What I think that this says is that if you have had to wait for something even if you had to wait longer than you wanted to, if it is in the will of God, He will give you the strength to sustain the wait. Sometimes we have been in the will of God and had to suspend our work, or our pursuit has taken a different path, but what is important is that we don’t lose that passion for what we know God has made us for even while we are not in possession of our hearts desires.
So, we are now in our ministry home! It took us about 7 hours of house looking over 4 days or so, we finally came across an ad of a lady that wanted to sublet the house to us, but that was sketchy as she was going to be returning to Malaysia soon. It turned out that she had a long term contract that she now wanted to end. This played into our hand perfectly and only 48 hours later we were in our new place and experiencing real favour with the owner. The biggest breakthrough was that every Cambodian house has a Buddhist statue in the corner that the owner or the resident prays to or offers food too for good luck. We had asked if they could remove it from the property, respectfully, as we obviously have very different beliefs, but we understand why they do what they do, however we differ in beliefs. So, he said that he was going to consult a fortune teller and see if it was going to be good for him to take it down, without the risk of getting bad luck… After a fortune teller had come, and finished their thing, they proceeded to remove it! Obviously so, because we believe God has led us here to be a blessing and see people brought to Christ. We must have a good vibe going on, because they didn’t believe we were going to be bringing him bad luck. OH and he loves me and Pastor Carin.
Knowing some of the language is a huge blessing too, as people respect that you are not just a regular big shot westerner that comes
over, but knowing how to speak to them opens the door and enables trust to grow. I was away for so long that I thought that I was going to be starting at
Grade 1 again for my Cambodian, but it was like as soon as I stepped of the plane in Thailand and started to get back into the swing of things, it all came
back… Very little of my previous knowledge has gone, but I do have a long long way to go, I am just so happy to have retained as much as I had before. Part of
me thinks that knowing a 2nd language is the hardest thing to do, maybe 3rd and 4th too,·as well as only the most intelligent know more than one J… yet those that really
know me, know that I have far more intelligent people around me that don’t know another language (yet)… haha
over, but knowing how to speak to them opens the door and enables trust to grow. I was away for so long that I thought that I was going to be starting at
Grade 1 again for my Cambodian, but it was like as soon as I stepped of the plane in Thailand and started to get back into the swing of things, it all came
back… Very little of my previous knowledge has gone, but I do have a long long way to go, I am just so happy to have retained as much as I had before. Part of
me thinks that knowing a 2nd language is the hardest thing to do, maybe 3rd and 4th too,·as well as only the most intelligent know more than one J… yet those that really
know me, know that I have far more intelligent people around me that don’t know another language (yet)… haha
So, December is the completion of hiring for the safe house, it will long and hard and we are praying for God directed contacts because
January, February and March will be training months, both myself and P.Carin will be teaching some of the curriculum, but mostly they will receive extensive
training from people already working in the research and day to day running of safe houses in and around Cambodia.
January, February and March will be training months, both myself and P.Carin will be teaching some of the curriculum, but mostly they will receive extensive
training from people already working in the research and day to day running of safe houses in and around Cambodia.
The crossover has been more expensive than I had thought, but thank you all so much for your giving, and for your prayers! I have huge expectations for what God will do throughout Cambodia and most of all in the lives of the hurting and abused children! It is worth the cost and it is worth the time being put in…
Things really are moving; we are building contacts, but most importantly following the Spirit of God as to what to do every day. Listening for His voice…Bless You, Patrick
