The Future

For a long time when people asked us about our future the answer was "We're going to Cambodia for 6 months and we'll see what happens when we come back." But we've now been here for almost 2 months and with only 4 months to go we've been talking a lot about what we will do when we get back to London. Some of the options we discussed included me going to work in radiotherapy, Alvin going back to work at Channels, maybe buying a house and starting a family. But none of these ever seemed the best option, we just never felt satisfied with the outcome of these conversations. To me it felt as though just going back to work and living a "normal" life would be as though our 6 months in Cambodia never happened. There must be something else.

God has been prompting us in strange ways since before we came out here. Whilst I was still studying and planning to go to Cambodia I questioned whether I would ever work in radiotherapy or in a hospital at all, I wondered why God wanted me to study radiotherapy. I guess apart from learning about cancer treatment one of the other major lessons I learnt was to not worry, and to trust in God. Could this be the only reason for me to study radiotherapy?

For Alvin it was something completely different. Life in London had become very comfortable, Alvin was good at what he did and enjoyed it, it was a life of contentment . Alvin believes that part of the reason why God brought him to Cambodia was to take him out of his job otherwise he didn't think he would ever leave. One night he said to me "I think God wants me to go to Bible school", he then quickly followed this up with "but I hate reading and writing. You can write my essays for me, actually you go to Bible school instead." Er, I don't think so...remember what happened to Jonah??!!

So where is this all leading? Last week three Malaysian ladies came for a short holiday in Esther's homestay. They were Christians, and Esther asked them to bless the pastors and leaders through a sharing. We spent Tuesday afternoon with them in a time of worship and prayer. As I mentioned in my prayer requests God revealed and confirmed a number of things to some of the leaders and to Alvin and myself. After praying for two of the pastors, one of the ladies Deborah said she felt strongly pulled to one of the youth leaders and to Alvin and myself. There was something about the three of us, that God would use us as well as all the pastors as He had already been doing. Before I go on, I have to say that we hadn't said more than hi and what's your name to Deborah, none of us knew each other. But yet whilst she was speaking to us, she said to Alvin that in order for him to grow he should go to Bible school (Alvin went "oh no!"). She also said that our higher education would not be redundant, it would come in useful. She then went on to say that she felt we were very much involved with the youth and we would be in the future, but our work would not just be with the youth but also with professionals. She saw Alvin in the market place, somehow making a difference. And she saw that my womb would be blessed (ekk!). God's revelation and confirmation is amazing, scary and oh so exciting.