My passion in life is to share Jesus. If I could do that everyday I would be more than happy.
You know my name is Graeme but the Cambodians pronounce it 'Grremm'. Now often over the past ten years or so I find Cambodians smiling when I say my name and maybe I sometimes wondered why that was. Mind you I receive smiles wherever I go especially in the places that I have travelled often in the most remote parts of the country; the people are intrigued as to why a white man would be here. Sometimes when I sit the children sidle up to me and want to touch me. They like to pull the hairs on my arms and feel the hairy texture of my skin; it is so different from what they know and it is like they just can't help themselves to just see if it is real.
Anyway they call me 'Grremm' and they smile. I soon found out that my name pronounced that way is very similar to the Khmer word for ice cream. Sometimes I have wondered why I was given the name Graeme by my parents and today my Father gave me the answer. I was waiting to preach at the first good news rally on this mission and sitting in the front was a small boy eating an icecream. I watched him with some envy as he devoured something that I love, ice cream. I am the son of a dairy farmer...I love ice cream! So as I watched him enjoy the sweet refeshment of the ice cream the Lord said "You are Grremm because you bring Me and I am sweet refreshment to the people." That is good enough for me. All my life I have with some frustration spelt out my name to people who insist on spelling it Graham or some other variation and now I feel satisfied that my name reveals the real purpose that God has for me. Praise the Lord!
This morning I left my team in Phnom Penh and with my Cambodian team travelled to Kompot Province. It is now 3.30 PM and I have returned to our guest house from the good news rally site at Mon Village, Krang Speu Commune, Chhouk District, Kompot Province. It probably is important to explain that all our rallies since the very first have followed the same pattern. Our call is to work in partnership with the local people. We have held many rallies in Kompot and to just give an example some years ago we had the privilege to preach at a rally in a place called Chum Kiri, also in Chhouk District. That day the Lord saved 1400 people and as a result of that seventy-five churches were planted. As God has multiplied His blessing since many more small churches have been planted in the district and province. So we partner with these little house churches and we encourage them to come together in unity to hold a rally in a central location. I was recently pleased to be reminded that the imperative of the Great Commission is to 'make disciples' and I was encourgaed that I could affirm in my own thoughts that that is what God has led us in our weakness to do. So this is the pattern we always follow. Members of the small churches invite five or six of their family or friends to come and then they pray. When they come the inviters watch and pray for the invitees. When they receive Jesus the inviters know and so when they return to their own village they invite the new believers into their homes and begin discipling them and so the whole God-filled process begins again. Ultimately those new believers do their own inviting to another rally and the compounding multiplication of the God of all grace carries on.
The rally was held in a beautiful farming district surrounded on all sides my the rice swaying gently in the breeze. Actually the rains are a little late this year and so the rice is a little behind what it would normally be so if you are mindful you could pray that the Lord will open the heavens and pour out His rain of grace upon Cambodia so the rice will grow and mature ready for harvesting in November/December. So we gathered and two hundred and fifty believers and non-believers gathered to hear the sweet refeshing news of the good gift of God, Jesus Christ. I rejoice with the angels in seventy new believers in Christ, fifty-five women and fifteen men not counting the children. Praise God for His grace toward us expressed through the precious Saviour Jesus Christ whose delight is to take back His people, snatching them from the very jaws of the pit. I was reading this morning in Psalm 103 and it is more than worth sharing...
"Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits; Who pardons all your iniquities; Who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from the pit; Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; Who satisfies your years with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle."Take out your Bible and read the rest for yourself and allow His grace to penetrate you. As I preached today I offered the people the greatest gift of all time. A gift is usually wrapped in pretty paper by the giver so you cannot see what the gift is...it was my task to describe the gift but I did tell the people that when you receive the gift that I offer you will get far more than I can describe. As the people received the gift of Jesus Christ I explained you may not feel different (faith is not about our feelings it is only about our response of trust to the revelation the Lord has given us of Himself) but that they will never be the same again and He now dwells in them in His fullness and the transformation will come from the inside out and will bring the blessing of His grace to bear on every part of their lives. Samnang, my brother, then asked the people to ask the Lord for one thing and see what the Lord will do. Samnang told me that he felt that most people asked for the rain to come and fill the paddy fields so the rice can grow. It is now 7.09 PM and the rain is pouring down outside. Praise the Lord for His grace in blessing His people.
Back in Phnom Penh Alyson was leading the first day of the Women's Prayer Workshop and Katie, Fiona and Peter ministering to the children at Centre of Peace Children's Home. I do not know how the Lord moved but I know He did. I will ask Alyson and Katie to make their own report to you when I return to Phnom Penh on Wednesday evening.
Tomorrow we have two good news rallies, AM and PM. Pray for the blessing of the Lord.
Thank you so much for blessing me. I know that the Lord will bless you in return with increase.
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