Then the Lord said to him, “This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it.” (Deuteronomy 34:4)
As I read to my kids the story of Moses and how he was looking into the promise land from the mountain but would not be allowed to enter it, my kids yelled out, ‘that’s not fair!’ Their indignation was understood and I validated their feelings but reminded them of sin and its punishment. Moses is still highly regarded and respected today because of his faithful actions and deeds for the Lord. Undeniably, he left a mark on this world. He led his people out of Egypt, crossed the Red Sea, and cared for a nation in the desert.
If I examine my own heart, my desire is to leave a mark on this world. Not so that my name will be famous like Abraham or Moses, but that people will be led from darkness to light. We long to see people move from poverty to empowerment. From drowning in debt to financial freedom. From being afflicted to being loved. From a life apart from Jesus to a close relationship with Jesus. Those are marks I hope we can witness or take part-in.
Like Moses, we may not see the fruits of our labour or the full transition of a non-believer to a disciple of Christ, but I still long and pray that we can play a small role in planting seeds and encouraging transformation in the lives of disciples.
This past month, we were glad to have launched a new training course with a group of CAM and VN women to teach about financial stewardship and how to start a small business. Some of our participants are struggling with overwhelming debt and they feel hopeless. We pray this course will help these women be able to manage their personal finances well and make a plan for the future. Some of the participants are also eager to start a small business, and we will help them process their business ideas critically and create business plans. We hope this can be a new source of income for those that are stuck in poverty traps. As we are teaching and counselling these women, we are able to incorporate principles from the Bible and build deeper relationships with the women.
A small group of professionals and Excel techies from our home church in Scarborough has also been helping us develop some excel templates and visual tools. As we are teaching about finance and budgets to those with limited education, these visual tools have been instrumental to help our participants understand income and expenses. This has been a great way for friends back home to help support our mission work in Cambodia. Shout-out to our taskforce from Scarborough Community Alliance Church!
At the welding shop, God opened doors for us to find 2 new apprentices: 1 CAM and 1 VN. Currently, we have 4 apprentices learning on-the-job and being exposed to the gospel every day. We want to give God praise because one of the apprentices recently became a believer. He was a neighbour of our Christian welding teacher, and was referred to us by the teacher. After interviewing him last month, we felt that he would be a good fit for the program. Our welding teacher has been witnessing to the apprentice’s family for many years. Praise God, as the apprentice was exposed to the Word daily and encouraged by his Christian co-workers, he responded and opened his heart to receive Jesus last week.
Prayer Requests
- Pray that the women who attend the finance and business course will gain valuable knowledge, apply the teachings, and be encouraged by God’s Word.
- Pray for our welding teacher as he continues to lead morning devotions and teach technical skills, we pray the Holy Spirit will give him wisdom and ability to convey God’s love each day.
- Pray for Kevin and Carol as they prepare lessons and facilitate the various training classes.
Praise Items
- We are thankful the kids were allowed to return to school in-person in November. They are enjoying being able to interact with friends and teachers again.
- Praising God for providing more welding apprentices and one of the apprentices became a believer last week.
- Thankful for the group of Canadians helping us with budget tools and using their skills to help our mission work.
