No pictures this week as the server would not support any uploads.
Last week, our normally quiet home was filled with the sounds of a Buddhist funeral taking place across the street. For four days, traditional music was blared from the top of a loud speaker, along with Buddhist sermons, chants, and songs. You could not ignore the fact that someone had died.
After nearly two months of deterioration, our 94 year old neighbor died (we’ll call her Great Grandma). She was Davi’s and our landlords’ grandmother and the mother, grandmother, and great grandmother of many of our neighbors. When we first moved to Oyadao, Josh had some opportunities to talk with Great Grandma about the Gospel. Her response to almost everything he said was “it’s the same as Buddhism.” We were so saddened by her blindness to the truth.
When Great Grandma first became sick, I went over with the children to visit and pray with her. We sang some of the Khmer Bible verses I’ve put tunes to and read John 14:6. I prayed aloud that Great Grandma would turn and believe in Jesus. For the past two months, I’ve gone and visited with Great Grandma on the weekends. She was less and less alert but always permitted me to pray with her. I kept praying out loud that Great Grandma would turn to Jesus.
It was hard to be with someone who rejected Christ and had such strong faith that her good works would atone for her sins. It was hard to not weep and plead with her to turn to Christ. It was hard when she died – there was no hope without Christ. She is lost and we weep at her death with a loss that is so different than when you know someone is safe with Christ. This is true death.
Davi (Great Grandma’s granddaughter) told us that many of her relatives have tied a red string around their wrists to protect them from their grandma’s ghost coming to haunt them. For us it is a symbol of their bondage to fear. How Satan must delight in their fear. Davi told us she’s not afraid because she believes in Jesus.
Please pray with us as we seek to speak the truth of Christ to our neighbors. Pray that God will use their fear to turn them to Christ.