories from the Bible.
And thirdly in the last village we visited one of the young guys made an effort to hide in his house until his mates went away and then poked his head out of the material on the side to listen to the Bible story and sang the (Christian) songs with gusto; Jesus I am sure smiled on hm. That small mustard seed of faith can make such a difference with a little care and attention.
God is blessing this project - you only have to be here for a minute to see that. I remember sitting and listening to Alastair speak so passionately 2 years ago about CHO and thinking how wonderful it sounded. Well I am afraid none of us have the words to describe the feeling of being here amidst such poverty, deprivation and horror and yet seeing Jesus at work. The Gospel means something here and we should celebrate that!
For me there were three things that stood out. The first was the real thirst for education. At the back of one class was a neatly dressed 18 year old boy, sitting amongst the younger chilren who I thought was one of the CHO staff. It turned out that he had never had the opportunity to learn and wanted to learn to read and write. Furthermore, as we began to teach in each village the adults gathered around the mat, often sitting down. Some of the younger men were a little bullish but the women and the older generation were clearly intrigued and interested in the message we had and believed in the education that their children were getting.
The second is the clear thread of God's message in the teaching that was being delivered by the CHO staff. The children all knew Christian songs and were open to the message that we were seeing and hearing through small plays and stories from the Bible.
And thirdly in the last village we visited one of the young guys made an effort to hide in his house until his mates went away and then poked his head out of the material on the side to listen to the Bible story and sang the (Christian) songs with gusto; Jesus I am sure smiled on hm. That small mustard seed of faith can make such a difference with a little care and attention.
God is blessing this project - you only have to be here for a minute to see that. I remember sitting and listening to Alastair speak so passionately 2 years ago about CHO and thinking how wonderful it sounded. Well I am afraid none of us have the words to describe the feeling of being here amidst such poverty, deprivation and horror and yet seeing Jesus at work. The Gospel means something here and we should celebrate that!
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