“Please come to my friend’s house. He is very sick and has been in a coma for two months.”
In my two and a half years working in Cambodia, I have learned not to take what people say about sick loved ones as entirely accurate until I examine the patient myself. I do my best to triage patients so I can help the sickest and neediest first. Often when someone tells me that a person is deathly ill, I hurry to their house only to find that they have only a minor ailment.
When I arrived at the home of the comatose young man, I found his condition very interesting. The story I got from his mother was that he had come down with a virus and eventually slipped into an unconscious state. His arms and legs had wasted away to skin and bones from lying on his bed for so long. I tried to examine his eyes, but he would reflexively tighten his eyelids so that I could not get a good look. When I lifted his arm, it would stay up until I pushed it down. He could chew and swallow food, but he could not move his limbs, talk or open his eyes.
I arranged a free MRI brain scan for this young man in Phnom Penh, a four-hour drive from their house, but the family missed the appointment, and the scan was no longer available to them. The mother felt guilty about the missed opportunity to help their son. I shared with her that Jesus is the Great Healer and can do things that even doctors cannot. Then I prayed in Jesus’ name asking that, if it be according to His will, He restore health to this young man.
Two days later, I was studying the Bible with some Muslim friends in another village when a visitor walked in. He looked familiar, but I couldn’t place him until he made his way over to me. It was the young man who had been in a coma for two months! His mother had told him where I was, and he had come to personally thank me for praying for him. The family gives total credit for his healing to Jesus.
For most Muslims, God is not a personal being we can know as a friend. Rather, He is a distant, powerful ruler. So I absolutely love it when they experience God as a friend who personally helps them through life’s trials!
As I write this, our family is in the U.S. on furlough and looking forward to getting back to Cambodia in September to continue our work among the Great River People. God is encouraging us greatly as He builds the prayer team and financial support we need to return. One donor recently set up a matching fund so that the money given to our project gets doubled! We have also been invited to some new churches to share what God is doing in Cambodia. God truly is faithful, and we are humbled to join hands with each of you to bring this amazing gospel of Jesus to our brothers and sisters in Cambodia. Thank you all for your prayers and financial support. We couldn’t do it without you.
