Prayer Requests for Cambodia

As I researched the current problems and conditions in Cambodia, I felt a strong desire to take immediate action in the form of prayer. I know that God hears our prayers and that the Holy Spirit guides our words and thoughts, and interecedes on our behalf. I also know that God answers prayers that are in accordance with His will, and therefore I pray that these requests are in alignment with His will. Please join me in praying for the following issues:

1. Pray for protection and safety for the Children and Orphans in Cambodia.
It is estimated that there are roughly 5.1 million children under the age of 15 in Cambodia at this time. Due to the large number of orphans and impoverished families in cambodia, it is estimated that a full 38% of the country's population will enter in their adulthood as unskilled and undereducated laborers. This is disheartening.
This prayer is a bit presumptuous though because these children and orphans must first avoid the dangers of forced child prostitution, domestic violence, dangerous child labor practices, and child trafficking. All of which are running rampant in Cambodia.

2. Pray for a solution to the AIDS/HIV epidemic in Cambodia.
The number of AIDS and HIV related deaths in Cambodia is continuing to rise year after year. Lack of foresight in the country's Government has limited the use of and availability to AIDS and HIV treatments, and the future does not bring much hope for change. The rise in AIDS and HIV in Cambodia is a large contributor to the huge number of orphans. Education about the dangers and spread of such diseases is a necessity if this cycle is to be broken.

3. Pray for the life-changing spread of the gospel and growth of the Church in Cambodia. Christianity (more specifically Roman Catholicism) makes up only 1% of the various religions in Cambodia. Theravada Buddhism is the primary religion in Cambodia, and the government has gone to great efforts to tighten control over the Church and to reduce the spread of the gospel. Satan has a strong foothold on Cambodia, and I pray that the Body of Christ will grow stronger and the message of Christ will spread like wildfire across that whole nation.

Cambodia Demographics - This is pretty interesting stuff!

Country: Cambodia
Demographic Information:

Form of government: Constitutional Monarchy with two legislative houses (Senate and National Assembly)

Chief of State: King (whose role is largely ceremonial and advisory)

Head of Government: Prime Minister

Capital: Phnom Penh

Official Language: Khmer (differs from neighboring languages such as Thai and Lao. Khmer is not a tonal language, and it has strong Sanskrit and Pali influences).

Official Religion: Buddhism

Population estimate (2008): 14,242,000

Total area (sq mi): 69,898

Economy: Cambodia is one of the world’s poorest nations. In 2006 its total gross domestic product (GDP) was $7.3 billion, yielding a per capita GDP that is among the lowest in the world. Agriculture is 30% of the GDP, manufacturing is 26% of the GDP, and Services (small-scale commercial activities and tourism for example) account for 44% of the GDP (http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761570298_4/Cambodia.html).

Natural Resources: Of Cambodia’s total land area, only 21% is cultivated. Currently deforestation is the most serious threat to Cambodia’s environment. The country’s once "ample timber resources have been poorly managed and are being rapidly depleted by local and foreign entrepreneurs (http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761570298/Cambodia.html).

Religion: Theravada Buddhist 95%, Muslim 3%, Christianity/Other 2%
Note: Theravada is the oldest surviving Buddhist school. It was founded in India, and for many centuries has been the predominant religion of Sri Lanka (about 70% of the population) and most of continental Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Thailand). Theravada Buddhists number over 100 million worldwide, and in recent decades Theravada has begun to take root in many Western cultures. Theravada follows the teachings of the historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, and reveres Buddha as a single supremely gifted, yet mortal, teacher (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Theravada&oldid=266115879).


State of the Church:
The Evangelical Fellowship of Cambodia estimates there are approximately 130,000 Christians meeting in several thousand small churches around the country.
In 2007 - The state Ministry of Cults and Religions in Cambodia ordered that Christian groups no longer be allowed to visit door-to-door in Cambodia. The mandate further stated that Christians have freedom to perform various activities inside their institutions, but cannot engage in any formal evangelistic activities in public.
"Authorities said the limit will be applied to all non-Buddhist groups, but its target is the Christian community, which the government accused of participating in campaigns such as
offering clothing, food or language lessons, and then introducing people to Christianity" (http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56932).

Problems: Mistreatment of Children - Cambodia has one of the highest rates of child prostitution, domestic violence, and child labor in the world today. Child trafficking is also on the rise.

Undereducated and untrained - Cambodia now has 5.1 million children under the age of 15 – a full 38% of the population
that will eventually enter the economic environment, unskilled and undereducated (http://www.cambodianchildrensfund.org/cambodia-child.html).

AIDS and HIV are ravaging the country. Cambodia is one of the world's hardest-hit countries for these diseases with more than 100 new HIV infections per day. According to the UNAIDS organization, 3.7% of adults between the ages of 15 to 49 years are infected with HIV or AIDS. "Prime Minister Hun Sen has said that AIDS has done more damage to the country than decades of war" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/1049014.stm).

Sing to the Lord!

After the trip last year, I hung up a couple of pictures of me with the orphans over my desk at work (and to think, I chose my job because I didn't think I'd ever have a desk!). A few weeks ago, a newly assigned member of my team asked me about the pictures. I told him the short version of the trip, and then he said, "It's gotta be so sad, right?" Without even thinking, I just said, "You know, it kinda isn't!"

I explained to him that I thought the same thing before I got there. But once I met the orphans, I understood how God's love provides what we truly need. Yes, there are material needs that are not fully met all the time, but I know that God covers those kids and they are filled with joy in a way I may never really understand.

I found a couple verses in the Bible that pretty much sum it up:
Jeremiah 20:13 says, "Sing to the Lord! Give praise to the Lord! He rescues the life of the needy from the hands of the wicked."
Psalm 9:18 promises, "But God will never forget the needy; the hope of the afflicted will never perish."

I'm so excited that not only do we get to teach the kids more about their Savior, but also that we get to pour out God's love on them and be His hands, caring for the needy and afflicted!

Mayercraft Service

Some of you may know that I just got hired by a company called Sixthman. Right now we are in the business of producing music festivals on cruise ships, but hope to expand to other events that bring communities of like-minded people together. That's just the brief description. Moving on...

On one of the cruises this year, call Mayercraft Carrier, we traveled from LA to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Every port ends up being the same thing: Fun in the sun, have a few drinks, lay out, swim, maybe do a shore excursion, get back on the boat. This all happens within a 6 hour time span so you really don't have that much time. This port was different for me...

A company called Reverb works with us while on board to help with "going green" and bring awareness to the guests of what we do to give back to the environment becuase of the impact cruises have on the environment. They are super cool company and they organized a service project to do in Cabo while we were at port. It just so happened to be working at an orphanage for the day...

When I first heard they were doing this I was pumped. I couldn't wait to be a part of this project. I didn't really know exactly what we were going to be doing, but I was in. I found out later that the band Guster would be coming with us and had instuments donated to them so that they could in turn give them to the kids. We brought all the instuments to the orphanage and WOW...it was soo much fun. Guster sang familiar songs and the kids played bongos, harmonica, guitar, tamborines, shakers, and anything they could get their hands on to make noise. They LOVED it! I couldn't help but think of the kids we will be able to impact in such a positive way when we're in Cambodia. I CAN'T WAIT!

P.S. While I was at the orphanage, I got to talking to some of the other volunteers that were already there helping and he asked me to share my testimony. It was kind of on the spot, but I felt confindent enough to share. It reminded me that sharing your testimony can happen anywhere and at anytime, so be ready. I think I still have some work to do on my delivery. Keep it in mind :)

-Mike

Garage Sale Success!!!

After lots of hard work and some great cooperation from the weather, Saturday was a big success. My house was filled with years of stuff me, my wife, my parents, my in laws, and some other gracious donaters had brought over. We had posted our start at 8 am, but as soon as we opened the garage at 7:30 to start setting up, the professional garage salers were out in force. Throughout the day there were tons of people that came by, haggling ensued (kind of felt like the market in Siem Reap), and money was made. The last scavengers finally left at about 5 pm, for a 9 1/2 hour garage sale marathon. All told, for the trip, we raised about $500, and on top of that had a woman in my neighborhood give $300 when she found out what we were doing it for. So, $800 for stuff we would have probably given to Goodwill ain't too shabby.

The highlight of the day was when we sold a treadmill donated by Laura's sister for $100. They were very nice people and asked if we could take it to their house in my truck. No problem, I thought. As me and my brother in law were driving it to their house 10 minutes away, it flips over the back tailgate. As we pull into the turn lane, I see that it is holding on. We get back there to find that it was barely holding on to the tailgate and ratchet strap I had around it, about 8 inches off the ground. God was looking out for us, and the driver behind us. We got it flipped back up and positioned better so it wouldn't fall again, and believe it or not, all it had was a little dent that was fixed in no time. We got to the people's house and it worked fine, and there were very happy, and still have us the full price, dispite the dent. God is good.

Look forward to seeing everyone in two weeks. God Bless.