"Just..."

It's just painting...
It's just playing games...
It's just telling stories...
It's just visiting a church...
It's just giving them some food...

It's not "just" anything...it is so much more!

Yeah, all of these things are good to do and even standing alone, they are of some merit. But we don't come in to do "just" anything. We come to do these things to open doors and allow God to open hearts.

Last weekend, our class went on a missions trip to Kampong Thom, a province about 3 hours to the north of Phnom Penh. We "did" all those things in that list above, but like I also said -- it is so much more. We came to serve. We came to share the love of Jesus. We came to bring encouragement. We came bring to hope to children that have very little to look forward to.

We came to change mindsets.

From the very beginning of my time here in Cambodia, my goal has been to raise up these people to share God's love...to empower them to step out in boldness of how they are made. And through our teachings and putting them into practice, I think that is happening. But it was on this trip that something more struck me....here is a group of missionaries, serving and loving their own people.

When the people of Cambodia think of missionaries or teams coming to serve, they most likely will picture a group of foreigners. This group is the opposite. Each one of these students has a heart to serve and see their own nation come to know the truth of God. And as we step out and serve the churches in the provinces, something sparks inside of them...this is something they can do too. It doesn't have to depend on foreigners. They are missionaries. They can speak into the lives of others and see the results.

They are seeing the example set by this group that God has named the Harvesters. These ten young people have God's joy bursting from inside of them...and they are learning how to pour that out into the lives of others. It's hard to believe that I only have one more month to work with this team. But the good news is that they are planning outreaches to go on...after I leave. God used me to help establish this work, but in the end, it is God's work and He doesn't stop because I am leaving Cambodia.

No...He's just begun.


(I will be posting pictures of the trip in a day or two, so please check back soon!)