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Hello there KCPC. This is Jongmin saying hi to you guys from the other side of the world. I had a little trouble of my own after I arrived in Cambodia and spent the first night here on my own before joining the team (minus George at that point) the next morning. It was a quick hello before we hopped on to the van to NIBC for the first English class we were assigned to teach. Yet, meeting the KCPC team really made me excited. I kept saying to Phil and Eun-Sook that "I am so happy to be here right now". I think what I meant was one part "I'm happy to be in Cambodia" and two parts "I'm happy I found you guys", but for the most part what I meant was "I'm really happy to be with KCPC again".
I have been in Singapore for about three months now and have had a difficult time finding a spiritual home there. I have visited several churches and have been blessed while worshipping with Singaporean Christians but I found that I was not fully satisfied with the churches I have visited so far. Was I becoming a "church shopper", I worried. What have I been looking for? I would tell God that I wasn't looking for anything fancy or nice, just something familar. I was looking for a church but was shopping like I was shopping for a car. I was looking for a KCPC replacement.
So fast forward to Sunday morning in Cambodia. I had heard that we would worship at NIBC today - a children's worship and worship for adults. Children's worship was typical in someways with fun songs to keep their attention and a nice illustrated message by the local pastor. But I want to speak about what God spoke to me today during the adult service.
Eun-Sook was under the impression that the adult service would be in English and when we found out that, in fact, the worship will be entirely in Camodian translated into Korean (for some Korean guests, not Richard Lee), we were a bit surprised. Then I said something like this under my breath to Eun-Sook. "We can worship in ANY language". Ah what wisdom from someone who had spent three years in the Middle East. I knew what I said to be true from experience. But just as quickly as I blurted that out, doubt creeped into my heart. 'But I have had hard time finding a body to worship with every Sunday!' I thought to myself. What right do I have to say something like that to the team?
I prayed a quick prayer of confession of my doubt. I also prayed that God would be glorified by the worship by His body, which was made up of Cambodians, Thais, Koreans and us. All in all, this body represented four languages and cultures, at the least. We started with some hymns, which was projected on the screen in Camodian. There were Camodians on either side of us and Korean ladies behind us, who sang very loudly. We all tried hard to recognize the hymn and remember the words. And I don't remember which hymn it was we were singing, but I had recognized the tune and started singing it in English. Then it hit me. I had learned that hymn in Arabic before and had sang that old hymn many times during my time in the Middle East. And here I was singing that same old hymn with worshippers who knew it in Cambodian. God reminded me then that God rejoices as He hears this hymn in many many languages. He created many tongues and He crated them so that these tongues will sing His praises in a chorus of languages, which to our human ears may sound like "mumbo-jumbo" but to Him it is beautiful. I can't imagine what it will sound like but I know that one day, we will sing His praises for eternity. And today I had a glimpse of that sound. I had experienced that glimpse during my years in the Middle East, but perhaps, I had forgotten that sound. And how beautiful is the sound I heard today. God was teaching me that the sound I was hearing was more than just four languages singing the same song. It was a sound of "a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb... and crying out with a loud voice, "Salvation belong to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" ".
I had come to Cambodia to join the KCPC team for a long weekend, in order to (use George's words) "help the team learn what it means to be a missionary" (short-term or long-term). In other words, I had come to Cambodia to "impart" wisdom from my time in the Middle East and beyond. Yet, I am fully convicted today that God had led me here to remind of the things He had taught me. I will return to Singapore tomorrow and, yes, I will be sad that I will leave "my" team behind here from "my" church. But I will return with a renewed passion for His glory and understanding of worship. And my prayer for this team, KCPC and NIBC is that we are forever changed by a greater understanding of worship itself and the God who we worship. And if missions exists, as John Piper says, because worship doesn't, then my prayer is that the KCPC team will learn to worship God and love worshipping God with people of another culture, language and color during this trip. And let that love of God transmitt like a flu. I believe that is missions. Catch the fever. Share the germ. And don't be afraid to get dirty.
Thank you for the opportunity to come to Camodia to join the team. I love you guys very much and miss you all a lot.
-Jongmin
