Jesus Know Me

Last year, Greg Allison joined his first Baptist Medical Missions International (BMMI) trip to the Dominican Republic after Nathan Heintze suggested he go. But even before that trip, another place lived in the back of his mind.

Several years earlier, Greg heard John Merriweather speak about Cambodia, and something about it stayed with him. At the time, he dismissed the thought, assuming he was trying to make himself into a missionary rather than sensing the Lord’s leading. Then while serving in the Dominican Republic last October, he learned BMMI was planning a trip to Cambodia. Before he had time to think about it, he said, “Sign me up.” Looking back, Greg describes this trip simply: “This was a calling like I have never had before.”

Greg arrived in Cambodia with very few expectations. He is not a doctor, pastor, or teacher. He works in cybersecurity and assumed his professional skills would not be particularly useful in remote villages. His plan was simple: stay in the background and help where needed.

But on the first day, a local pastor asked if someone would pray over each patient.

The doctors were willing, but clinic days moved quickly, so Greg, an interpreter, and one of the missionaries began praying with those coming through. Others joined in throughout the week, but the goal remained the same: every patient would be prayed for.

Greg remembers realizing quickly that he had no script and no idea what to say.

But he also realized something else: the words were not the important part.

Throughout the week, one thought kept returning to him: the team was there to meet physical needs, but only the Lord could reveal spiritual needs.

One doctor’s devotional especially stayed with him—Jesus often met physical needs before addressing spiritual ones. Later in the week, one pharmacist reflected on sharing the gospel with a woman who kept staring at the food being served after church. He observed that it is difficult to think about anything else when you are hungry.

That resonated with Greg.

People have real physical needs. But ultimately, only Christ can meet the deeper need.

Long before Greg went back and found the references later, Scripture’s truths echoed in his mind: no one comes unless the Father draws them, and apart from Christ we can do nothing.

“It is the work of the Lord,” Greg reflected. “I was just a faithful worker among the harvest the Lord was providing.”

One interaction especially stayed with him.

The team explained to an older woman that they wanted to pray for her. Through the interpreter she shared that she attended the church and coveted prayer. Greg prayed. The interpreter translated.

When they finished, she smiled broadly and thanked them repeatedly. Then she turned back and said in joyful, broken English: “Jesus know me.”

Greg still cannot stop thinking about that moment. She was overwhelmed with joy that Jesus knew her. And he found himself asking a harder question: Why am I not always that excited to tell others?

Another surprise came as Greg realized that many patients did not know what prayer was. Some needed interpreters to explain what was happening and even when the prayer was finished. Greg understood people not knowing Jesus, but not understanding prayer itself caught him off guard.

Yet instead of discouraging him, it deepened his dependence on God.

Throughout the week he found himself praying constantly–in the mornings, at night, during the drive, and all throughout the day. Not polished prayers. Just conversations. “Lord, have Your way.” “Touch these people.” “Be glorified.” “Forgive me.”

“There is no such thing as being ‘prayed out,’” Greg said.

When he returned home, he realized Cambodia had changed more than his understanding of missions. It changed the questions he asked. What am I doing to know Jesus better? Am I proclaiming Him in my everyday mission field: my work, my neighbors, my church, my interactions with people?

Greg reflected on how easy it is to forget what God has done once life becomes busy again. He thought about Israel quickly turning away after seeing God’s faithfulness in Exodus and prayed that he would not do the same.

Then he found himself thinking differently about Paul’s words: “To live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

Greg said he had always understood what Paul meant intellectually, but understanding those words and living them are not the same thing. For much of his life, the beauty of that verse had been found in finally seeing Jesus face to face. Now he sees something else. The abundant life is not only waiting for us someday…it begins now. Living fully surrendered to Christ, abiding in Him, and walking with Him daily changes how we see everything. Greg reflected that only abiding in Christ can create the kind of dilemma Paul described when he wrote, “Which shall I choose?”

When Greg talks about missions now, he talks less about medical care and more about obedience. His encouragement is simple: “I am nothing, but the Lord has a plan. Trust God and get moving, whether here or abroad.”

And if readers remember one thing from Cambodia, he hopes it is this: “The Lord is moving in Cambodia. The harvest is great, but the workers are few.”

Then he returns to the words that changed him: “Jesus know me.” May we never lose the wonder of that.