A Parents Love

I was on a bus traveling from Battambang to Siem Reap. I’ve taken this 3 hour bus ride like 7 times now. I travel between 2 teams. One team is in Battambang and the other in Siem Reap both in Cambodia. So I know the route and the stops pretty well. At the half way point the bus will stop for a bathroom break and food. That’s the only stop the bus makes. But this time the bus made an unexpected stop a few kilometers before our resting point. A woman and her son got on the bus. The boy looked injured. He had a homemade sling around his arm. It looked like he had been crying, and he was dirty. The look on his mother was one of pain and concern. They took the empty seat across from me. I immediately wanted to pray for him but the mom wasn’t letting me. I stayed in my seat and prayed. About 45 min from when we picked them up, the boy starts crying. The children in Cambodia are tough. I’ve never see one cry out of pain before. I’ve seen kids fall off bikes, fall off trees, fall off chairs, you name it. Not once have they cried. So I knew this boy was seriously hurting.

As the bus continued, every pothole or sudden swerve cause the boy to cry out in pain. But after a few minutes, while the roads were smooth he fell asleep. Suddenly a hard collision with a pothole wakes him up. He starts to cry, then he vomits all over himself. My heart broke for him and his mother. I scrambled to get her a plastic bag. After finding her one, I gave her my water too. Even though she wouldn’t let me pray for him, I could still show them love. I held the bag as she scooped up the vomit. Little by little she cleaned off all the vomit from her son. I could see in her eyes the pain she was going through. She wasn’t even injured but the look on her face would say other wise. I would just look at her and him, with a smile, doing my best to comfort them. Hoping that my smile would be enough to show them everything was going to be alright. There wasn’t much else I could do. She had to take his clothes off to get him cleaned up. The boy sat there naked and in pain at every bump. I gave her my shirt hoping that it could help somehow. She pulled out new clothes for her son, and used my shirt as a new sling for his arm. She thanked me for the little I did and they both got off the bus.

This reminded me of my life, and how my parents have suffering beside me. I’ve broken bones, cracked my skull, lost some teeth, gone to jail. I have so many scars, I have no clue where most of them came from. I never realize how my parents suffered more than I did during those times. Just like this woman on the bus, who was broken for her son. My parents must have had a seriously hard time with me. I’m so thankful that they never left my side. I always had a loving parent next to me. I alwaya had someone who I could rest my head on. Someone who would sit with me in the emergency room waiting for my name to be called. I think we take for granted the loving family most of us come from. I want to take this small opportunity to give thanks to my parents. Manuel Lam and Frances Lam. I love you guys so much! I’m so thankful that you never stop loving me, even when I’m broken and bruised. Thank you Mom and Dad.

Through all of this God reminded me that He cries and His heart breaks for those who don’t know Him. That because we don’t know Him we are destined to suffer for eternity. And just as I watched this mother in pain for her son. God hurts even more as we constantly get hurt away from Him. Church let’s not go silent as our brother’s and sister’s head for death. We have Christ in us the HOPE of GLORY. Tell your family, tell your friends, tell your neighbors. There is Good news and if we don’t share it, then who will? Don’t let excuses stop us from saving a life.

I love you all so much! and I’m blessed to have a family like I do. I want to thank you for supporting me this far. I’m very close to meeting my financial deadline. To those of you who continue to donate. I cannot express the gratitude from my heart, all I have for now is thank you.