The door to the classroom slammed open, and my young Cambodian student, ML, stared at me. I had been sick for several days and had isolated myself from the kids and staff at the school. “Teacher!” he shouted. “When Jesus come back, you no sick anymore!” With this declaration, ML ran off to join the other kids, leaving the door ajar and one proud teacher sitting in the classroom, amazed at how God was working in this child from a Buddhist family. There is hope.

“The animals go into the boat!” B proclaimed as he proudly marched the plastic animals two-by-two into the plastic tub. The flood story was his favorite to act out. I hoped to use this story B already knew to introduce more Bible stories to him and his family. However, his parents suddenly pulled him from school and moved to the capital city. I was crushed. I asked my supporters to pray that God would somehow still work in the life of this young child. Several years later, after I left Cambodia, B came back to the school, and both he and his parents are once again surrounded by Christian influences on a daily basis. There is hope.

The wailing and mourning droned on into the night. On my final weekend at the Pnong project, the school cook’s husband passed away. He was the father of two of my students. I attended the multi-day funeral. I was there when her children arrived and mourned with their mother. I watched with tears as the casket was lowered into the grave. Yet, among the sadness, there was something different about this funeral when compared to many others. The man had died a firm believer in Christ and never gave up on Him despite the illness that took his life. The cook’s family believed they would see him again one day, which helped us all push through the pain of that funeral. There is hope.

In my mind’s eye, I see the man who never deserved the punishment He was given. Cruelly nailed to a cross, He willingly took on Himself the death He did not deserve to cover the sins He did not commit. He was laid in a tomb and guarded by soldiers from the mighty Roman empire. But the grave could not contain Him. He rose from the dead, revealing to all of humanity that sin has been overcome. If we follow Jesus, we will rise again, just as He did. There is hope.

Today, billions of people live with a false apparition of hope. They hope to be reincarnated as some higher caste member of society. They hope their good deeds outweigh the bad. They hope that the spirits will give them good fortune. All this is false hope. It is hope based upon a deception.

As Christians, you and I have real hope. Hope for a future without pain, suffering and death. Hope that Jesus will make all things right. You and I can share this hope in Christ with those who do not yet know. This hope, shared with one, can spread to many others and change lives for eternity. We encourage you to go and share this hope with someone today. We invite you to go and share this hope with the unreached.

Please contact the Recruitment Department at service@afmonline.org so we can help you share hope with those who feel hopeless. For those who have not yet heard, there is still hope.

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