Participants:
Series Code: JFAN
Program Code: JFAN000167S
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00:00 (bright music)
00:21 - Hello and welcome to "Jesus for Asia Now". 00:24 I'm Natalie Wood, and I am not in our studio. 00:27 I am actually in Sukhothai, Thailand. 00:30 We are on an island that's heart-shaped, 00:33 inside a lake that is also heart-shaped. 00:36 But I'm not here to talk about Thailand today. 00:39 The friends that I have with me are working in Cambodia. 00:42 And I'd like you to meet Kenton and Rachel Rogers. 00:45 Welcome. 00:46 We're so glad to have you with us here, 00:49 and we're excited to hear what God is doing in your lives 00:52 and in the project that he's having you work at in Cambodia. 00:57 So let's start with how you ended up in Cambodia. 01:00 - Eight years ago, we heard about the need of Thailand 01:04 with the lack of literature that they had. 01:07 And they had copies of copies of copies. 01:11 So we basically said, "Oh, in my heart, I'll pray for them." 01:14 But after time goes by, you forget about it. 01:16 - Right. 01:17 - And so four years later, 01:18 we ended up at a faith camp, 01:20 and toward the end of faith camp, 01:22 we found out that basically everything was still the same. 01:25 The same needs were still there. 01:27 Not much had been done. 01:28 And so in my heart I was like, 01:29 "Lord, I guess I forgot to pray. 01:31 And maybe you need more than just prayers. 01:35 If you want me to go and help, I'm willing to go and help." 01:39 And with that commitment of willing to say, 01:42 "I'm willing to help," God continued to lead. 01:45 And even though we were first looking at Thailand 01:48 to work there, he actually ended up leading us to Cambodia, 01:52 which from what I've learned actually starting there, 01:57 it's easier to work from than Thailand. 02:00 - God knew. 02:01 So you're now in Cambodia 02:03 and what's going on in your project? 02:06 - Our goal was to actually create a publishing house, 02:08 not just to make books. 02:11 And I want to see the work grow beyond a donation cycle 02:17 where money comes in and then we could do a printing 02:20 and that's all the books that are done. 02:21 And for then years go by with nothing, 02:24 until another donation comes in. 02:26 And then you end up really not having the resources. 02:30 And we need the work to grow. 02:32 And the work is bigger than just actually having books, 02:34 'cause the work includes translators. 02:37 But if the translator is only there for one month, 02:39 then it's not really going to work. 02:42 We need writers, we need then of course printing. 02:46 But then we need literature evangelists. 02:48 So I want to see the work grow completely. 02:51 But a part of that is to have publishing houses. 02:55 A publishing house helps to store books, 02:59 print books, manage the production of books 03:02 in that sense of gather the resources, 03:04 gather the writers, the translators, 03:07 to help make the process go. 03:09 - Did you start with a building? 03:11 Did you start with printing materials 03:13 and printing equipment? 03:15 - So when we got to Cambodia, 03:17 I went and talked with the Cambodian mission president. 03:21 And I was thinking, you know, maybe I should ask him 03:23 where would be a good place to what city? 03:25 'Cause there's three main cities in Cambodia. 03:28 So at the end of my talk with him, 03:30 I asked him, "What city would be good to start this venture 03:34 of a publishing house at?" 03:35 - Mm-hmm. 03:36 - And instead of coming back with a city, 03:39 he came back with, "How about some property?" 03:41 And I wasn't thinking about that. 03:42 - Surprise. 03:43 - So he said, "We can take you and show you it tomorrow." 03:46 So they took us there. 03:48 What we ended up looking at was a house 03:50 that had been abandoned for seven years. 03:53 There was a house there, but no windows, no doors. 03:58 - It was very rough. 04:00 Almost starting from scratch. 04:01 Almost. - Yes. Almost. 04:03 There was no water, electricity. 04:05 So within the first week of being there, 04:09 we were able to get water and electricity, 04:11 and later, some windows and get the doors. 04:14 But what was a blessing is that property has land. 04:20 So we were able to then spend a year building a structure 04:23 that can house publishing equipment. 04:26 - Does it have room for storing books too, or- 04:29 - It has room for shelving. 04:31 But I don't have the shelving yet. 04:32 - So then you've spent a year building a building. 04:35 - [Kenton] Yes. - So what happened? 04:37 Do you have any equipment now? 04:38 - Yeah, so in the process of being there, 04:42 it has been an ongoing dependence on God for finances. 04:46 - Mm. 04:47 - And God hasn't forsaken us. 04:49 The money that just as it's needed does come in. 04:51 And so yes, we'd been here for a while, 04:54 but still, okay, we have the property. 04:56 We were starting to live there, 04:58 but we needed to build something and you need equipment. 05:00 - Right. 05:01 - So we were able to share it over Zoom, 05:03 basically with faith camp. 05:05 And during that faith camp, there was a donation, 05:08 a matching donation of a hundred thousand dollars. 05:11 - Yes. 05:11 - It was a two to one. 05:12 So that means that with another $50,000, 05:15 it would be a total of $150,000. 05:18 To me it was like, whoa, this is a lot 05:20 and God is leading here. 05:22 Actually, inside I got word. 05:24 I was like, "Okay, well, how am I supposed 05:25 to get another $50,000?" 05:27 And of course, anxiety comes up, worry. 05:30 And then I realize, no, Lord, I didn't even ask, 05:33 the first 150, that was you. 05:35 I mean the hundred thousand, that was you. 05:37 So, therefore, I'll trust you with the 50. 05:39 And within one week, 05:41 there were a total of three donations given, which equal- 05:45 - Made the 50,000. 05:46 - Made the 50,000. - I remember that. 05:48 It was like, "Yes!" 05:50 - So that was given. 05:51 And we were then able to purchase equipment. 05:53 And some of the 150,000 also went to building the building. 05:56 - So you talked about depending on God for the finances, 05:59 time after time. 06:00 What about the other parts of it? 06:02 - So yes, there were times where it was very difficult 06:06 and things actually came to crisis points in that sense 06:10 where we needed God to help and to work 06:13 and to lead actually in timeframes. 06:16 So there were some things like that. 06:18 One of them was actually getting into the village. 06:21 - Mm. 06:23 - Because of COVID, the villages were closed 06:26 and they said, "You can't come in." 06:28 So we'd had permission from the mission 06:30 to start working there, start building, 06:32 and then they said no. 06:33 And so that left my whole family 06:36 in a one-room apartment on the third floor. 06:40 - During COVID. 06:40 - During COVID. 06:41 - When they didn't want you to go anywhere. 06:43 - Yeah. 06:44 So after three months of being there, 06:46 the landlord was wanting us to renew, 06:48 not a three-month contract, but a six-month contract. 06:52 And I was like, "Lord, my family can't stay here 06:56 in this one-room apartment 06:58 for another six months. 07:01 We either need to go back to the States, 07:03 or you need to open up the property for us to go to." 07:06 And again, we can't speak fluently, 07:08 so it's not like I could call up the chief 07:10 and talk with him. 07:11 So we made it a matter of prayer. 07:13 So we had that one week to make our decision 07:16 and to see what was gonna happen. 07:17 At the end of the week, we needed to, if nothing happened, 07:20 go back to the States. 07:21 On Thursday, a friend of ours that's Khmer, called us up 07:25 and said, "Have you been able to get to the property? 07:27 How are things going?" 07:29 And I was like, "No, we're still stuck here." 07:31 And he says, "Okay, well, then, let me call the chief." 07:34 And so he actually called the chief. 07:35 And the chief was much different. 07:38 He was at this point saying, 07:39 "Sure they can come. Have them come tomorrow." 07:42 And the chief was going to actually help us 07:44 with all the paperwork. 07:45 And we went there and he helped us 07:47 to actually get residency there. 07:50 And I was very thankful. 07:51 So that Sunday we moved there. 07:54 That was a crisis point, which as you go through it, 07:57 it's challenging because you have to say, 08:00 "You, Lord, you've led this far. Do we just go back?" 08:03 'Cause it's not just about how God is leading, 08:06 but how he has led up to this point builds a trust, 08:11 but then questions. 08:13 So it's just about presenting them to God 08:15 and saying, "Lord, we need your help." 08:17 But then when he does, when you go through it 08:19 and he opens up the door and now we are at the property. 08:24 We know that, what, he's led us this far. 08:26 - He took you there, right. 08:27 - And it's a comfort to know 08:29 that I'm actually where God wants me to be. 08:32 So we ordered the equipment. 08:34 Again, during COVID times, 08:35 you can't just go and easily travel to go see it. 08:37 Prices for travel are much more expensive. 08:40 So all the equipment I bought was basically with videos 08:44 or talking with the people. 08:46 And so I had actually had a phone conversation 08:49 with the people that I was buying, 08:51 these are large commercial copiers from. 08:55 - Mm. 08:56 - Basically I ended up purchasing one of them on an auction. 08:59 And then when I contacted him, he says, 09:02 "By the way, I have three more of them. 09:05 One's a parts, one, so you'll have spare parts. 09:07 There's actually a lot of spare parts as well. 09:09 And then I have these two other machines." 09:12 And in the conversations, 09:13 I was led to believe that they were nice, running machines. 09:18 - Oh boy. 09:19 - So when they came, the building wasn't done, 09:22 but eventually as it got done 09:25 and then we got electricity, 09:26 we were able to then set them up. 09:28 When we set them up, you can then see the logs. 09:30 And I found out that for, like, the last four years, 09:34 they hadn't been used. 09:36 And that there were a lot of errors. 09:38 Just like one trial, error, one trial, error. 09:40 And I realized he never had them running. 09:43 - Oh. 09:44 - And my heart sank. 09:46 And it's like, "Lord, why you led us this way, 09:49 now we can't even print?" 09:50 Yes, I have all the other equipment that is working, 09:53 but these, I can't even print now. 09:55 - Because he led you to buy those. 09:57 - Yes, he did. 09:58 I was woke up just before midnight, 10:01 which the auction was ending just after midnight. 10:04 I woke up with one hour before the auction ended 10:06 and with the thought, you know, you need to bid on this. 10:08 - Hmm. 10:09 - So I bid on it. 10:11 I won the auction by only $60. 10:15 So, and I actually was in prayer actually asking the Lord, 10:19 "How much do I bid on this?" 10:21 - Right. 10:22 - And so I put a thousand dollars on the bid, 10:24 and it was only $60 from that. 10:26 - Wow. 10:27 - Obviously God could have let that go, 10:29 but he let it come to me. 10:31 And then when it came to getting it shipped, 10:33 I didn't really have anyone to go and put it on pallets 10:38 and put it in the container. 10:39 So I was calling around for people to do that, 10:41 and I couldn't find anyone. 10:45 So I was actually getting ready and I called the guy up 10:48 and said, "You know, I can't even just find anyone 10:50 to do this for me." - To pack them. 10:52 - "I'm gonna have to basically not buy 10:54 the other three machines. 10:56 And if you want me to, 10:57 I can pay a garbage truck to come 10:59 and take away the one that I have purchased, 11:00 if you don't want it, but I can't do anything." 11:02 Well, he said, "Here's a number." 11:04 So I called that number. 11:06 Well, that person said, "No, we don't do it." 11:08 But without me asking, they said, 11:10 "Here's another number, call them." 11:12 So I called that person, they said, 11:13 "No, but here's another number." 11:16 And the third one said, 11:19 "No, we don't do it, but here's another number." 11:22 The fourth one finally said, "Yes, we do that." 11:24 - Oh, wow. 11:25 - But I felt like each one of those, 11:26 I mean, I can't stop and say God's closed the door here. 11:29 He actually gave me another number. 11:33 So I do, I got these machines now and they don't work. 11:39 And I was praying, 11:40 "Lord, how do you want me to deal with this?" 11:42 But actually God led me and gave me help. 11:47 I mean, not help, outside help, 11:49 but helped to actually understand opening these printers up 11:51 and starting to work on them. 11:53 And one of 'em had a problem, and I couldn't figure it out. 11:57 I thought, "Okay, well, I'm just gonna swap this part 12:00 with that machine." 12:01 And in the process of switching them, 12:03 I moved one of the cables and one of the cables was loose. 12:07 And when I moved it, it started working. 12:10 And so I realized that, 12:11 well, the only thing I changed were those cables. 12:13 - The loca, yeah. The location of the part and the cables. 12:16 - So just simple things like that 12:18 where I know God was helping 12:20 and that we did get the printers working. 12:24 We got two of them working. 12:25 Even though there's been struggles with them, 12:27 I haven't been left without printing. 12:30 So we've printed several books, 12:33 and we've helped out with some of the schools, 12:35 like thematic school doing their math books. 12:38 And then there's projects 12:40 that, as a publishing house, we're working with too. 12:42 - Okay, so I know I have, you know, 12:45 you shared with me already, 12:47 so I have a little over on our viewers, 12:49 but where's it at with some of the translation 12:52 that's been happening? 12:53 - So even before we started building, 12:56 I was working with trying to find translators. 12:59 There were some pieces that I wanted to get translated. 13:02 Two of them are these small ones here. 13:05 One is actually called "The Victorious Life," 13:08 but I've retitled it, "The Letter of Hope," 13:10 and it's by Ellen White. 13:12 Very encouraging. 13:13 And I wanted the church members here 13:16 to have access to that. 13:18 So this was one piece, and then this is another one. 13:21 It's entitled "Victory in Christ." 13:23 Like what is Christ to me 13:25 is the whole, kind of, a theme of it. 13:29 And then at the end of each one of the sections it says, 13:31 "But remember, he loves you just like he loves me." 13:34 - Right. 13:35 - So it's a very non, like, 13:38 confrontational presentation of Christ. 13:40 - Awesome. - So I wanted these two. 13:42 And so these were pieces that we did have translated, 13:44 but you'd say, "Oh, they're small." 13:46 But most of the time, 13:48 the translators I have are working part-time on this, 13:50 in their free time, 'cause they have full-time jobs. 13:53 And so this one here took two years, 13:56 to go from, like, the beginning 13:57 to actually having it printed in the end- 14:01 - Because it's not just a single person. 14:03 - No. - That translates. 14:04 So you have translate 14:05 and you have review and review. 14:08 And you know, you have a number of people that review 14:11 to make sure that it's really crossing 14:13 the language difference, 14:16 so the concepts are understandable, 14:19 and things like that. 14:20 And then you can 14:22 finally print it. - Then you can print it. 14:23 - [Natalie] Yeah. - Yes. 14:24 We're working on some books too. 14:26 So this is "Living By Faith," 14:30 and it's been in the works 14:33 for, again, two years as well, for this one. 14:35 They were needing some copies of it, 14:37 like pre-release copies. 14:38 So I have a pre-release of it here, 14:41 but it's still in the review process. 14:43 So even though it's a book here, there's still more work, 14:48 but it's close and it's so nice to actually see the book 14:52 when it's taken this long. 14:53 - Yes. 14:55 - The other thing is, too, is storybook. 14:58 I believe that there's a need for the storybooks 15:01 that are from this area. 15:03 The mission story books. 15:05 And there's several books by Norma Youngberg 15:08 as well as some others that really share, 15:13 from an individual standpoint, 15:15 someone going through the process of learning who God is, 15:19 struggling between culture and God, 15:23 and family and God, 15:26 and showing how much God is really a part 15:30 and can be involved in their lives. 15:33 And so I think these stories 15:34 will be a great blessing to Southeast Asia. 15:36 So we've been working on them right now in Khmer. 15:40 This is actually a review. 15:41 They were going through the process 15:43 of reading it through for the last time. 15:46 And so I actually put it into a book format 15:48 for them to read, their last read through it. 15:51 So this one is actually, like, finished 15:55 with a translation. 15:57 The next process is actually to finalize the layout of it 16:00 and then we can print it. 16:01 - Wow. That's awesome. 16:03 And what's the name of that book in English? 16:04 - This one is "Fire on the Mountain." 16:06 - Okay. 16:07 - Also, we do stuff for the mission. 16:08 So we did the current Sabbath school lesson. 16:15 So we didn't translate this, the mission translates it, 16:15 but then we printed it for them. 16:17 - That's really exciting. 16:18 I'm glad those materials are available. 16:21 And what other materials are being worked on at this point? 16:25 - So we're still working on some other books 16:28 like "Sanctified Life" in Khmer. 16:31 - Now Khmer is? 16:34 - The language in Cambodia. 16:35 - Okay. Just wanna make sure everybody understands. 16:37 - Yes, and then we're also working, 16:39 I have two translators in Lao. 16:41 So we're actually working on some storybooks, 16:44 as well as the "Living by Faith" in Lao. 16:47 - Okay. 16:49 - Just trying to finish up some other storybooks. 16:51 We have a total of six storybook that we're working on, 16:55 and most of them are in the review process, 16:57 but that's a very slow process. 17:00 I have seven translators, 17:03 so two in Lao, and then five in Khmer. 17:07 But all of them are working just on the side of their job. 17:11 So things go slow. 17:12 But it's hard finding translators, 17:16 finding them that know English and Khmer equally, 17:22 like they're native tongue. 17:22 So finding some people 17:23 that are strong in both is challenging. 17:26 - Yeah, because, you know, some of these things 17:29 that you wanna have come across in the translation 17:32 are concepts. 17:34 It's not like you can just translate word for word 17:36 and have the whole concept come across. 17:38 - Yeah. 17:39 - So they have to be able to understand the concept 17:40 in both languages to be able to express it, 17:43 whichever direction they're going. 17:45 - Yes. And that, you know, God gives wisdom. 17:48 - Yes. 17:49 - And I actually do take time each day 17:51 to pray specifically for the translators. 17:54 And remember, Lord, you know, they can't do it on their own. 17:58 You need to help them. 17:59 Give them the ability to understand. 18:02 And then they'll text me 18:03 and say, "Can you help us with this sentence?" 18:05 And then I'm saying, "Lord, help me 18:06 to be able to put it into new words 18:09 so that they can then understand it better." 18:12 Sometimes it's just having different words 18:14 and then they get it. 18:15 - To simplify the language. 18:16 - Or taking out the pronouns. 18:18 - Oh. 18:19 - And when you take out the pronouns, 18:21 so the sentence becomes long, 18:23 but then they understand it. 18:25 They know the pieces that it's talking about. 18:27 - Oh, that makes sense. 18:28 Okay, so what's the next step for the publishing house then? 18:32 - So the next step for the publishing house 18:35 is, with the copiers, we're able to do short books. 18:39 And most of what we've been doing for like the school 18:41 is we need 20 books of this math book 18:43 and 20 books of that math book. 18:45 So that's not long runs. 18:47 That's really nice on the copiers. 18:51 And even the longer ones, 18:52 like the Sabbath School Lesson was a thousand, 18:56 that still does nicely on the copiers, 18:58 but when you do a larger book like this, 19:01 which I'm wanting to do 5,000 of, 19:04 that's talking a lot more pages, 19:06 a lot more paper going through the machine. 19:08 And so we're looking actually at an offset press 19:11 that's able to do, not color, 19:15 but just the black text inside books. 19:19 So it actually will do both sides of the paper 19:23 at the same time that it's going through the press. 19:27 And we'll do a larger sheet of paper. 19:29 So it actually has many pages on one sheet of paper 19:33 that gets folded down and put into the book. 19:36 So it not only is it cheaper to run, 19:40 but it's also four times faster than the copiers. 19:43 So we're in the process of purchasing one 19:45 of those from the UK. 19:48 - Okay. 19:50 - In the process of buying this new equipment, 19:51 of course, we're to remember the past. 19:54 How God has worked in the past, 19:56 he will continue to work in the future. 19:59 And because it is a hard thing 20:02 to get stuff into the country. 20:06 And so sometimes there is fear in that. 20:08 But a reminder that God's been there in the past, 20:11 I actually ended up having two containers get stuck 20:17 and, therefore, cost more money. 20:18 - Ah. 20:19 - And that day I came to the moment 20:23 when I realized I didn't have enough money 20:26 for the importing of this last container, 20:31 my heart sank and I was like, 20:32 "Lord, you see the problem." 20:35 And I didn't have really any courage at that time. 20:38 All I could do is go out and pray 20:40 and say, "Lord, you see, you know." 20:43 And I left praying, realizing that God, no, no, great. 20:47 Like, oh, he's going to answer. He is fine. 20:50 All I knew was I had the opportunity 20:53 to tell him the problem, and he knew about the problem. 20:57 I woke up the next morning 20:59 and got a text message during the night 21:01 that said two days before there was someone 21:05 who had sent a check, specifically marked "shipping". 21:11 And the amount that it was when it all came down 21:14 and figured out was exactly the amount 21:17 that was needed more to finish it. 21:20 And that was given before I even knew about the problem. 21:24 And so, as I remember that, 21:27 I know that God sees his equipment. 21:31 It's not my equipment, it's his equipment. 21:34 And he can take care of it. 21:35 - Right. Wow. 21:37 How's your family doing in Cambodia? 21:39 I mean, how many children do you have? 21:42 - We have three children. 21:43 Our oldest is, well, she's 19, almost 20 now. 21:47 And our youngest is seven. 21:49 So we've got quite a range. 21:52 I think for them being here in Asia 21:56 has been a spiritual growth. 21:58 They're not all at the same level of, you know, 22:01 of commitment to the mission, if you wanna say that. 22:04 But I've lost my daughter forever. 22:05 She's gonna be in Cambodia for the rest of her life. 22:08 She's learning the language, 22:10 she's studying in college with that language, 22:12 trying to prepare for translation work. 22:14 And I'm very happy when I see how she's made it her own. 22:19 It's not about our choice anymore. 22:22 The other two, I'm happy that they're choosing God 22:25 and that that's my main job every day 22:27 is homeschooling and discipling. 22:30 - So I know you said that you've lost your oldest daughter 22:32 to Cambodia, and she's preparing to be a translator. 22:36 And I know that you had mentioned something to me earlier 22:40 about one of the books that you wanted to share. 22:42 - In her journey of learning the Khmer language, 22:46 she's been taking language classes much more faithfully 22:50 than we have and enjoying it. 22:53 And so part of it was, actually, 22:56 she ended up working on this book, 22:58 reviewing it together with her teacher. 23:01 So she spent several months 23:04 where she would read through it, 23:06 try to find all the things that she could find with it, 23:08 and then discuss it with her teacher. 23:10 And so this book is part of her work, 23:14 her life spent in this book 23:17 as something she wants to again share with, 23:20 with the Cambodian people. 23:22 - Wow. That's neat. 23:23 - Yeah. - That's really neat. 23:25 - So it's good to see her get involved. 23:27 - Yes. - Not just 23:28 because we're there, 23:29 but because her heart's 23:30 in it. - She wants to. 23:31 Yes, yes. 23:33 And God is leading her 23:34 and giving her talents and skills that are so needed. 23:38 I mean, this is desperately needed, 23:40 so, well, praise the Lord. 23:41 That's really awesome. 23:43 Now, I know that you've shared a little bit 23:46 some of the challenges and some of the answers to prayer. 23:50 But I wanted to ask you a little more 23:53 about your personal relationship with Jesus, 23:56 if you're willing to share with us. 23:58 - I struggle with depression. 24:00 It's easy for me to fall into it. 24:02 And I see that coming here 24:05 and experiencing things where it looks discouraging, 24:08 it, actually, in reality is discouraging. 24:11 But yet God doesn't want me to become discouraged. 24:14 It's a matter of trusting him in it. 24:17 And though things are really challenging, 24:20 in reality, the problem is real. 24:23 The answer isn't something I can solve, 24:25 but yet it is solvable with God. 24:27 - Right. 24:28 - Learning to put those problems 24:32 and trust those with him 24:33 and not become discouraged is something I face, 24:36 is something that I've been growing in. 24:39 Each time a new thing comes, 24:41 it is a new commitment to say, 24:43 "Lord, I'm gonna trust you to be there, 24:45 not just to solve the problem, 24:47 but in my heart, to give me the courage to wait upon you." 24:51 - Mm. 24:52 - Because it says, "Be of good courage, 24:54 wait upon the Lord." 24:55 Why? Because he's able to strengthen our heart, 24:59 not just in the realm of the problems, 25:01 but his work in the realm of my heart 25:04 is part of the whole solving of the situation 25:08 was before I ever thought about Thailand, 25:11 but wanting to be involved in God's work, 25:13 there was the song, "I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go". 25:17 - Mm. 25:18 - And in there it talks about that I'll go, 25:20 but with my hand in God's hand. 25:23 I often picture myself trusting and holding on to God's hand 25:27 and him holding my hand. 25:28 And when things get hard, 25:30 it's not just me holding onto his hand, 25:32 but him holding my hand too. 25:35 And just recently, I was reading, 25:39 and I came across a quote in Ellen White's writings 25:42 where she said, 25:43 "Prayer and faith are the two arms 25:49 that wrap around the neck of infinite love." 25:53 I realized, you know, 25:55 God doesn't just want to walk beside me. 25:57 He wants something closer 25:59 as a child who's sitting on his lap turning to him 26:04 and wrapping their arms around his neck. 26:07 And when you think about that, we who are so small, 26:10 so feeble, so broken, yet he wants that closeness. 26:16 And in that closeness, 26:17 the child is focusing fully and completely on Christ, 26:21 on God, his attention is there. 26:24 But also if a parent has a child on their lap, 26:27 the parent can't do something over here. 26:29 The parent is, what, focused then also on the child. 26:34 I realize God's wanting something very close 26:38 for me to put my trust, my hold upon him 26:41 as though he's the only one in my life. 26:45 And, therefore, he then also relates to me 26:47 as like the only one. 26:49 But God is able to focus on me. 26:53 And knowing what's happening in my life. 26:56 - And that's one of the amazing things about him. 26:57 We have children, we have trouble, 26:59 trying to focus on more than one at a time. 27:01 But God can do it. It's amazing. 27:03 - Yeah. 27:04 - Well, I'd like to thank you for being here today 27:06 and sharing with us. 27:07 I know there's good times and bad, 27:10 and I just appreciate your honesty and sharing openly. 27:14 It really gives us an opportunity to know 27:16 how to pray for you also. 27:17 - Yeah. 27:19 - So I would like to invite you to pray for our friends, 27:21 the Rogers, in Cambodia. 27:23 Pray for the publishing work, for the translation work. 27:27 It's not just the printing, it's also the translation. 27:30 Pray for the right helpers, pray for the right equipment, 27:34 the right timing, 27:35 everything that the word of God can go out rapidly 27:39 in Southeast Asia 27:41 and to so many places where people need to know him 27:44 before it's too late. 27:47 If you would like more information, 27:48 you can contact us at Jesus for Asia, PO Box 1221, 27:52 Collegedale, Tennessee, 37315. 27:56 Call us at 423-413-7321 28:00 or visit our website at Jesus4asia.org. 28:04 May God richly bless you until we see you next time 28:07 on "Jesus for Asia Now". 28:09 (bright music) |
Revised 2024-05-29