Nations 2 Nations Battambang, Cambodia May 2012
While crossing the Thailand/Cambodia border with 34 others from the Muizenberg Africa2Asia DTS, I became so aware that this may be more than just another gathering but something significant with 22 of our group coming from Africa. On the other side of the border we met the DTSs from Hanoi, Vietnam and Bangkok, all making their way to the Nations 2 Nations gathering in Battambang. Many have traveled for days to be part of this historic event.
Nations 2 Nations started in the morning of May 7th 2012with 250 people gathered from more than 25 nations worshipping Jesus. The humble structure where we gathered is affectionatley called the Cage and that morning it turned into a beautiful tabernacle where God met with us. In the evening we were welcomed by the Pastors of the city. The leading Pastor, who is 74 years old, shared how historic it was to have so many nations in the city to call forth God’s destiny over Cambodia. It was so moving to see someone of that stature and influence open up the city for us. For many in the audience they had never seen so many nations gathered and for most of the Cambodians it was the first time they ever saw Africans!
Wilson Goeda from South Africa shared his journey of forgiveness, reconcilliation and hope and it was met with conviction where God started to open up our eyes to see other ethnic groups and nations in God’s light instead of our prejudices. God moved in a powerful way to bring these nations together and many ended up asking for forgiveness and washing each others feet. They embraced their identity, dignity and destiny. At the beginning of the week many of our Khmer friends confessed their struggle with inferiority and lack of value. By the end of the week they were sharing boldly and made their contribution as they heard that God had confined His glory in them as a people and that we needed their voice. It was indeed the nations releasing the nation of Cambodia. One of the highlights was when we heard from Radi, one of the leaders on the base sharing about the Word of God as the key to transform society and Channoeun sharing with us in Khmer his journey of commitment that led him to be a missionary. We ended the morning with the Cambodians praying for us from the other nations to see God’s destiny released in us.
It was wonderful to hear the testimonies from the teams who went out in the afternoons and praying for people to get healed and see others coming to know Christ. We finished the last day of the Celebration by taking up an offereing for the land the base is in process of purchasing to build the Universtiy of the Nations Campus. There was rejoicing at the end when almost 20 000 US dollars came in and it was matched by a donor who is beleiving in this dream. In the afternoon we had the privilege of walking on the land and envision thousands of Cambodians and those from the surrounding countries trained to bring transformation in their societies. One of the main organizers of the event wrote; “Thank you for impacting our lives for eternity and no doubt causing us to change history for the kingdom of God.†We came to give to this nation but we left having received more than what we ever could give. God is raising up a new wave of missionaries from this nation…..from the nations to the nations!
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Thanks so much Joseph for uploading this. It was such a privilege to be part of Nations 2 Nations in Cambodia and to travel 10 hours to get to Battambang from Bangkok with with the Muiz DTS.