He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes of His people. He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the Lord! (Verses 7-9)
He does not withdraw His eyes from the righteous. Job 36
Pol Pot destroyed twenty-five percent of the Cambodian population in the killing fields of the mid- seventies. In order to establish a peasant society easily controlled by his Khmer Rouge, the educators, doctors, lawyers and business owners were slain either by overwork, execution or starvation. Pol Pot called this his Super Great Leap Forward, an echo of Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution called the Great Leap Forward. All of Cambodia's cities were forcefully evacuated, foreigners expelled, embassies closed and foreign assistance refused. Newspapers and television stations were shut down, bicycles and radios confiscated in an effort to strip the people of any outside contact. The nation, disbursed, was then coerced into slave labor. "What is rotten must be removed," declared Pol Pot as he executed at least 1.5 million people. The nation has never fully recovered from those years. Land mines still dot the countryside. In the eighties, ninety-percent of the people lived in poverty. They have crawled out of that scenario, but remnants remain. Phnom Penh is home to a vast garbage heap where children play as their family digs through the garbage for food or items to sell. The smell is rancid, the children filthy, their life seemingly hopeless.
A young farmer was sent as a rice expert to Laos, married a Laotian princess, and settled back in the states to live a quiet agrarian life and pastor. But God planted a seed in their hearts. Talked to the couple about Southeast Asia and His concerns for what He saw there. God had a plan. They were to execute it. So they packed up and moved to Cambodia, thinking they would preach the gospel, maybe. Establish a church. But after six months, the couple was still wondering what the call from God could mean. No church yet. Thinking they'd go back to the States. Farm again. The quiet life. Then a thing happened. A young man was kidnapped. Held for ransom. A prayer meeting was held in which they asked God for help in bringing the young man home. A headstrong woman who didn't know God said she'd ride a motorcycle alone to the drop-off place. She wasn't afraid. It was the stipulation. A woman must come alone. The woman owned a motorcycle repair shop. Tough as nails. She got on her motorcycle and started away. Fear stopped her. An intuition that she needed more than her own gumption. So she returned to the prayer group the missionary couple led. "I can't go there if you don't pray for me." The headstrong prayed over. Now ready. A new Christian on a journey of rescue. When she returned safely with the young man, she also returned a new person. Noticed by everyone around for the change in her life. And then another thing happened. A mother who'd heard this woman was now a Christian brought her infant child to her. "I can't keep her," the young mother cried. "You are now a Christian. You must take care of her." Not possible. So, the lady took the child to the missionary couple. "Here."
Now orphanages dot the countryside in Cambodia. Widows who would otherwise be begging on the streets are given a home, food to eat and children to care for. All the idea of a God Whose eyes don't leave those He loves--widows and orphans in particular. And in the process God reveals His love through Jesus to those who have borne, and still bear, such grief. I love that the Father tapped a son and daughter of His on the shoulder and said, "Go." To a place He could see needed them. Then didn't do what they expected Him to. All because God saw children in need of mothers and the barren in need of children.
This I have seen with my own eyes. I have touched the precious hands of the Cambodian children, braided their hair and danced in their orphanages. I've watched with tearful wonder as they lift their hands in praise to the Father Who rescued them. Many are grown now, participating in their churches and giving to their communities. They are loved and purposeful. And serve other orphans and widows. Indeed our Father raises us from the dust, takes us from the ash heap and makes us royalty. Children of the King of Kings. Only our God could devise a plan so revolutionary and unique. He never closes His eyes to evil. He always brings redemption. And always in an unusual way. The God of the unexpected. He makes a thing happen that changes an entire country. Or one little life.
He does not withdraw His eyes from the righteous. Job 36
Pol Pot destroyed twenty-five percent of the Cambodian population in the killing fields of the mid- seventies. In order to establish a peasant society easily controlled by his Khmer Rouge, the educators, doctors, lawyers and business owners were slain either by overwork, execution or starvation. Pol Pot called this his Super Great Leap Forward, an echo of Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution called the Great Leap Forward. All of Cambodia's cities were forcefully evacuated, foreigners expelled, embassies closed and foreign assistance refused. Newspapers and television stations were shut down, bicycles and radios confiscated in an effort to strip the people of any outside contact. The nation, disbursed, was then coerced into slave labor. "What is rotten must be removed," declared Pol Pot as he executed at least 1.5 million people. The nation has never fully recovered from those years. Land mines still dot the countryside. In the eighties, ninety-percent of the people lived in poverty. They have crawled out of that scenario, but remnants remain. Phnom Penh is home to a vast garbage heap where children play as their family digs through the garbage for food or items to sell. The smell is rancid, the children filthy, their life seemingly hopeless.
A young farmer was sent as a rice expert to Laos, married a Laotian princess, and settled back in the states to live a quiet agrarian life and pastor. But God planted a seed in their hearts. Talked to the couple about Southeast Asia and His concerns for what He saw there. God had a plan. They were to execute it. So they packed up and moved to Cambodia, thinking they would preach the gospel, maybe. Establish a church. But after six months, the couple was still wondering what the call from God could mean. No church yet. Thinking they'd go back to the States. Farm again. The quiet life. Then a thing happened. A young man was kidnapped. Held for ransom. A prayer meeting was held in which they asked God for help in bringing the young man home. A headstrong woman who didn't know God said she'd ride a motorcycle alone to the drop-off place. She wasn't afraid. It was the stipulation. A woman must come alone. The woman owned a motorcycle repair shop. Tough as nails. She got on her motorcycle and started away. Fear stopped her. An intuition that she needed more than her own gumption. So she returned to the prayer group the missionary couple led. "I can't go there if you don't pray for me." The headstrong prayed over. Now ready. A new Christian on a journey of rescue. When she returned safely with the young man, she also returned a new person. Noticed by everyone around for the change in her life. And then another thing happened. A mother who'd heard this woman was now a Christian brought her infant child to her. "I can't keep her," the young mother cried. "You are now a Christian. You must take care of her." Not possible. So, the lady took the child to the missionary couple. "Here."
Now orphanages dot the countryside in Cambodia. Widows who would otherwise be begging on the streets are given a home, food to eat and children to care for. All the idea of a God Whose eyes don't leave those He loves--widows and orphans in particular. And in the process God reveals His love through Jesus to those who have borne, and still bear, such grief. I love that the Father tapped a son and daughter of His on the shoulder and said, "Go." To a place He could see needed them. Then didn't do what they expected Him to. All because God saw children in need of mothers and the barren in need of children.
This I have seen with my own eyes. I have touched the precious hands of the Cambodian children, braided their hair and danced in their orphanages. I've watched with tearful wonder as they lift their hands in praise to the Father Who rescued them. Many are grown now, participating in their churches and giving to their communities. They are loved and purposeful. And serve other orphans and widows. Indeed our Father raises us from the dust, takes us from the ash heap and makes us royalty. Children of the King of Kings. Only our God could devise a plan so revolutionary and unique. He never closes His eyes to evil. He always brings redemption. And always in an unusual way. The God of the unexpected. He makes a thing happen that changes an entire country. Or one little life.
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