There's power in the name of Jesus!!

We have arrived back in Phnom Penh after a weekend in northern Cambodia which ended up not being so much about sight seeing due to the costs, but more about relaxing and catching up on some much needed sleep and energy. Above is a picture of Angkor Wat, the main temple in Cambodia....about the only site we did get to see in Siem Reap.

Today though we started back into work and have been smacked with the realisation once again of what we have been called here to do and have seen and witnessed the power of God in action. Laura had not been feeling well this morning so I headed into daughters on my own. When I arrived I spent the morning working with the boys once again. David and Jonathan, the boys mentioned in the blog below, are absolutely buzzing about their new life. A few American guys who also spend some mornings in Daughters were there on Friday when they heard the boys share their testimony and so they decided to bring David and Jonathan along to church for the first time ever. This was the same church that we went to in one of the earlier posts. When they arrived, the believers there welcomed the two boys and brought them upstairs to welcome them to the church and to find more about them. The boys loved their time there, so much so, that they were asking today when they could go back again. And the next great miracle is that they then spent the weekend talking with other lady boys who had previously worked in Daughters and shared their stories with them and as a result, these other lady boys have now said that they want to make the same decision and to change their lives. It's amazing to see God's redeeming power in action and so evident in these young men's lives. Pray for David and Jonathan and for the others who claim that they want to make this decision.

In the afternoon Laura was feeling slightly better and so we headed to an area called Svay Pak, the main area in Cambodia where trafficking occurs and many children are sold as prostitutes. We went to see the work going on there and were able to witness 2 brothels which have now been shut down and used as a church, a Sunday school, a medical centre, a clinic and some areas for kids club. The lady Bridget and her husband that we met there are doing an amazing work, as is the local pastor and his wife who now live on the top floor of one of the old brothels. They run a church which is attended by those who have been trafficked, those who have been doing the trafficking, drug dealers and pimps.....but yet they all now worship God together. Such grace! It was incredible to see that people recognised the goodness in these two centres, and many now come to ask for protection and help for their children. Laura and I then attended an amazing kids club where we were able to teach the children a new song and to spend time with these incredible young people who God's heart is for. Pray for the work there and that God's Kingdom would come to that area in an incredible way and it would be changed and over for Christ. Also pray for the protection of the children that attend the project there and that they would find Jesus in the midst of their brokeness.

Our day of work was then over and we headed to relax for dinner.....or so we thought. Over the last couple of weeks our time in the evening has been spent developing friendships and relationships with some of the local people that we meet. This picture is of some of the staff of the restaurant beside our hotel which we attend most nights. We have become very good friends with all the staff and in particular the lady on the right, Nary, who owns the restaurant. Unfortunately one of the girls who normally works here (Osah) was in a bad road accident last week and was badly injured and recovering at home. She has had a tough live being previously married but her husband died last April in an accident. Nary came to tell us tonight however that this girl had been having bad dreams that her husbands "spirit" had come to see her in dreams and tell her that he wanted to take her body to be with him. Osah was then possessed by a demon who controlled her body and sent it into a fit. Nary told us of how Osah had phoned her in a panic (she cant speak much English) but her voice changed as she spoke and on the other end was an evil spirit speaking to her in perfect English and in a deep voice saying that he wanted to take Osahs body. Nary then asked us if we would pray. Nary is a Buddhist but she said that she recognised that only Jesus could help and that she knew we were Christians so she had wanted to ask us to do this. She drove us to meet the girl who lay on the floor of her house due to her bad injuries. In that moment Laura and I experienced God like never before. Never before have I ever spoken directly to someone the way I did, but God took control, and as we laid hands on her I commanded in the name of Jesus for the spirit to leave her body. As we did this her body began to shake violently and then she lay peacefully. She then spoke to us and said that at that moment she knew the spirit was gone and that she had a peace. I then told her that she needed to accept Jesus and have the power of the Holy Spirit for herself. She said she wanted this and so Laura prayed a prayer which she repeated and we lead her to Christ. The others who sat watching all spoke of how she had been acting while possessed and all believed that it was only Jesus who could have released the spirit from her. I never ever thought that we would experience anything like this, but tonight God has gripped us both, and made us realised more than ever his power and the need that there is for people to know him. Please pray for this girl Osah and for the people who were there tonight to witness it that they too would come to know Jesus. We are planning to go back tomorrow with a bible for her, so pray that we find her at peace and knowing that Jesus has done a miracle in her life. I told her of the verse which says "what was meant for bad, God has turned to good...even the saving of many lives". Pray that this will be true for her and all who were there tonight. God is so so good.

Please pray as well for me tomorrow as I am going to spend some time with a man who works at the hotel that I have become good friends with called Pala. We have spent much time talking together and tomorrow we're going to play some snooker (that's right, Cambodia has snooker halls, one even with a massive painting of Jimmy White outside) and hang out with him. Pray that I get a chance to speak with him and share the gospel with him. Please pray for Laura as well that the sickness which she felt today would be gone completely and that she can get back to her work with the girls at Daughters.

To finish, while we were in Svay Pak, Maureen texted Laura with a Psalm which was another reference to a verse which I quoted a while ago, but a verse which we read together before we left and felt that it was going to be significant for our trip...we're only over 2 weeks in and already it's so applicable to what we've been experiencing:

Psalm 118v23 "This is the Lord's doing, and it is wonderful to see."