God's Word:  July - September 2014

Patience, It Really Is a Virtue! 

Recently, we attended a church service at a Cambodian church, which gave a message on the topic of patience. With the timing of this ministry right now, we figured now would be a great time to reflect on this virtue of patience, especially since the international church we attend is in a series called “Marks of Christian Character,” and patience fits very well with that series as well!

Virtue is described by dictionaries and encyclopedias as moral excellence, goodness, righteousness, uprightness, etc. I don’t know about you, but that sounds to me a lot like what the marks of Christian character should look like!

So why is the timing perfect now to focus on patience? A better question is this: When isn’t  a good time to focus on patience? Patience is something we  need to be aware of everyday!

But before we are able to work on being patient ourselves, we need to remember that God is patient towards us: “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you” - 2 Peter 3:9. The only way we are able to display any patience is because we have been created in the image of God and he has shown patience toward us first!

Now that we know this, the next important thing to keep in mind when thinking about patience is the fact that we are in control of nothing and God is in control of everything!  

So when we choose to be impatient, we are not gaining more control over a situation because we are rushing. We aren’t in control. God is in control and he is working in his time, and we have no power to rush God’s timing! So we must be patient, because we cannot change the speed at which things are done; God is in control of that!

Patience has a future-dynamic as well, though. Many times in which patience is mentioned in Scripture, it is in connection with  the coming of the Lord.

“Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains” - James 5:7

“But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience” - Romans 8:25.

But as we can see in these passages, patience and waiting are not passive actions, but we need to actively wait. The farmer still works while he waits for his crop, as well as lives with hope for his crop.

So we also wait patiently for the coming of the Lord, knowing that the second part of 2 Peter 3:9 says, “not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” We have work to do as we wait and we will do that work with patience as we patiently wait for God to  move!

We, The Soaring Team, take this message of patience very seriously and aim to show patience every day. Whether we are patiently waiting for the gospel to reach into the hearts of Cambodians, teaching at the Center or teaching in the Village, we aim to do it with patience. And especially now, as we prepare for Project FIDE to start up, we patiently wait for God to move and get this Pre-School started in his perfect time!

“The times we find ourselves having to wait on others may be the perfect opportunities to train ourselves to wait on the Lord” - Joni Eareckson Tada.

This quote from Buddha that “The greatest prayer is patience” is a great reminder for Buddhists, such as the ones here in Cambodia, as well as for us followers of Christ!

Take some time today to pray for God to put situations into your life where patience is required and ask him to be the source of your patience in those times.

A Series on the Ethnic People Groups of Cambodia

The Bunong

Population: 30,000                        Language: Bunong

Major Religion: Animism                  Percent Christian: 3%

Bible Translation: In Progress

Who are the Bunong? Located in the remote mountainous northeast region of Cambodia, bordering Vietnam, Mondulkiri is the country’s largest province and is home to the second largest ethnic minority population, the Bunong. Renowned as elephant tamers, they comprise about 30,000 of the province’s estimated 43,000 residents. The Bunong language is the main language spoken in their homes and villages.

What are their lives like? The Bunong culture and way of life is intimately associated with the forest area in which they live. Access to land and the forests is essential to their survival. The Bunong practice labor-intensive swidden (‘slash and burn’) agriculture, following a 15-20 year cycle, using one site for up to five years before moving to a new location.

What do they believe? The Bunong practice animism; the stability of their lives depends on the satisfactory appeasement of various types of spirits. Animal sacrifice plays a vital role in the appeasement process. Weddings, funerals, periods of illness and seasonal celebrations are some of the more significant events requiring sacrifices.

                        In the mid 50s, having heard of minorities in Vietnam turning to Jesus, the Bunong in Cambodia asked the only operating mission agency to send missionaries. This request could not be fulfilled then, nor a second one in the mid-60s. Ten years later, the province was part of the “Ho Chi Minh trail” and the target of US bombing. Many Bunong fled to Vietnam, where they finally heard the Gospel. In 1986, about 150 Bunong believers came back to Cambodia. Today, they are 1000 strong. The first Western missionaries came in 2000.

What are their needs? Food and land protection. The Bunong experience a period of 3-5 months where the food grown in their fields runs out, so they must forage in the forest, hunt, fish or gather resin to sell. Major tracts of land have been logged, sold or otherwise removed from the traditional ownership of the Bunong community, leading to a decrease in access to life-sustaining resources.

                        Literacy and education. The majority of Bunong do not have sufficient numeracy skills to fairly buy or sell produce at the market, and few can properly count money or use a scale. They are frequently cheated by local traders. Their ability to interact with the broader society is limited, preventing adoption of innovations and ideas from the outside. Also, as outside influences encroach with alarming speed and impact, the Bunong are ill-equipped to confront the onslaught of changes. Lack of Khmer language skills also render them at even greater risk for exploitation.

                        Health care and education. Many serious diseases have a much higher rate of prevalence in Mondulkiri than in other provinces. Also, the Bunong do not possess basic information which could allow them to treat or prevent simple diseases.

                        Salvation and Scriptures. Only Christ can deliver the Bunong out of their poverty; physically and spiritually. They need God’s Spirit to fully transform their lives. The church struggles due to lack of Scriptures in the Bunong language, and also desperately needs strong teaching.