I remember an assignment I had years ago that ended up being a divinely appointed adventure! The assignment was to attend a different religion’s worship service and to seek an understanding of the people’s beliefs through conversation with them. My wife and I chose to attend a Hindu temple service.

After taking our shoes off at the door, we sat through about an hour-long talk that highlighted the importance of wisdom. After the talk, Jonandon, a young man living at the monastery and training to be a monk, approached us. After we talked about the many things we had in common, Jonandon cracked a big smile and said he had us figured out. “You guys are Adventists, aren’t you?” He smiled even bigger when we said we were. “There was just something about you,” he said. The fact that we were Christians and vegetarians helped give it away. He then started reminiscing how a friendly neighbor woman had taken him to an Adventist Vacation Bible School when he was young, and how special it had been to him.

We invited Jonandon to ride with us to a health food store he was familiar with, and we shared our testimonies with him. On the way back to the monastery, he exclaimed in all sincerity that maybe he had chosen the wrong path. Maybe he needed to become an Adventist! He said he wanted what we had. We agreed that God had orchestrated our meeting, and we prayed for our new friend and encouraged him to attend his closest Adventist church.

God has gems for His kingdom in many places. With intense interest, we look forward to finding His gems among the “Great River People” of Cambodia, and sharing Jesus with them!

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