You
always hear people say, "We couldn't have done this without
you." Well, never has that phrase
been more appropriate than Monday. (I
know, sorry for the late posting!)
When we
left Atlanta, we were under the impression that our tasks were: #1) to raise
the roof of the boys dorm so that the hot air had more room to escape, thereby
making it cooler down below where they slept; #2) to repair the foundation
around the girls dorm that was cracking and crumbling; and #3) budget permitting, re-wire the spiderweb of electrical wires that had evolved over the years in the boys dorm. However, as is common on mission trips,
things change suddenly and you have to be ready to adapt.
Early
Monday morning, John sat us all down and explained to us that because of
language barrier mix-up, after we arrived Sunday he had discovered that Pastor Vek
and Ratha (orphanage director) had already committed almost 100% of our funds
to hiring other workers to construct a new roof, and also
to extend the security fence around the boys dorm and along the back of the
property - another desperately needed project. These expenditures took up almost our entire budgeted construction costs. So, before we even started,
our whole construction budget for the trip had almost been completely exhausted. After taking into account our meals for the
week, the hotel, our exit visas, and various other miscellaneous expenses, we
were down to $157 for construction materials that had to last us the entire
week.
We had also been asked, prior to the trip, to conduct a business outreach dinner. A business outreach dinner is where Pastor
Vek invites dozens of Battambang businessmen/community leaders to dinner with
the team and have us introduce Christ and explain why we traveled halfway
around the world to volunteer to work in Cambodia. They men are educated,
bi-lingual, respected members of the Battambang community. When we were asked if we would participate
in the dinner, we were not aware we were expected to pay for the dinner - that
was another unexpected expense! At the
end of the day, after paying the expenses that were already committed, we were
close to $7,000 over of what we were budgeted.
Then
John said, "This is where God stepped in..." He told us that when he called GlobalX to
inform them that, unbeknownst to us, we had already been financially
obligated to a lot more than we had budgeted for. That's when he was told the good news. No, not that Good News, he already knew that
Good News. He realized that, because of all of you, we raised virtually that exact same figure in surplus donations within
the last week or so of the trip - virtually to the dollar!! Now, instead of $157 we have enough money to
repair the foundation on the girls’ dorm, complete the re-wiring and still
spread the Gospel to 150 influential members of the Battambang community.
So, instead of a higher roof on the boys dorm and a repaired foundation on the girls dorm, when we leave the orphanage will instead have a brand new roof for the boys AND a repaired foundation on the girls' dorm AND a new security fence AND a fresh coat of paint on all three buildings AND a higher stretch of sidewalk in a low area that floods frequently AND a vent on the kitchen exhaust to improve the smoke draft AND fresh concrete around the water well AND new faucets on the kitchen lavatory. John said, "We had no idea how much
money we would need before we began this assignment, but God did and He provided!" ...through all of you.
