In my last blog, I explained a bit about how the devil has tried to distract me from my purpose on the Race, and how that resulted in me almost leaving for a bit (check out my previous blog if you don’t know what I’m talking about).
But during that time of wrestling with the Lord about these distractions and how to overcome them, He reminded me of why I’m here and that He brought me on this journey not by mistake, but because He planned every single one of these moments to glorify Him.
This Race isn’t about me. It’s not even about the people I’m ministering to. It’s all about Him. He is the reason. He is the beginning and the end. He is the cause, and He is the purpose. The Lord designed me, created me, purposed me, and walks day by day beside me to glorify His name and to bring His children back home.
In Romans, God reminded us of the commands He gave us. He reminds us to not commit adultery or murder or steal, and then He sums those up in one overarching command: love your neighbor as yourself. Simple as that. But is it?
Love is a command. It’s an action that the Lord requests of us. He asks us to follow in His footsteps, and if I read the Gospels, everything He does comes from a heart posture of love. Love heals, love provides, and love saves. Jesus is love, so we are called to love as well.
But loving isn’t always easy. God didn’t call us to love others only when it’s convenient or without sacrifice on our end. Did Jesus only love us when it was convenient or without sacrifice for Him? Heck no! Dying on the cross for our sins, the only way God could reconcile ourselves with Him, was the most inconvenient and sacrificial act any person has ever completed in the history of humanity.
God doesn’t call us to a life of ease and convenience. He calls us to a life of abundance and fullness when we abide in Him. And I will choose that any day over a life of comfort, because He’s worth it, and I have life experience for evidence.
My point in sharing all of this is to tell you about a God-story that is currently being written in my life.
My team and I arrived in Cambodia this month with no plans of ministry. We were “assigned” an ATL month, which means we have no host or ministry handed to us, and it is up to our team to pray about and decide what the Lord has in store for us individually and collectively as a team as far as where we go, where we stay, and what we do for the entire month.
This concept of ATL was super intimidating to me at the beginning of the Race, and I was honestly dreading the month that this would be assigned as ministry for my team.
I guess I’ve grown a lot these past few months, because when we found out we were ATL in Cambodia, I about shrieked with joy!!! I was PUMPED. So many possibilities. I was super excited to hear what the Lord had planned for each of us.
A couple of days before we arrived in Cambodia, I asked the Lord what He would have for me and my team and this is what I received:
- PLANTED
- Phnom Penh
- If you can do nothing else this month, prayer is exceedingly important and necessary
God also gave me a few people to contact and reach out to for ministry opportunities, so a few things are still in process.
The coolest thing about hearing these things from the Lord is that my whole team heard literally the same thing. And we all prayed individually.
WHAT?
If that’s not confirmation, I don’t know what is.
Needless to say, we will be staying in Phnom Penh this month. To do what? When He first told me that, I had no idea.
But now…
The other day at church (we found an international English-speaking one!), we had fellowship and coffee on the rooftop after service, and I just so happened to talk to a mom, Lin, of the one baby that showed up that Sunday.
I got to talking to her, and when I told her I was a nurse/soon-to-be-midwife, she referred me to the organization that supported her during her pregnancy and post-partum called Mother’s Heart Cambodia. She told me she had her daughter Nee Ka’s 11-month vaccination appointment the next day, and when I asked if I could come with her, she happily nodded.
Mother’s Heart Cambodia is the only crisis pregnancy center in Cambodia at the moment, serving vulnerable populations of women such as those who have been sexually exploited, orphaned, addicted to drugs, raped, diagnosed with HIV, or impoverished.
1 in 5 women in Cambodia have unwanted/unplanned pregnancies. Mother’s Heart is on a mission to prevent child-family separation and to support single mothers in crisis pregnancies. They do this through crisis pregnancy counseling and pregnancy support programs.
It’s an awesome organization. And I thank God for placing Lin in my life not only as a friend, but as a means to point me to this incredible organization that I hope to partner with during our time here in Phnom Penh.
That’s why the Lord has planted me here.
I’m here to support Lin and baby Nee Ka in anyway I can, even if it’s not easy. I paid for Nee Ka’s appointment at the hospital because Lin couldn’t afford it.
It was less than $1, y’all.
I also bought her formula and baby oatmeal, and I plan on buying her some new clothes that fit, because as of now, she’s grown out of all the clothes she owns. I would also love to buy her diapers, and give her enough to cover her next several doctor’s appointments.
I just can’t stand to see them suffer financially like this and then not step in to help.
To the rest of the world, Lin is a statistic. A single mother abandoned by her fiancee to raise their child, living in a tiny 1-bedroom apartment in the slums of Phnom Penh. A pretty typical family living in poverty. Up until a couple days ago, I would’ve overlooked these people, just because there’s so many and they’re all over the world. But God highlighted Lin to me, because He wanted to teach me compassion. He wanted me to know her name, her story, and see her struggles firsthand so that I could love like He would. Because goshdarnit, He knows her by name, He wrote her story, and He feels all of the pain and struggle that she does every single day. And He feels it for every single other single mama out there in the world in a similar situation.
The Lord PLANTED me here to support them, and He’s using me as His means to provide for them.
Because I can.
I don’t need that $10 green juice more than she needs baby formula.
I don’t need a $30 massage more than Nee Ka needs clothes that fit.
These luxuries compare in no way to the basic necessities that Lin is failing to be able to provide her baby girl.
And the Lord is teaching me a great lesson through all of this.
I would love to invite you, my supporters, to help me raise support for this sweet mama and baby Nee Ka. They have truly touched the deepest part of my heart, and I already feel a soul connection to them after only meeting them a couple of days ago.
They need our help, friends. Will you give cheerfully to support them in their need? Will you choose to be the hands and feet of Jesus for them? Will you obey God’s command to love one another as you love yourself?
If you feel called to give, you can Venmo me @Allison-Crasi. You can also send a check to my home address (message my mom Kris Crasi on Facebook for that one) if you don’t have Venmo.
Thank you all for so kindly reading my blogs and supporting me through prayer! You have no idea how much you truly mean to me.
Much love,
Allison
