Dear Family and Friends,
Hello! I hope everything is going well with you during these busy summer months. Hopefully, you’ve found time to rest and escape the heat! I can’t believe I’ve been in South Korea for over 4 months now! For those of you that don’t know, I moved to Seoul in February to teach at a Kindergarten Academy for the next year. So far it has been a challenging but exciting experience and I’m so eager to see what God’s going to teach me over the next 8 months!
After arriving in Korea, I saw how on fire the Church is here and how God is truly using the Korean churches to preach the Gospel to the nations. Korea is a strategic place to live for missions into Asia and that was one of the reasons I came here. Thankfully, an opportunity came up a few months ago when the church I attend, Jubilee, started recruiting people for their summer missions trips. The moment our Pastor began talking about the Cambodia trip, something in my heart began to stir and I had a strong desire to look more into it. When I saw that the trip was during my summer break I knew I was supposed to pray about going. Even before I came to Korea, God was placing the verse in Isaiah 61 on my heart. “The Lord God has put His Spirit in me, because the Lord has appointed me to tell the good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort those whose hearts are broken, to tell the captives they are free, and to tell the prisoners they are released.” Through this verse I can hear God calling me to share His unfailing love and compassion with the people in Cambodia. God is teaching me so much about being sacrificial with my time, energy, and money, and I can’t think of a better way to spend my week off than with the lost people of Cambodia.
From July 29th until August 5th, in Kamponsom Cambodia, 10 of us from Jubilee will partner with 3 other churches from the States, and several students from a Discipleship training school affiliated with Youth with a Mission (YWAM). Our main focus is to worship and glorify God through building relationships with the local community while serving and caring for the families in a few different ways. We will share the message of Christ through Vacation Bible School, Worship Concerts with skits and songs, and a Health clinic where we will be educating the village on basic health care tips. We will also be providing the village with medicine, shampoo for lice, and especially vitamins since malnutrition is one of the main problems in the area.
Poverty has also affected most families in Cambodia which has left many families broken with few options. Many families are selling their children into human trafficking industries in order to survive. No less than 55,000 women and children are sex slaves in Cambodia, 35% of which are younger than 18 years of age. After our Jubilee team leaves, the remaining teams will have a chance to work with different organizations dealing with the human trafficking issues.
Cambodia is a very dark place and God calls His people to, “let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). Besides the fact that less than 2% of the people claim Christianity in Cambodia, there are many dark areas that need to be brought into the light. “But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible” (Ephesians 5:13) and understanding can occur. My prayer and hope is that the people of Kamponsom will see Christ’s light through our love and actions, and the truth of Christ will set them free.
For our trip we are individually responsible for raising 1.7 million won (~1,468 US dollars) which will mainly go towards our flight and other travels expenses. I am responsible for providing half of the trip and for the other half, I am trusting God to raise up a team of people who would share with me the experience of this summer, both prayerfully and financially.
If you feel led to give in any way, Jubilee has made a website for the trip and for online giving. The link is http://www.jubilink.com/cambodia-2012 . It accepts US and Korean accounts through Paypal and all donations are tax deductible.
Any contribution you are able to give will be greatly appreciated and will go directly towards, sharing Christ’s love and setting the captives free. I would love for you to be a part of our team this summer whether it is through prayer or financial support! Thank you for your time and I hope you have a blessed day!
In Him,
Lora Thomas
Email address: lorathomas123@gmail.com
*If the website is too complicated please feel free to email me with any questions!