I wrote in an earlier post about the dream that the Lord has given me, the27project. I look back at the past few weeks in awe of an incredible Father; He has orchestrated so many details for my path to cross that of others with the same heartbeat as mine. The same thing that stirs life within them: to end human trafficking, all the while releasing joy into the nations.
You see, I had an idea of how I would find the orphanages that the27project would be raising money for; I researched, emailed, and made phone calls to well-developed orphanages that I was confident would be good stewards of funds that are raised through the27project. I had planned to travel around Cambodia for a few weeks after transitioning out of leadership for B-squad and meet with different directors of orphanages.
But, then God began to move in unbelievable ways. When presented with the opportunity to fly to Atlanta and spend time with a few of the World Race staff in Georgia, my initial response was to say no. After all, God had promised me that if I was obedient in squad leading then He would give me the desires of my heart, which I concluded to be His gift of ending these 4 months of leading in Thailand and Cambodia, thus giving me the opportunity to travel and meet with orphanages.
I had put so much prayer, effort, and planning into where I would travel in Cambodia, but, just like that, the Lord gave me a swift kick in the feet and took out all of my plans. All of a sudden, I felt the need to return to the very place that this crazy journey started, in order to thank the people that have poured life into me during the past 2 years. So, my traveling plans in Cambodia ceased to exist and plans were made for me to fly back to Georgia in a few weeks.
Here’s the part where God REALLY began to move, in ridiculous, fall on my face in awe of His goodness ways.
Connection #1: Khaodee Orphanage in Maechan, Thailand. This orphanage was unheard of by me until a week ago; myself and the other 4 squad leaders, (we are traveling with the 3 new SQL’s that will take our places in leadership next week), visited one of our all girls teams at this ministry site. The vision of this ministry is amazing; their heart is to take children in from the Hill Tribes to feed, clothe, nurture them spiritually, and provide them with an education.
You see, the Hill Tribe people aren’t considered citizens of well, anywhere. The government only acknowledges their existence if they are able to graduate from University, proving they will be productive members of society. This, plus their level of poverty, puts these children at a high-risk of being trafficked into brothels in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Burma. If you don’t technically exist because the government has no record of you, then who will look for you if you go missing? No one. Easy target for traffickers.
Khaodee is providing a safe place for them to live and learn about the Lord; also, the orphanage has to buy school supplies for the children, which are normally provided by the public schools. This is because the schools are pre-dominantly buddhist and want to make it hard for Christian children to gain a quality education. Jacked up, right?
I’ll post a few of the children’s stories soon.
Connection #2:
A pastor in Laos. I’m unable to share specifics about this ministry because Laos is a closed country, but a pastor has continued to take in street children, even when the only thing he can do is rely on the Lord to bring food for them; the space in his house is becoming tighter each day, while the number of children is increasing weekly.
Connection #3:
Josh and Bri Rene. I randomly read Josh and Bri’s blog about having a heart for Cambodia last summer when I returned from the World Race. I emailed them and set up a skype while they were in their last month in India on the race. They currently live in Gainesville, GA and are working for AIM, while continuing to pray and plan about moving to Cambodia. Here’s a little about their vision for Cambodia:
“Our names are Josh and Briana Rene. We are World Race Alumni and we represent Faithful Family Children’s Home in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. We are raising funds to accomplish four different goals on site for this amazing family. We desire to see clean water become a reality to the entire home, the children’s school fees, food, clothing, and basic medical care to be covered anually, and lastly funds collected to purchase a playing/planting field for the home to become more self sustaining. Bri and I hope to be back in the field in early 2013.”
These are the facts. These are the needs. It’s no longer about sad infomercials, statistics, or pictures…these are the lives of children that have the ability to influence these nations. Will you act? Wherever you are in the world on January 30th, join us on a run or prayer walk to pray for the strongholds of the human trafficking industry to be broken, specifically in the nations of Thailand and Cambodia. Also, you can donate here to meet their physical needs.
www.speaktothehope.blogspot.com
