From Colorado and Cameroon to Cambodia
The Lord works in students’ lives in a special way. Ben Roland, a senior Bible major at Bob Jones University, shared this story of God’s working through him:
This past summer the Lord allowed me to do a missions internship with Forrest McPhail and his family in Pursat, Cambodia. There is so much that the Lord taught me about Himself, His Word, missions philosophy, weird cultures and foods, and much more. One thing specifically I would like to share with you is the gracious sovereignty of God that was demonstrated in a new way to me.
There was a man who lived next door to me who was from Cameroon, Africa. We both shared a common bond in that we were both foreigners to the Cambodian people, but he also spoke a good bit of English. Daniel and I naturally struck up a friendship partially due to the fact that neither of us spoke a lick of Khmai (the Cambodian language). Daniel, to a certain extent, taught English at the school next door, and would come to me and tell me of all his teaching and financial woes. It was through our conversations and conversations with Forrest [that] it became apparent that, although Daniel called himself a ‘Christian,’ he did not know Christ, the Son of God. By God’s grace, the Lord allowed me to share the Gospel with Daniel, from creation to the cross, and Forrest gave him a Bible and asked him to read through the Gospel of Mark. This Daniel did eagerly, and he came to Forrest and me with many questions. After he finished Mark, on his own he went on to Luke. It was an awesome thing to see the Spirit at work in Daniel’s life through the power of His Word!
It was toward the end of my internship, however, that life got a bit rough for Daniel at the school he was teaching at. So he decided to leave and go to a different town and look for work so that he could make ends meet. I must say that I was really looking forward to Daniel getting saved. I felt like he was coming close, but then God seemingly took him away from the hearing of the Gospel. But God is sovereign, and so I had to accept it as the Lord’s will, and commit Daniel to prayer. It was just like Paul talks about in his letter to the Corinthians. Some plant the seed, others water, but it is God alone that can cause the growth. He only can bring the increase.
Well, I came back home to the States and continued to pray for Daniel as the Lord brought him to mind. I thought it was amazing that the Lord had taken me, a guy from Colorado, and brought me across the path of another guy from Cameroon, and had allowed me to share with him the greatest news he could ever hear! ... And in Pursat, Cambodia, of all places! A Podunk town out in the middle of miles of rice paddies! Another thing that came to mind was the fact that God didn’t have to use me either! It wasn’t like He was in need of me to plant the seed in this man’s heart. But I am so grateful that, in the Lord’s gracious sovereignty, He sought to use my feet to bring the good news of the Gospel of peace to this man. In Galatians 6:9, Paul tells us to not grow weary or tired of well doing, because in due time we will reap if we faint not!
The story doesn’t end here. About a week and a half before school started, Forrest McPhail emailed me and let me know that Daniel had returned to the school, and that he was very interested in studying the Bible with Forrest! Later that week and on his own, Daniel called out to Christ to save him from his sins and be Lord of his life! It was clearly the power of the Gospel at work! Already the Spirit has been working in Daniel’s life as he has been putting off the old man and way of life, and is being discipled by Forrest there in Pursat! The gracious sovereignty of God has been freshly stamped on my mind and heart and has led me to this question: If God sovereignly orchestrated Daniel’s path and my path to cross just so I could plant the seed of the gospel, what other gospel opportunities have I been missing out on in my daily walk of life at home or at work? By God’s grace I want to be more keenly aware of God’s gracious sovereignty with everyone He brings across my path. Again, Galatians 6:9 gives us that promise that we will reap, if we faint not!
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