We are in Countdown mode

This morning I made it to LifeTime Fitness Center for my last solid workout before sitting on a plane for 24 hours. My routine is to do my stretches and weights and then get on the stepper for 30 minutes. (well almost) ( I know some of you are thinking – it doesn’t really show.) Anyway – I plug in my IPOD, put it on music shuffle and start reading a book.

Wouldn’t you know it, the song that comes up is Steve Camp’s “Do You Feel Their Pain” (I’ve included the lyrics at the end of this post.) The Chorus called out:

Do you feel their pain, has it touched your life
Can you taste the salt in the tears they cry
Will you love them more than the hate that's been
Will you love them back to life again?

As I consider the journey to Cambodia that we begin tomorrow this song describes why this trip may be harder than others. We are going to a land of beautiful people with wonderful smiles and a graciousness that we may not often see in the States. I think we will see a small but powerful church that both speaks and lives out a gospel of love, compassion and justice. But I think we will also see a dark side – maybe not dissimilar to what we might see in the bad parts of Atlanta – but significantly different in breadth and depth and scope of poverty and also perpetuated evil.

We will be with organizations and individuals who serve those who have been sold or trapped – trafficked into a brazen sex industry. We will see girls who have been broken, stripped of their youth, used by men and women as their personal property rather than vessels containing the image of God. We can imagine the tears they have cried over countless days and nights of unspeakable events. We will witness their brokenness and the impact of horrific encounters. We may view some, or even their children, who now walk with the knowledge that they, through all of this, have been infected with HIV – a disease that is guaranteed to take them to a premature and unfriendly death.

We need to “taste the salt in the tears cry,” and love them more than the “hate” and disrespect they have experienced. We and you can pray that the Holy Spirit will bring healing for their long term brokenness. We can pray that God will provide them with Hope for tomorrow – with maybe even a poor memory of yesterday.

We can thank God – that he has provided ministries that bring rescue to these girls. We can thank God – that he has prepared and equipped his church and his adopted sons and daughters to bring good news, and healing, jobs and places to live. We can thank God – that he has provided those who will speak up for the rights of the oppressed and even carry their battles into the courts and systems of law within Cambodia. We will be honored to meet and to walk among these great people.

Please go with us. Pray for health and that we will have ears to hear, eyes to see, and hearts to beat – as God’s would. Pray that we will complete our mission to assess where and how North Point Churches can engage and come alongside these warriors who are being used by God – doing the good works that He has planned from the begging of time Eph 2:10.
You can read more about our trip and other perspectives from our team blog located at http://cambodiaglobalx.blogspot.com/
Thanks for your Prayers
Tim Neet



Lyrics to “Do You Feel Their Pain”

Have we failed again, talking about the love of God
But judging those who need it most
All these afflicted ones, I feel their lives just fade away
Left to face the end alone
So we say a prayer for their needs
Afraid to touch, to hurt, to bleed

Chorus:
Do you feel their pain, has it touched your life
Can you taste the salt in the tears they cry
Will you love them more than the hate that's been
Will you love them back to life again?

We should feel ashamed, allowing fear to close our minds
These are lives we can't ignore
Oh, don't turn away, will you see Jesus in each of them
These are souls He suffered for
There is hope for them, open up your heart
There is grace for them, do you think we've gone too far?

CHORUS

Oh empty eyes, and lonely souls
Starving for love and crying for hope
And Jesus said, "Bring them unto Me
I will make them whole, I can set them free"

Will you care for them, or let them go alone
Will you lend a hand, or will you cast the stone

Chorus:
Do you feel their pain, has it touched your life
Can you taste the salt in the tears they cry
Will you love them more than the hate that's been
Will you love them back to life again?