Having spent 2 weeks in Svay Pak and seeing and experiencing evidence of the atrocities that have occured, and are still ocurring, there, and having visited the Killing Fields and Tuol Sleng, one could be forgioven for crying out with the Psalmist ...
Why, LORD, do you stand far off?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
Psalm 10:1
Is God here? Correction, there? (I am currently sitting at gate C8 in Tai Pei, Taiwan waiting for my flight back to Vancouver) As I reflect on the past 2 weeks and particularly the "colliding worlds" which are so evident throughout Phnom Penh and Svay Pak I could be forgiven, I hope, for answering 'yes.' I have a very limited knowledge of the history of Cambodia, but I have read some of the stuff surrounding the events of 1975. Did God leave Cambodia before then? After all, how could He let the Khmeer Rouge do what they did? How long has the abuse of children been going on in and around Svay Pak? Despite the incredible work of IJM in 2003, 5 years on brothels are still operating. Kids are still being violated in the most unimaginable ways. Surely, if God was present this stuff would not be tolerated one more night.
Then I hear one word resounding in my head, over and over and over again - 'grace.' It is so easy for me to judge the animals who live in Svay Pak and run these brothels, and of course it is even easier to judge the animals that pay to come in to these brothels, but if I am going to do that then am I not judging myself as well? I am drawing lines in the sand and that is a very dangerous thing to do. Am I to declare that I am better than these people and as such I don't really need a merciful loving Saviour? I would be a fool to even think this way and so if I am openly in acceptance of grace then I must believe in my heart, despite how hard it is for me to accept the fact, that God wants to offer grace and forgiveness to these people also. As such, that explains why God has not obliterated the village by clicking His fingers. But where is He?
If you have been reading our diaries over these past 2 weeks then I would urge you to read one other thing. Gary Haugen's book "Terrify No More." I think Gary has the answer to my query. He rightly suggests that I am asking the wrong question. Instead of asking "where is God?" I need to be asking "where are God's people?" Why are we asking God to act when He has given us the resources and means, and moreover the opportunities to get involved in God's in-breaking kingdom. As Gary says ...
"In such a fallen world of wickedness and pain, there is joy to be extracted by getting into the saddle with our Lord, gripping the reigns, and riding in to the battle. ... We were created for good works." (page 243)
"Not me," I hear you cry. "God is not asking me to ride in that saddle." "I don't have the skills to do it."
You are right. Kelvin, my new found buddy and the only construction person on our team, reminded me that it is not about us. He reminded me of just how "ordinary" we are. Ten ordinary people from Vancouver who God used to do His work. Perhaps God wants more and more ordinary people to realise just how ordinary they are. Are you ordinary?
I have no idea what the future beyond this trip holds for me and my wonderful wife in Vancouver. I have finished my training to be ordained in to The Presbyterian Church in Canada, and I pray that that will occur in the near future. But even more than that I pray that I will live every day as an ordinary person. I pray that I will see the world through God's eyes and act in the ways that God has prepared for me to act.
My time at Rahab's House is over but the work in Rahab's House will continue, every single day. And I know that there is a desperate need for Rahab's Houses all over this world. Perhaps we need to open our eyes and see them.
God Bless.
Marty
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