Hello!
Today is Kathy’s birthday and we have been celebrating in style! The ladies were treated to a salon visit where we all had our nails done. Andrea and her girls went too and it was very relaxing.
Right now I want to capture a little of what Bible camp meant for me and what visiting the temples was like:
Bible camp was interesting to say the least – I had three girls in my room ranging from 15 to 20 years old and I felt responsible to help them glean from this time of study and to grow in Christ. Each video we watched about fighting for joy in God was so rich, I found myself praying that it made sense to them. This teaching is crucial for these kids to understand – that their greatest satifaction is to be found in the wonder and beauty of Christ. To glorify God is to magnify Him and to be happy in Him. God was good to us in that we were able to discuss and encourage each other during our small group times. During camp, even the games were set up to help these kids learn the value of honoring Christ in our attitudes and motives. Also, I have never had so much seafood before that week. : ) We had squid in our curry soups and fish with the eyes still intact. The shrimp was wonderful and the fellowship was great during meals.
After our time at the beach, we all paired up with the same Asian Hope kids we had at Bible camp and went to Siem Reap – the city with all the massive temples. At 4:30 am we woke up and went to Angkor Wat to see the sunrise at the temple. It was too cloudy for the perfect sunrise, but it was nice to look around while it was cool. I was astonished that every giant wall was covered with carvings – stories of ”gods” and men. The stairs led us up and up to a statue of Buddha wearing an orange sash and there was incense scattered all over. It’s strange to see people worship a piece of clothing, thinking that it will bring them protection and a good day. How opressive it is to imagine living a life of fear with the idea that there is no Heaven, no one God, they just hope to reach the state of “nothingness”, of nirvana.
The best part of my temple adventure was when we all paused to read from God’s word. BJ read from Issiah 42 and 44 which talked about the futile desires of man to worship a carving and the hopelessness of idolatry. Surrounded by such a sight, it was a heavy moment as BJ read about God’s greatness and the sin of man to turn away from the Almighty Maker. We gathered together to sing “How great is our God” – a beautiful contrast to the wonder of seeing that temple.
The next two temples were very interesting. Seeing these giant stones piled up with such intricate carvings everywhere was so different. If you think about our country’s beginning and how a historical tour takes you to Washington DC and the like and then compare it to Cambodia, the differences are huge. The beginning of the Cambodian Empire with all these impressive architectural sites happened around the 10th century and earlier. The crazy thing about these temples is that all the stones came from some far site; there aren’t any quarries nearby. Most likely the elephants dragged these stones quite a distance. Even crazier is that some of the kings built about 10 temples during their lifetime, just for the praise of man and for their gods.
That’s all from me for now, till the next time! ~Monica Lines
Happy Birthday, Kathy (albeit a day late)!
And thanks for the detailed update, Monica!
Thanks so much, Monica, for sharing. It was a blessing to read your comments.
Looking forward to hearing lots more when you and the team get back.
God bless you,
Nancy