My life before I followed Jesus
I was born in 1965. My early years were shaped during a time of turmoil in SE Asia, including a horrible civil war in Cambodia. I had no respect for public authorities nor did I follow the laws of so
ciety. My life was lonely, full of fear, and panic. There was even one time during the civil war when I was almost killed. I wanted to kill those who were my enemy. I saw no place for forgiveness toward other people, and my life was totally without purpose. I even hated foreign religious beliefs, and I did not want them to be practiced in Cambodia. I followed the traditions of my parents and had been brought up as a Buddhist.
When I heard about JesusDuring those difficult days of my early life, I often questioned within myself whether there even was a “god”, or a place better than the earth. I wanted to know if there really was a heaven or a hell beyond this life. In 1991 a friend, who was not a follower of Jesus, told me about he had heard about someone called, Jesus Christ. I was interested in knowing more about Jesus and how His followers lived. So I looked for their meetings and attended for about three weeks. I did not understand at all what they were talking about, however, I was interested in the nice sound of the songs they sang praising to God. On the forth week of being with these followers of Jesus, I was touched in my heart when I heard them say that “Jesus can save humans from their sins”. This reminded me of a time when I was about seven years old, when I was able to read a little, I read part of a book that was saying that it was this same Jesus who created water, land, fire and wind.
I continued to meet with these people who followed Jesus, but I kept on wondering if Jesus was really a true God, and if God really existed. I also wondered what would happen to me if I became a follower of Christ. I wanted to know if others would hate me or love me. Then one day, I decided to ask a simple prayer of this God by asking Him to help me quit smoking, if he was a true God. On that very day in 1992, I felt that I did not want to smoke a cigarette at all! I was so happy because I had tried to quit smoking by myself many times, but always failed. I decided then and there to trust in Jesus as the true God.
I made a commitment that I believed in Jesus always no matter whether others might hate me or love me. I started to tell my wife about the importance of following Jesus. I told my cousins and friends about Jesus as I wanted them to follow Jesus too.
The Call of God to Serve
I began to feel that God was calling me to serve him by telling even more people about Him. But I did not feel that I could do anything like that. I enjoyed attending the bible studies and fellowshipping with other believers, but I felt that to become a leader might be a very difficult thing for me to do. I spent all my money to buy a motorbike so I could attend bible study and worship more often. But, three months latter, someone stole it from me! I literally cried because of feeling so sad about the loss, and I wanted to know why there was such a bad thing happening to me. I even felt so ashamed about the bad thing that had happened to me, I no longer had the courage to share with my wife and others about Jesus.
Because of the shame, and sorrow of having the bike stolen, I knelt down and started to pray with tears, that if He gave me another motorbike, I would serve Him. About a week latter, I further prayed that I will serve Him forever, if He provided another motorbike for me. I started to believe that if God wanted me to serve Him, He would fulfill all my needs. Two months latter the wife of the thief who stole my motorbike came and confessed her husband’s crime. She also brought an older motorbike to us to replace the stolen one, so we did not make a complaint to the police. I accepted the old motorbike with joy and forgiveness. I then decided to start sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with other people, and gather with believers at a friend’s house near my house.
I did not want to be the leader of the group, and I just helped to bring the new believers together to study the bible and with all my heart, I helped those who came to me for help. We met together for about six weeks, but there was still not really a leader among the ten believers. So I began leading the worship and visited the homes of the believers. I was hungry for the Word of God and I was curious to know the meaning and the good things the Word of God has for believers. I read and finished the New Testament about two times. But there were still many things I did not understand and wondered if I was really called to lead among the believers. I then met a Cambodian Christian from the US and he helped me discover many truths in God’s Word and I started to read the New Testament again with great joy and understanding. I joined with other believers to plant new churches in seven places by 1996 and as of 2008 we have grown to see churches planted in over 90 places as disciples continue to make disciples.
NOTE: Pastor Saran is a trainer and supervisor in his province for the One Prayer church planting initiative in Cambodia. There are still hundreds of unreached villages in his province without even a single believer. Pray that the Lord will bless them with an additional 25 – 30 new churches as they reach into these needy villages and that a church planting movement can begin that will spread to surrounding villages and provinces.
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