August 2005
Dear Family & Friends,
In just under a week I will be heading once again to South East Asia along with a former team mate (Anne Song) from the 2002 Cambodia Short Term mission trip. This will be my fourth trip to Cambodia in the last 5 years as God continues to challenge me to see missions not as a program or one off event, but as an ongoing lifestyle. This pilgrimage to Cambodia is an opportunity to continue fuelling the passion and vision He has placed in my heart for Cambodia. As Erwin McManus in his book “The Barbarian Way’ says: Jesus came to ignite a fire within us that would consume us and ignite us. These days the fire within seems to be burning brighter as I sense the Lord’s hand through this journey. He has been opening doors and new partnerships through friends and strangers alike in Toronto, Vancouver and Cambodia who have a similar passion to see God’s redemptive work done in that nation.
As I think of the places and people I will be visiting, I am reminded of the verses in Matthew 9:35-37. 35Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Throughout the bible we read scriptures similar to this where Jesus is surrounded by crowds and instead of being overwhelmed by their needs, He is filled with compassion. As Mcmanus writes, Jesus’ invitation is a revolutionary call to fight for the heart of humanity. We are called to an unconventional war using only the weapons of faith, hope and love. It is these very ‘weapons’ and His compassion for the lost, the marginalized, the outcasts, the needy, the harassed, the helpless and the vulnerable that compels me to keep taking small steps forward and to trust God to expand and sharpen the vision within my heart.
My three week trip to South East Asia from August 18th to September 5th, will include visits to Cambodia and brief stopovers in Singapore and in San Francisco. It will be an opportunity to encounter once again many who display what Henri Nouwen called, radical servant hood which challenges us, while attempting persistently to overcome poverty, hunger, illness, and any other form of human misery, to reveal the gentle presence of our compassionate God in the midst of our broken world." In Cambodia, I will have the privilege of making my second visit to Place of Rescue, an AIDS centre and orphanage run by Marie Ens, a modern day version of Mother Theresa who at 69 years old, continues to inspire me with her dedication, compassion and total dependency on God as she ministers to those who are dying of AIDS and provides an environment for AIDS orphans to experience God’s love and joy. It will be my first opportunity to meet a little AIDS orphan Theary that I support and to celebrate her 3rd birthday with her and the other 42 orphans at the AIDS centre. Anne & I will also have the pleasure of bringing various items (including toys, medical supplies and some Canadian snacks) that have been donated and we look forward to seeing the joy they will bring to these little lives.
While in Phnom Penh we also plan to visit New Hope Ministries which is run by the Christian Missionary & Alliance. New Hope Ministries seeks to help displaced refugees from Vietnam who live along the Mekong river by providing medical services, schools, children's bible clubs as well as churches for the refugees. Many of these Vietnamese refugees have come searching for jobs, but without proper papers most have been denied employment. They have no place to go but the shanty towns along the banks of the Mekong. Poverty among Vietnamese refugees in Cambodia has tempted mothers, fathers and grandparents to sell their daughters and granddaughters to brothels to raise survival money for the rest of the family. Many of the sex workers are teenagers as such, Newhope ministries hopes to open a home and school for women and girls wishing to escape the sex trade.
From there we will travel inland to visit OMF missionary friends Hak Hyun and Seung Won Cho who serve in a small town called Neak Loeung located 65km outside of the capital city of Phnom Penh. This will be an opportunity for Anne to re-connect with Khmer friends that she spent time with in 2002, but it will also be an opportunity for us to encourage our missionary friends and to prayer walk around the area since persecution against local Khmer Christians is common. Following that, we will return to Phnom Penh, to spend time with young Khmer friends Davin, Seiha, James and Jacky.
As I visit Cambodia, I am mindful of the fact that the needs are many and can seem overwhelming, but the Lord reminded me of the story of Nehemiah and his vision to restore the broken gates and walls of Jerusalem. I was encouraged and challenged by these words from Chip Ingram in his book ‘Holy Ambition: Nehemiah had a dislocated heart. He had a God given concern that propelled him out of his comfort zone. He had a passionate concern for God’s people and God’s agenda that superseded his own personal comfort and prosperity. He cared about things elsewhere when circumstances didn’t dictate that he had to. The Lord is looking for people who are willing to live on the edge. People who will let God breathe into them dreams that can change the world. People who so long to see God’s agenda fulfilled in this fallen world that they attempt what seems impossible, ridiculous and ‘out of the box’ for God’s glory. People with holy ambition. Every great movement of God and every project about relief of human need and the fulfillment of God’s will has started with one man or one woman who cared deeply enough to hear God’s voice and stepped out to do something. It started with a dislocated heart. That person understood that he couldn’t change everything but he was convinced he had to change something. Nehemiah was such a person and so too God has created and designed us to be. Just as the Lord enabled Nehemiah so that he might share God’s concerns and so be caught up into God’s purposes, I pray that this will be true in your life and mind.
Will you join me in prayer that:
· The Lord will open my spiritual eyes to see the needs from His perspective and to seek His direction on how best to respond.
· Pray that God will continue to develop a ‘Nehemiah’ type vision in my heart and in so doing, I will have the opportunity to mobilize others to be involved in building His kingdom in Cambodia.
· Pray for our interactions with all whom the Lord brings our way during this trip, that we will be able to encourage them and that He will anoint our words so that we will continue to sow His seed into their hearts.
· Pray for God’s protection in our travels and for good health for both Anne and myself especially as we go into the more rural area of Neak Loeung.
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