#169 - Christ Is Risen!

“Were you there when they crucified my Lord? ...Were you there when they nailed Him to the tree?.... Were you there when they pierced Him in the side?....Were you there when they laid him in the tomb? ... “ 

As we stood and watched the congregant walk down the middle aisle carrying the wooden cross with the nails protruding from it, and the worship soloist sang "Were You There", tears poured down over my face. As part of the service after we took communion, we were invited to go and kneel at the Cross, to touch it, and then to sit and pray.  

Even now, hours later as I write this, tears flow as I remember the price our Lord paid on the Cross for me and for you. This outpouring of tears was partly rooted in the fact that here in my heart country, with the Khmer New Year approaching, the focus is on celebrating the New Year. The country essentially shuts down for about 5 days or so as families return to home provinces and schools and businesses are closed. The focus is not on the most important tenet of the Christian faith, the most painful death that Jesus chose, His suffering, and yes, the power of His resurrection so that we can have eternal life. 

So when I was invited to go to a Good Friday service at another church, I went there so I could sit and worship and yes, amidst the tears, I celebrated our Lord Jesus Christ with fellow believers! Just 2 days previously I was volunteering at my church here while we had visiting guest speakers do a series of seminars on building a strong church. Many from the provinces came to be discipled as well as anyone who was involved in church planting. I was humbled by the many older men and women, poor, yet rich in His Spirit, who were singing and taking notes to study to take back to the province where they could then put into practice what they were learning about building a strong church. 

I was also chatting with the youth volunteers around the info desk. I had been attempting to read my Bible in Khmer on my phone, but unfortunately, I could not have the English translation simultaneously on the screen so I could not hazard guesses on the meaning of many words, so I reached out to the Khmer youth around me for help! This led to discussions on ... Khmer New Year for them, and Good Friday and Easter for me! Embarrassingly, I have to say, tears were coming to my eyes as I was explaining my confusion as to why even SOME (not all) Christian Khmer were focusing on the holidays, and not Easter! 

Surprisingly one of the worship youth leaders came up to ask me about the significance of the Easter egg! He was trying to understand why, when he read most of the news from abroad, they talked about the Easter egg and chocolates! I quickly tried to think of how to explain this in a simple way. Non-believers in Jesus Christ focus on Santa Claus and family holidays for Christmas; non-believers also focus on the rabbit and eggs and chocolates for Easter! Believers focus on the reason why we celebrate Christmas. We focus on the birth of Jesus Christ, and for Easter, the focus is on the Cross, the death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ. However, we do incorporate Santa Claus and Easter eggs in both events, and having eggs painted and hidden so the kids can go find them can all be part of telling the Easter story with the prize at the end being told the FACTS (not story) of Jesus’ sacrifice for all of us! This led to more questions and ultimately we finished up by singing the new worship songs that were on display for sale (written and produced by my worship team at New Life Church!), singing in Khmer and English, and me trying to sing acapella with them! 

It was wonderful and the same youth leader was sharing a song he was writing and was teaching me to teach the lyrics from there! As we celebrate with family and friends the wonder of Easter, I say to you ...Christ is Risen!, to which you respond...HE is Risen Indeed! 
Yay! 

Let us be bold to say why we are celebrating and let us dance and worship Him! 

As I write this, my soul sister Linda G sent me a link to the article about the French soldier who risked his life to save another and how the soldier’s widow attributed his bravery to his belief in Jesus Christ. Here is the link:
http://nationalpost.com/opinion/np-view-once-again-a-man-dies-so-that-others-can-be-saved
Thanks Linda G!

Graduation from the language school is on April 6th, so I will send pictures after!

Love, His Warrior and Disciple, 

Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia, 

Your sister, Vidya