A Different Way to Live: A Cambodia Flashback

One of the principal lessons I learned during my time in Cambodia is that the Gospel is not only for our future, but it also has relevancy and an impact on our lives today. Let me clarify. Most of the Gospel presentations I hear are focused on the person accepting Christ so that he will go to heaven when he dies. Many presentations even start with, “If you died today, do you know where you would go?” These presentations are not wrong, but they limit the Gospel to a future reality and do not provide a present hope for the many people who live in suffering, poverty, hard times, or pain today. What Christ has done for us on the cross does not only have importance for the future, but it also impacts and is relevant to our lives today. If we claim the hope of the Gospel, then we need to live in such a way that declares that hope. I know some of you may be saying, “This isn’t new, Beth. Our lives are supposed to be different and we are supposed to live by different principles since we are Christians.” I would agree. But, I often do not see Christians, myself included, living out the hope and promises of the Gospel, and this summer I experienced why it is necessary that we do so. Let me share about an encounter in Cambodia that will hopefully illustrate what I am trying to say.

One morning after my teammates had left, I went upstairs to their room to grab some supplies I needed for the day. I opened the door and there was Yah, one of the house helpers, cleaning the room with one of my teammate’s helmets on her head. She is young, and thinking she was just trying to have some fun while doing her job, I said nothing but went to get the supplies. Yah, on the other hand, immediately took the helmet off and came up to me apologizing, “Soam toe, soam toe, soam toe.” I replied with, “It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay.” She continued speaking in Khmer (since she does not know any English) and pointing to the helmet. (Taking into consideration her facial expressions and tone of voice, I think she was saying that she was sorry for wearing it and would not do it again. I remember thinking, “I wish I had a dictionary right about now.”) It took quite a few minutes to get her to calm down and understand that I was not upset. I looked her in the eyes and told her, “I’m not going to tell anyone. You are not in trouble.” She started crying, hugging, and thanking me. “Aw kuhn! Aw kuhn! Aw kuhn!”

I was puzzled by this sudden display of emotion, very uncommon for Cambodians, when it hit me. This could be the first time Yah has ever experienced grace. See, in the Buddhist-Spiritist mix of religion to which Cambodians adhere, merit is very important. Doing good things now = a good life in the afterlife. Hardships and difficulty in the present life = doing evil in the past life. You receive what you have earned—there is no grace. I couldn’t communicate with Yah through words, but God transcended my inabilities to communicate the foundational principle of grace to this lost child. This is what I mean about living out the Gospel. Sometimes how we live speaks louder than words.

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