Participants:
Series Code: MTK
Program Code: MTK000010A
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00:00 (inspirational music)
00:05 - [Mary Ann] We've grown up in the church, 00:06 and have always been somewhat involved in outreach, 00:10 but how can we get involved in missions overseas? 00:13 My name is Mary Ann. 00:15 - And I'm Lilyann. 00:16 We wanted to find out. 00:18 Join us on our journey (gong reverberating) 00:22 to discover the culture, the lifestyle, 00:25 - [Mary Ann] The need and the mission. 00:27 - [Lilyann] In two of Southeast Asia's 00:29 least reached countries. 00:31 - [Mary Ann] Welcome to MissionTrek. 00:37 - Welcome back. 00:38 - In the last episode we toured Butterfly Paradise. 00:41 And then we got to sit down with Tim Maddocks in our studio. 00:44 - This time we meet a dead person 00:47 and later a girl who wear a hijab. 00:49 While we were at Wat Preah Puth, 00:51 Uncle Tim took us to visit a Global Mission pioneer. 00:54 Global Mission pioneers plant churches in unentered areas. 00:58 The are sponsored by the church and you can donate to them 01:00 on Sabbath morning using the tithe envelope. 01:02 It's a great way to spread the gospel 01:04 in hard to reach places. 01:06 - Here's the story of one. 01:09 (calm guitar music) 01:21 - We're at the house of a Global Mission pioneer 01:23 and we're gonna find out exactly what that is 01:26 and what he's doing here and stuff. 01:30 I hear there's a really exciting story, 01:32 so hope to figure out what exactly that is. 01:37 (calm guitar music) 01:49 - We're at a church plant in Cambodia 01:52 with Global Mission pioneer Pastor Paul 01:55 and his daughter Theo, who actually died 01:58 when she was younger as we've been told 02:00 and we're gonna tell you that story, 02:03 hear the story later, so. 02:07 - You're definitely gonna want to hear about it. 02:08 - Yeah. (laughter) 02:10 - So how did you come to Christ? 02:13 (foreign language) 02:17 - In the 1990's there was an organization 02:18 that came to our place. 02:20 They helped us by providing wood for a shelter 02:22 so that our family could have a small home to live in. 02:28 At that time I worked with a man who was a Christian pastor 02:31 but I didn't know he was a pastor. 02:33 The reason I was working with him 02:35 was to get a sack of rice to feed my family. 02:42 On Sabbath he told me, "Today we will rest 02:45 "and we will not work. 02:46 "So will you come to church with me?" 02:48 He asked again and then I said, 02:50 "Where is the church and what is God?" 02:53 And the man said, "It's Jesus, the God we worship." 02:56 So I went with him on Sabbath because I was wondering 02:59 what they were doing in the worship program. 03:01 His name was Pastor Bun-Lin. 03:04 The first time I went there I sat down 03:06 and saw the singing and the many people there. 03:08 I didn't really know who God was and I didn't believe 03:10 in the God that I worshiped that day. 03:12 I only knew that I needed to go back the next Sabbath. 03:17 So I kept going to church for about three months. 03:21 Then a war broke out between the Khmer Rouge rebel forces 03:24 and government soldiers. 03:26 As a group of rebels came and attacked my village 03:29 one of the head villagers died that night. 03:32 At that time I didn't know how to pray 03:34 but my wife and I sat down 03:36 and we started to pray even though we didn't know how. 03:41 Because I was so afraid I asked God to please save me 03:44 from the soldiers that were attacking our place. 03:47 I was next to the front door 03:48 and my wife was inside the room. 03:50 My daughter was still a baby at that time. 03:53 My wife was also praying. 03:54 She didn't know how to pray either 03:56 but she kept on talking to God 03:58 not knowing if she was using the right words or not. 04:01 Soon the soldiers came to my house and asked me to come out. 04:04 They said, "Is there anyone in there?" 04:07 My wife and I didn't say anything. 04:09 I was thinking that if I answered them 04:11 they would come inside, take the bike 04:13 that I was borrowing from my neighbor. 04:15 My clothes were also near the door 04:17 and so I was afraid that the soldiers would take my clothes 04:19 and I wouldn't have any clothes. 04:21 I prayed continuously that if God and Jesus were real 04:24 the soldiers wouldn't come inside my house. 04:27 Two of the soldiers tried to push 04:28 through the door to get inside. 04:30 Usually one person can easily push the door open. 04:34 But these two strong men could not push it open 04:37 even though I was not holding it. 04:40 Then they flashed a light around my house 04:42 If they saw anyone in the house they would shoot. 04:47 I was wondering why they didn't see 04:48 the shoes in front of the house. 04:51 If they saw them they would know that we were inside. 04:54 Our neighbors were so worried 04:55 and wondering why I didn't let them in. 04:57 There were about 30 soldiers in the group that had guns. 05:01 Again the soldiers asked, 05:03 "Where are the people that live in this house?" 05:06 I was about to speak but it was like 05:08 there was something that kept my mouth shut 05:11 so I went to my wife and told her, 05:13 "Don't say anything, just keep praying." 05:16 Then one of the soldiers said, "If there is no one in this 05:19 "house just put a big bomb under it and blow it up." 05:23 But in the end they didn't do it and they just walked away. 05:26 The rebels took all the valuables 05:28 and animals from my neighbors. 05:30 The next morning all the neighbors came to my house 05:33 and asked, "Why didn't you open the door? 05:34 "They could have destroyed your house." 05:37 Then I told my neighbors, "I know now that Jesus 05:39 "is the real God because as you see, 05:42 "the shoes are in front of my house but they didn't see them 05:45 "and the door can be pushed open easily 05:47 "by one hand but two men could not push inside." 05:51 From that moment on I started to believe in God, 05:54 that He is a real God and that Jesus is a real God. 05:59 (foreign language) 06:04 - That's the reason. 06:06 - Wow, that's a really amazing story. 06:09 How long have you been church planting now? 06:20 - How many churches have you planted? 06:24 - Wow. - Cool. 06:25 - How long have you been here? 06:31 - Are there any challenges working to plant churches here? 06:40 - The first year that I was Oddar Meancheay 06:42 was also the year that the villagers faced drought. 06:45 There was no rain and all the crops died. 06:48 They thought we believed in a bad God, 06:50 that had cursed them so they didn't have rain or food. 06:53 So they said it was because of us 06:55 coming to live in this village 06:56 and because of the God that we believed in. 07:02 Some of them came with a big ax and wanted to kill me. 07:06 But I told them, "No, it's not my God 07:08 "that caused this problem. 07:09 "It's the weather itself that has changed." 07:13 (drowned out by child) 07:17 When that problem was gone, another problem came. 07:20 The soldiers came to my house and they shot my dog 07:23 and my chickens and took them all away. 07:45 They also didn't let their children 07:46 come and use the well at our house. 07:49 They said, "It's the well of Jesus. 07:51 "We hate Jesus so don't go there." 08:10 One night there was a group of soldiers drinking together 08:12 and they were planning to come to my house and kill me. 08:15 They had maybe seven guns. 08:17 Fortunately there was one man who disagreed with them. 08:20 He stood up and said, "Why are we going to harm him? 08:22 "He didn't do anything to us, 08:24 "he didn't harm us so why are we doing this?" 08:27 Then the other six men were afraid, 08:29 thinking that other people would hear about their plan 08:31 so they canceled it. 08:34 That was when I knew that God is my protector. 08:37 He protects me from all harm. 08:43 - Wow. 08:44 - Wow, you have a lot of exciting stories. 08:46 - Yeah. 08:47 - Could you share with us the really exciting one 08:49 about when your daughter died and came back to life? 08:55 - When my daughter was very young, 08:57 about three or four years old and learning how to walk 09:00 she got really sick. 09:01 She had a fever for about a week. 09:03 We didn't know what the sickness was 09:05 because we didn't have a hospital 09:07 in that village at the time. 09:09 Then one day she got even worse. 09:12 The years before when I was in the army 09:14 I learned that if a person is unconscious 09:16 for five to 10 minutes it means that the person is dead. 09:25 That day while I was holding her 09:27 because she was so sick, she had a really high fever. 09:31 Then her eyes closed. 09:34 One hour later she stopped breathing. 09:38 She was unconscious and did not breath for half an hour. 09:43 I knew that my daughter was dead 09:44 because no one can be unconscious 09:46 and not breath for half an hour. 09:51 My wife started crying a lot and screaming very loudly 09:54 because she knew that her daughter had died. 09:57 She was crying out to Jesus. 10:02 My older son ran back and forth screaming and crying. 10:05 - Run back and forth, screaming and crying. 10:10 - We only prayed to God because 10:11 we didn't know who could help us. 10:13 Then because my wife was screaming 10:15 so loudly the neighbors came. 10:17 They came and watched. 10:18 They saw that my daughter had already died. 10:21 She was lying on the floor and not breathing. 10:24 Then I prayed to God and said, 10:26 "If you want these people around me to know 10:28 "that you are a real God, please do a miracle." 10:31 So I picked up my daughter and took some water 10:34 in my hand and put it on her forehead. 10:36 My wife was still crying and screaming to Jesus. 10:39 Half an hour later my daughter started to open her eyes. 10:46 When she fainted her eyes ere wall white. 10:50 Now she started to open her eyes little by little. 10:54 I looked at her stomach and saw that it was moving. 10:57 She started breathing. 10:58 I had hope now that my daughter would live. 11:03 The neighbors around me that were watching 11:04 said that maybe I had some magic or something 11:07 to make my daughter live. 11:08 They said that if it happened to them 11:10 their children would just die. 11:12 I told them that it's not me, 11:13 "it's my Jesus, my God who did this. 11:18 I was so happy and had so much joy in my heart. 11:22 So I was thinking, what can I do 11:23 to make, like, a sign with God? 12:06 - Wow. 12:07 - What a great testimony of God's power. 12:09 And that was you, right? 12:12 - [Mary Ann] Wow. 12:14 - Praise the Lord. 12:17 - Well thank you so much for telling us your stories and, 12:21 (foreign language) 12:23 - You're welcome. 12:24 - We really enjoyed visiting with you guys 12:25 and getting to know more about what's going on here. 12:30 Thank you for sharing. 12:32 (foreign language) 12:36 It was so amazing to get to sit in the presence of someone 12:38 who was actually raised 12:39 from the dead. - Yeah. 12:40 - It was such a great display of God's power. 12:43 - Yeah, her parents had so much faith 12:45 and we can exercise faith 12:46 like that too. - Mmhmm. 12:48 - By not being afraid to answer when God calls us. 12:51 - Yeah, another good example is the next missionary 12:54 that we will be visiting. 12:55 - Mmhmm. - After visiting 12:56 the Global Mission pioneer, 12:58 we had to leave Wat Preah Puth. 12:59 We traveled from Siem Reap by van down to Kampong Cham 13:03 to meet Miranda Lundby. 13:04 - Mmhmm. - On the way we had to cross 13:06 the Mekong River by ferry. 13:08 - It was really hot and dusty. 13:09 - But all of Cambodia is. 13:10 - And you get used to it after a while. 13:12 - It's interesting that the majority 13:13 of the world's population lives where it's so hot. 13:16 - Mmhmm, but I guess that's where we need 13:17 to go and reach them. 13:19 - Yeah, so Miranda Lundby was a student missionary 13:22 with AFM when we visited her. 13:24 She was 20 years old and already working 13:26 on her master's in teaching. 13:27 - Her chosen life work is to set up schools 13:30 in small, poor villages as a way 13:32 to share Jesus with the people living there. 13:34 - She introduced us to her Cambodian family. 13:39 (rhythmic music) 13:40 (car horns) 13:41 (hooves trotting) 13:53 (bridge clacking) 13:58 (children chattering) 14:10 (donkey braying) 14:13 We're here in a Cambodian village 14:15 with Miranda Lundby and we're gonna ask her 14:17 some questions about what she does here. 14:26 - The first time that I actually did anything 14:28 involved in missions was going to Honduras 14:32 and doing a Share Him series with my sister. 14:35 I was 15 and we spoke to about 100 people each night. 14:40 So that was the first thing that got us into missions. 14:44 And then just ever since then 14:46 I've pretty much been obsessed. 14:48 (luaghter) 14:50 I've had lots of friends and family 14:53 who've also been interested in missions 14:54 so I've been inspired throughout my childhood 14:58 and teens to be involved in missions. 15:01 - So why did you come here to Cambodia? 15:03 - I chose to come here because I'd been here before. 15:08 So when I was young I had a friend 15:12 who had come to Cambodia and they'd had stories 15:15 all about it and it immediately 15:17 went to the top of my list of places I wanted to go. 15:20 So I got invited when I was 18 to come with another 15:27 gentleman and his family and my brother. 15:29 And so we all came and taught for a month and a half 15:33 and then when I left I knew it's where I wanted 15:36 to come back and work and I felt like God had really led 15:41 and showed me just how much I can give in this area. 15:47 - How long have you been here? 15:48 - I've been here five months this time. 15:51 - So you work with Muslims and stuff. 15:53 So you why are you wearing the head coverings? 15:56 - Well here, even though the Muslim religion 15:59 is a bit more nominal, they still have traditions 16:02 and things that are respectful in their community. 16:05 And the head coverings are respectful, 16:07 especially around the men. 16:09 Like if we're in the house and it's just ladies, 16:11 a lot of times we don't wear them 16:13 but when men who aren't related to us or are our elders 16:16 come in it's a sign of respect. 16:19 It's a modesty. 16:22 - And what do you do here? 16:25 - Right now I teach. 16:27 I teach three English classes. 16:31 One is Muslim with adults or older teens 16:34 and the other two are classes split up 16:37 by ages 5-10 and 10 to 15 or 16 years old. 16:42 - Could you share a story with us 16:43 about working here or something? 16:46 - It's kind of exciting because we have people 16:49 who are really interested when you come and work 16:52 in a community to know what you're doing 16:54 or why you're there. 16:55 You're just this white, young girl 16:57 that comes and decides to live with a family. 16:59 But nobody else, no other missionaries live here. 17:03 But they have had experience with other 17:06 Christian believing missionaries coming through. 17:09 And they have some friends that they really appreciate 17:12 in their life and so we actually have a couple of people 17:14 in this community who are believers in Jesus. 17:17 And they have Bibles and books and they're interested 17:22 in listening to what we have to say. 17:24 They talk to me about the Buddhist people 17:28 that live around them because they have a different 17:29 belief system so they see things 17:31 that they do that they don't like. 17:33 Or they think they're sinful. 17:34 But they talk to me about, oh we believe the same, 17:38 even though they're Muslim and I'm Christian, 17:40 the say that we have the same morals. 17:43 I was able to share with them 17:45 that it's not because I'm afraid of sin, 17:47 because they're very fear based. 17:49 They're afraid to sin because they don't want bad things 17:52 to come with sinning. 17:53 And I was able to share that I don't, 17:57 I choose not to sin because I love Jesus, 17:58 not because I'm afraid. 18:01 - Mmhmm. - Mmhmm. 18:02 - And that really got them thinking. 18:04 So those are a couple of stories that I've been able 18:07 to do in the short time I've lived here. 18:09 We're also hoping to do more Bible studies with them 18:13 but it is a little hard 18:16 because we have a lady who lives here. 18:19 She needs glasses so we're working to get her to the capitol 18:22 to be able to get her some glasses so that we can sit down 18:25 and actually have side by side Bible studies. 18:28 - How did missions change your worldview and ambitions? 18:33 - Well missions pretty much became my life worldview. 18:37 (laughter) 18:39 I think that as Christians all around the world 18:42 our worldview should be focused on God. 18:46 It should be a Biblical worldview 18:47 that encompasses focusing on Jesus first and foremost 18:51 and I think a lot of times we see cultural differences 18:54 and we think, oh something's not right or something's bad. 18:57 But it's just that it's different than what we know. 19:01 And if we can turn and see what's important to God 19:04 and what's important in His word 19:07 then we can see that there's actually 19:08 a lot more common ground to reach people with. 19:11 And as far as my ambitions, just doing missions full time 19:17 for as long as I can. 19:18 (laughter) 19:20 - So how can young people get involved in missions? 19:24 - Like you? 19:26 Well, there are a lot of opportunities, I would say. 19:30 What really helps is if you have 19:32 parents that are interested. 19:35 If your parents are interested, 19:35 invested in spreading the gospel, 19:40 then young people can be very involved. 19:44 There's a lot going on in the United States. 19:46 There's GYC and there's different camp meetings 19:50 and such that young people can get involved in. 19:51 And there's also mission trips that young people can do 19:55 through Share Him and Maranatha, 19:57 short term things. - Mmhmm. 19:59 - But also if you can learn abut other cultures 20:03 and you can see them, the sky is pretty much the limit. 20:09 Fundraising in the States, speaking, 20:11 going and visiting people and like you said, for you, 20:17 if you're younger, if your parents are involved 20:19 I would definitely suggest doing 20:21 as much enrichment as you can. 20:25 (laughter) 20:26 - You can get a heart for it. 20:27 - Yeah, get a heart for it and really, 20:30 I think sometimes being kids, young people, 20:33 I know I wanted to go out when I was, like, 13, 14, 20:37 I just wanted to go be a missionary. 20:39 But you can't do that. 20:40 You have family and you have to be with them 20:43 but I know that my parents continued to fuel that desire 20:49 and I think that is a big difference. 20:51 I know a lot of young missionaries I work with, 20:53 a lot of the reason that they're interested in missions 20:55 is that their family was interested in missions. 20:58 Or that they met somebody 20:59 who was really passionate about it. 21:01 So if you can stay passionate 21:05 and be able to share with people and have friends 21:08 that are passionate about the same thing, I would say 21:11 that friends are a big influence on young people. 21:13 And if you can have friends who are really, truly interested 21:16 in serving, then you can follow that desire 21:18 that God has for you. 21:20 I don't think it ever goes away. 21:23 - A lot of young people want to plan out their life, 21:25 they know what they want to be, 21:27 where they want to go to school, want to get married. 21:29 So what do you think about that? 21:32 - Well I would say I am a planner, 21:35 so I'm constantly trying to make plans 21:37 but the plan has changed probably 100 times. 21:40 And I think it happens that way for everybody. 21:43 God laughs when we make plans 21:46 and He has a better plan. 21:48 So while I think it is important to have goals 21:53 and to have aspirations and things you want to do, 21:57 because that's what really gives you the desire 22:00 to move forward in your life. 22:02 I think keeping Him as the front focus 22:09 is most important because when you give it up to Him 22:14 then He can make it a lot more exciting, 22:16 and a lot more interesting and even the struggles 22:19 that might come, they're easier 22:23 compared to trying to figure it out all by yourself. 22:27 - What should we plan for? 22:30 - I would say planning to be of greatest service 22:35 in this world and to be able to share 22:39 and teach souls for our next life. 22:42 Is probably the best education you can get. 22:44 So anything that can further your ability 22:47 to share about Jesus, about His love 22:51 and about the wonderful truth that we have 22:53 and His coming again soon. 22:55 I think that preparation is probably the best. 22:59 - Lay up treasure 23:00 in heaven. - Yes. 23:06 - I think treasure in heaven 23:08 is the souls that we can take with us. 23:10 It's the people and the friends that we make 23:12 with Jesus that we can be with for eternity. 23:29 - And could you show us where you stay? 23:32 = Well this is the house in which I stay 23:33 but they have offered me their bedroom. 23:35 It's one of their two bedrooms and so I think 23:38 I have taken the parents' room 23:40 but they wouldn't have it any other way. 23:42 So they sleep out in the open 23:44 but they have given me this room to use. 23:47 It has my teaching supplies in it and also where I sleep. 23:51 - [Lilyann] Ah, very nice. 23:52 - [Miranda] Thank you. 23:54 (soothing music) 23:58 - So the house actually, I think is really nice. 24:01 It's nicer, it's fancier, even though 24:04 it's all by hand silk. I think it looks nicer. 24:18 (motorbike engine revving) 24:32 (sheep bleating) 24:38 (foreign language) 24:43 - We're at a Cham house, where they make some clothes here. 24:46 It's like a tailor shop, I guess. 24:48 And they held English classes 24:51 or Sarah holds English classes so we wanted to come here 24:55 and see what she does and ask her a few questions. 24:58 - So why did you decide to come here 24:59 and work with the Cham People? 25:02 I wanted to come back to Cambodia because the whole country. 25:07 Because I was born in Cambodia 25:08 and I wanted to learn my language and also help my people 25:12 and teach English and most of all 25:15 spread Jesus hopefully wherever I go. 25:17 But the Cham People are very special. 25:19 They're actually Muslim and so they wear head coverings 25:22 and they're very extremely modest and, 25:30 (motorcycle engines) 25:47 - What do you do here? 25:48 - I teach English here, I tutor one student 25:51 and I teach him business vocabulary. 25:54 And then I teach about 30, around 30 students, younger kids. 26:00 I teach them basic English. 26:02 - How many classes do you teach? 26:03 - Three classes in total, every day. 26:12 - Especially student missionaries. 26:16 It's maybe the longest year of your life 26:19 but I think it's probably gonna be 26:21 the best year of your life too 26:22 'cause you get to experience so many different things 26:25 and it totally opens up your eyes to a different reality 26:30 and hopefully it will change you for life. 26:33 When I go back to the U.S., 26:34 I hope to not go back to the way I was 26:37 but continue developing into a new, more mature person 26:41 because of this. 26:43 - Well thank you for sharing with us. 26:44 - Yeah, thank you for coming. - And we enjoyed interacting 26:46 with your class a little bit. 26:47 (chuckling) 26:50 (hopeful music) 27:14 - That was so cool to see how she just lives 27:16 with the people and becomes their friend. 27:18 - I was so inspired by her enthusiasm. 27:21 - Yeah, it's evident that she really lets Christ 27:23 be the main focus of her life. 27:25 - Yeah, it's easy for us to become too enthusiastic 27:29 and rush into things that we think are what God 27:31 wants us to do. 27:32 It's important that we surrender to Him 27:34 and wait on Him while keeping heaven as our goal. 27:37 - And waiting doesn't man not doing anything either. 27:40 God can't direct your steps unless your feet are moving. 27:43 He will guide and lead us as we keep our eyes fixed on Him. 27:47 - See you next time on MissionTREK. 27:48 - And remember to pray for the unreached. 27:51 (inspirational music) |
Revised 2019-11-11