Chea

We met a quiet young man called Chea the other day, in Cambodia. He was a new ‘Dormer” (God bless those who are supporting the dorm) who played guitar and sang with quiet soothing confidence, in the same manner in which I imagine David played to Saul. We were chatting during the ‘dorm service’ (our early morning prayer and meditation time). He had an old, New Testament in his pocket that belonged to his brother. He had carried it in his pocket for so long that it was bent to the shape of his leg. The book was worn and had the appearance that it had been read many times. Chea held his guitar and his book with the same tenderness. It was obvious that they were things in his life that he loved very much. I took the book from his hand and opened it, feeling as though I was walking into a private room, somehow invading his heart. However, Chea opened with his book, totally at ease with this sharing. As I thumbed the opening leaves I recognised the words to a song from my past.
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I asked him about it. He looked back and answered with a transparent look, through eyes that showed peace emerging from a deep well of pain. “I love this song . . . I do not know some of the words, what they mean but ...” The words had brought him comfort, from what . . . we did not know. There is so much deep rooted pain in this part of the world. My mind flickered for a nano-second from Comforter to instructor. Where should we go with this young man?
I interrupted, blurting with obvious over-enthusiasm, “I can teach you, what they mean. Will you come to the Bible Education Centre for lessons?” Chea stared back blankly at me, yet somehow still in control. His Cambodian (K’mai) friends, aware of the problem, explained to him what the BEC was. After a short delay, the type of pause that only makes we who are from the developed world uncomfortable, he said “Yes, I can come on Thursday or Friday.”
Not satisfied and always wanting to move strategically to a stronger place, to gain a stronger toe-hold, we asked him to come on Sunday as well and to bring his guitar. He said that he would.

Unfortunately as we began our Worship Service, Chea had not arrived and we were a little bit disappointed. I was presiding and we had found song 121 in the songbook. I had read the lyrics carefully because my associations with this song went back to my Anglican-Pentecostal roots. Having examined it for possible doctrinal nasties it was neatly slotted in as the closing hymn.
About half way through the message (exhortation), Chea arrived. He glided into the gathering, found a seat and in moments seemed to belong. When asked at the close of the meeting to play for us, he willing took up the guitar and began to sing ‘What a Friend We Have in Jesus’. and filled the room with his gentle, sweet voice until as we all grew in confidence the room reverberating with the most sublime sound. We all felt one of those golden moments, God gifts us with . . . a new friend to teach, who has wonderful talents.

Dear Blog readers we hope that you will join our prayer that God will heal Chea’s heart (while continuing to shape our own in the process). I hope to be more like Chea . . . so gentle and unimposing (I Thess 2:7 Gal 5:2 1Cor 16:10-11) Not the big boof-head that I am.. The next day the ACBM purchased two guitars. Next week Sis Gaye and Chea will practice this song together. At next Sunday’s meeting we will look at the difficult English words and concepts and receive exhortation on this theme.
We all pray, at the BEC in Phnom Penh, that God will be with us and that one day soon, Chea’s mind and heart will be in tune, not only with his own guitar and the beautiful song that may have brought him to us, but also that he will gain a deeper understanding of God’s truth and that he will become a closer friend of Jesus. That we will, with precious Chea, all be friends together forevermore.

Chea (continued)
Chea dropped into the BEC the following Thursday. He had got lost on the way and ridden his bike an extra five ‘K’s” trying to find us. Blog readers please note that the high humidity and primitive bikes that do not have gears probably make the effort required about four times greater than at home in Oz. Fortunately there are only very slight hills here.

We began our discussion with Chea asking what he was studying at university. He told us that he was studying English. W e asked him why he had made this choice? “Because it was the cheapest.” He told us and went on to say that he was in his second year and that he was twenty-two years of age. His first choice was architecture but with limited resources he was happy with this opportunity. Humour crept into his conversation when he said that he used to miss English classes at school and he kicked a football with his friends instead. “Now I cannot escape, when I started (Uni) I only knew and, the and what.”

The inevitable tragic side of his life now emerged. Chea related how about twenty years ago his father was fishing and had stood on a landmine and died. My mother died in 2004 from stomach cancer when he was in Year 11 he went on to tell us. I wanted to leave school and go to Thailand (his village is on the border in Bantay Meanchey province) but I stayed and finished school. My uncle said that if I came to his church he would give me food and some clothes. When I finished school he wanted me to look after his cows but I did not want to.

We naturally asked him about his church background now assuming that was where his gospel-folk (with a country twang) guitar and singing had come from. Chea told us how his uncle gave him rewards when he was very young, whenever he learned things in the Bible; the ten commandments, books of the Bible etc. Sometimes his uncle gave him money or food as rewards. He proudly said that he went to church every Sunday. But no-one else believed in God in his village and they did not like him. They hated Christians.

When he was fifteen, Chea moved away from God because he had no friends. His uncle tried to get him to come back but he was angry about his father. He felt like his mother did not care, she used to get angry all the time and would not listen to him (sound familiar). He began to gamble, steal . . . “I was sinning all the time but I never left school. My uncle still spoke to me, I listened to him. I did not listen to anyone else. He is a pastor, my mother’s brother.”

“What about the guitar?” we asked again. He told us a story that could have been a movie script, how at church people sang and clapped but no-one played the guitar that was there. He had picked it up and after three months and no help played his first song. Chea (his full name is Choch So Chea) told us that one day a man came to the village and played some chords. He had a piece of paper and said, “Learn these!”. and then he went back to Phnom Penh.

“I tried and tried, it was so hard, there was no-one who could help me. Later on I met a friend who knew a little bit and he helped me.

We began to probe what he believed in and the pentacostal beliefs poured out. We took up the theme of sin and soon found that he had been listening to the other dormers and felt a little uncomfortable. Things stayed uncomfortable as I clumsily probed him with questions. Who made you gamble, steal? Who did Adam and Eve blame? He spoke about the presence of evil in the garden and the “S” word came to his lips. The third degree questioning continued as I wished to ignite his hunger for more. Chea began to distance himself and his eyes began to reveal the well of pain he had come through, he did not like to feel his guitar induced peace being shaken. I immediately retreated and recalled the pain this young man had been through and simply stated that we should think about different ideas without feeling uncomfortable, that we could teach him to love God and his Son even more.

The subject was changed to his financial situation. The dorm had enabled him to maintain his studies. His uncle provides him with just $30 per month. I asked him if there was anything he needed. He said that he had a friend who gave him clothes and some food. He would like some books. Books are hard to find the money fo rhe told us. And then we remembered the book in his pocket and the song that he carried in his heart.

Please God teach us how to reach this young man and also to remember your healing hands and the one who we are to follow. As Chea leaves the BEC we note that it is now dark outside and another young man knocks on the door.
Steve