Knot the end of Time

The future is ever before us. Mankind has wondered for millennium how will thing end. Revelations leaves us with the message that God has the package of time all together. He has tied the knot to end time. Right now is not the end of time. God is at work transforming our hearts and minds into instruments for His glory. Wherever we live God puts within us the desire to do those things that are pleasing to Him. During our time in Cambodia we pray that our lives will in a small way reflect the glory of God.


God has promised to supply our needs in small and big ways. The other day as I saw patients at Cooperative Services International – Mercy Medical Center (CSI-MMC) a gentleman came with an illness. We talked about his illness and then he began to tell me a bit about his life. He lamented that his life was not as he desired. Attempting to help him put life in perspective as compared to many others I have seen, I asked him a few simple questions in effect thinking through the Lord’s Prayer.
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name. 10
Your kingdom come,
your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11
Give us this day our daily bread, 12
and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Who placed him on this earth? Had he experienced salvation? Was he seeking after God and teaching his family? Did he have food shelter and clothes for that day? Was he able to send his children to school? Was he looking to God for the forgiveness of his sins? To each of these questions he gave an affirmative answer. My Khmer language needs improvement, so I prayed with him in English, which he understands. As I prayed I thanked God that He had done the work of redemption in this man’s heart. I thanked God that He has given him food, shelter and clothing for the day. I thanked God that He is able to forgive our sins and place joy in our hearts even in the middle of despair darkness and chaos. His life may not be exactly as he desires, but as he looks to our Savior, he will know that God is his and our Creator, God is his and our Provider and God is his and our Sustainer.

CSI MMC brings together several mission agencies to supply a clinic that ministries to believer and those who have been referred by churches, pastors and mission agencies. CSI MMC is seeking to build a center a little south of Phnom Penh in which the poor will be treated, medical students given opportunities to learn and family practice doctors trained.
During our time in Cambodia God has brought many medical students to us. We have on some Saturdays a time of medical education and Bible Study. Some who attended are believers and have knowledge of the Bible. Others who attend have never seen a Bible. With the help of the Khmer believers we are able to open the scriptures with the non-believers. For those who have received the gift of salvation their path often is long and slow. Generally it is a few years between the time one hears the Word and beginning to understand and the time they truly have their heart transformed by the power of God’s grace and mercy. Some Saturdays we venture into the province to hold clinics with an association of churches. During this time we model the love of Christ and teach the medical students how to interact with patients. God has blessed this as He has brought several to redemption because of the mercy He expressed to them during our mobile medical clinics.