I have lost a big piece of my heart. Hopefully only temporarily. Or perhaps I have found that a piece of me has been deposited in hundreds of young people whose destiny has been redirected in the work of God for them.
Oh my! What could have been that likely for them now will not be. The future for many of these kids and their families has been diverted by God intervening to establish something for their benefit and long-term growth.
And Debbie and I have had five years to witness and participate in the move.
For a farmer, it is the seed that bares fruit. It is what is inside the seed that brings forth the crop. Fertilizer does not yield fruit. Irrigation does not yield fruit. Tending to the weeds and chaff does not yield fruit. Only the seed has the power to yield fruit, the rest is just assistance. God is bringing forth the fruit!
For us, we have been like the fertilizer or the field tenders who pull out weeds. Carefully we have instructed, mentored and showed the way to a new generation of “field tenders”; but this next group of farmers are home grown and have risen up from among the people to whom they will now lead.
We will depart Cambodia to assume a different kind of role with these young leaders. We will still advise but now from a distance. To truly take hold of the opportunities and conditions of their country, to rise into leadership so that the work becomes self-sustaining and self-perpetuating, we have to step back.
I confess that this is very hard for us. Not that we lack confidence in those now leading but because we have laid ourselves out without holding back for five years. The work has consumed and enriched us simultaneously. We have found new weaknesses in ourselves and new strength in God as we lean into an lay hold of the Truth of his plan. Stepping back means not seeing daily people we love. Not soaking in the hugs of children who demonstratively love on us even more than we have loved on them.
The time has come to watch the harvest field grow its own crop. Time to see those who have been shown how to lead be given the opportunity to lead.
We aren’t disappearing from the work. We are merely stepping into roles that let those with talent, dedication and now experience assume the roles God has for them. Leading their own village work and changing their own communities.
We are NOT EXITING the work. Please stay with us and say what God will do next. We have one new school site already ready to assemble. Site selected, now we just need the seed finances to get it moving to self-sustaining and perpetuating. JOIN us in this next adventure. DONATE HERE
Stay tuned in for what we are calling the “PURPLE SCHOOL PROJECT”. Your tax deductible donations will help us repeat the process we have begun.