Monday, July 21, 2008

Showers Of Blessings

I came back yesterday night from a hectic three-day work-trip to Cambodia. I left on Friday morning. After arriving at Phnom Penh International Airport, the hectic schedules began. It was basically visitation upon visitation. By the time each day ended, my Missions Committee member and I were drained physically, emotionally and mentally. Both of us have never slept so soundly before. :)

Yesterday morning I could have slept much later if not for one of the most eventful day of my life. I was woken up abruptly by my Missions Committee member! The whole room was flooded! A tube linking the washing machine to the pipe got dislodged overnight and the whole of the third and fourth floors were water-logged.

We spent about an hour or so drying the place up. We had to rush as we were all running late for the morning service at the Khmer church that my church is supporting. Just before we left the house, my missionary-friend's wife, while carrying her baby girl and walking down the stairs, tripped and hurt her back. She felt a little giddy after that and had to rest. After assessing that she was fine, my missionary-friend decided to go ahead with the church-visit we planned. His wife stayed home to recuperate.

Well, we were late as there were several traffic congestions along the way. It is election period for the country and there were loads of supporters from various political parties holding their walk-abouts.

It was great to catch up with my Khmer siblings-in-Christ at the church though my heart was saddened at the attendance. There were only about 14 worshippers. Several could not come as they had to work; some had to take care of their children who are sick, mainly for stomach ailment. I felt so burdened that I decided to spend some time praying for each and every one of them by name. I trust that God will heal those who are sick; make time for those who are working to come to church; and to bring about a revival in the church.

My team stayed back to fellowship with the members. Many of them were excited to know that two mission teams from my church will be coming over in December. :) I am looking forward to that trip too.

Well, the whole of yesterday got to do with water! On our way to the airport, it started to pour! In fact, I do not know what other words to use to describe how heavy the rain was! I have never seen such rain before. My missionary-friend tried to rush to the airport as we were late. Praise the Lord we managed to be there in one piece and just slightly late. The right side of my clothes were drenched as water started to seep into the van. That was how terrible the weather was!

The flight back to Singapore was delayed due to the downpour. My Missions Committee member and I basically had drinks at the cafe. I also called my sister to chat with her as she was unwell with sore throat, flu and outbreak of rashes. Thank God she is much better now after seeing the doctor this afternoon.

Oh yah! Another thing which got to do with water was the need to sponge my missionary-friend's daughter whose temperature rose to as high as 40.1 degrees Celsius. It happened just after midnight. Praise God that she has recovered since!

Wow! Water! What an encounter with it! When I was in the plane, I was just reflecting. Was yesterday a bad day? Why did one incident happen after another? Well, one thing I realised was this - though so many things occured without any of us expecting them, every one of us were not disheartened or angry or discouraged.

My missionary-friend could have reacted with anxieties for his wife and his house but he did not. Instead thoughout the time he sang hymns and songs of praise! His wife, who was injured, did not react with anger against the flood for making her fall. Instead she was still able to smile and assured us that all would be fine. My Missions Committee member just quietly did the mopping of the floor and said he would use that period as quiet time with the Lord. For me, as I was doing the cleaning up, I basically prayed.

All of us could have just given up and concluded that it would be a bad day but we did not! Thanks be to God for that! With the attitude that God is in control and that we could all learn something from yesterday's experience, it gave us hope to go through the next hour without much fear or despair. Hallelujah!

My conclusion to the above-mentioned was this - the water which overflowed at my missionary-friend's home and the heavy downpour were evidences of God's blessings rained upon my missionary-friend and his family; my Mission Committee member; and me! Thanks be to God for them! All of us learnt something good which will now be beneficial to our pilgrim's journey.

That is all I want to share for now though there are a lot more to blog about. I shall do it soon.

I am tired. Time to sleep.

Good night!

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

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