Greetings and salutations! I'm writing you from the comfort of my parents wonderful home fully equipped with the wonderful amenities that are so often under appreciated here in the west. Carpet, central air, coffee pots, wifi, and comfortable couches just to name a few of my favorites. Our team’s time in Cambodia was for me incredibly redemptive, full of joy, abundant in fruit, and marked by peace. Redemption has been a major theme in my life this last year and I'm excited to see God continue the redeeming process. I hope that my testimony of redemption encourages you to continue to believe in God's power and commitment to fulfill His purposes in your life as well. I’d like to share a little bit about my background, my time in Cambodia this year, and a little glimpse into the future using the story of Peter as a comparison. The Disciple Of all the men in the bible I’ve always felt a certain affinity with Peter. He was overly passionate, quick to speak, usually mistaken but well intentioned with a great love for Jesus. Ever the natural leader he was always blundering forward quick to “step out on the water” at times getting it right but often getting it wrong. I love the example of this we have in Matthew 16. Right after nailing it with calling Jesus the Messiah and getting a real glowing affirmation from Jesus he then apparently get’s a big head and tries to rebuke Jesus. Jesus then calls him Satan. I can see his open mouthed blank stare in my head as he stood aghast at his ecstasy of praise quickly turned to the agony of correction. More then once I’ve had this experience myself. As a younger Christian this was typical of my relationship with Jesus. Motives askew and methods galore I plowed forward with all the zeal and exuberance I could muster and made many mistakes. Thankfully Jesus is a gracious teacher and looks at our heart not just our actions. Jesus patiently worked with me over the next 6 years and I saw Him do many amazing things before coming to the end of myself and what I assumed would be the end of my ministry. The Apostate John 21:3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” In 2009 I went through a time where like Peter after the crucifixion although I had determined to be willing to die for Jesus when my faith was challenged I failed. I felt like Jesus had left me alone and I decided like Peter in John 21 to “go fishing”. For me this meant going back to a life of entrepreneurial ventures. I left the ministry of helping to train rural church planters and went back home to do what I knew. Now for Peter Jesus quickly calls him back into the ministry the very night he steps out of it. For me it took 6 very difficult years of fishing and failing before I saw the Lord again. The Redeemed Relationship John 21:6 Then he said, “Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you’ll get some!” So they did, and they couldn’t haul in the net because there were so many fish in it. Luke 5:5 “Master,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.” 6 And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear! When we compare John 21 and Luke 5:5 we see a striking similarity. It’s practically the same story and so we see Jesus reinstates Peter in the same way that he called him in the first place. Now when I left Cambodia I was working helping to start a rural bible college and one of my favorite students there was named Bo. I felt connected to him and loved seeing all that God was doing in his life. When I left I wondered if I’d ever see him again. Fast forward to the first week I was back in Cambodia. I was asked to come help translate and meet with a pastor an hour outside of Siem Reap the town where we were working. Imagine my surprise to find that the pastor of the Church was none other then Bo’s father. Bo had left the bible college a few months after I left and through various circumstances God led them halfway across the country to a remote village I had never heard of and then 6 years later brought me back into their lives. This for me was my reinstatement. Jesus assuring me that he was guiding me to fish for men and if I was obedient to him my nets would be full and I would enjoy fellowship with Him. Six years later God reinstated me right where I had left off. The Apostolic Acts 2:41 Those who believed what he said were baptized. There were about 3,000 more followers added that day Over the next month and a half my team and I worked very closely with Bo and his father sharing the gospel throughout their village. We saw people accept and commit to Jesus in ways I had never before seen. We worshipped together and prayed fervently for revival in our own lives and throughout the nation of Cambodia. The next three months our team had committed to serve a local YWAM ministry in Siem Reap teaching English and helping them rebuild a focus on discipleship with the students. When we arrived there were less then 200 total students and not a lot of discipleship was happening. Over the next 3 months the amount of students doubled and our team was able to build a core group of believers who met together regularly for food and fellowship. One of the most miraculous things I saw during this time was in the Sunday fellowship at the school. Only a handful of students showed up the first few weeks but by the last Sunday we were there we had almost 200 students attend and we had Bo come out to share the gospel with them. That was a marvelous day. We spent the last few weeks visiting various ministries throughout the country. One of them being the bible college Bo and I were apart of 6 years earlier. I can’t begin to say all that God did during our time there. Leave it to suffice that God continued to do miracles, people continued to hear about and find faith in Jesus and I rejoiced at the mercy and power of God through it all. The Imperfect Galatians 2:11 But when Peter came to Antioch, I had to oppose him to his face, for what he did was very wrong Even after being re-instated, filled with the Holy Spirit, and being used mightily of God Peter continued being Peter and needed to learn more. Similarly I now find myself in a place where I feel the need to grow and bring some reconciliation to all this redemption. After returning to Kona I took a month long leadership course alongside my friends Eric and Kayla who had helped to lead our team in Cambodia. I’m now taking a few weeks to rest, spend time with friends and family, while working on getting a financial support team put together. In October 4 members of our Cambodia team and myself are enrolled in a 3 month intensive Bible Core Course in Kona. After which we will help staff another Discipleship Training School in January and then return to Cambodia with a team to serve there for a year. We will be partnering with YWAM Cambodia and are believing for God to open up an opportunity to serve there by coming alongside of a long term vision to see it pioneered. That means started, staffed and sustainable before we leave. It’s a tall order for only a year but I believe with God’s help it’s doable. I’m excited, expectant, and ready. Prayer Requests
1. Right now I have 2 committed supporters giving me a total of $150 a month. I need to get this to $1000 a month before leaving to Cambodia. If you’d like to help please email me. 2. There is still much in my heart and mind that God is healing please pray I’ll embrace the process trusting His wisdom and power. 3. That God would be with our team leading us and building us in unity, love, and a common vision.
2 Comments
AuthorMy name's Uriah Lyford and I'm a volunteer with YWAM. My dream is to see the spiritual solution of a restored relationship with God through Jesus be made available to every person on earth. I do this through the mentoring and training of young people to build and become the Church Jesus died for. Archives
June 2018
Categories |