The last couple of days have been great with all the team really bonding and working well within the different areas of projects. Today a couple of different events really caught my attention and made me realise how easily we can become swamped by and focus our attention on all the negative things around us without really taking time to celebrate small victories that we see and where we recognise God's Kingdom at work. Today speaking to one of the new lady boys and hearing his own testimony I heard that 2 of the boys (David and Jonathan) who had come to know Jesus the last time we were out in Cambodia had went back to work in clubs and other areas. I looked at photos of one of them as he began to live a life again as a lady boy. My heart was so heavy due to what I saw and heard that I totally overlooked what the new man was telling me and of how God has been working in his own life. I was thinking about the boys for most of the morning when Savet came again and began to talk with me. He was speaking about his day and his plans for tonight. In the evening time he is now beginning to teach English to other people in his community. I asked him how much he was charging and he replied that he was doing it for free as God had blessed him so much and now he wanted to be a blessing to others. Today as I sat and chatted to Laura on Skype, I realised that I could either become down about the bad news I had heard and feel frustrated by some of the stories we hear in Svay Pak, or instead I could thank God for the break through and radicle change in this one mans life. Tonight I want to ask you to continue to pray for break through and change in this area but as I quickly recap on the last 2 days to pray and thank God for all that the team have been able to do so far, and for the blessings which we have seen already.
Last night we got the chance to meet up with some people from England who we had made contact with and who are now living out in Phnom Penh. They brought us to the bars and clubs by the riverside and many of our team had the chance to talk and pray with many of the women and men that work in the bars and would sell themselves to customers each night. As they did this some of the bar workers were brought to tears as they shared about how much they wanted to change their lives and howthey felt unfulfilled. The team were able to pray with them and offer a listening ear. Give thanks to God that many of our team stepped out of their comfort zone and that God's spirit worked through them to bless and love those people that needed it.
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| A smaller group of us faced the rain and went prayer walking and praising in the area. |
John and Ann Turner are a couple from Northern Ireland who run a project called "feed my lambs". They prepare food and deliver it to many children living in slum conditions. They also carry out a night time work as they look after the children of sex workers and care for their basic needs. John, Davy C and Chris have spent the last couple of days doing some painting and practical work for them. The group which are leaving early on Monday also helped to carry out the work with food distributions in the slums today. Thank God with us tonight for the work the Turners do and for the fact that we have been able to see God's heart lived out as the hungry have been fed and looked after.
Tash and the guys running kids club have been doing an amazing job and this has been one of our most favorite parts of the day as we have watched Kids come alive as filled with happiness as they worshipped God in the safety of the "The Sanctuary". Below are some of the crafts which the children have made.
Today as we stood and worshipped and danced with the kids, the words which we sang suddenly took on purpose and true meaning. What a hope it must be to be able to sing:
"When I stand in that place,
Free at last meeting face to face,
I am your Jesus you are mine.
Endless joy, perfect peace,
Earthly pain finally will cease.
Celebrate Jesus is alive, He's alive"
Celebrate with us as we see Hope being lived out in the midst of hopeless situations.
Gayle and Rachel continue to work tirlelessly each day for the queues of people coming to see them with tooth aches and aching backs. Thank God that peoples needs are being met. Today I stood and watched Rachel pull someones tooth out....after seeing the pictures below of the before and after shots, I definitely wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of her!
Steph has also begun to do some training with counsellors at Daughters. This is an amazing opportunity which has many positive knock on effects as it means that the clients at daughters will receive a better service of care. Thank God for the skills of all 3 of our medical team and all that they have been doing.
Nick has been an amazing team player who has been a tower of strength to many people around him as well as providing training in photography to people at Daughters and Svay Pak. Teaching of new life skills such as this is a massive benefit to these people and helps to train them for other employment further down the line. Nick has plans also in place to help address issues with websites and design of videos for a couple of projects. Thank God for all that he does.
During the course of the trip it has been amazing to see people we work with exploring and finding purpose in life. It also has been beautiful however to see team members who came with many fears of inadequacy prior to the trip and uncertainty of what they could bring to the team to now see them fully moving in the Spirit and blessing others around them. Sonya was one of these people who now daily brings amazing energy and fun to the kids club and also last night was amazing with the girls in the bars as she prayed. Her and Lorna and many others have also brought their mothers hearts and been significant, particularly with the kids and especially today as they delivered food to the children in the slums.
Please continue to pray for Cambodia and all the projects we work with, but tonight give thanks for all the ways we see the Kingdom already in action.
Dave
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