Well, here we are. We've had 12 weeks of awesomeness here on the New Zealand countryside, learning new things, visiting new places, meeting new challenges, confronting new problems, and understanding all kinds of new things about God. Not that it was always easy. We were constantly given the opportunity and encouraged to step out in faith, surrender ourselves to God, and let Him perform the open heart surgery that we really needed. Stepping out, surrendering, and getting heart surgery are not easy things to do, but once you do them, the end result is so good. Hmmm...what an apt name for this place: the Land of New Zeal. I think all of us are full of a renewed vigor and zeal after our time here. And now we're so ready to go to Cambodia!!
In a few hours at 7:30pm, we'll be leaving our base in Tauranga to drive the airport in Auckland which is about 3 hours away. Then we'll get on a plane at 1:15am and fly 11 hours to get to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. After a short layover, we'll have a 2 hour flight over to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. If all goes well, we'll arrive in Cambodia at 10:20 on Friday morning local time (11:20pm Thursday in the Eastern US). When we get there, we will spend a day in orientation learning about Cambodian history, culture, and religion. Over the next few days, we will be going to church, spending time doing prayer and intercession, and visiting places associated with the Khmer Rouge genocide in Cambodia in the 1970s. We also get to visit Daughters of Cambodia (click for more info), an organization which rescues women from prostitution by giving them fair and honest jobs. Then, on Wednesday, we will start work with Children-at-risk Ministries. Children-at-Risk does all kinds of things to help children and families who are struggling just to have enough to live. They help children get education, food, and health care, they help parents get vocational training and start small businesses so they can be self-sufficient, and they tell everyone about Jesus. We'll be working with Children-at-Risk for four days a week for three weeks - I'm not sure what all we will be doing, but I'm sure it will be great. Besides that, we don't know what else we'll be doing, but we'll try our best to update you as we find out, in spite of our limited access to the internet.
Before we go, I want to throw out a few thank-you shout outs. First, thank you to all who have prayed for us - your prayers worked! Thank you to everyone who gave money to help us get here! Thank you to the Vine of the Mountains church for your amazing generosity in helping to provide our friend Melanie's outreach fees! Thank you to the Snyder, Blanton, and Grady families for sending us mail!! And last but definitely not least, a huge thank you to Joe and Martha Blanton for the RIDICULOUS amount of goodies that they sent over the course of our time here!!!
As I got ready to leave, I thought of Bilbo Baggins, who was swept off on a sudden and unexpected adventure which he was only partly willing to go on and hardly prepared for. In fact, he was so unprepared that he ran out of his hobbit hole without most of what he needed, including his cloak and his pocket handkerchiefs. Fortunately, I knew this adventure was coming and have spent these twelve weeks preparing for it, although when I looked for handkerchiefs (aka bandanas) this morning at the store I couldn't find any. Still, even though I am leaving without any pocket handkerchiefs, I am not leaving unprepared. Indeed, I can be swept off at a moment's notice without any chance of leaving behind what I need the most, because the Holy Spirit is in me and God is everywhere. If I have no resources with which to do ministry, I still have words that I can pray to spread love and truth and make great things happen. Plus, our God is One who provides. So with or without pocket handkerchiefs, I'm ready to go.
In a few hours at 7:30pm, we'll be leaving our base in Tauranga to drive the airport in Auckland which is about 3 hours away. Then we'll get on a plane at 1:15am and fly 11 hours to get to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. After a short layover, we'll have a 2 hour flight over to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. If all goes well, we'll arrive in Cambodia at 10:20 on Friday morning local time (11:20pm Thursday in the Eastern US). When we get there, we will spend a day in orientation learning about Cambodian history, culture, and religion. Over the next few days, we will be going to church, spending time doing prayer and intercession, and visiting places associated with the Khmer Rouge genocide in Cambodia in the 1970s. We also get to visit Daughters of Cambodia (click for more info), an organization which rescues women from prostitution by giving them fair and honest jobs. Then, on Wednesday, we will start work with Children-at-risk Ministries. Children-at-Risk does all kinds of things to help children and families who are struggling just to have enough to live. They help children get education, food, and health care, they help parents get vocational training and start small businesses so they can be self-sufficient, and they tell everyone about Jesus. We'll be working with Children-at-Risk for four days a week for three weeks - I'm not sure what all we will be doing, but I'm sure it will be great. Besides that, we don't know what else we'll be doing, but we'll try our best to update you as we find out, in spite of our limited access to the internet.
Before we go, I want to throw out a few thank-you shout outs. First, thank you to all who have prayed for us - your prayers worked! Thank you to everyone who gave money to help us get here! Thank you to the Vine of the Mountains church for your amazing generosity in helping to provide our friend Melanie's outreach fees! Thank you to the Snyder, Blanton, and Grady families for sending us mail!! And last but definitely not least, a huge thank you to Joe and Martha Blanton for the RIDICULOUS amount of goodies that they sent over the course of our time here!!!
As I got ready to leave, I thought of Bilbo Baggins, who was swept off on a sudden and unexpected adventure which he was only partly willing to go on and hardly prepared for. In fact, he was so unprepared that he ran out of his hobbit hole without most of what he needed, including his cloak and his pocket handkerchiefs. Fortunately, I knew this adventure was coming and have spent these twelve weeks preparing for it, although when I looked for handkerchiefs (aka bandanas) this morning at the store I couldn't find any. Still, even though I am leaving without any pocket handkerchiefs, I am not leaving unprepared. Indeed, I can be swept off at a moment's notice without any chance of leaving behind what I need the most, because the Holy Spirit is in me and God is everywhere. If I have no resources with which to do ministry, I still have words that I can pray to spread love and truth and make great things happen. Plus, our God is One who provides. So with or without pocket handkerchiefs, I'm ready to go.
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| There goes Bilbo... |
~Dan
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