This month has been such a meaningful month for me here in Cambodia. You see it was my Christian birthday this month on Oct 26th and I am simply amazed by our God. Four years ago I invited Jesus into my life and recognized Him as my Saviour.
The transformation He has done in my life is definitely not of this world but supernatural. There is so much more work to do in this sinner but knowing I can go to Him and cry out like David create in me a pure heart and that He will respond and point out my flaws and areas to work on. He does it with not an accusatory tone but one of love that He understands that I want a closer relationship with Him and is excited that my wants are to be more Christ-like and less Kevin-like.
He sends many brothers and sisters my way to help me in this process whom I love deeply for their sacrifices in helping me to understand God's desire to be closer to me. The fact that He loves me just the way I am but loves me enough that He wants me to experience a deeper bond with Him.
It has been a blessing to be forever reminded of my inadequacies to help so many people in need here in Cambodia. The limitations in my earthly strength to not go very far. But when I reach out to Him for His strength, for His wisdom, for His guidance and most importantly...for His will to be done amazing things happen .
I witnessed this month a little girl....precious and sweet..she always says hi kevin with a big huge smile everyday that I am at the village...she just received a house this month and while we were talking with her she told us..." I have been praying every night for two years that God will provide a home for her and her mother....with great joy she informed us that God answers prayer....she then asked us can I pray for you ...as she prayed this heartfelt prayer....my Khmer is so limited but I didn't need to know them...you see these were prayers from a righteous child, a faithful child of God...I started crying as she continued to pray out loud with more fervour and passion and knowledge that she was reaching out to our Almighty God on our behalf....and she knew without a doubt with deep Faith .....God answers prayer.
A couple of days ago I put out a blog post with the needs of the community for housing and a farm and the financial needs they entail but today I have a different request.......pray for the community, pray for their needs, please pray without a doubt and with deep Faith in the knowledge that God answers prayer.
God bless
Kevin and Leakhena
Showing posts with label Cambodia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cambodia. Show all posts
Friday, October 28, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Make a difference this Christmas !
As most of you know I have been engaging with a community in Cambodia that was forcibly evicted from their land by a corrupt government in partnership with a development company. The link to their eviction is HERE.
After their eviction in January 2009 they were unceremoniously dumped 20 kms west of Phnom Penh with nothing as everything was destroyed by the bulldozers you witnessed in the video. Since then they were evicted again and dumped 38kms north of Phnom Penh where they are currently located. I was onsite the day of their first eviction and it forever changed me as it was the most emotional day of my life witnessing this tragedy.Leakhena my fiancée and myself have been working with this community the last year and have plans on moving there in February this year.
The lack of proper housing as you can see here or on our facebook page—Manna4Life--is one of their greatest needs . Proper housing will improve not only their situation but will keep them protected from more health issues by being out of the elements and able to stay dry. Most homes now are just a few sticks put together with any type of tarp material they can find whether it be a rug ,plastic sheeting,a bed sheet or anything to defend against the torrential rain here in Cambodia. We have been able to raise enough funding to provide 31 new homes in the community by the generosity of people like yourself but there are 70 more families in dire need also. Each home costs $570 U.S. dollars to build, this includes the hiring of the workers from the community and food and refreshments during the building. This provides much needed financial assistance to the families also as they are in need of work also and barely get by each day.
We are grateful to have joined with Norval Presbyterian church in Georgetown, Ontario in setting up a Canadahelps page in order for people to donate this Christmas season. Every dollar received through Canadahelps will go directly towards the building of homes for this community. I have also set-up a Causes page on Facebook called Manna4Life where you can follow along on the progress of this community and our work there. One of the things I always say is that we are building not homes but HOPE in this community. Just the small amount we have done so far has built a spirit of hope and a real sense of community. We all work together on the homes as a community with the whole community coming out in force to shave the bamboo for the flooring and building the palm leaf walls for all the homes. Here are a couple of the finished homes.
If you feel led to prayer for this community we know God answers each and every prayer and trust me it gives us and the community great comfort knowing our brothers and sisters are reaching out to Him on our behalf.
For the price of a new ipad or iphone you can substantially change a families life and health this Christmas season and beyond.If you feel led to help in a financial way by organizing a fundraising drive ,getting this message to your friends and co-workers, getting your sports group together etc or having your family donate this Christmas please click here and VISIT THIS GIVING PAGE on Canadahelps. A canadian tax e-receipt will be sent to you automatically. Make sure you print off a copy for your files. Or you can donate through Paypal (no tax receipts) through my blog page HERE.
My blog page which you are probably on now includes stories from this community that I am sure will touch your heart and you will get a better understanding of the people you are helping and learn to love them like I do.
The other project we need funding for is to purchase land for a farm that is connected to the community. We are looking for 50 groups or individuals to donate $100 a month for a one year commitment or the equivalent...this comes to $60,000 which is enough to purchase 5 hectares of land where we will start with chicken coops, then pig raising, fish farming and then agriculture...this will provide jobs for the community and a much needed food source. The community itself will be raising $ 5000 dollars towards the cost of the first chicken coop and 2000 chickens by the homeowners putting in $2 a month for 2 years in order to purchase a share in the farm. They are investing a lot when you consider how poor they are in monetary funds. The farm will be run as a co-op with a committee selected from the community to run it. All the proceeds from the farm will be re-directed to the community to different job producing projects voted on by the community. These can include water filtration for better health, bathroom facilities in each home, garbage collection, job training programs, schooling etc.
Thank you so much for considering helping and God bless you and your family this Christmas season.Kevin and Leakhena
P.S. If you need anymore information please feel free to contact me at kknight45@hotmail.com and feel free to share this link with anyone you feel might be moved to help this community.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
September 2011 - Many reasons for thanksgiving
Months go by quickly here as there is seemingly endless tasks before me and visions that go beyond my own imagination and surely must be His.
The month started with a crash...another motorcycle crash for me and severe burns from the motor to my right leg. There were some third degree burns from the motor and it resulted in another trip to Bumrungrad hospital for surgery to my leg. I am healing fine but it will be a couple of more weeks at least partly because of my stubbornness to do what the doctor ordered (feet up and bed rest). You will see in the rest of the newsletter why I didn't heed his orders.
Before flying to Bangkok I received a call from ICC another missions group and they wanted to know if they could build a home at the village as the village they wanted to build a home for was flooded. This was unexpected but welcomed as we have a close relationship with ICC and work together with similar visions. It was hard to get around and build the home as I was in extreme pain but it was worth it see another home for another family completed.
After flying back from Thailand and the operation it was a blessing to be able to facilitate a young girl named Srey Mouv who had a hairlip to receive surgery at a local childrens hospital to repair her mouth. As I went to visit the family in the hospital with Leakhena I was overwhelmed with emotion for this little girl. You see her family had the opportunity three other times for this operation but because of foreigners coming to the village in missions groups etc and after seeing the young girl would often dig into there pockets and give money to the girl's parents. The parents actually didnt want the girl to have the operation because she was providing food for the family table. In our generosity and with good intentions we can actually hurt the people we are trying to help. I think I have mentioned it before but please if possible read the book "When helping hurts" - it has been a real blessing to me to follow most of its guidelines in engaging with this community I love so dearly. I walked out of the hospital and started weeping because I knew the difference that the operation would have on her future and was able to be here and help facilitate but more importantly witness God's love for this precious girl. Knowing how precious not just this one little girl but the whole community is in God's eyes was just overwhelming to me of the abundance of God's love and Grace for us all. Leakhena and I prayed with the family in the hospital room and I was able to pray of God's love for this beautiful girl before the surgeon's hands had made her beautiful in the eyes of the world.The family was beeming and couldn't take their eyes of their beautiful daughter and she was also a big hit at the village upon her return.
That's the first half of the month....the second half saw my good brother Dennis from Australia return with two friends Greg and Grant to build more homes in the community. It was Grant's first trip to southeast asia and he grew to love the village also and I believe is looking forward to his next trip back. Through the generosity of these men and some folks back in Australia we were able to build first 15 then more funding came in and we were able to build a total of 18 more homes bringing the total this month to 19 homes for the community. I have enclosed a couple of before and after pics of the housing.I can't tell you how much this affects this community which has been abused for the last two years without any sign of hope. There is excitement today for the future of the community and they are well aware and thank Preah En ...God...for the blessings being bestowed upon the community. We take every opportunity to deflect any thanks to us and direct it to the ONE who is providing it all. Leakhena is engaging with the women of the village and is loved deeply already and is able to share her testimony and that the love we share for the community is God's love and heart for them.
I will be sending out another blog this week and will be providing people an opportunity to help this community. With the Christmas season approaching I can't think of a better gift this year than giving to Christ by helping those He puts first in His upside down Kingdom.
God bless and thank you again for joining me in sharing God's love in Cambodia.
Kevin
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
HOPE ALIVE FRONT ROW SEAT - June Newsletter
It has been an amazing month for me here in Cambodia.
It is such a blessing that God has taken this broken vessel and allowed me to witness for Him and be a witness to His amazing powers.
God broke my heart in january 2009 for the people of Dey Krahorm and continues to do so daily. At first a broken heart seems just to painful to be thought of as having any benefit or purpose other than bringing pain. This is so far from the truth.
God has used this broken heart to share with me the things that break His own. He has allowed me to enter into an intimacy with Him that goes beyond calling out to Him with my wants and needs and troubles. He has let me see a small fraction of the world through His eyes. The atrocities in this world do not just pass God's eyes like a CNN newflash but enter into His heart to be consumed by Love.
I am in no way pompous enough to say I see the world through His eyes but what I have witnessed here in Cambodia has entered into my heart and what I can't handle has flowed out of me as tears. These tears are the fuel which drive me forward regardless of the consequences to self. I step out daily not knowing what God has in store for me here how He is going to use me and how my heart will be in pain yet again. You can get numb to the pain as I have noticed with my various ailments since my motorcycle accident but pain that comes from your deep love for those society has cast away does not.
The pain was lessened this month a reprieve from our loving God.
I was able to witness hope come alive in a community that has been beaten,robbed,abused ,displaced,hurt,ransacked,dispersed and all but forgotten.
Our Heavenly Father has not forgotten.
The story of Leakhena's mother and fathers love for her and her siblings in the pouring rain has reached beyond the few emails I send out. It reached the ears and heart of a brother named Dennis in Australia who came here to witness himself the slum relocation site.
Hope invaded this village .
Leakhena and I have been praying and God has led us to commit to this community with all the love that God has can fill us with. After we are married we will move to this community at the bottom of Oudong to share God's love for the poor and their high place in His upside down Kingdom.
Hope came from God when we had a visioning meeting with the community and listened to the needs of the community from them. When you barely survive each and everyday it is hard to think of a future beyond survival. We gave them a chance to stand up and be heard and did they speak !They spoke of a community not unlike the community that God wants us to live in...one where they work together for the common good, respect each other, share there resources and give of themselves instead of taking. We so often forget when we give to the poor that we can do it in a way that gives them no self esteem...that steals their dignity...that leaves them more deflated than before we tried to help.
There are basic needs in this community that are not being met ....housing ,food,clean water, lack of employment etc.
But the community has a plan that they need help in getting started.....I will share more about this in the next few weeks as I spend more time listening to the community and seeing how we can come alongside them to help them become self-sustainable.
We built a few houses this week ..actually 8 of them but what was really built was the start of the vision and more importantly hope for the future. (For those who have Facebook, click here to see an online album of photos from this project.) There have been many questions of why I am there and they are all answered by me saying...the love of Christ.
God bless
Kevin
Monday, June 13, 2011
Still small voice - June 13, 2011
I am awake and I am here listening to the sounds of the city waking up...I am an early riser and its about 5 am ...the motorbikes sound louder early in the morning ..the steel gates are being opened to the guest houses....it is very quiet though ...the odd sound seems to be that much more noticeable in the silence...the dog barking ....the cat meowing.....maybe this is why we need to find that quiet place like Jesus does to go and pray to our Father......to hear that still small voice......His voice is heard loudest in the silence.
Where do the people find that quiet spot in this city....How can they hear God above the noises of there stomachs rumbling from hunger?How can they hear his voice above the cacophony of sounds, motorbikes,vendors hawking there wares,whistles,trucks blasting there horns,the beep beep of the scooters ,kids laughing and playing,construction and the population.
Maybe the quiet of the pre-dawn????.....or is that the only time that sheer exhaustion of barely surviving another day takes it toll and a few moments of sleep happen....Does God only have dreams to speak to His children in poverty.
Is it our gift from God to help His children realize their dreams...their potential ....their plan and purpose?
Are we supposed to come alongside those He puts in our path and help them take those dreams and turn them into reality?Are we supposed to help them see the gifts God has provided them.
I know in the DTES most people have lost their dreams,their hope ,for some they might never have had it.What does a life growing up barely surviving whether here in Cambodia or the DTES offer for hope?
How can you lose hope when you might not have even had it?
God help me see the visions you have planted in their heads .
God help me see your plan for their lives.God help me come alongside them in encouragement.
God help me see beyond their poverty.
God help me have the same perseverence of the poverty stricken.
God help me break through cultural and language barriers
,God help me share your love.
God help me share You.
God help me
God help us
God .......thank-you for realizing my vision ,my dreams.
Thank-you for giving me hope in a hopeless situation.
Thank-you for letting me see my potential in You.
Thank-you for giving me this heart.
God help me
Amen
Where do the people find that quiet spot in this city....How can they hear God above the noises of there stomachs rumbling from hunger?How can they hear his voice above the cacophony of sounds, motorbikes,vendors hawking there wares,whistles,trucks blasting there horns,the beep beep of the scooters ,kids laughing and playing,construction and the population.
Maybe the quiet of the pre-dawn????.....or is that the only time that sheer exhaustion of barely surviving another day takes it toll and a few moments of sleep happen....Does God only have dreams to speak to His children in poverty.
Is it our gift from God to help His children realize their dreams...their potential ....their plan and purpose?
Are we supposed to come alongside those He puts in our path and help them take those dreams and turn them into reality?Are we supposed to help them see the gifts God has provided them.
I know in the DTES most people have lost their dreams,their hope ,for some they might never have had it.What does a life growing up barely surviving whether here in Cambodia or the DTES offer for hope?
How can you lose hope when you might not have even had it?
God help me see the visions you have planted in their heads .
God help me see your plan for their lives.God help me come alongside them in encouragement.
God help me see beyond their poverty.
God help me have the same perseverence of the poverty stricken.
God help me break through cultural and language barriers
,God help me share your love.
God help me share You.
God help me
God help us
God .......thank-you for realizing my vision ,my dreams.
Thank-you for giving me hope in a hopeless situation.
Thank-you for letting me see my potential in You.
Thank-you for giving me this heart.
God help me
Amen
Monday, May 23, 2011
Photos from Blue Tent 2011
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| Blue Tent Community - May 20, 2011 |
Pics of our outreach to the oudong community..many of the volunteer youth were moved by the story of this communities eviction and then the reality of how they are living today...the community were gracious hosts to us and a lot of great connections were made and we were able to share how God loves them and has a special place for them...the last shall be first in the Kingdom of God
What a blessed day serving with 60 youth today and engaging with the beautiful people of Oudong village.
It was my best birthday ever being able to serve the Lord in Cambodia.
God bless
Kevin
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
God hears the cries of the poor
Praise the Lord for providing the necessary funds and people to provide the blue tent community from Dey Krahorm with tarps for the rainy season.
I just want to thank everyone who was moved to provide this community with Prayer and funding for their tarps. I look forward to sharing more about our time out there this saturday with the community and our continued relationship with them.
I do have a few prayer requests and they are that our time out there will not be focused on just the task at hand but in showing God's love to the community by our interactions while we are there.
I pray for good weather ..so we can install as many tarps as needed before the rainy season really begins.
Leakhena and I are in discerning prayer about how God is leading us to serve particularly this community..we will be married on january 28th and are praying about moving in to this community and sharing a Godly relationship with those there. So please pray for our discernment time that God makes it very clear how this is to be.
I want to thank everyone again for their support in expanding the Kingdom of God here in Cambodia
Som Preah En Pro Tean Poh( May God bless you)
I just want to thank everyone who was moved to provide this community with Prayer and funding for their tarps. I look forward to sharing more about our time out there this saturday with the community and our continued relationship with them.
I do have a few prayer requests and they are that our time out there will not be focused on just the task at hand but in showing God's love to the community by our interactions while we are there.
I pray for good weather ..so we can install as many tarps as needed before the rainy season really begins.
Leakhena and I are in discerning prayer about how God is leading us to serve particularly this community..we will be married on january 28th and are praying about moving in to this community and sharing a Godly relationship with those there. So please pray for our discernment time that God makes it very clear how this is to be.
I want to thank everyone again for their support in expanding the Kingdom of God here in Cambodia
Som Preah En Pro Tean Poh( May God bless you)
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Urgent request - May 14, 2011 - Blue Tent Community Project
Dear friends
An urgent matter has come up. In January of 2009 I was onsite in Cambodia when government forces and 400 hired workers descended on Dey Krahorm a community in Phnom Penh Cambodia. They forcibly evicted all the families from their own land claiming they had no title to this land and sold the rights to a development company called 7NG.
It was the most devastating experience of my life and paled in comparison to the people that were affected . God really used this moment to confirm my calling to Cambodia and the people of Dey Krahorm.
The development company moved the residents 20km west of the city and 400 of the families were immediately told they were not even welcome on that site either.So a year later they were moved again 38km north of the city to an empty field . I have visited this site many times and have been getting to know the community.A flood in my own place from a strong rain turned my attention to the people of this village and put a request out to my supporters for help in financing for blue tarps for this communities roofs before the rainy season descends .
In my request the information I gave was not complete ...I was told their was 70 homes in this community but after taking a count and seeing the condition of the roofs(pictures attached) there are actually 97 homes and the tarps are 13.50 not 12 dollars. I have mobilised a small force of 50 people consisting of youth groups ,Christian youth leaders a Cambodian English class(non-Christian) and another class from a local Christian school to come help this community put the tarps on. There is a cost involved in transporting some of these groups and providing water and some food for the long hot day of work.
I have had a great response from my supporters and am now only short the extended costs which amount to appox 450 dollars.I pray there will be enough funding so I do not not have to decide which families receive a tarp and which families will go without.
This is an urgent request as the outreach is next saturday and the people are mobilised to help.
For those who would like to contribute from afar their is a paypal link on my blog at
http://kevinincambodia.blogspot.com/
Here’s a link to photos, some taken as recently as within the last week:
Click on the link below to make an online donation to this effort thru PayPal:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=YBL2NDVJH5NEJ
Many thanks in advance for considering this urgent request.
God bless.
Kevin
Thursday, May 5, 2011
April 2011 Update - Shelter from the Rain
Hello to my mission partners
As you know I was in Bangkok for most of April receiving treatment for my shoulder and didn't return until the 22nd. I am healing slowly but still in major pain as there was two issues with my arm and I have to go back to see the doctors in Bangkok on the 20th of May (my birthday) for probably another surgery on the nerves in my arm.Pray I receive healing for my birthday this year.
This month I would like to share a moment I experienced with my fiancee Leakhena (with her permission of course) and also an opportunity for you to help in a tangible way a slum re-location site this month.
I returned on the friday night from Bangkok and was actually moving into a new place. Leakhena's family moved me well I was away for treatment into a smaller one room place which is located inside a complex of buildings which live most of her extended family from her Grandmother to numerous uncles ,aunts and an immeasurable amount of young cousins.Only one Aunt speaks a little bit of English and so this place will be helpful for my language study .
On saturday night although we are a month away from the rainy season it rained extremely hard. This was my second night there and the sound of the rain on the tin roof was deafening it sounded like hail the size of golf balls falling on the roof. at first I was upset at the sound as I just wanted to sleep and it was keeping me awake. Then I noticed there was water coming into my room from two different corners it created two puddles which didnt quite join but took up almost half of my room. I was frustrated and thinking oh no it isn't even rainy season yet and I will be mopping this up for the next 4 months.Then I felt awful as I realized that I had a tin roof unlike most of the people I encounter in the re-location sites. I had a floor that was tile and easy to clean and not a mud floor. I had a mop a tool to make this job extremely easy. I felt extremely blessed and prayed for my friends that do not have that luxury.
As I shared with Leakhena the next day she shared this with me.......
" when I was a young child we lived in a small place and the roof was made of coconut palm leaves ...there were holes in the roof and the water would come through when it rained and we would have to move around in the night to find the driest spot." Then the tears started flowing down her face as they did mine and she shared this.." I always remember one night it was raining so hard and the water was coming in everywhere..(Leakhena has three younger sisters and a brother) my mother and father only had one raincoat and they huddled all us kids together and all night they stood in the mud and the rain pouring through our small hut and held the raincoat over us to try to keep us dry.
As we waited until our tears stopped I was happy I was sharing this moment with Leakhena......you see Leakhena was not crying about the situation or the poverty she lived in . She was crying because she realized the sacrificial love her parents had for her and her siblings. It was this act of love that was being recognized for what it was. Her father passed away about 8 years ago and this is a memory of His love to her and her brothers and sisters.
This moment will never be forgotten because it was based in Love and was Love.
I was home for Easter Sunday and couldn't help but be moved by the sacrificial Love that our King died for us.
This is why I am here to share with people the sacrificial love that God has for them. That He would give up His only begotten son while we were still sinners. Please pray for me that I will be able to share His love sacrificially with the people of Cambodia and that I act in Love in all my encounters and when asked why I do it I can explain that it was already done for me.
There are still many people in Cambodia especially in the re-location sites that do not have adequate roofing for the rainy season which starts within the month.One site in particular at the bottom of Audong mountain is in dire need....these people have been evicted twice in the last two years and their huts are similar to the worst ones at Andong village(picture attached)before Pastor Abraham along with some churches have been putting tin roofs on. The people here were evicted from Dey Krahorm and then evicted from that re-location site as they were deemed to have no claim to property..these people are extremely poor and cannot fix their huts in time for this season.
Their are 70 huts which all house families that need a blue tarp for this next rainy season....the large tarps are $12 each and comes to a total of $ 840 dollars. I have never requested money in my newsletter and don't even know if it's appropriate but I do know God let the flooding of my place to steer my focus to where it should be ..on those with less.
I will be going out to the village on Monday and will be taking video and talking with my Cambodian friends who are committed to helping this community. I will post the video after I have edited it but the people here need your help today before the rainy season begins. A youth leader from Georgetown,Ontario LD McKenzie has helped me start a blog where I will be posting my future newsletters and thoughts..it is located at
http://kevinincambodia.blogspot.com/
Their is a link to a paypal account for donations if you feel moved in that direction. Please contact me at
kknight45@hotmail.com if you would like another way to donate.
God bless
Kevin
About Kevin - Kevin's Testimony
from Epic Magazine a publication from Tenth Avenue Alliance Church, 2011
You don't need to spend much time with Kevin before you discover that his heart has been softened by the impact of God's grace upon his life. In fact, many of his homeless and addicted neighbors in the Downtown Eastside affectionately refer to him as "the weeping preacher".
The first time Kevin attended Tenth Oct 7th 2007, he sat timidly like most newcomers in the back row of the pews . That Sunday a missionary Craig Greenfield with Servants To Asia's Urban Poor (SERVANTS) was the guest speaker. He shared about the need for more missionaries amongst Cambodia's urban poor living in slums. Tears streamed from Kevin's eyes as he sensed Jesus say, "I'm calling you to this."
Soon after this, Kevin became actively involved in both the mission life here at Tenth and with SERVANTS. He gained missiological and theological training through courses offered at Tenth and through an eight-month internship with SERVANTS.
In July of 2010, Kevin will be moving to Cambodia as a missionary with SERVANTS living amongst the urban poor. Already, Kevin has become a wonderful link between Tenth and our ministry partners in Cambodia. We look forward to seeing how this partnership continues to deepen over the coming years. Kevin recently returned from his second trip to Cambodia in which he co-led the latest Tenth missions trip and spent more time with the SERVANTS Cambodia team. During his first trip he spent three months living with a Cambodian host family in a Phnom Penh shantytown and ministering alongside the SERVANTS Cambodia team.
Even though Kevin has ultimately felt God calling him to Cambodia, he's learned to see everywhere as a mission field. So for the past year Kevin has been serving as a full-time missionary with the SERVANTS Vancouver team, living and ministering in the Downtown Eastside (DTES). Due to the poverty of loneliness that is rampant throughout the DTES, their main form of ministry has been offering hospitality to those neighbors that are not normally the recipients of welcome. The community tries to see through God's eyes and scripture that is held dear amongst them is Ezekiel 37 Dry Bones " So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet-a vast army. "
Every evening neighbors join Kevin and the SERVANTS Vancouver team at the dinner table. They gather together as family. Many miracles have occurred at the table as they watch the armour of the street melt in the presence of God's love. Another crucial ministry of hospitality is what Kevin calls Prehab. Prehab involves offering a bed and the 24/7 support of a Christian community to those attempting to remain clean and sober while they wait to be granted entry into rehabilitation programs. By God's grace numerous neighbors going through Prehab have come to accept Christ and live out God's purpose and plan for their lives.
As Tenth church let us encourage Kevin as he prepares with cultural and language study and continues his ministry in the DTES until his departure to Cambodia in July 2010.
Prayer Points:
For God to continue nurturing amongst our church family at Tenth a zeal for missions locally, with our ministry partners in Cambodia, and around the world.
Hudson Taylor once said, "God's work, done in God's way, never lacks God's supply." Pray for the Lord to provide for all of Kevin's financial and prayer support needs as he seeks to carry out God's work for him here in Vancouver and in Cambodia.
You don't need to spend much time with Kevin before you discover that his heart has been softened by the impact of God's grace upon his life. In fact, many of his homeless and addicted neighbors in the Downtown Eastside affectionately refer to him as "the weeping preacher".
The first time Kevin attended Tenth Oct 7th 2007, he sat timidly like most newcomers in the back row of the pews . That Sunday a missionary Craig Greenfield with Servants To Asia's Urban Poor (SERVANTS) was the guest speaker. He shared about the need for more missionaries amongst Cambodia's urban poor living in slums. Tears streamed from Kevin's eyes as he sensed Jesus say, "I'm calling you to this."
Soon after this, Kevin became actively involved in both the mission life here at Tenth and with SERVANTS. He gained missiological and theological training through courses offered at Tenth and through an eight-month internship with SERVANTS.
In July of 2010, Kevin will be moving to Cambodia as a missionary with SERVANTS living amongst the urban poor. Already, Kevin has become a wonderful link between Tenth and our ministry partners in Cambodia. We look forward to seeing how this partnership continues to deepen over the coming years. Kevin recently returned from his second trip to Cambodia in which he co-led the latest Tenth missions trip and spent more time with the SERVANTS Cambodia team. During his first trip he spent three months living with a Cambodian host family in a Phnom Penh shantytown and ministering alongside the SERVANTS Cambodia team.
Even though Kevin has ultimately felt God calling him to Cambodia, he's learned to see everywhere as a mission field. So for the past year Kevin has been serving as a full-time missionary with the SERVANTS Vancouver team, living and ministering in the Downtown Eastside (DTES). Due to the poverty of loneliness that is rampant throughout the DTES, their main form of ministry has been offering hospitality to those neighbors that are not normally the recipients of welcome. The community tries to see through God's eyes and scripture that is held dear amongst them is Ezekiel 37 Dry Bones " So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet-a vast army. "
Every evening neighbors join Kevin and the SERVANTS Vancouver team at the dinner table. They gather together as family. Many miracles have occurred at the table as they watch the armour of the street melt in the presence of God's love. Another crucial ministry of hospitality is what Kevin calls Prehab. Prehab involves offering a bed and the 24/7 support of a Christian community to those attempting to remain clean and sober while they wait to be granted entry into rehabilitation programs. By God's grace numerous neighbors going through Prehab have come to accept Christ and live out God's purpose and plan for their lives.
As Tenth church let us encourage Kevin as he prepares with cultural and language study and continues his ministry in the DTES until his departure to Cambodia in July 2010.
Prayer Points:
For God to continue nurturing amongst our church family at Tenth a zeal for missions locally, with our ministry partners in Cambodia, and around the world.
Hudson Taylor once said, "God's work, done in God's way, never lacks God's supply." Pray for the Lord to provide for all of Kevin's financial and prayer support needs as he seeks to carry out God's work for him here in Vancouver and in Cambodia.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
March 2011
Hi Folks. This month seems to have flown by as per usual and the Lord keeps allowing me to press in further. I have spent most of the month between doctors visits ,MRI's,surgery on my shoulder and now Physiotherapy. There is still surgery ahead for my elbow but they have to wait for some healing in my shoulder before it's mobility is enough to do the proper tests on the nerves in my right arm.I have been in Bangkok the last two weeks as my insurance sent me here as the medical care in Cambodia is woefully inadequate. This brings me to how God has been speaking to me this month.I have had a lot of time for reading and reflection in between the torture of Physiotherapy......just kidding I am getting better because of it.
As most of you know I am on a very limited budget and one day during my many consultations and visits to the doctors here my insurance company had not approved one of the visits yet. The agency they use to pay for my visits asked me to cover the expense and they would re-imburse me later. I felt some anger well up inside me as they had flown me all the way here for these visits and I told them before I left that I had no money as I had spent it on previous visits to the doctors in Cambodia. It worked out that the hospital took my passport until they approved it.
Later in my room I was reflecting on the day and realized that my anger was based in the fact that I was embarrassed that I did not have the funds to cover it. This led me to think about how blessed I was that I had insurance and that they had flown me from the slums of Cambodia to a high class hospital(it is like a five star hotel). Then it led me to think about my friends in Cambodia who rely on(if they can afford it) terrible medical treatment.They would never be able to afford the surgery I just had $12000 and counting and they would probably have to suffer the pain for the rest of their lives .
As far as me being embarrassed it made me think about the way we help people particularly the charity model . I know we have a medical and Dental team coming from Tenth this summer. This is truly needed everywhere I go and will be a blessing to those that receive it.What I was thinking about was the father or mother who will stand in line and do whatever it takes to get whatever treatment that is available for their children. Suffering the embarrassment of not being able to afford the proper treatment for their loved ones but willing to ask for anything to alleviate the suffering of the ones they love. I pray that all those offering their services understand the gift it is to serve the poor and put them first where God does in His upside down Kingdom.
I am embarrassed now at my own feelings when I couldn't afford the minor inconvenience of a late payment to my hospital.
Just before I left to come to Thailand a couple of weeks ago I visited my first host family from two years ago.It is a family I stayed with my first three months in Cambodia. I love them dearly and I have a deep place reserved for them in my heart. They have a young daughter named Joreah whom I used to call "teacher" as she would spend time with me laughing at my pronunciation of her language. I was informed that she was at school for English while I was there and that she was crying and didn't want to go to school but wanted to see me instead. It broke my heart about how moved she was that I was coming over to their house to visit. Of course I stayed long enough to see her back from from school and to laugh with her again. It was powerful to me that I realized that our paths would never have crossed if I wasn't following the Lord and engaging with the poor...those on the margins of society...I remember crying as I left there house after my first three months in Cambodia knowing that I was to be there but not knowing when I would be back.God had broken my heart for the Cambodian people and one of His tools was the relationship that had developed deeply with this family.
I was reading the scripture of the Roman centurion who had sought healing for his servants child from Jesus.
Matthew 8:5-13
The Faith of the Centurion
5 When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 6 “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.” 7 Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”
8 The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.
Anytime before that I have read this scripture it was always about how strong the faith of this centurion was...Jesus even says that his faith was like no other in Israel.
But what really spoke to me was this Centurian ...a privileged man had crossed the boundaries of societal norms and developed a relationship with someone not of his standing that went so deep that he was willing to throw off his privilege. How deep was his anguish that he would seek the help of a Jewish teacher.The fact that he had come to Jesus is in itself enough to warrant the conclusion that he had put all things aside the pride of race and status that would have him regard himself as superior.He comes naked before Christ throwing everything on the line for a young servant child and knew that his only hope was in Jesus. He had to put himself with the rest of humanity and cry out his desperate longings with the rest of those in need.
He had done all this out of LOVE ...he had loved one who he had not meant to love ..someone beneath his status..a slave..the poor...it was because he had developed a deep relationship by simply being in contact with the poor....to many times today our contacts are minimal at best..we now drive to our gated communities or condos from our locked cars to our locked garages to our locked doors...we sometime pass someone by on the street and might even acknowledge the beggar and say hi...maybe even throw in a couple of loonies....but will we spend enough time to get to know them ..will we spend enough time in their presence to like them.....will we spend enough time to love them....then after all that will we give up our privilege ...will we give up what we have struggled so hard to gain...our place in society.......then stand naked before Christ and cry out to Him " please Lord heal my friend "
God bless
Kevin
Praise to our Lord for getting 9 of the 12 prisoners from Chi Kreoung released and the other 3 will be released in july
As most of you know I am on a very limited budget and one day during my many consultations and visits to the doctors here my insurance company had not approved one of the visits yet. The agency they use to pay for my visits asked me to cover the expense and they would re-imburse me later. I felt some anger well up inside me as they had flown me all the way here for these visits and I told them before I left that I had no money as I had spent it on previous visits to the doctors in Cambodia. It worked out that the hospital took my passport until they approved it.
Later in my room I was reflecting on the day and realized that my anger was based in the fact that I was embarrassed that I did not have the funds to cover it. This led me to think about how blessed I was that I had insurance and that they had flown me from the slums of Cambodia to a high class hospital(it is like a five star hotel). Then it led me to think about my friends in Cambodia who rely on(if they can afford it) terrible medical treatment.They would never be able to afford the surgery I just had $12000 and counting and they would probably have to suffer the pain for the rest of their lives .
As far as me being embarrassed it made me think about the way we help people particularly the charity model . I know we have a medical and Dental team coming from Tenth this summer. This is truly needed everywhere I go and will be a blessing to those that receive it.What I was thinking about was the father or mother who will stand in line and do whatever it takes to get whatever treatment that is available for their children. Suffering the embarrassment of not being able to afford the proper treatment for their loved ones but willing to ask for anything to alleviate the suffering of the ones they love. I pray that all those offering their services understand the gift it is to serve the poor and put them first where God does in His upside down Kingdom.
I am embarrassed now at my own feelings when I couldn't afford the minor inconvenience of a late payment to my hospital.
Just before I left to come to Thailand a couple of weeks ago I visited my first host family from two years ago.It is a family I stayed with my first three months in Cambodia. I love them dearly and I have a deep place reserved for them in my heart. They have a young daughter named Joreah whom I used to call "teacher" as she would spend time with me laughing at my pronunciation of her language. I was informed that she was at school for English while I was there and that she was crying and didn't want to go to school but wanted to see me instead. It broke my heart about how moved she was that I was coming over to their house to visit. Of course I stayed long enough to see her back from from school and to laugh with her again. It was powerful to me that I realized that our paths would never have crossed if I wasn't following the Lord and engaging with the poor...those on the margins of society...I remember crying as I left there house after my first three months in Cambodia knowing that I was to be there but not knowing when I would be back.God had broken my heart for the Cambodian people and one of His tools was the relationship that had developed deeply with this family.
I was reading the scripture of the Roman centurion who had sought healing for his servants child from Jesus.
Matthew 8:5-13
The Faith of the Centurion
5 When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 6 “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.” 7 Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”
8 The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.
Anytime before that I have read this scripture it was always about how strong the faith of this centurion was...Jesus even says that his faith was like no other in Israel.
But what really spoke to me was this Centurian ...a privileged man had crossed the boundaries of societal norms and developed a relationship with someone not of his standing that went so deep that he was willing to throw off his privilege. How deep was his anguish that he would seek the help of a Jewish teacher.The fact that he had come to Jesus is in itself enough to warrant the conclusion that he had put all things aside the pride of race and status that would have him regard himself as superior.He comes naked before Christ throwing everything on the line for a young servant child and knew that his only hope was in Jesus. He had to put himself with the rest of humanity and cry out his desperate longings with the rest of those in need.
He had done all this out of LOVE ...he had loved one who he had not meant to love ..someone beneath his status..a slave..the poor...it was because he had developed a deep relationship by simply being in contact with the poor....to many times today our contacts are minimal at best..we now drive to our gated communities or condos from our locked cars to our locked garages to our locked doors...we sometime pass someone by on the street and might even acknowledge the beggar and say hi...maybe even throw in a couple of loonies....but will we spend enough time to get to know them ..will we spend enough time in their presence to like them.....will we spend enough time to love them....then after all that will we give up our privilege ...will we give up what we have struggled so hard to gain...our place in society.......then stand naked before Christ and cry out to Him " please Lord heal my friend "
God bless
Kevin
Praise to our Lord for getting 9 of the 12 prisoners from Chi Kreoung released and the other 3 will be released in july
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