fbpx
×

Log into your account

We have changed software providers for our subscription database. Old login credentials will no longer work. Please click the "Register" link below to create a new account. If you do not know your new account number you can contact [email protected]
Boo! God scares away ghosts, draws people in
Tess Rivers, Baptist Press
December 17, 2009
4 MIN READ TIME

Boo! God scares away ghosts, draws people in

Boo! God scares away ghosts, draws people in
Tess Rivers, Baptist Press
December 17, 2009

KBAL TAOL, Cambodia — David* never imagined he’d use ghosts

as a way to share the gospel.

A Christian worker in Cambodia, David was surveying

Vietnamese floating villages on Tonle Sap Lake, the largest freshwater lake in

Southeast Asia, and needed a boat and driver. Andrew,* whom David had led to

Christ 18 months earlier, agreed to take the job.

It was on one of these survey trips to the village of Kbal

Taol that David met Tim.* The two began to talk of spiritual things, and David

gave Tim a Bible. After several more visits, Tim invited David and Andrew to

dinner in his home. Before they arrived, Andrew gave David some advice.

“The way you talk about God is good, but it would be better

to start differently,” Andrew said.

“How should I start?” David asked.

“You need to talk about ghosts,” he replied.

“Ghosts? Why ghosts?”

“Because,” Andrew explained, “the people here are afraid of

ghosts. They need to know that this Creator God is more powerful than ghosts.”

IMB photo

Young boys, all recent believers, visit on top of a boat while the sun sets in the background on Tonle Sap Lake, near Siem Reap, Cambodia.

The close-knit community of Kbal Taol is home to

approximately 350 Vietnamese families and 450 Khmer (Cambodian) families. It is

two hours by boat from the nearest town — Siem Reap in northern Cambodia.

Although some residents may claim Buddhism as the predominant religion, most

live in fear of spirits who they believe can cause them harm.

It is difficult for Vietnamese to get land rights in

Cambodia, so most choose to live on the water.

Since the majority of the men are fishermen, living on the

water means they are closer to their work.

They go out at night to drop their nets and collect them

early the next morning. The women spend their days harvesting fish from the

nets.

The fish then are taken to Siem Reap to sell.

“The Vietnamese who live on the water are different from

those who live on the land,” David explained. “They are more community and

family oriented. If a mother dies in childbirth, the entire community will take

care of the baby. They will share their food with each other when food is

scarce.”

The children attend school, which Tim teaches, or help with

fishing during peak season. Instead of riding their bicycle to visit a

neighborhood friend, children as young as 6 or 7 hop in a boat and paddle next

door or down the “street” to see their friends.

Until 2008, no one in this village had ever heard the story

of Jesus.

But that changed the night David and Andrew arrived at Tim’s

house for dinner.

Tim had invited a few neighbors to join them, including

Andrew’s father, who lived next door.

After dinner, the talk turned to spiritual things. Tim had

begun reading the Bible David gave him and had many questions.

“Tim and I had been talking for about three hours, and the

other men were falling asleep,” David said. “Then about 9 o’clock Andrew pulled

me aside.”

“Now is the time to talk about ghosts,” Andrew told him.

So David began a discussion about ghosts by sharing the

story of the rich man and Lazarus from Luke 16. He explained that ghosts are

not spirits of the dead but rather fallen angels and evil spirits sent out from

Satan.

“The men woke up,” David laughed. “(Now) they were paying

close attention.”

At midnight, however, the visitors left to get some sleep

before their early morning fishing trip. But Tim still had questions.

Finally, Tim asked David, “Now, tell me how someone can

become a child of God.”

David explained the gospel, and Tim prayed to receive

Christ. It was 3 a.m.

“That is the longest visitation I’ve ever had,” David said

with a smile.

Tim says life is better since he trusted in Christ.

“I (still) teach children … (but now) every day I pray and

ask God to help me. …”

*Names changed

(EDITOR’S NOTE — Rivers is a writer for IMB. Every penny

given to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering is used to support more than 5,600

Southern Baptist missionaries as they share the gospel overseas. This year’s

offering goal is $175 million. The 2009 Lottie Moon offering theme is “Who’s

Missing, Whose Mission?”)