Last month we celebrated women in missions, and this month we’re giving it up for our guys! We’re having fun with images of mustaches, muscles, pipes and the iconic World Race beard. We’ve poured over blogs from men on the field along with those of the thankful ladies serving beside them. They’re stories of fun and freedom, challenge and compassion, honor and humility. And the lasting impression we’re left with is a man who looks like Jesus.
When the September 2013 V Squad arrived in Cambodia, Grayson Fleetwood got to see a literal answer to prayers. As an alumni squad leader, he was allowed the unique opportunity to revisit a village he worked at on his Race. The poverty and devastation that marked his first visit to the village was overtaken by thankfulness for God’s provision.
Cambodia was one of the most challenging ministries I have ever been a part of.
While there on my Race, I came across a village that the government destroyed. They came to a group of people saying, “We are going to build a mall on your land. We need you to move right now, but don’t worry. We’ll give you a new and better piece of land with houses and electricity.”
They lied.
They moved this village, put them on a new empty plot of land and left them with nothing.
That was how I found them. I saw countless families living under blue tarps, the land completely flooded. These families were starving. Worse, there were pregnant women who were starving.
I tried to come up with a plan of action, something we could do to help this village.
I wanted to see the fruits of my labor. God had other plans. He asked me to devote the month to praying for the village.
So I prayed.
A group of us prayed over the land, declaring that it belongs to God.
We prayed over the pregnant women, and over the newborns. We did this all month, and continued as we went to new countries. We declared truths over that village even after the Race was over and we returned home to America.
This month, as a squad leader, I’m back.
I’m back in Cambodia and I am blessed to be back at this ministry. I went to that village yesterday and God showed up.
As I pulled up to this village, all I could see was provision.
Where there used to be blue tarps now stood houses. Where there was once flooding now was dry land with children running around laughing! Roads, smiles, food, laughter, joy, hope, JESUS!
The houses even had solar panels providing electricity for the families!
Next to the village was a beautiful building. I stepped foot in this building and before I knew it, several people from the village gathered around us to hear about the gospel. So I spoke.
I spoke about his provision, and the beauty of perseverance in the face of persecution.
I told them about the power of prayer. I spoke of the power of a loving Father, one who deeply desires to have an intimate relationship with every single one of them.
Then I saw the pregnant women, the ones who were starving the last time I’d seen them. These were the women we’d prayed for for over a year.
And now, they were holding beautiful, healthy babies!
Not only did God provide for the physical needs of the village, but now the people are coming to know Jesus as their Savior!
These people who once rejected Jesus were gathering together to sing hymns!
A year ago, God challenged me to be okay with never seeing the fruit of my labor. He asked me to pray, never expecting to see the harvest. He asked me to trust him to carry the work to completion.
It was through devotion to prayer that a village was forever changed.
In ministry, we often want to show up and fix things. We see brokenness and it stirs something inside of us to make things right. In Grayson’s case, God used that brokenness to call him to prayer. It was because of his obedience that Grayson was able to see God move in the village. Is this stirring something in your heart? Check out our upcoming routes and begin to pray for the ministries you may encounter.
Photos via Justin Marshall, Grayson Fleetwood and AJ Levan
