7 years answered in 17 hours
I shared a few blogs ago about the sweet precious Children's Home we were serving at , and the desperate need they have for financial support. (By the way $4,900 dollars was donated for their food– thank you for fighting with us!) Pastor Rithy, the director, founder,and father figure to the children has been praying for each child to have an individual sponsor since the day the Cambodia Hope Association opened in 2007.
During our stay we were devastated by the need and determined to help set up a more long term solution for the home to receive donations to support the children. I'll be honest I had almost given up hope. We had exhausted our efforts: talked to countless banks, called websites and emailed people in the states. It was proving impossible to make an international bank account where people could make direct deposits from the western countries to a Cambodian bank. The banks are so corrupt that pay pal and other companies refuse to route money to Cambodia.
Then Thursday evening, by "chance" Sarah and Meg ran into the contact they had worked with in Thailand. Carl and his wife have a heart to prevent children from entering the ever growing sex industry: they have 21 homes in 7 countries that serve high risk children and protect them from the horrors of being sold. He invited our whole team to lunch the next day.
Friday we spent the first hour sharing testimonies and desires that God has put on our hearts on how to serve Him after the race. Then we asked if he had any advice on how we can help set up more sustainable long term help for our kids.
One question led to another and an hour later Carl and Pastor Rithy began a 2 hour conversation about their hearts, stories, and passions to protect God's children. Carl reviewed Cambodia Hope Associations mission statement and estimated budget, then turned to me and said " well these feels like a divine appointment." which is when i got these things we like to call holy goosebumps .After touring the home and meeting the children, Carl suggested that they both pray tonight and meet again at 10:30 the next morning.
Forty-five minutes into our brunch, Carl asked Pastor Rithy if he would like to partner together? He explained that they had similar visions and passions and that he has 4 churches that are waiting to sponsor a home. Carl said that it would be $50 a child, each month, and that on April 1 Rithy would receive his first check. 7 years of prayer were answered from an accidental appointment at a grocery store, a simple question posed to a friend over lunch, and the heart of a man who takes his calling from the Lord seriously enough to act immediately when he sees God's children in need.
Not only did Rithy join the Remember Nhu partnership, Carl invited Pastor Rithy's entire home to the mall that night for $2 of arcade games and an icecream cone per child. The kids of the Cambodia hope Association would meet Carl's home on this outing of the century.
For children who wear the same outfit nearly everyday and wonder whether or not food will be on the table, it was as if we were taking them to Disney. Our kids had never been on an escalator before and I had to show the 13-15 year old boys how to put the tokens in the machines.
This was one of the most mind blowing days on the race for me. Not only did God give me the uncontainable joy and peace of knowing that these sweet children i had grown to adore would not go hungry. I also got to share with them one of the best evenings of their lives. There is nothing more rewarding then seeing the grin on a child's face while sharing laughter, love, and life together.
On Sunday, Carl's home joined ours for a joint church service and Sunday brunch together.. the beginning of a family, it was such a sweet picture of what is to come.
I was reminded that I serve a God who NEVER forgets the desperate needs of his beloved children. That I serve a God who not only LISTENS to our prayers, but he ANSWERS them. That I serve a God who uses His children in miraculous ways when we are WILLING to go when he says go. That I serve a God who INVITES us to partner with Him, and be His hands and feet to this broken world.
