echoing on the brothers' entries...

"I know God does all things for His Glory and the good of His people and that it is not about us but about Him, still the human suffering was terrible high." -alain
seriously, how does one react to such tragedy and still trust God? it's so easy to give up and turn away from God in times like these. i'm always reminded of this precious verse that saved and carried, and is still carrying, me through.
"Abba Father," he said, "everything is possible for You. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will." -Mark 14:36
oh my dear Jesus. i stand in awe of You. all praises to You and You alone. please humble me and teach me to be obedient, because God's plan is so much bigger than what i can comprehend.

"I its quite easy to slip into a mindset of, I come from America where we have automatic lawn sprinklers and 19756354 channels to pick from on TV, I can do so much to help you and your little country. Instead I want to be taught and ministered to by God and His people in Cambodia as much as, if not more than, I will teach and minister to them." -jonathan
it hurts each time i learn and understand more about cambodia's history, but like jonathan said, i shouldn't go there w/ an attitude to "help" this poor country. yes, we should go w/ a "how can we help" kind of attitude, but it's not because we have so much more than them. in fact, the cambodia church has taught me to be on time for church. we dont realize how spoiled we are in the states. it takes me about 25 minutes to get to church; it takes them hours riding on bumpy roads. my church starts at 930 in the morning; theirs start at 7 am. i used to be 10 minutes late every Sunday; their church fills up before the service starts. they taught me to thirst for God. they showed me how important it was to prepare my heart before Him. i saw how eager they were to gather together to praise and worship Him. it's beautiful.
- - -
i think this is a good time to include the following in this entry. i wrote this in my xanga about a month ago.

let me share w/ you what dave strong shared w/ rocio and i during lunch on the sunday he spoke at our church. he and four other people were planning to enter a village to visit an AIDS patient, but they finally decided to cut the group down to two men, since they didn't want to create a scene w/ "four white guys making their way into the village." as they entered, they rode in the local tuk-tuk instead of taking their SUVs w/ a huge missionary logo on it. rather than using notepads from america, they bought their notepads from the local market. neatly dressed, they quietly made their way into the patient's house. dave strong and his fellow co-worker did all this to save the patient's dignity. rather than giving the patient an impression that white guys from the united states are coming w/ their fancy belongings in their fancy vehicles to visit a sick and poor cambodian, they showed their respect and considered his feelings. by that time, dave's eyes were filled w/ tears and compassion for the khmers. what a gentle and loving guy! it humbles me every time i think back to dave's words.