Thursday Cambodia Team Update

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Keep praying for the team for their last day of clinic before coming home on Friday!? They will be flying home at 11 a.m. Friday at CST.

Hey All

We had another good day in the Village.? It was Hot again, but not near as bad as Tuesday.

We all pretty much performed the same tasks as the other days.? We did have some good questions during our gospel presentation which was very encouraging.? It is a long process for a Budhist or a Muslim to convert to Christianity, but some of the questions showed that God is at work.

Today we shared the gospel with the children using the colored bracelet (black=sin, red=Jesus’ blood, white=forgiven, blue=baptism, green=grow and gold=heaven).? The children were very attentive and it was fun to share with them.

This morning Rhet, the man I asked you to pray for yesterday, attended our devotional time.? The Gospel was presented in a very clear way and we prayed for him and his wife.? I think he has tremendous potential to be a great leader and look forward to the day that he surrenders his life to Christ.

Tomorrow we will work until noon and then make our way back to Phnom Penh.? We fly out at 11pm our time (11am Joplin time).? I doubt I will have the opportunity to write again, so keep us in your prayers as we travel back home.

God has been good and it has been a blessing to serve Him here in Cambodia.
Brock

Wednesday Cambodia Update

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Keep praying for our medical team in Cambodia!? They are 12 hours ahead of us, so it is Thursday morning!

Hey All

Thanks for your prayers, we had a great day.? It started off by being cloudy and breezy.? It was still pretty warm, but not unbearably HOT like yesterday.

When we arrived at the clinic we were told of a young lady that was possibly having a miscarriage.? So, Dr. Kit and I went to see her. (I know, I was thinking the same thing.? Take the guy with not medical experience when you have two nurses and Doctor?!?!?!?!?) He decided that she was having complications from a previous miscarrieage and that she wasn’t pregnant.? She did need IV fluids and to be taken to the hospital.? Terry came to give her the IV, she told me to pray because she hadn’t done that in over 20 years.? God was good and Terry was able to get the IV in quickly. We later found out that she is the wife of one of our translators.? Neither of them are believers, but he has been asking many questions.? We stopped by to see them this evening at the hospital and they were shocked that we would take the time to stop by.? Please pray that God would use this time to draw them both into His Kingdom.? His name is Reth and I don’t remember her name.

After the excitement of the morning the day was pretty routine.? We all continued doing the same jobs as yesterday.? We saw around 130 patients today.

Tonight, we had a treat for dinner.? We had home-made French fries with our sweet-and-sour chicken, water melon,? and rice.? All in all our meals have been pretty good, but the fries brought a smile to everyone’s face.

God is at work and we are glad to be part of what HE is doing.

Thanks again for your continued prayers,
Brock

Tuesday in Cambodia

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Keep praying for our medical team in Cambodia!

Hey All

Tuesday was HOT, I heard it was over 100 today!!!!!!

We had another great day at the clinic. The Doctors saw just over 100 people. Terry continued to evaluate patients before they were seen by the Doctors. Julie joined her today. I worked some in the pharmacy, shared the Gospel with some and played with kids. Did I mention it was HOT today?

Terry and I are both feeling better. We still have coughs, but we also have our voices back. Wow was it HOT today.

The food has been good, so far no major stomach issues. We are about to run out of Diet Coke though. I am not sure what that might do to team chemistry, because I think 3 of us are addicted. We can’t find anymore in the town we are staying in, so it could be a long couple of days. By the way, it was nasty HOT today.

Driving in Cambodia is amazing. I have never seen more motorcycles, scooters and mopeds in my life. They drive like they are invincible. It is fun to watch, especially since I am not driving. It was pretty HOT today.

We are expecting another good day tomorrow. I think it is supposed to be HOT.

Thanks for your prayers,
Brock

Cambodia Mission Update

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Just got this from our missions pastor, Brock Cummins.? I was planning on going with the team on this trip, but it just didn’t work out.? Please keep these four people in your prayers!? Pray also for the missionary doc, the Cambodian people that are receiving medical care there.

Hey All,

I apologize for not getting an update out sooner.? All of our flights went smoothly and we arrived Saturday night around 11:45pm local time.? All of our bags arrived with us and we had no trouble getting through customs with all the meds.

Sunday morning we did some shopping at a market in Phnom Penh.? Sunday afternoon we loaded up the van and the truck and headed to the province of Kompong Chhnaing (I don?t know how to pronounce it either.).? The hotel here is nice.? The air conditioners work great and we have hot water.

Today, we had a great first day at the village.? It is about 1 hour and 15 minutes from our hotel. Dr. Blake Little and Dr. Kit (a missionary Dr. with New Tribes Mission) saw 50+ people.? We shared the gospel with those who were seen.? Nurse Terry Osborne assessed everyone before they were seen by the Doctors.? Nurse Julie Reed and I worked in the pharmacy and we found some time to play with kids.

It is very HOT, but we are all surviving.? Terry and I both have colds.? Dr. Blake put us on antibiotics.? We both have bad coughs and squeaky voices.

Jessica, the missionary we are working with, is great.? She is taking wonderful care of us and did a great job of getting all the details taken care of before we arrived.

We are looking forward to another good day tomorrow.

Thank you for your prayers,
Brock

Monday is for Missions . . . New Pamek Airstrip in West Papua, Indonesia

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kevin

My great “soul friend” Kevin Lynne is a missionary pilot/mechanic w/ Mission Aviation Fellowship serving in West Papua, Indonesia.? You HAVE to check out his blog at http://flytheplane.wordpress.com.? I first met Kevin in Nixa, MO when I was the pastor/planter of the Church at Finley Crossings.? His brother, Kurt, was a member of our church and was always talking about his “missionary pilot” brother.? I didn’t meet him for almost a year because he was out all over the country raising money to go to Indonesia.? (Sometimes it pays to be a Southern Baptist, I suppose.? Go Cooperative Program!!) Actually, MAF isn’t affiliated with a particular denomination so that they can help ALL evangelical denominations on the field.? They do what denominations can’t do, or don’t need to do–fly planes for the Gospel.? When I finally met him and he made his base of operations in Nixa, we had a lot of conversations about how good God is to let us do what God has wired us up to do!

Kurt and Kevin grew up in Indonesia where their father was a missionary pilot for MAF as well.? So it was not as difficult for Kevin to go back and fit back in to the culture and language, but still a lot of time had go by since his childhood.? A lot of things things had happened in their lives as well since they lived in Indonesia as well.? Kurt had joined the Marine Corps…Kevin went to the Naval Academy and was a Naval Helicoptor Rescue Pilot.? While serving in the US Navy in Pensecola, God called Kevin back to the jungle where he grew up to serve the Gospel in Indonesia.? Here is what he wrties in his post about the new strip in Pamek: “I?m just a guy who loves to fly, and God wanted to call up from my Navy flying to something ?higher? and a ?job? w/ eternal value in every days? efforts.”

Here is a gallery of pictures that were on his Facebook profile.? I asked him if I could show these pictures on this blog and he was really excited to share! Read more

Monday is for Missions…Phnom Penh, Cambodia

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I am getting ready for my first international mission trip this March.? It is actually only the second time I have been outside of the country…the first time was a few years back for Brad and Nora’s wedding in Montreal.

I am heading to Phnom Penh, Cambodia with four others from Forest Park.? It is going to be a medical mission trip to (tenatively) a village called Srai Chan.? It is on the Mekong River and we will be staying in the providential capital and traveling to the city each day to set up clinic.

I am going with a doctor, two nurses and Brock Cummins, our missions pastor.? I asked the doc that is leading the trip if he could call Brock and I “doctor” for the trip–“Spies Like Us” style!? I am doubting that is going to happen…but it is always worth the try!

Actually, Brock and I are going to be the “gophers” for the trip–which is awesome!? We are going to be doing whatever they need us to do…anything from helping with the medical exams to playing with the children.? Probably going to be a lot of playing with the children…which is cool.? There is going to be another national doctor that will help Dr. Blake set up clinic in the village, so we are hoping to see several hundred people over the 5 days we are doing clinic.? All the while, we are able to share with them the hope we have!

Please pray for the Cambodian or “Khmer” people that we see in clinic…that they would find medical answers to what ails them.? Pray also for them to find answers that only the Gospel can bring!

I will give more updates in the coming days, but for now, check out some of the articles on Wikipedia concerning Cambodia and their history.

Watch the film, “The Killing Fields” to get a good idea of the where we are going to be…in the villages right around the Killing Fields.

Here are few pictures of the people and places of Cambodia…be in prayer for them please.

Importance of Sharing

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I am really not good about sharing the love of God as much as I should.? I always seem to make excuses for why I don’t share more of “the hope that is within me.”? How about you?? Do you “always make the most of every opportunity?”? I have seen this clip several places on the blogs I read, but was reminded again of it tonight as I was thinking about some future sermon series.

Penn, from Penn and Teller, has a video blog that he talks about a myriad of subjects.? One of the entries he talks about a businessman that came back to his show the next night to give him a Gideons New Testament.? It really made an impact on this athiest that this man would share with him.? It would be really cool to see each of us to share Christ in this same respectful and effective way, wouldn’t it?? Notice that Penn didn’t change his views, but I pray that God will continue to work on him and change his heart.

Here is the video testimony of this man’s gift:

Tuesday is for Training

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Mark Dinwiddie has been sending us Multisite/Missions Nuggets of Truth each week for a couple of months now and I am starting a new category of them so you can talk about them and comment.

We have really been talking about that dirty word for perfectionists, DELEGATE.? Enjoy.

You have two choices in your work.? When something has been assigned to you, you can either do it yourself or get someone else to do it.? Your ability to get someone else to do it, to delegate it effectively??? —more than anything else— is going to determine your career track, your position and rate of promotion, your pay, your status, prestige, and success in management.? (The Delights of Delegation)
?I owe whatever success I have attained, by and large, to my ability to surround myself with people who are smarter than I am? Andrew Carnegie

I once had one of my dad’s best friends, “work himself out of a job.”? He had worked for this company back before he retired and hired on with another company doing consulting.? Basically, he delegated all of the work to be done by the company employees that he was no longer needed–and he could go back to traveling in his retirement!

Who do you know that is a good delegator?? What makes them good at it?? What prevents you from delegating the way you ought?

Monday is for Missions & Multisite

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Here are the pictures I said would be awesome if we had any!? I absolutely love what God is doing through this concept of multisite!? We had 366 people and the 2nd service was PACKED!!? That is the highest attendance we have had since the launch or Easter 2008–on a non holiday weekend!!

Enjoy from Stratton’s iPhone . . .

Monday is for Missions/Multisite

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I am really loving being a part of a great “missions organization” here at Forest Park!? I have always considered myself a North American missionary–what us old schoolers might have called “Home Mission Board Missionaries (slide projector anyone??).”? I am amazed at the extreme amount of churches that Southern Baptists plant here in the states.? These are some older stats (about 5 years old) but they are amazing!? We as Southern Baptists plant about 25 churches per week!? Amazing!? As many as all other Evangelical denominations combined!? Pretty stinking awesome . . . but let’s not get a big head too quickly!? There are actually over 80 churches per week that close their doors for good!? Not good at all!? As John Mark Clifton said on a video for the Church at Finley Crossings, “we are losing the race to plant churches in North America.”? That calling and passion for planting churches has driven me for almost a decade and still continues to this day!

However, the weariness of planting a church began to settle in and I began to pray, “God, there has got to be a better way to plant churches and reach the unchurched.” I truly believe that this “new” concept of multisite is A better way to start new churches and reach the unchurched.? I say, “new” in quotes because it is really not new at all–just new here in the states.? Dr. David Cho actually began this concept of multiple campuses in Korea.? This led to an explosion of expontial growth in his Full Gospel congregation.? As of 2007, they are the world’s largest congregation with well over 800,000 members.? I say “A”? better way because I don’t believe that “traditional” church planting is NOT by ANY MEANS dead or not effective AT ALL.? Traditional church plants need to be intentionally planted all around the world! The problem that I, and many others, experienced first hand is the lack of critical mass and support to sustain the first 3 or 4 years.? Just thinking out loud here . . . but we might think about supporting church plants AFTER launch when the core team has come down from their initial giddiness when they were drunk on vision and couldn’t fail!? However, it’s not all about money either–Ed Stetzer’s research has confirmed that. . . but that is for another post all together!

What is great about this era of church growth and church planting is that we can have our cake and eat it too!? We can plant traditional churches and launch multisite campuses all under the same umbrella of Southern Baptists who care more about lost people than our personal preferences!? One of the best things about being a Southern Baptist is this amazing thing called Cooperation!? We have the Cooperative Program that helps fund Kingdom work all around the world.? We are truly better together!? Here in Missouri, we have a way to support the work of church planters through the Missouri Missions Offering. Go here and check out how you can continue to support the the work of God in Missouri.? As a former “receiver” of support from this offering, it is definately appreciated.