The Garden of Hope is a 15 acre piece of land outside of Vientiane, Laos. On this land, minority students come annually to be trained in business, agricultural science, the Word of God, and music.

Watch the video below to learn more about this amazing program and how it is growing hope in Laos and producing a generation to bring life and a true hope in Jesus Christ throughout the nation.

Get Involved

Pray

Pray for the students to be fully prepared and to see abundant fruit as they plant churches in their hometowns after they finish schooling.

Give

Please give towards the $2,650 monthly budget at the Garden of Hope. This covers salaries for three staff, stipends for 10 students at $120 each, utilities, and administration.

Go

Become a part of a team bringing Biblical, English, accounting, music, or agricultural knowledge to students. Email us at missions@seapc.org to get started.

This summer as an intern with SEAPC, I had the wonderful opportunity to work alongside Veha Mong and the entire BC Arise national missionary team. While unfortunately I was unable to travel to Cambodia due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions, the relationship I built through Zoom and Facebook calls with Veha were a wonderful blessing.

I am currently in grad school at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville pursing my MSc in Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Community. Additionally, I serve as a graduate research assistant on the Scaling Suitable Sustainable Technologies in Cambodia project (S3-Cambodia) with the Smith Center for International Sustainable Agriculture. The S3-Cambodia project seeks to develop pathways for scaling up (i.e. expanding usage) of sustainable agriculture technologies among Cambodia farmers.

One of ways the project is attempting to accomplish this is through the establishment of school gardens and agriculture curriculum in secondary schools throughout Cambodia.

The S3-Cambodia project and BC Arise were set up perfectly to complement one another, and the Lord was able to use me as the necessary linkage between the two.

The BC Arise team focuses on curriculum development and skills training in secondary schools and technical training centers throughout Banteay Meanchey. Following school closures due to COVID-19, the BC Arise team used their time to begin developing an agriculture program for their skills training centers. The addition of an agricultural education component to the BC Arise program has been long desired, as many of the national missionaries studied agriculture in university, but have been unable to put their knowledge and skills to use. Through self-teaching using YouTube videos and recruiting the help of a local professional to build their greenhouse, the team successfully piloted a hydroponics garden that produced a marketable lettuce crop. The goal is to soon to scale this into an aquaponic system. 

The BC Arise team also acquired a large area of unused land at a local high school to use for agricultural skills training, which will ideally include a school garden. Over the summer, we were able to establish a plan to develop a school garden at the local high school plot through the S3-Cambodia project.

The current plan is to have S3-Cambodia team members based in Battambang survey the land and begin the establishment of the school garden this year after the rainy season ends. Additionally, through the Smith Center’s Farmer-to-Farmer program, the BC Arise team was able to be connected to an aquaponics expert in Cambodia to assist them in transitioning to the new system. 

While the successes of the BC Arise team with their agriculture and sustainability projects have been many, there have been a few roadblocks as well. 

For one, the transition from hydroponics to aquaponics is proving to be a bit of a challenge. Hydroponics is a method of producing crops without the use of soil, instead relying solely on water and nutrient solutions. Aquaponics is similar, but incorporates fish into the system so it is a closed loop where the fish waste provides nutrients for the plants and the plants naturally filter the water, providing a clean living environment for the fish. Although the systems are similar, the transition requires a totally different set up than the one the BC Arise team currently has. The cost to make this overhaul transition is not feasible for the team at this time. 

Additionally, this second growing season in the hydroponics system has proven less successful than the first. This could be due to growing different types of crops, but it could also be due to issues with the chemical components of the water. Unfortunately, there are no laboratory water testing services available in Cambodia and therefore finding a solution will rely on trial and error.

Finally, COVID-19 has continued to affect the Banteay Meanchey region, keeping schools closed and individuals sheltered at home. Lockdowns have slowed down the process of developing agricultural programing and passing on new knowledge to students. 

Despite these challenges, the BC Arise team has continued to move forward in faith and trust. I have been deeply impressed and blessed by the conviction, ingenuity, and drive of the BC Arise team. This group of faithful men and women have been diligent in their work, striving to care well for their community and one another. 

Would you please join me in specifically praying for BC Arise’s agricultural education program? 

Pray for:

• The provision of funds and knowledge for the aquaponics system 
• The ongoing health and success of the hydroponics system
• The establishment of a school garden at Rongko High School
• The continued health and safety of the team and the local community in the face of COVID-19 concerns

Have you met AnnieBuckles? I can remember the first day that I did.

It was February of 2018,and Annie came into our office in Oakmont, PA, with her resume in hand andpassion in her eyes. On that day, Annie and I had scheduled to meet for onehour to talk about her future and her potential working with SEAPC. In thoseyears, I was shocked that people would show up wanting to work for a prayer andmissions ministry as wild as this one. God was expanding and blessing the ministry.We had received a vision from Him to witness a world connected through prayerthat brings Christ-based change to those in need.

In true fashion to anyorganization submitted to prayer-birthed vision, God was packing our lives withnew friends, resources, and genuine enthusiasm. SEAPC was growing fast, and weneeded workers in every aspect of our vision and calling. The internationalleadership of the ministry, including our US team, was jumping on airplanesevery week to follow hard after the leading of the Lord. A buzz of hope andpromise was filling our tank each day to see the impossible come to pass amongthe nations.

Annie walked in on thatday as the embodiment of a prayer answered.

"Lord of theharvest, please send workers!"

She did not say much.She did not need to. The resume read of a life of service among the least, aheart to see people come to know Jesus Christ, and a track record ofexcellence. But her eyes spoke of much more. They welled up with tears (as theydo still today) when she spoke about what Jesus had done in her life.  Annie had prayed and was called by God topreach His gospel in the nations.

By 2018, I had learnedthrough many trials, heartache, and failed attempts to hire "workers"that the eyes of one called by God look very different than that of thoseseeking to fulfill their own interests. I had sent workers into ministry platformsbased on their skills, abilities, and talents and had paid a heavy price. Mydear friends and elders in those nations, who had already learned these lessonsthrough their own leadings, graciously received the folks that I would send,bending their lives to accommodate and somehow make a way for them. Thank Godmany of those workers found their callings while on the field of work, butseveral others endured great loss and frustration.

Now here was Annie.

"Jesus loves you.Everyone else has a perfect plan for your life, Annie," I shared, almosthoping that she would reveal to me any unspoken agenda, angle, or misalignedreason for her desire to serve God through SEAPC. "I believe that God hasbrought me here, and I want to do anything I can to serve Him," she replied.Ha! I had heard that one before, I thought. "Ok, let's start with ashort-term trip to Cambodia."

She went. I went, too,and watched to see if God's work within her would perform itself among thepeople. Without fear, apprehension, or doubt, Annie ministered. After thattrip, I invited Annie to submit to a long-term missions training program withthe SEAPC USA team. She confirmed in prayer that she was to do so and that shehad heard from God to give her life to Cambodia—specifically to the vision ofBanteay Meanchey Arise (BC Arise).

BC Arise was on therise. The Cambodian government had just expanded this work to bringChrist-centered education in science, math, and English to 126,000 publicschool students from 488 public schools in Banteay Meanchey province. In thefirst month of Annie's training program, BC Arise was averaging 82 studentspraying to receive Jesus per day in those schools.

Scaling up for a harvestlike this required rapid decision making, complete trust incalling/purpose/vision/team, and of course, WORKERS! After completing thetraining, Annie moved to Cambodia. She began by serving the multitude ofshort-term missions teams flooding into the harvest from Hong Kong, Singapore,the United Kingdom, Malaysia, and America. Annie was a natural at this! Theskills and talents laid out in her resume proved promising as she managed thelogistical quagmire of short-term missionaries. However, the calling from Goddemanded a much larger platform. We soon transitioned Annie to support the BCArise Waterdrop program created and led by a fellow worker, Jenni Taylor (who,by the way, was used by God to do the impossible and who remains a real dealhero in my book). Annie took to it, building bridges between foreign workersand the local team. The local team struggled at first with confidence. Theycould not imagine themselves being used by God in this capacity, but Anniestood with them, letting God's word and prayer flow from her calling and intotheir lives.

She spent the next twoyears helping a 20-member team grow to 50—hustling from school to school,zig-zagging through the muddy roads on the backs of mopeds to get her localspirit-filled Cambodian teaching team to the students awaiting their lessons.Often, when I would visit Cambodia and ride with the team along those roads, Iwould look out on the rice fields and think back to my father, who prayerwalked that province in faith in 1994. Those same fields held the laststronghold of the Khmer Rouge. They were, in fact, the actual killing fieldsPol Pot used to murder tens of thousands who he thought may rebel against him.Now those roads once used to deliver man unto death had become roads thatcarried life and hope to the next generation. My friend Annie made sure thecarriers of truth got on the mopeds and went to work.

She stood in the gap fortwo years, and now she has come home to us again! The fruit of her obedience ischanging a nation. The team she helped to raise up is multiplying and carryingforward the work. No, she was not alone in this. God sent dozens of workers tojoin her side in the journey. God knows that life is a team sport. When I thinkabout the "workers" we need for the harvest ahead of us, I think ofAnnie Buckles.

God, send us more workers today! Please, if you love Jesus and want to serve Him with your life, want purpose and a place to perform a deep calling from God, and want to do something meaningful, righteous, and true, ask Jesus to speak to you now and do whatever He says to you.

If what He says includes Cambodia, then, by all means, come and see me, visit our office, and get to know Annie Buckles. She will be there to greet you and tell you the things you need to know before you go.

PRAY

Pray for the BC Arise national missionary team as they deliver, teach, and follow up with Water Drop online English training. They are sowing the Word of God into 150,000 students daily.

GIVE

The monthly budget for BC Arise is $11,200. Please prayerfully consider supporting one or more of the national missionaries for $300/per month. 

GO

SEAPC currently serves BC Arise in the education platform from a Christ-centered approach. Join the team and serve directly through providing training in English, technical, nursing, and agricultural sciences. 

If you had told me ten years ago that I would be able to identify several different patterns of fly-fishing hooks, I would have said that you were crazy. As a little girl, my dad took my sister and me trout fishing every year. We survived it, but I wouldn't say we looked forward to it any more than we looked forward to having our knotty hair brushed. We would get up early and drive for what felt like forever to the bait and tackle store to get worms and bobbers, then proceed to the creek or stream we would sit at for the next million hours of the day. At least it felt like a million hours waiting for a fish to bite at the worm or the canned corn we slid on to the hook. Fishing wasn't fun for me then — instead, it was an opportunity to hang out with my dad and sister and enjoy their company.

I still don't love fishing, and I'm not touching any worms on purpose. However, I find these tiny hooks wrapped in materials to resemble a bug fascinating. My understanding of fly fishing is, at best, surface level and consists of the basics, but after helping out with GBFF for several years in our US office, I have learned more about these little flies than I ever thought possible. I can tell you about the sizing, I can identify a handful of patterns on my own without any help from Google, and I can count out dozens of them super-fast. I know you have to practice fly fishing a lot to catch something, and I understand it has a lot to do with casting those little bug imposter hooks quickly above the water, so the fish think they are real. I still get hung up on the idea that our Creator made fish smart enough that we have to work so hard to catch them.

In 2016, Geppert Brothers Fly Fishing Foundation was born,creating a quality product to create a better quality of life. GBFF was launchedas a microeconomic development business to bring sustainability and prosperityto Cambodia. As the foundation was established, the Geppert family wasintentional about building it in a way that it could give back specifically tochildren who grew up in one of the New Hope for Orphans children's homes andwho need scholarships for university. Sam and Matt Geppert share a passion forserving Jesus, a deep desire to see Cambodia changed by the Gospel, and a lovefor fly fishing. I've enjoyed serving GBFF alongside the two of them, and I'mso proud of their dedication to this work.

Today, 14 fly-tiers have mastered the artisan craft of creating flies. Together they make 20,000 flies each month with the most intricate detail. Until now, those flies went from Banteay Meanchey Cambodia to the United States, where they would exclusively end up in fly shops along the Madison River in Montana or the mailboxes of faithful monthly fly box subscribers.

This month we are preparing to re-launch GBFF with a new sales distribution plan that will allow us to sell flies directly to fly fishers themselves.

We believe that through this new avenue, we will see the mission of GBFF come to pass, and it will multiply both in Cambodia and around the globe.

Please join us in praying for God to continue guiding GBFF,for Him to bless the hands who tie these flies every day, for the young adultswithin NHO who will soon receive a scholarship from GBFF for university, andfor this microeconomic development initiative to continue to multiply both inCambodia and in the nations.

We believe that we will see the Kingdom come through, even just one fly at a time!

GET INVOLVED

PRAY

Pray for the 14 Cambodian GBFF team members to provide a model of how Christ-centered businesses can release righteousness and positively impact their nation.

GIVE

Consider being one of 35 to commit to giving $100 per month over the next 18 months to reach our goal of financial sustainability throughout Cambodia by 2023.

GO

Are you passionate to see the gospel spread through business? Visit seapc.org/kingdomfirst to learn how to engage and equip emerging business leaders in the nations.

From the mountain city of Chengdu to the almost sea-levelcity of Beijing, a committed and talented group of individuals are workingtogether to bring a new hope and new future for families with children withautism.

It all started in 2014 when, based on the success of theTouching Hearts in Tibet project, the government of China requested for SEAPCto assist in establishing a high-quality support system for children withautism, their families, and teachers. This led to The Chinese-AmericanInternational Cooperation Training for Children with Autism, lovingly known asCARE.

In the USA, Kim Bennett and Rachel Kittenbrink, both veryexperienced in working with children with autism, combined their education andbackgrounds to work alongside our friends in China, Dr. Jia Meixiang of TheBeijing Association for Rehabilitation of Autistic Children and Gail Ding.

Together, over the years, hundreds of teachers in China havereceived training, and specific individuals have come to the United States formore intensive education. Cairn University in Pennsylvania has also been anintegral part of the entire project.

Centers for working with children with autism have beendeveloped in Beijing and Chengdu, tied together through this partnership andonline training to bless these children and their families. Children whopreviously had no options for education are receiving specialized education tohelp them overcome their challenges to thrive.

We are at a key moment in the project in many differentareas. The center in Chengdu is growing and in need of a larger space to servethe children. That is a great problem to have! The children and their familiesare thriving and attracting more to this safe place.

It also means that there will quickly be a need for moreworkers – thriving children and families means more children and families,leading to more space and workers needed. A recent call between project leadersdiscussed the inability of doing in-person training in China or having specificindividuals come to the USA for in-depth training as had been happeningpre-COVID and how it looks as though that trend will continue for theforeseeable future. They discussed building a library of short videos thatfocus on one specific technique or issue to address. Rachel has already startedto create the videos. The most significant discussion around these videos isaddressing as many needed things as possible and the distribution. We want tomake sure that they are available to those who need them but are also not takenand used for profit by others. These video trainings will help to improve theskills of current teachers and help bring new teachers.

As a leader in the project with a great passion for childrenwith autism and their families and for doing things in the best way possiblefor our Father’s glory, Gail has been taking courses online through CairnUniversity for the past several years to gain her official certification. Shehas completed her courses and only needs to pass the exam, which is extremelydifficult. Gail has said that she may be taking the exam in the coming weeks.Please pray as she does so! Certification would instantly boost hercredibility, attract even more families for care, and allow for furtherexpansion of the ministry.

In addition, there is something special happening. There isa push in China for inclusive education for children with special needs in thepublic school systems. A sister named Lydia is in Beijing, advocating andpreparing for this. Would you please pray that God would break through allbarriers and allow this major step in all schools throughout the country? Itwould be a nation-changing decision.

We know that our Father loves everyone, especially those whoare considered the least. Children with special needs are among thoseconsidered the least in China. It is incredibly encouraging, however, to seethe people that He is raising up to come alongside the children and theirfamilies to help them reach their full potential, to advocate for their needsand inclusion with others, and to bring them the most important part of theirlives — a relationship with Him.

The last 18 months haven't looked normal for anyone, andchanges have come from every side. One of the most significant changes we'veseen has been to our education system. Most schools, not only in the UnitedStates but all over the world, were educating their students virtually lastyear. As we see things improve and return to a semi-normal state here in theU.S., many of the countries that we support are still dealing with significantchanges regarding how children are educated.

As we quickly approach "back to school" season here in the US, we want to update you on what that looks like this year in the countries that Raising Kids supports. 

Our friends in Cambodia have seen quite a spike in COVIDcases these last few months. Because of the rising number of cases, manyprovinces and borders have been closed. The schools were closed for most of the2020-2021 school year. The students learned virtually through lessons ontelevisions. We were hopeful that things would turn around in Cambodia thissummer, but their government isn’t allowing schools to open. When the studentsreturn to school, they will continue learning from home. The house parents andcaregivers do the best they can to supplement their education, while thestudents will continue to receive lessons through the televisions. Despite theunfortunate circumstances, we are praising God that our children and staffremain healthy and safe.

The Charity Children's home staff in Myanmar have gonethrough some major hurdles this past year and have purposely stepped up toeducate the kids. On top of COVID closing their schools last year, they'recurrently under military rule that's been in effect since February of this year.These things have affected their abilities to travel, the price of essentialgoods, and their safety and sense of security. Thank God they have beenprotected and provided for in the midst of this! This upcoming school year willlook very similar to last year’s. All of the current 177 children will beschooling at home again. Although everyone has been told to send their childrento school, the house parents have decided that it would be safer for thechildren to remain at the children's home until things settle down in thecommunity. Last year they successfully opened a new library on the campus,which will again be a great asset for learning from home.

The children at Mendies Haven in Nepal recently finished uptheir school year, which they spent learning at home on individual computers. Allof the students did very well even through the challenges they faced, and theyare anxious to get back into the school building. Since they just began theirsummer break, it is still unclear whether the government will allow schools toopen for the next school term or not.

Please be praying for these countries and the childrenaffected by not being able to go to school. Continue to pray for their safetyand health and that God would provide a hedge of protection around them. Thehouseparents and caregivers need prayers for strength and that God would equipthem to teach the children under their care.

We have faith that our God is in control despite the currentcircumstances and will do amazing things this school year.

In celebration of SEAPC’s 30th anniversary, from May 2021 to May 2022 we will be sharing stories and testimonies of God’s goodness and faithfulness from friends around the nations! Each of these testimonies is like a stone of remembrance (Joshua 4) for all that He has accomplished. We are taking this year not just to look to the past, but also to praise God for what He has in store for us and those we serve in the years to come. We hope you enjoy these stories our friends have prepared each week!

For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.

Romans 15:4

Cambodia is a land of beautiful scenery and peace-loving people,with a rich cultural heritage that dates back to before the birth of Jesus.There are remains today of architectural edifices from Buddhist and Hindutraditions that are among the artistic wonders of the world.

But in 1975, the Khmer Rouge began a reign of terror that ripped toshreds the fabric of Cambodian society. Citizens with education wereslaughtered—estimates range as high as four million of them. Teachers, medicalprofessionals, reporters, professors, mechanics, and anyone else who couldpossibly rebel were incarcerated and killed. Some fled to the jungles and werehunted down in rice paddies. Farmers were spared in order to grow foodnecessary to sustain the troops. Because rural people were uneducated, theywere no threat to the regime.

By 1979, invading Vietnamese troops overthrew the Khmer Rouge andtheir manmade famine, genocide, politicide, and mass murder. But by then, thedamage had been done. Cambodia had become a nation of illiterate peasants, witha median age of twenty-six. It further descended into poverty and hopelessness.

Mark Geppert met Pastor Sinai and his wife, Pastor Somalay, whowere themselves survivors of the Khmer Rouge. They had a desire to raiseorphaned and abandoned children; this vision has grown over the years. Fifteen provincesin Cambodia are now served through their outreach, New Hope for Orphans (NHO). Thegoal is to have a home in all of Cambodia’s twenty-five provinces. SEAPC hasbeen blessed to walk alongside NHO and to witness the amazing power of Jesus inCambodia’s transformation.

Education has been a key factor in the rebirth of this nation.Without an educated populace, it would have been impossible to rebuildinfrastructure or to spark economic growth. With the blessing of a growingChristian community, the Cambodians endured, received encouragement, and gainedhope in their temporal and eternal futures.

In 2009, a Student Centre was set up in the capital of Phnom Penhwith a goal to equip sixteen youths from various children’s homes in theirstudies for high school and university. In addition to academics, this involveddiscipleship, communication, and social skills to prepare the students for lifeoutside the orphanages. SEAPC stood beside Pastors Sinai and Somalay and SokhomSor in this endeavor.

Some of the original teens at the Student Centre from 2009-2011have grown up and become a harvest of first fruits. Im Chan Oudom and RomBunthorn currently work as administrators for SEAPC Cambodia. They serve God asthey serve others.

Fellowship, an important component of Christian life, becameorganized for the NHO kids in 2010. A Kids Camp was held at Garden Hill Resort inSihanoukville from September 8-11. The theme for the week was Christlikeness,Life in the Spirit. In attendance were 400 Cambodian children and staff, plus65 helpers from Singapore and the United States.

Over the years, Kids Camp has grown in numbers, covered a varietyof Christian teachings, and provided fellowship through education, music,games, and fun. The initial plowing and sowing into these precious lives, asthe years and the watering have gone by, has yielded a harvest for Jesus.Children from early camps now help with younger kids.

Phon Sitha, who grew up in the NHO system, and his wife are house parents at the Kampong Thom Children’s Home.

They are helping to raise a new generation of educated, faith-filled followers of Jesus both in their own growing family and for NHO. Other NHO alumni have become teachers, health care workers, and professionals. They are now plowing, sowing, and watering for the Lord in their communities, in anticipation of a great and growing harvest for the Kingdom. Each person, each blessing, each achievement is a stone of remembrance of God’s goodness, mercy, and grace in Cambodia.

There were many years of despair in Cambodia. That is being changed. As God has used friends in the nation, the truth of Proverbs 13:12 is being fulfilled: Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.

The Americas we see on TV and in the news is a complete fabrication of the Americas in which we live. In a torrent of 90-second clips, we are fed propaganda designed to feed the most basic human hunger and thirst for sensationalism. If a story becomes a feature it is added to the weekly or evening magazine format in which we are fed the “back story.” These are most often about a corner in a city where violence occurs or a devastated family or workplace. Violence sells and any news broadcast that breaks for commercials is not really news, it is a marketing platform designed to sell you something.

Media thrives on the actions of a very few. Those instant stars, whose opinions inflame hatred and highlighted each day and hourly on the web. Violence sells. Perversion sells. Controversy sells. And we are being sold this cocktail to cause us to think that America has become the global center for all things evil.

For the past seven years at SEAPC, we have traveled theAmericas. I personally have met with and led groups of worshipping warriors inthe US, Mexico, and Canada. We have walked and prayed and proclaimed the nameof Jesus from Atlantic to Pacific and back. We have seen city centers andpristine national parks. From the trail of the ancient Mayan Culture to theLands of the Sioux and Iroquois we have traversed North and South, East andWest finding those who keep the light of the gospel alive in the vastterritories of the Americas. Four times I have driven around the continentalUnited States and have crossed this land on Interstates 90, 80, 70, 40, and 10praying with and for this great nation. A few years ago, our teams prayed onthe campuses of 50 of our major universities and last year Pray Americas teams wereactively praying in many of the counties across the United States.

The eye witness reports that we have received from those whocare enough about the Americas to get out of their house, and believe thatevery place the sole of their foot shall tread is theirs by God’s decree, isthat the Americas, Canada, United States, Mexico, and Central and South Americaare on the verge of great Revival. That for every person given to violencethere are millions who love God, go to church, work hard, and serve theircommunity.

Community is the key. A community is a gathering of peoplewith common values. Communities are built up around industry, language,ethnicity, and have a common, though often unstated, moral code. A community inthe Americas will have people of all ethnicities. The face of the community isa wonderful blend of them all. Successful communities are measured by churches,schools, property values, and a peaceful, productive environment.

There is less violence and destruction in a good communitybecause the members of it have decided that they will respect their neighborand work together to serve their community. The news cycle is used of the enemyof righteousness, peace, and joy to divide the community through a completefabrication of the America that is. It is designed to make you fear a person ofanother color or language and to question their motives for being part of thecommunity.

What dispels a lie? Truth. What defeats fear? Love. Whatprevents division? Getting out and seeing the community and meeting the peopleliving closest to you.

We are encouraging you to meet a neighbor. Bless them inyour thoughts, pray for them in your devotions, and serve them with someexpression of the Love of Jesus. My wife Ellie and I are staying at the RockyMountain Prayer Center this summer. Several times a week, I walk a couple ofmiles along a gravel road past little farms. We have met several neighbors andare getting the red barn ready for a Sunday evening-vespers to which they willbe invited. Most of them had a Christian experience in their youth but have notbeen in any Christian community.

This type of walking in and praying for the neighbors is being replicated across America from June 15 through July 25. Would you please join us to walk and pray in your community? Would you please meet your neighbor? When you buy that fresh sweet corn, pick up a couple of ears for them. When you thin those flowers, save some and make them a gift to your neighbor. Reach out in some form of love but especially bless them in your thoughts, pray for them in your devotions, and serve them in some way.

Let us know how the Lord makes a way for you. They may beBlack or they may be Brown, or they may be Yellow or even White. Reach throughthe veil of deception and get to know your neighbor.

In celebration of SEAPC’s 30th anniversary, throughout the next 12 months, we will be sharing stories and testimonies of God’s goodness and faithfulness from friends around the nations! Each of these testimonies is like a stone of remembrance (Joshua 4) for all that He has accomplished. We are taking this year not just to look to the past, but also to praise God for what He has in store for us and those we serve in the years to come. We hope you enjoy these stories our friends have prepared each week!

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and stars which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?

Psalm 8:3

In my seventy-one years, I’ve seen a lot of moons and many, many stars. Of course, it’s always the same tableau, but depending on where in the world one is looking, there are some differences. It also helps to have not only physical eyes, but more importantly spiritual eyes, wide open to truly see.

Over the Amazon River at night, there are a myriad of insects buzzing about, strange noises in the jungle, and the lap of waves against the hull of the boat. They can be taken at face value. Or not. One night, after visiting a small village, my heart ached.

Right beside therudimentary huts where the villagers lived, a clearing held a small alterovergrown with weeds as the rainforest crept in to reclaim it. Once, they said,a priest came to them, but the isolation proved to be too great, and he wenthome.

Since that time, these people had combined a variety of local beliefs in animism with a vague sprinkling of false ideas about God. They did not know Jesus. Cut off from much of the developing world, it seemed unlikely anyone would return to share their grueling life. Or to guide them to a saving knowledge.

Standing on the boat later that night, I had all of nature around me. But in my mind’s eye all I could see were the people I had met earlier. My mind wrestled with my heart:

I’ll come back and live here. I like to be alone; it will be fine.

Who needs internet? God’s unspoiled Creation is here.

I came on a vacation, but maybe this is the Call I never really expected.

With my Bible and God’s grace, Jesus can become real here.

Then came theother thoughts:

What am I thinking? This is crazy.

I have a husband, kids, a job.

There’s no health care, stores, entertainment, or ice cream here.

I’m not equipped to teach or minister to anyone.

As this battledraged, I looked into the heavens. Although no artificial light source existed,the moon illuminated the nighttime sky. The dark expanse, dotted with stars,looked different than at home. I knew, because someone had told me, that I wasseeing the Southern Cross constellation in the Milky Way which is visible southof the equator. A sign?

I prayed for thetribe that had no spiritual guidance. For God to take me wherever He wanted meto go. And for the provision and heart to go there. The humidity had my clothesdamp. Tears wet my face.

I looked up againto the full moon, hanging heavy and brilliant above the water. It shone abeacon of light from the heavens across the river. Another sign? I believedthat it was. But not one pointing me to a life in Peru. That pure light bathedme in certainty. I would—somehow, eventually—serve God. His promises remainedas true as the day he declared, “Let there be lights in the sky…” in Genesis.His light would shine in me. I had to walk away until he finished separatingthe light from the darkness in me.

In the end, I wentto bed, finished the trip, and flew home to real life. For a long time, itbothered me that I hadn’t gone back to live along the banks of the AmazonRiver. Guilt is a powerful emotion. Had I ignored my call? Had I reneged on mypromise to follow Jesus anywhere? Had I misinterpreted the light of `the moonin my midnight musings?

And then, SEAPC. Theheart God gave me that night for unreached people didn’t end on the deck of aboat in a humid jungle. It grew until ready to be nurtured by Matt Geppert as Ibegan medical mission travels. Although short-term, these trips fulfilled thecall embedded by the light of the moon in a season when I barely knew how torecognize God’s voice.

After many medicaltrips, Matt met with me to discuss the latest one. He suggested there might bemore for me to do within the SEAPC organization, to build medical teams. Onceagain, my brain sent me messages in an attempt to override my heart:

You’re retired.Why take on more responsibility at your age?

It’s easier tobe a follower than a leader; let things alone.

I don’t haveany skills for ministry like these folks.

What if I fail?

After much prayer, my heart overrode my head. I joined the SEAPC team to do whatever was needed. Some days it’s as part of the Missions Team, helping to plan trips, multiply teams, and provide medical expertise. Other days, it’s as part of the Multiplication Team, writing articles, blogs, or whatever else needs a literary touch.

But every day, it’s about serving the Lord.

I continue to look to the sky; I simply love it. The clouds, white during the day and dark blue at night; the firmament cerulean blue and dove gray, the sun shining its pale or brilliant yellow light. And the moon. A beacon of God’s hope and love that chases the darkness is a metaphor for His inextinguishable light and goodness over the shadow of evil.

How long can I serve this way? Everyone has a shelf life, after all. But SEAPC and friends have shown me clearly that as long as the Lord calls, I will answer. God set the moon in place. He is mindful of even me—he cares for me.

I continue, these many years later, to pray for the people along the Amazon. And know that although I didn’t return, they are not forgotten by God. He is mindful of them. He cares for them. And he shines his light over them every night.

In celebration of SEAPC’s 30th anniversary, throughout the next 12 months, we will be sharing stories and testimonies of God’s goodness and faithfulness from friends around the nations! Each of these testimonies is like a stone of remembrance (Joshua 4) for all that He has accomplished. We are taking this year not just to look to the past, but also to praise God for what He has in store for us and those we serve in the years to come. We hope you enjoy these stories our friends have prepared each week!

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

Romans 8:28

For anyone who has been around Scripture at all, the above versemay be one of the most quoted. And why not? What an amazing sense of hope andpeace from the promise that no matter what the trial, it will be to ourbenefit. Which is where this sometimes seems to fall apart. The last phrase,‘according to his purpose’ is often left off. Because most of us want things towork out according to our own purposes. And yet, that is the crux of the verse.His purpose—his will—is the only true good we will ever know.

During this ongoing season of pandemic this is a verse that, althoughoft-quoted, is difficult to understand. People have died, been disabled, seenfinancial ruin, had lifestyles altered forever, cried out—and still the virusand aftereffects are evident in every nation. This is good? There’s a purpose?Really?

Bob Rosswog is one of SEAPC’s local friends who has for many yearsbeen a prayer warrior, mission traveler, and strong believer. Every Tuesday,when the Oakmont team assembles to pray for the nations, he is front andcenter. Until one day, when he didn’t show up. Covid-19 had come to call, notjust knocking, but knocking him down.

Bob remembers the start of classic Covid symptoms and thencollapsing at home. An ambulance rushed him to the Emergency Room and soon intoIntensive Care. At SEAPC, we prayed. At the hospital, he fought. With medicine,transfusions, and the progress of the disease, he was in and out of IntensiveCare.

Throughout this journey, he requested only one thing at hisbedside. “All I wanted was my Bible. I was living in the ‘valley of the shadowof death.’”

In moments when he could, he prayed. And God answered. “Use this toglorify me,” God whispered into his soul.

Bob took this seriously. He began to talk to staff about themissions work he had done with SEAPC over the years. And he asked to pray foreach individual who came to his bedside. Medical providers of other religions,those with faltering Christian faith or no faith at all, across ages, genders,and backgrounds. Each one received an offer of prayer. Many responded.

As healing spread through Bob’s body, he went to a rehabilitationfacility to continue recovering. But the trial hadn’t ended. When severeabdominal pain attacked during a therapy session, he ended up back in thehospital. His gallbladder, which had become gangrenous, had to be surgicallyremoved.

Because Bob’s life is a picture of what happens in the harvest ofour faith, he praised God and gave him the glory for this added length ofhospitalization. It gave him the opportunity to speak into more hearts for theLord. There were lives to plow, seeds of faith to sow and water, and otherharvests to anticipate. He prayed with a former MASH surgeon and another manraised in a Muslim home, among others. They professed faith in Jesus, withnewfound love in their hearts for others.

During this time of total weakness and dependency, Bob states, “TheScriptures became real. The Holy Spirit is King Kong, even though my body wasstill needing to gain strength.”

The image of this small man, with a significant weight loss andgaunt face due to illness, filled with the might of the legendary movie beastof strength, is indeed an apt metaphor for God alive and active within all believers.

During the three months of Bob’s illness and hospitalization, evenwhen too sick to pick up his head, he knew he had a purpose. “The Holy Spiritwanted to share the glory of God with others. Instead of taking me home withCovid, he sent me out.”

As Bob continues to gain strength, he has returned to pray atSEAPC’s Tuesday at Two prayer meetings. He hopes to prayer walk in China again.But he is content to submit to the leading of the Spirit.

And he has reaffirmed that Scripture is true. In his life, allthings—including serious illnesses—have worked to Bob’s good accordingto God’s purpose. Covid has become a stone of remembrance on the altarof Bob’s service to the Lord.