PASSING the BATON

Mission to Cambodia & Malaysia – The first seven days since leaving England

God is light and Him is no darkness at all. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. John 9:5

It was wonderful to finally arrive in Malaysia and meet up with my friend Bobby Ho in Kuala Lum-pur. We were delayed leaving London, then again in the Emirates. It was a very tiring journey but thankfully Bobby’s wife, Fiona, had a meal ready for me when we arrived, as I needed to get to bed and rest!

The first stage of my onward journey was to start at 4.00am. Bobby dropped us at the KLIA train station, and then we were off to the airport for a flight to Kota Kinabalu. I was meeting my friend Dr Philip Lyn who invited me to his church, Skyline, for a 9.30am service. I spent three wonderful days with him and Nancy, and I was so blessed by his message on Sunday morning – this was just the type of food you need at the beginning of a mission!

I spent time with the late Bishop Albert Vun’s wife Mary and her family as I wanted to meet her af-ter Albert’s promotion to glory. It was so wonderful to see another friend Rev. Lau Ay Kuen who I had met in Brentwood when he was part of Albert’s team. I felt so refreshed and ready for the mis-sion to Cambodia with Bobby Ho.

It was an early start again on Thursday, with a train and flight bound for Seim Reap. Bobby was so excited about this trip, and it was to be his sixth mission here. Our host, local pastor Kundate, met us at the airport and took us directly to our hotel. We had time for a shower and when he returned, it was with an open jeep. His plan was to take us to meet as many villages as he could before dark!

The villages were accessed through a river and mainly unmade rough roads. Thank God we were in a Jeep and he knew how to handle it: the water came in through doors so we ended up with wet feet!! It was a blessing to see the zeal and determination of this man to take the Gospel into these remote places. We managed to visit eight churches, and by the time we got to the last two or three, it was pitch black. I could see why he carried on though – they were so pleased to see us! Each of the villages operates English language and Bible teaching for the children including reading scrip-ture from a whiteboard, and they enjoyed singing their action songs especially for us! The staff members are going to be the students this week in the mission school.

Watch Video of Traveling to Villages

When we drove back I could see how tired Kundate was and I sensed he was in real pain. I asked if he was okay, and he told me had pains in his hips and back. He said he was used to it after many years. God laid on my heart that I should pray for him. We arrived back in the city to eat, then went to bed and crashed out.

On Friday morning, we were at the Church at 8am to meet the 24 students in the mission school. He introduced us to Bobby first, and then I was introduced to the students. I was given the brief to speak about the GREAT COMMISSION. I introduced myself by sharing about “FATOS”: Faithful, Available Teachable Obedient Servant. It was wonderful to see the eagerness of these people for the message. We opened with worship and prayer and after I shared my message, I presented all the books and resources that were generously donated by the people from my Church. The team was so excited to receive this material!

Then God laid it on my heart again to pray for Pastor Kundate, so I laid my hands on him and be-gan to pray. I felt through God’s Spirit within He was healing Kundate and I ask Kundate to test his back and hips and he immediately felt different. I could see the surprise as he moved: he had no pain! Then I felt to ask Kundate to jump – he leapt so high it was amazing! He twisted and turned and his face was beaming, as he was pain free!

Watch Jumping Video

That afternoon we were to leave for our first Crusade and we drove for two hours out of Siem Reap. I asked Pastor Kundate to stop on the road at a market, as I needed a torch for my illustra-tion that ‘Jesus is the light of the world.’ We were going back to the villages we had previously vis-ited, back on those unmade roads and through the river again. This time I would be prepared for the water coming through the doors. I lifted my feet up as the water rushed in the Jeep! The water soon drained away through a drain hole in the floor as we bumped along the track.

What a wonderful welcome we received from the people in the village where the Crusade was be-ing held. I believe the number of people surprised Pastor Kundate! At the front, all the children were sat on a big mat, with the smallest at the front and the biggest behind them. Then the parents were behind into the distance and around the perimeter looking out from buildings. It was difficult to know how many people there were, but much more than expected. People just kept turning up even after the children started to sing actions songs. They just melted my heart!

Pastor Kundate introduced Bobby from Malaysia and then in turn he introduced me as coming from England, traveling on a plane 15 hours to Malaysia and almost 3 hours to Cambodia. I began to share with them how I had met Bobby and he had taken me into the jungle and how God had healed a little girl called Leb. I told them about how the tribesmen were frightened of me because of my white skin and this made everyone laugh.

Then my puppet ‘Joe Crow’ came on the scene to share the Lord’s Prayer with children and parents. Joe always grabs people attention, and more people seemed to be turning up as the evening went on. I shared a very short story of how I became a Christian, and about my experience of God’s love for me. Then I began to share the Gospel and the cross with them. I spoke about sin, and our need to turn from sin and the power of darkness. I used the contrast of light and dark and began to illustrate Jesus being the ‘Light of the World’. God is light and Him is no darkness at all – I shone the torchlight and demonstrated that it could bring light into darkness. I shared that Jesus said, “I am the way the truth and the life.” John 14:6

It was wonderful to see so many hands raised as they prayed the prayer asking to receive Jesus as their Saviour. God had done something special as they responded to His Word. We saw signs and wonders following, as people were being healed. At first, a few came forward and then they began to hear testimonies of God’s healing touch as hands were laid on the sick. Arms, hands, necks, backs, deaf ears, legs, breathing problems, stomach pains, headaches and blurred vision all healed. People came up to tell how their pains had disappeared and there was a continuous stream of people. I think the word about what was happening must have gone around the village!

By now it was pitch black, and Bobby Ho brought food and medication for the people so we could show love practically to them. We now had a two-hour journey back, including going through the river again in the dark – as you can imagine this caused great excitement once more. What an amazing night as we began to sing and rejoice on the bumpy ride home, praising God for the won-derful things He had done! It was a night I will never forget, seeing how Sovereign our God is!