Plowing the Field

When a farmer desires a bountiful harvest, he doesn't go out one day and find the fields ready with the crop. It takes much planning and preparation. The land must be cleared of rocks and weeds, the ground must be plowed and smoothed out, and the seed planted. The farmer must wait for the rain, wait for the crop to grow before he can bring in the fruit of his labor.

We are looking forward to a bountiful harvest in Cambodia- worshipers of The Lord spreading throughout each province and beyond the borders of this country. There is much to be done before this harvest comes, and we are excited about what The Lord is going to do as He uses us to play a small part in seeing His glory come here.

On Friday, a team from America will be coming to be part of preparing for the harvest here in Cambodia. As a group we will travel to western Cambodia to prayer walk through villages in Battambang and Pailin provinces. We'll be joining the local pastor, praying over the areas where the church there is doing outreach, as well as traveling down the border to prayer walk through potential locations for Kristin and me to begin working early next year.

Would you join us in lifting up this time? I believe that God wants to prepare the ground for the harvest that will be coming. Let's join together before His throne in this work.

My supervisor Gayle has put together a schedule for each day and specfic requests. Please check that out here: http://cambodiaborderministry.blogspot.com/2014/07/prayer-walking-team-2014.html.

Also, here are a few things on my heart:

~ Please pray that as we walk and pray, people would see a joy in us that would stand out to them. Pray that this joy would overflow into conversations about the Father.

~ Please pray that we would be equipped to fight the spiritual battle that is being waged in these areas. There have been many strongholds and the Enemy does not want to give up his grip! Pray that we would have spiritual eyes, relying on the strength of the Holy Spirit and daily putting on our spiritual armor.

~ In addition to prayer walking, the team will also be doing a teaching time on marriage and singleness the last few days of the trip. Kristin and I will be sharing a few thoughts on singleness in Khmer. I go back and forth between being so excited to share and discuss this important topic all together, and being utterly terrified/overwhelmed at the thought of having to talk about such deep things for such a long time in my 2nd language. :) But I know The Lord is so faithful, and He will be my help and strength. Please pray for a clear mind and the words I need as we share.

Thank you for praying!

Content in the Uncomfortable

Note: I have just loved hearing from my siblings this summer! Each one has a unique pespective and wisdom to share. Up next, my sister Emily who just got back from spending 2 months in Africa. She is here to share some of the things God taught her through her experiences! If you want to learn about some of her other adventures, you can read back through her blog: http://missionzimzam.blogspot.com. 

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By Emily Hilkemann

Two months ago I stepped off a plane and took my first steps on African soil. This was my first trip to Africa, my first trip out of the U.S. and really, my first time to be so far from home for such a long period of time. I had no idea what to expect. My first bit of culture shock came when we started driving on the left side of the road. The second came when I started noticing all the trash littering the sides of the road. The third came when our host explained how to take a bucket shower. But none of those are a big deal right? I didn’t have to drive, no smell accompanied the trash and I got to take a shower every single day. Merely twinges of discomfort.

As we continued on our trip and ventured further and further away from the city and into the bush these moments of discomfort became a little more common. We were served whole fish of varying sizes as well as goat intestines, liver and kidneys; toilets became simply a hole in the ground; fewer and fewer people could actually speak English. These took a bit more to get used to. But I did. Granted I avoided the fish and goat guts as much as possible, but I started to cherish the walk to the pit latrine while gazing at the moon and the stars and one doesn’t need to speak the same language to play with kids.

To be perfectly honest, during the whole trip I had it pretty easy. No one on our team got all that sick, food was prepared for us at each meal, we often had chocolate, biscuits or even pizza to eat, and we always had a place to sleep at night, even if it was just a mattress on the floor.

One week about halfway through the trip I was really struggling. I was tired and I was having trouble being thankful for anything. But that day during church our team leader said something that I will never forget. He was talking about Romans 12:2 which says not to conform to this world. He said that to conform means to be comfortable. But Jesus told us to take up our cross and follow Him, giving our whole lives as a sacrifice, which doesn’t mean we are going to be living in the lap of luxury. In fact Matthew 5:10-12 (The Message) says, “You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom. Not only that – count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens-give a cheer, even! - forthrough they don’t like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.” Now we weren’t being persecuted, rather we were welcomed with open arms wherever we went. No, I was just struggling with being away from the familiar, the comfort of my bed at home and being able to understand the language.

Some times it’s hard to be thankful. But that’s okay. One morning I woke up with this song from my childhood in my heart “Thank you! Oh thank you, my God for what you’ve done. You gave the greatest gift of all. Thank you for your only Son!” If we have nothing else in this world, we at least have the love of Jesus and that is enough. So on this trip I learned to be content in the uncomfortable. After all, as long as I am where God wants me to be, why would I want to be anywhere else?

{Beauty}

I come from the most boring state, according to some people. Interstate 80 stretches straight across from east to west with nothing but endless cornfields and empty plains to keep one company. The entire population of Nebraska is smaller than the city in which I now reside. There are no major tourist attractions, no professional sporting teams, no mountains, and you are about as far away from the ocean in any direction as you can get.

But come with me down the lane of my family farm, past the alfalfa that has just been cut and take a deep breath of its earthy sweet scent, provision for livestock for the winter. See the corn swaying slightly in the breeze, the last light of the day glistening on the leaves bright green, as the colors of a gorgeous sunset all pink and orange are painted across the sky by the Master Designer. You might see boring, but I see beauty.

We sat together on a wooden platform, curious neighbors gathering around in a little village to hear these strange foreigners speak Khmer. "Tell me why I should believe in God", one young man challenged. I breathed a prayer, "Lord, why me? What do I have to say to him?" I shared my story, bits and pieces, mustering as much brave as my little heart could find to speak clearly the words in my second language.

I didn't see her approach to be honest. But all of a sudden she was there, sitting on the bench beside the platform. A smile broke out on her face that bore stories of tragedy, the marks made by an acid attack leaving her mostly blind. In the midst of the mud and the trash of this village in poverty, in the face of all she had been through and the pain and loneliness of rejection, was there beauty here?

She gave me the gift of understanding. While some got frustrated because at times our words sounded different, because I didn't know how to answer his questions the way he wanted, she nodded and affirmed and touched my knee and said, "Let me tell you what God has done for me." Her brave shone forth as she poured out a heart story of God's provision and His love.

We walked down the path, avoiding the puddles from the rain the night before, smiling and greeting the neighbors on the way by. We crawled up into her little house, built with love by the local family of believers. She asked us to pray, for peace in the hard things. You might see the ugly scars of poverty and loneliness and a hard life, but I see beauty.

In the midst of a tough morning of missing home and feeling less-than, beauty came in the form of a little boy who walked to the front of a church full of people and shared his testimony of God's strength for a hard test, the verses he memorized and recited from Proverbs 3:5-6 echoing in my heart long after.

In the midst of the neighbor's angry words out the window, day 35 of constant pounding from the construction in our building, beauty came in the form of Kristin's violin playing, the sweet notes of "How Deep the Father's Love for Us" taking hold as the Father says, "Yes, remember this".

The storms come, the boring and the ugly and the hard and the scary can altogether overshadow us. The Master Creator of the Universe and the Friend who intimately knows our hearts wants to take our hand and walk down the lane, and show us the beauty, the gifts in the midst of it all.

Where do you see beauty today?

Fishers of Men

Kristin and I just got back from a home stay in a fishing village on the coast in Kompong Saum province. We spent time in the home of the local pastor and his family, and we had lots of opportunities to visit with people in the area, sharing encouragement and testimonies and praying with people.

In some ways I'm tempted to tell you just the highlights, to say it was an amazing time, my language ability increased greatly, and so on. There were definitely some challenges though, moments when I felt overwhelmed and even wondered why in the world God called me here because of my weaknesses. But, He was gracious to stretch, teach and encourage me. I want to share a little bit of both sides and hopefully give you a realistic but fun picture of our time in this coastal district.

- The pastor runs a little pharmacy counter in the front of his home, as well as a DVD rental "shop" in the evenings. This gave us a great opportunity to visit with lots of different people, and to observe and listen to natural conversation. We learned that Thai soap operas and Japanese action series are favorites, that we have big noses, and various local gossip. Some people were eager to ask questions and chat with us. Others hadn't seen foreigners much before, and their routine was to come by every evening and stare at us, which was a bit unnerving. They didn't seem to realize we could understand what they were saying as they speculated over whether our hair color was natural and why we had shown up in their village.

- Each day we went out with the pastor's wife to visit with different families from the small congregation. It was exciting to have the language ability to share words of encouragement, testimonies and some of the Bible stories we have been learning! We also shared during a couple of meetings with kids and during the Sunday worship service. Many of these families have very difficult home situations, unbelieving family members and a lack of resources and opportunities.

- We took the words of Luke 10 literally and "ate and drank what was set before us". While almost everything we ate was delicious, a few more challenging things were durian smoothies, white fungus energy drinks, soy bean dessert, and unknown pieces of meat.

- The pastor was an amazing story teller and we got to learn about his childhood, surviving the Khmer Rouge years, how he came to know Christ, and some of the persecution they have suffered. The first few days it felt as though the words were bouncing off my brain and not really finding their way to an area of comprehension. This was due in part to a different accent than we are used to, a lack of coffee (um....perhaps I am slightly addicted?), weariness, and LOTS of people time for this introverted girl. Thankfully we were able to adjust and really appreciate what was shared with us.

- We went to visit a little village to share with a group of kids on Sunday afternoon. The church has just started reaching out in this area, and the kids had never seen tall, white foreigners before. They had never heard of America, as most of them don't have TVs and haven't had the chance to go to school. They were pretty afraid of us, and I think had a hard time even paying attention or understanding how Khmer was coming out of our mouths.

Photo Credit: Kristin Tillotson

- I am pretty sure that I pray like a 5-year old in Khmer. The people here use a higher, royal language when talking about God, and although we have been learning and practicing to pray, I was discouraged at first hearing others' eloquent prayers and feeling inadequate in praying in the different homes of people we visited and together with our host family during their evening devotions. I realized, however, that even though it is important to address God respectfully, perhaps it is okay to pray simply and to talk to God as my Father and Friend. It might be really intimidating for people who have never set foot in a church building or who are just learning about God to think about talking to Him. In this way I can identify with people and show that God knows our hearts and He hears our prayers no matter the language or how elaborately or simply we pray.

- The believers have found the hearts of people in this area to be hard and resistant to the gospel. They want to share and reach out, so pray for courage and wisdom as they do and that God would open the hearts of people and lead the believers to these persons of peace.

Eyes Open

Do you pray with your eyes open?

Kristin and I have been prayer walking a lot lately, marching up and down the streets in inner city Phnom Penh. It is quite a necessity to keep one's eyes open in this praying endeavor, or you will get hit by a moto, fall in the gutter or step in who-knows-what.

I have been asking God lately to open the eyes of my heart, to see people the way that he sees them, to pray for the things he wants me to pray for.

Last week I said to Kristin, "Could we stop for a moment? I feel like this building is significant". It wasn't an uncommon sight here in the city, a building mostly demolished, crumbling. Why this one, right here? I don't know if there is actually anything about this place, this moment in particular. But God showed me in that moment that he longs to rebuild this area, this nation, this people. To bring healing and restoration, beauty out of the ashes and out of the broken. So those were the words of prayer I whispered as we continued on. "Beauty out of the ashes, Lord, for your glory." How will He do this, in this place of darkness? His hope is coming, of this I am sure. His church, his people are sharing the stories of His goodness and there is much more work to be done.

So pray with your eyes and ears and hearts open to hear the message from our King and kind Father, to know the ways He wants you to pray and to grow in faith for what He is going to do.

Beauty out of ashes

Tuning from the Master

I have been mulling over the old hymn, "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing", the words rumbling around in my head as they sink into my heart. Especially the first few lines:

Come, Thou fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing your grace. 
Streams of mercy never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise. 

The fountain of every blessing that we could ever imagine, the source of all that is good and all that we need. Do I run to it? Do I drink from the flowing streams of mercy? Or is my heart seriously out of tune, more like a banging gong and not something all together beautiful?

When complaining flows from our hearts and out of our mouths we are in need of a good heart-tuning. When our words harm rather than help, when we tear down rather than build up, we show our lack of filling from the everlasting streams. I am quick to get frustrated or pass judgment or give in to feelings of inferiority. There are plenty of reasons in the physical realm, things like construction in our apartment building and the CONSTANT banging and noise, mice (I will spare you the gruesome details), and days without rain leading to 100% humidity. Yes, I could complain and put it out there for the world to see (isn't that what I just did here). But the notes would all be off, the sounds would be the cause of dogs howling for miles.

But when Grace comes and in and tunes things up and makes things new, covers over all the frustrations...they are still there, but my focus is on praising. The very loudest praising is what is due! The overflowing streams of God's mercy to me should turn my heart around from complaining or words that are not lovely to words that are beautiful and honoring and become a symphony of praise to my Father.

An Open Letter to the Church

An Open Letter to the Church

Bride of Christ,

I must admit that I am often too quick to judge, to condemn or just plain get frustrated with you. But what I see makes me sad. I see that so very often we (I am including myself as part of the global body) focus on the minor, things that are petty in relation to what is really important. So, I ask that you put aside your programs and your disagreements for a moment.

Do you see the harvest fields, dear Bride? Do you see souls hungry for the Truth, the Living Water that can fill them up like no other? Do you see the broken, the poor, the widow, the orphan, the farmer that just lost all his crop, the single mother who has no one to turn to, the woman who is well along in years and feels forgotten? Do you see the entire people groups, entire islands and nations FULL of people who do not know the name of Jesus, do not know the source of hope, have never HEARD?

Does this break your heart? Why then do you fuss over buildings and locations, programs for the sake of numbers, the attempt to control and have things your way? Why have we stopped being the body, seeing first of all that Jesus is the Head? Not us, never us. Why then do you stay within the walls of safety, the church building? Why then do you think YOU should be fed, you feel entitled to a certain kind of sermon, you even work hard to serve in the name of Jesus but you take your eyes off of HIM when you fail to resolve your problems with your sisters and brothers?

Oh, Church, would you look up in deep worship to our Lord? Look out, look out at the hopeless and dying. Yes, be fed through the Bread of God's Word, be refreshed through the Holy Spirit, and don't forsake the assembling of yourselves together. But in your striving, don't forget WHY we are here. It is not to DO church but to BE, to be the body, to show love and to preach truth. Make every effort to keep peace with each other and don't give up when it gets tough, because it WILL be tough. Don't be so consumed with what is within that you put aside what is without, those who NEED so desperately the hope you have to offer.

Do It All For His Glory

***Note: Can I just brag for a bit? I am very proud of my brother Josh. He is a leader and role model, he loves learning, and has a compassionate heart. I won't tell you all the stories of how we fought as kids, and how he knew EXACTLY how to push his big sister's buttons. :) I also love that you can hear him on the radio during Husker sporting events, and know the broadcast is happening because he is manning the board. How cool is that? I'm so thankful to have Josh bringing you a guest post today.

With sister Emily at Ben and Beth's wedding last fall

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By Josh Hilkemann

Hello all of Sarah’s readers!

While I am not unaccustomed to blog-writing, I can say this is the first time I have been a guest contributor to someone else’s blog… so it is indeed an honor!

When thinking of what to write about over the last week or so, I kind of had an idea of what I was going to share. Then, as is often the case when I’ve been mulling over a certain subject in my mind, I happened to hear a sermon about that exact subject. It always amazes me when this happens – whether it’s seeing a passage of scripture, or hearing a message on the radio, or even a certain song – I know that God is trying to teach me something when it comes at me in multiple directions.

It’s funny that this is going to be shared on my sister’s blog, because what I’ve been thinking about involves my siblings. Over the last year and a half or so, I’ve had a lot of emotions concerning the fact that my oldest sister would be going to/is on the mission field in a foreign country. These emotions were further stirred when I found out that my other older sister (Beth) would be following the same path soon. The mixture of emotions is hard to describe: sadness that they’re leaving, joy and pride that they’re going where God wants them to be.

But it’s also raised a lot of questions in my mind. Am I where God wants me to be? Is having a “secular job” what I’m supposed to be doing right now? Growing up I’ve always been told that you don’t have to be in ministry or be on the mission field to be a missionary. (And that we’re all called to be missionaries – “Go therefore…” in Matthew 28 etc.) But at the same time I have felt slight nudges that some day it might be time for me to be in one of those areas. I have to admit: it’s difficult trusting that you are listening to God’s call on your own life when every single one of your siblings is either in a foreign country on the mission field or has been there in the past…

With all of that said, here’s what I have been learning and soaking in the last couple of weeks.

First and foremost, everything we’re doing should be for God. Colossians 3:23 says: “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.” Whether you are a missionary, have a “normal” 9-5 job, are a stay at home Mom, are retired or are a student, you don’t have any excuses – everything you do should be done with a heart that wants to please God. Along with that, we need to have an attitude of humility in our work – that’s something that I’ve always struggled with, and that’s why one of my favorite passages of scripture is Philippians 2:3-5. We should have an attitude of serving and not being served.

One of the biggest things that I took out of the sermon I heard recently was the fact that we need to be encouraged in whatever our work is, because there is Grace and Providence in our work. God has put us where we’re at for a reason, and he can use us wherever we’re at.

If we continue to grow in our relationship with Him, His direction on our lives will be that much clearer.

Such is Our Confidence

Note: Probably my favorite role in all the world is being a big sister. I am incredibly proud of my siblings and how they desire to serve The Lord and love others around them. So, I thought I would let them share here on my blog. Many of you reading this probably have known our family a long time and followed us through the years, but perhaps not! I hope you enjoy hearing from my siblings through the next few months. 

First up- my sister next-in-line, Beth. She and her husband, Ben, are heading overseas soon to share the hope of Jesus. Their first baby is due in early November!

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- By Beth Tillotson

Areas of weakness are not areas of certain failure. They are areas of potential growth - AND, amazingly, areas where God can make His power known.

I doubt sometimes. I just stop and my shoulders drop and I think, yikes, why in the world am I doing this? God, You know who you are asking to go out into Your harvest field, right? This woman, this shy, quiet, reserved, timid woman...who isn't assertive and isn't bold and isn't good at building relationships and isn't abundantly qualified. Me, God? Really, You want me to go?

I don't like looking at those areas where I struggle, the weak points. Of course not, but how important it is to understand those weaknesses! Not so I'll feel bad or doubt God or give up.

But to say - God, will You challenge me in those areas and bring growth?

Not to say I've failed before I even got started.

But to hear Him say - Remember, daughter? I use the weak things and low things and despised and foolish things so that ALL the glory and ALL the boasting is in Me. So that My power is revealed.

Isn't that my heart's desire anyway? Having it pointed out that I'm not perfect, that I'm not the most qualified or experienced...should make me glad. Overflowing with thankfulness for God's immense and lavish grace, that He is my adequacy, and that through those weaknesses His glory can be seen and known.

"Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant." 2 Cor. 3:4-6

"I heard the call, Come Follow,

That was all.

Earth's joys grew dim,

My soul went after Him.
I rose and followed - that was all.

Will you not follow if you hear Him call?"

~Hudson Taylor

Battle Cry of Praise

I have noticed this anthem repeated through the pages of the Old Testament, the words of praise mentioned over and over. "Give thanks to The Lord, for his love endures forever".

This was the battle cry of the people of Judah under King Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 20). A massive army of the Moabites, Ammonites and Meunites were on their way, bent on war. The people of Judah knew their numbers were tiny in comparison, the reality was certain defeat. Jehoshaphat knew there was no where else to turn but to The Lord. "We do not know what to do," he prayed, "but our eyes are on You".

It was to be the Lord's battle. Instead of the best fighting men and the strongest weapons, the people sent out an army of worshipers to lead the way into battle. The praise on their lips was this, "Give thanks to The Lord, for his love endures forever". Give thanks? Celebrating God's love in the face of death? And God came, He destroyed the enemy and His name and fame spread throughout the nations.

This week we walked the streets of the red light district, past countless bars and clubs and customers, feeling physically the weight of the darkness and oppression. I didn't even know how to pray, how to fight the battle of the Enemy's hold on this area. So, I took up the battle cry of the people of Judah, "Give thanks to The Lord, for his love endures forever", whispering these words over and over. "You are holy and righteous, You will gain the victory here". Give thanks: God's armor, His weapons, His light shining in the most impossible places. 13 months (almost) of time in this city, friends and open doors. God's judgment, His discipline, refining and gentle correction. The water of the Holy Spirit that washes and transforms. The cool breeze and gently falling rain that made our walk more pleasant.

This doesn't seem like a particularly strategic battle plan, does it? But our thanksgiving takes our eyes off ourselves, our problems and the impossibility and focuses us on the Victorious Savior, the One who is able to change hearts and cities and whole people groups for His glory. And it will be His glory that shines here, His praise that echoes forth from the lips of His people.