Missions at the Vineyard
Our church has an ever growing number of flags hanging in our auditorium. These flags represent the people that have been sent or have gone to do Kingdom stuff around the world. We are excited that God has used our church to reach people in such varied places. He has called out the best and the brightest and always replaces them with more!
We are passionate about what God is doing in our world and we are developing a list of all of our current and former members who are involved in work around the world. Watch for it!
A TALE OF THREE MISSIONS
A Story of How God Weaves Lives and Ministries Together
For the past 15 years or more, the Vineyard Children's Church has sponsored a Food For The Hungry Child. At first, "our" child was from Thailand, living in an area near where our own Vineyard missionary with FFTH, Margaret Kreutzer, was working.
When that child grew up and out of the sponsorship program, FFTH assigned another child to our Children's Church. This time she was from Cambodia. Again, she grew up and graduated from the program.
For the past couple of years the kids have sponsored Diep Khorn, a Cambodian girl, but we didn't ever know her exact hometown.
This week we received the annual letter from Diep Khorn, thanking the kids for sponsoring her. It mentioned that she is from Anlong Veng in the Trapeng Krasang district of Oddor Meanchey province. I jumped when I read the letter! Anlong Veng! Mike and I were just there in February! It is the next town north of the village of Trapeng Krasang where we are training the folks to make water filters, and where we will be digging a well!
And not only that - "our" village just happens to be one of the villages where many refugees of the Cambodian Civil War live. Many of them fled into Thailand in the '90s, when Margaret was still there - right into her back yard! She helped take care of them for about 18 months, until the Khmer Rouge was finally eliminated from their homeland.
It wasn't until last February, on a drive to the Thai border, that we realized we were helping some of the same families that Margaret helped! Our project in Cambodia and her work in Thailand are only about an hour apart, separated by the border between Cambodia and Thailand, but eternally connected by God's ongoing love and care!
Update: In June 2010, Diep Khorn moved to Siem Reap with family, about 150 km from Anlong Veng. Food For The Hungry assigned another Cambodia child to our Children's Church, named Sivmey Vuthy (Sue-may Woo-tee). She lives in Kandal Leu Kraom, in the same area of northern Cambodia, near the Thai border. Mike and Barb hope to be able to visit her on their next trip to Cambodia!
by Barbara Webb