Sunday, December 29, 2013

Are you a missionary?

Are you a missionary?
Chances are your not, but are you called?
I believe the answer is YES. 
We have all been called to share the gospel; but have we answered that call?  
Have we been obedient to His charge? 

While this video is a luscious attractive piece designed to attract and encourage you to do missions.
I liked it and honestly made me want to do missions. 


But wait I am a missionary and so are you.  

No matter where you are, there you are so if you here or if your there you have to come of the mind set that a missionary isn't someone who goes out and shares the gospel but someone who shares the gospel period.

I think the idea of I am not a missionary allows us to think that's not what I am called to do and give us away out and we are not sharing the gospel.  While this video in someway what make mission field attractive, I would say that it's far more adventurous, scary, thrilling to preach at home.   A video just as attractive should be made about the guy passing out coffee on the corner or the guy caring for someone on the streets.

My home; our home (our country) seems in ruins right now and I think it's time for many of us to answer the call and be a missionary at home.  If one person in a far off country can make such a big difference worthy of  book or movie then why can't many of us make that same difference at home.  According to the video it takes someone special to be a missionary, it doesn't really, it doesn't have to.  "Special" is really no more than a person that will say "Yes I will do it".  That's how special was I,  I simply said yes.

I think again it goes to the mindset that this is my job because "I am a missionary" verses the person at home thinking my job is a "store clerk" or "contractor" or anything.  The store clerk needs to be thinking "I am a Missionary" and the field is the store.  Paul was a missionary that made tents for a time.  He was a missionary while in jail, he was a missionary in life not just while in a specific place, crossing a boarder or an ocean shouldn't make me a missionary.

I implore you to think of missions as your job.  Feel the great honor, blessing to serve our KING.  To share should be our greatest joy and tremendous blessing.

Obviously it's not going to be easy, it's going to be hard but have you not sung the song "I am in the LORD's ARMY".  We've said I am a soldier, don't be a lazy soldier who sleeps while the enemy advances.

Start small, work your way into it, go out as a group with confidence.  Take your smart phone and look up answers you don't know.  Truthfully I hardly know anything at all but it seems most of the time the knowledge it there when it's needed.  I think God will give you the words if you try and use it.

Some questions I think about often.
Have I sewn any seeds today; what have we done?  
Have I helped anyone get saved this week; what have I really done?  
Have I enabled other to do it?
How valuable is my life if I am not doing what it was designed to so?

You might say I am to scared to stand on a street corner and talk to people or I don't know how.
Then be the worker, encouraging others to go driving them, lay out supplies, buy supplies for those who will use them, be a part of the work.

Let's not bury what God has entrusted us with.

Make it your mission to be a Missionary any were you are.





   

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Asking for a sign?

Allow yourself to be blessed by blessing others.
A gift can easily be made by clicking that PayPal link above,
 or a check can be sent to

Calvary Chapel Fallbrook
488 Industrial Way A-1
Fallbrook California 92028 USA

Memo.  Must note your donation intentions
ie. school or orphanage

we receive 100% of the funds donated after paypal fees
all funds are tax deductible









Saturday, December 14, 2013

Warning it might make you cry.

A couple years ago a budding journalist Laura Kebede visited us with the idea to make a video about the children's past and present lives.

Today I receive a copy of Sorya's and Chantrea short story.

It's not their whole story but a small glimpse of what was.  

It is important to not always focus on their past, it isn't who they are. 

It's where they WERE that helps us see where they ARE; that should impress us and in turn we give glory to God!

   
Today Sorya and Chantrea are bright, shining, lovely ladies constantly evolving, growing and advancing.    


I am constantly blessed to have been used to better the lives entrusted to us.







Thursday, December 5, 2013

Cooperation

I want to share with you how our school (A Heart For Wisdom) and the orphanage (A Greater Hope) interact with each other.  Though the two projects are separate, they cooperate and are intertwined.

First, when I say our school; literally it is ours maybe people might think I am referring just to a school our kids attend but it's our's if that help in understanding why we ask for funds for the school.

You might know of the 39 children at the orphanage 30 of the now attend our school.  You may not know that some of the classes are held at the center (orphanage).  Sports, Work and some of the home ec. classes, we've also been picking up on science a little trying to make it cool and understandable.  

From the orphanage side I think it's good because like any house it is open to the kid's friends.  Since we have the space and the farming it's nice to get the extra help moving dirt.  It breaks down barriers and invites the kids to know who we are and what we do.  I don't think they consider it an "orphanage" as it's "let's go to your house and play or hang out" I think that's important for our kids.  Also our children are quite popular at school which I think might be a bit different as you always here kids get picked on for being different or not having a proper family.  

From the school side we don't have the space or facilities yet to provide adequately for every subject so the center provides where the school can't.  

It's important for you to know that none of the children have ever had practical application in any of these subjects before.  They have science class but didn't do science, they have Home Ec but didn't do Home Ec. 
Especially science, they've never done anything except read a book before.  The biology teacher brought in a leaf to class and you could hear them talking about that all week, the kids at school see the difference and they like it. 

This post I wanted to share these photos of how the center is used by the school, the kids playing soccer in sports, working in the gardens, also learning how to cook different things at the center.
They've made mostly deserts for the moment as that's what their book is teaching on; they've made mochi (rice cake), a custard baked in a pumpkin which was very nice and they made ice cream.

Oh and we cooked the last snake the gardener killed. So that was a first for the kids.

 
I was thinking you can't do this in a public school.  


Mochi


 Icecream

Guitar

Water Snake

You gotta give it to Yong he'll try anything and open the door for everyone else to try it.


Tanning the hide

 working the new land to extend the soccer field. 


 Not really science but it's a start to draw the kids in. 
So we made slime. 

Make some moon sand and then baked them into dino eggs with prizes inside for Christmas discoveries. 
 cornstarch and water

Hard candy

Table soccer

Khmer version of the high jump



 Probably just as important the staff at the orphanage spend a lot of time at school since the house is empty during the day.  They volunteer helping where ever mom asks, often it's one on one time with kids who are behind or selling things from the book store.  At some point they are likely to move on from the orphanage and work at the school or somewhere else so their help and training is going to take them far in the future.  If nothing else we hope they have all the tools to be great moms themselves.   
I told my sister the other day I love my school, I care for the kids and want to provide for them as if they were my own and my so do the teachers which I think is awesome.  The school is just as much theirs as it is mine.  I don't think many employees can say that.  


I would like to take the opportunity to say it again and suggest that churches make every effort possible toprovide assistance to college students wanting to be teachers.  I really feel this is an area we could make a real difference in our countries future.  We need Christian teachers to shift the tide and I feel literally save the world.  Obviously God's will be done there but let's go out fighting the good fight.  

It's what we are doing.