It happened. Met a lady in red, at a cafe in kampot. There I was sitting at my own table, ordering breakfast when I heard someone mention youversion. Did I hear that correctly? I had to strain a little more. Dusty street corner with many a moto buzzing by. After several more minutes, I think I did hear “Bible.” Then I clearly heard “translations,” so I got up and walked over to their table, introduced myself, and they invited me to sit down and join their table for breakfast.
It was fellow brothers and sisters. I wasn’t even sure what I would be doing this morning. Where I would be staying, where I would be going. But I knew I had to get out of the room, get some fresh air (not really fresh air). I had two choices - the restaurant on the left and the restaurant on the right. I turned, looked around - they were selling the same food.
I chose the restaurant on the left because I ate there last night and it had good food, and if I find a place with good food in a foreign place I return to it. But something called me back to sit on the restaurant on the right. It had more sunshine, and my room had heavily tinted windows, such that even at 4 o’clock in the afternoon with the sun directly at horizon, there was still very little light penetrating through the bedroom windows. I don’t know if I actually want more sunshine since it’s so hot out here and if that’s a good reason to sit there. Still I turned around and went to that restaurant.
Anyhow, upon hearing, “youversion”, “translation”, and “Bible” in succession I walked over to their table and sat down and joined them at their request. It turns out the woman was on the same journey as I was. Spurned and unsupported… by her church officially, she came out to Cambo on her own. She also had the same issues. Serve with an org? But she felt like there were too many structures. Too many boxes, she pantomimed.
So she came out in November. Kep was calling her. And back she came to Kep, not able to do anything at home. The place she found in Kep - her home, well her home on this earth she said. Ah, if more Christians could think like that. As a realtor*, I encounter too many people trying to make a nice, permanent earthly home which, at max, lasts only 70 years before it goes, and not enough time preparing for their eternal home.
So, here she was. In Kep, looking for a place to live. God has shown me my template in having me meet this woman. It was a divine appointment.
In fact, she was at this cafe to meet a third person, and well, who should the third person be but me. Of course, she and her friend were expecting and hoping to meet someone else, but this person never showed, and in fact it was me, stranger that I was, the third person that walked up to their table from the other side of the restaurant.
She had staked her claim. Came back to Kep. Found a nice little apartment, well furnished, actually a little too big for her. Still, it was in a good location next to a cafe. She wanted it but couldn’t bring herself to spend all that money on herself. Then she heard about this place called Khmer Hands. Maybe she could work there. She always wanted to work at a hotel like me. She heard good things about this place so she went to the hotel seeking work and found out that she could not be hired, as there is a quote for foreign workers. For every 1 foreign employee there must be a certain amount of Khmer staff.
So she couldn’t work there, and if she couldn’t work there, then obviously it’s not possible to stay there. She told the hotel owner, who was a Christian, her predicament, and he told her he and his wife actually had a property for rent. She told him she actually found a property she liked already, and since she couldn’t work and stay at the hotel, she would probably rent this other place she already had in mind. She showed him the picture of the place and he said, “That’s my place!”
So, in the end, she ended up living at the hotel owner’s apartment, the one she wanted from the beginning but couldn’t justify the cost. And now she doesn’t have to work at the hotel.
God works amazing things and sets up amazing appointments. One of the things I had been praying for was - God, show me all and I will do it. He didn't show me it all, and I realized after some time of continually praying this that maybe because I would get scared if he showed me it all at once. So just show me the next step, lead me to the next step, and I will take it.
This lady had been on the same journey as I had. She came out in November, after being back in Germany, realizing she was not getting anything done there. Realizing, with disappointment, the lack of support and understanding she was getting from her church. She has found individual supporters, knows her calling which only she can describe and which the Holy Spirit has placed in her. Came back to Cambodia in November. Now she ministers, witnesses, and spends time with people, living on savings without a job until that time God provides another means for her.
We also had a conversation whether we should learn Chinese or Khmer, and we both agreed we suck at languages, and can only learn one language at a time and that it takes a lot of time. Perhaps it is ministering to the nearby people first in the place where God has us, with our current capacity and means.
One step at a time. Will you follow?
*Strangely, the following morning I got a referral to represent someone as their agent in their house search.