Thursday, April 24, 2008

Time to get serious - by Paul


This is my first unscheduled evening since a week ago. Five nights at Fairview… youth group on Friday, Benefit Concert on Saturday, coin count and Evening Praise on Sunday, Field & Home Team meeting on Monday and Session on Tuesday, followed by swimming last night while Kelvin was doing his Bronze Cross swimming course… Ooouff, I’m wiped.

So tonight I plan to start focusing on my trip preparations. To date my preparation consisted of attending Field Team meetings, organizing hotel accommodations, nailing down emergency evacuation plans and contact numbers, securing a number of laptops and, as you can see in the picture, throwing thing that I will need (and hope not to forget) into a cardboard box in our bedroom.

Oh yeah, I also did a lot of reading, starting off with Reaksa Himms’ book on forgiveness entitled "After the Heavy Rain", followed by “Terrify no more” by Gary Haugen, “The story we find ourselves in: Further adventures of a new kind of Christian” and “The Last Word and the Word after That: A tale of Doubt, Faith and a new kind of Christianity” by Brian McLaren, "Long way gone: Memoirs of a boy soldier" by Ishmael Beah, “Auschwitz 1940-1945”, and am now laughing my way through “The Year Of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest To Follow The Bible As Literally As Possible” by AJ Jacobs.

I completed what I hope will be my next to final shopping spree tonight, buying a hat, some missing work tools and extra package of earplugs (in case my hotel room mate Kelvin snores louder than I do). Tomorrow night I will try to fit everything into one suitcase and a carry on… and by the end of the weekend, should have completed my final shopping, have packed and will be ready to go… Dream On Paul…

I’m not too sure how ready I really am, but I am extremely thankful to God for providing this unique opportunity to serve him. I am also very grateful for the generous outpouring of love and support from my extended family, church family, friends and co-workers.

Please keep praying for the whole team, and for the children in Svay Pak.

God Bless,
Paul

Phnom Penh is not Edmonton

I was flying to Guelph, ON, today and we made a stop in Edmonton. It was white, very white - and it looked very cold. I gazed out through the window of the plane and imagined what Phnom Penh would look like and funnily enough the first thing I thought about was "there will not be any snow."

Today in Phnom Penh it is 29C, and the weather network says it feels like 41C. I can't imagine what it must feel like inside Rahab's House. Dark, hot, sticky cramped spaces and I wonder what it must smell like?

Such a contrast from the vast whiteness of Edmonton and yet I am so struck right now of the truth of the banner we will be taking with us to NewSong. We ARE all God's children, no matter where we are.

God's love is soooo vast. Hallelujah.

Marty

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

From the Kids at Fairview to the kids in Cambodia


The children and young people at Fairview have created three banners which will go with the team to Cambodia.




This is one goes to the New Song project (ARC) and tells that "we are all God's children" in Khmer and English. It is made up of the hand prints of the younger children in the church.









The banner to the right will go to Rahab's House and tells of Psalm 63:7



The banner below will go to Sunshine House - another project supported by Fairview with the original building in 1999. This banner proclaims "What a friend we have in Jesus."



Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Distractions -- from Toph

Departure is soon, and the prospect of what we hope to accomplish is becoming increasingly clear with each passing day. Last night's meeting, addressing the nuts and bolts of this project (literal nuts and bolts, at times) really brings home the enormity and the value of this project. Our hopes for the future of Rahab's House are high.

Of course, alongside that are all the concerns of "normal life" for us here in Vancouver, and as May 3 draws ever closer, the sundry pressures of work distract and seem burdensome. Many many small jobs need to be done, which seem incidental or irrelevant to the larger picture, but which do need to be done all the same. My day today was filled with these, and tomorrow and Friday will be as well.

The danger, I fear, is that too much focus on things here will leave me under-prepared for Cambodia. I don't want that. Concerns here must coexist with family concerns, and preparations for the trip. Fortunately, I do at least know I am not in control. That's something -- more than something.

Time to buy some steel-toed shoes.

Toph

Monday, April 21, 2008

The Fairview Field Team

The team are, from left to right ... (back) Richard, Paul, Marty, Jeff and Kelvin. (front) Kit, Tim, Toph, Grant and Barb.

Fairview Kids Coin Circle

Sunday 20th April, the kids of our church made a coin circle around the church, symbolising God's love. We collected $1047, which we will be presenting to Rahab's House for the purchase of school materials etc.

thanks to everyone who brought in their pennies etc.

Marty