With that, we are in desperate need of prayer! There is going to be so much evil surrounding us and we will be feeling many different emotions as we meet children who have more or less been living in what we might consider hell on earth. Our goal is to build relationships and show the love and hope of Christ. We want to assist the Hard Places Community in the work that they do year round in Phnom Penh. Below is a very specific and detailed prayer guide that one of my teammates put together. It will give you general prayer requests, day by day requests, and requests from each team member. Pray that God would do UNIMAGINABLE things in and through us and the Hard Places Community. Can't wait to update you all after I return!
Alyssa
Prayers for Fondren Church Short-term Mission
Group to the Hard Places Community in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Prayers to be praying at all times:
●
Pray for unity, understanding, patience,
kindness, and perseverance for our team.
●
Pray that we, as a community and as
individuals, are constantly reminded of how to serve each other and the world
around us.
●
Pray 1 John 4:7 over us each day as we
seek to teach this verse through our words and actions!
●
Pray that we are diligent and manage our
time well, so that we may make the most of each day.
●
Pray for the children at the HPC, that
they open their hearts and minds to our teachings; that they come to understand
the restoration offered them by Jesus; and that they will experience Christ-like
love through our daily interactions.
●
Pray over our periods of planning and
debriefing—that we are moved by the Holy Spirit to speak and act out of Godly
wisdom.
●
Pray for the HPC permanent staff, that we
are able to assist and serve them in their duties.
●
Pray against spiritual warfare—internal
and external; please pray the armor of Christ over us every day!
●
And pray also for safety as we travel to
and from Cambodia, as well as throughout the city once we’re there.
●
Also, praise Jesus for the miracles He
will perform in our lives and the lives of others through this mission
trip. Pray that our efforts bear fruit
that points back to our Creator!
Specific prayer requests from each member:
Drew
Mellon (leader): “Please pray that I will lead the team to unity with boldness.”
Ally Pace
Mellon: “Pray that I practice patience in difficult situations, especially
after experiencing serious jet lag. Pray
that I love those who have been abused, and that I learn to love those who
abused them.”
Brent Johnston
(leader): “I ask for prayer in seeking a servant’s heart, that I would walk in
the Spirit with boldness and confidence.
Pray that I receive new revelation from the Lord about my call in
ministry. Pray also for the safety of my
family while I’m away.”
Scott
White: “Please pray over my time teaching.
Pray that I will have understanding of the staff members’ learning
levels and styles. Pray also that I will
have time to truly invest myself in them.”
Deborah
White: “Pray that I will have wisdom and discernment to know
how to minister to the Cambodian and American staff as I teach ESL. I will also
be working with the brothel men on
their Tuk Tuk tour script. Pray that I will relate well with all and not be overwhelmed with the task of
teaching and adjusting to the culture.
Pray that [Scott and I] will have unity in our marriage for the three weeks we will be ministering there.”
Cissy
Prewitt: “Pray for family unity between me and my two girls. Pray against false expectations so that the
love of Christ may show through me to its fullest and in everything I do.”
Gwynn
Prewitt: “Pray for safety and health, specifically for my headaches and my
mom’s kidney stones. Pray that we remain
pain free. Pray that I won’t be focused
on the hard conditions but rather on how I can be a servant.”
Grace
Prewitt: “Pray for safety over the entire team.
I also your prayers for our team that we will all have rewarding
experiences, that our souls will be forever changed.”
Morgan
Parker: “Please pray over this trip and how it can impact my future. Pray that it will open doors that need to be
opened if the Lord is in fact calling me to do long-term missions. I ask protection through prayer from the lies
and schemes of Satan--please pray that my trust is completely founded on the
Truth of Christ. And pray that this trip
will change me. In every way.”
Kelsey
Marx: “Pray that I will be receptive to
the Lord’s will for me each day. Pray
for discernment and wisdom in navigating the chaos of our riverfront
ministry. And pray against
distraction—that I may be mentally, emotionally, and spiritually present at all
times.”
Eric
Henderson: “Please pray obedience over me, as well as a steadfast heart. Pray that I will yield to the guidance of the
Holy Spirit instead of my own willingness.
Pray for my devotion to the cause of Christ as I move throughout the
week. Pray for me to have a job upon
returning and a proper living situation in Jackson. And lastly, please pray that I deny myself
& carry my cross without wavering. I
don’t want to cheat myself out of anything the Lord is trying to show me or
give me or even take away!
Katie
Acker: “Pray that I would have boldness in sharing my faith in Christ with
the kids while also loving them as Christ loves them. That I would gain clarity on what my next
step is in ministry and where Christ wants me to go. Pray protection over my family and friends
back home, that I would not worry or be anxious about what’s happening at
home. And I ask prayers over my
attentiveness to God’s voice so that I will walk in obedience during the trip.
Alyssa
Nobles: “Pray
that I would see the hope through the evil and despair in the people that we
encounter. Also, pray that I would be able to share with others back home about
my experiences while honoring the dignity of those in Cambodia.”
Prayers for each day:
Thursday, June 13, & Friday, June 14
●
Please pray over our travels!
●
Pray for safety, health, rest, and
peaceful hearts.
●
Pray that we (and our luggage and
supplies!) make all of our flight connections and that our bodies adjust
quickly to the time differences! If you
want to pray over our specific flights, we’d really appreciate that, too!
Flight schedule
Jackson
to Dallas: Leaving 7:10 AM 6/13 on
American Airlines, arriving 8:35 AM
Dallas to
Seoul, South Korea: Leaving 12:10 PM on
Korean Air, arriving Friday 6/14, 4:30 PM (1:30 AM CST)
Seoul,
South Korea to Phnom Penh, Cambodia:
Leaving 6:40 PM 6/14, arriving 10:05 PM
(6:05 AM CST)
Saturday, June 15 & Sunday, June 16
●
Please pray that we feel rested and
adjusted to Indochina Time (ICT)! Over
the weekend we will be debriefed on Cambodian culture and history, specifically
that which has been affected by the Khmer Rouge. During these two days, we will visit the
“killing fields” as well as a museum that showcases the horrible story of this
regime.
●
Pray that in so seeing these places our hearts
are further broken for the injustices that have occurred in this country. Pray that through these experiences we will
have a better understanding of the Khmer peoples’ hearts and thought processes.
●
We’ll also be attending a church service
with The Hard Places Community Sunday morning (somewhere around 7PM CST), so
please be praying that we’re well-rested and attentive to the Holy Spirit
during this time!
Monday, June 17—Thursday, June 20
Our four
full ministry days will look something like this:
Wake-up early;
breakfast at the hotel; go to the Boys’ Center for morning worship and VBS with
the kids; break for lunch & planning; afternoon ministry (Kids’ Club, river
front, teaching English, etc.); dinner; debriefing, prayer, and worship with
the team; and finally, sleep! For Kids’
Club, we’ve planned four lessons on four different kinds of love,
respectively: Monday—Friend love;
Tuesday—Family love; Wednesday—Romantic love; Thursday—God’s love. Through our time at Kids’ Club we hope to
demonstrate the difference between how God wants us to love our friends, family
members, and significant others, and how the world teaches us to treat
others. We also hope to show that God’s
love for us is greater than any other kind of love we can give or receive.
●
Please be praying over this ministry with
us!
●
Pray that the kids learn how to love one
another, as well as how they should be loved—what love is and isn’t according
to God’s wisdom.
●
Pray that these lessons will impact their
lives in big ways—that they can understand the injustice of abuse as well as
the abolishment of shame, fear, anger, and other strongholds through the
acceptance of Jesus’ loving forgiveness.
Friday, June 21
Friday
will look a lot like our other days with the exception that we’ll have an
end-0f-the-week celebration during Kids’ Club instead of an organized
lesson-period.
●
Pray that in this time the kids will
experience uninhibited happiness!
●
Pray that the children will understand
our Christ-like joy for them and our hope for their lives!
●
Praise the Lord for this experience of
sincere fellowship through singing and dancing and laughter!
●
And, finally, may we all praise Him for
His unfailing love and the rest that it gives our souls.
Saturday, June 22, & Sunday, June 23
Saturday we will
be spending time with our team in Phnom Penh before catching our flight late
that night. Though our schedule is
tentative for this day, it will most definitely include daring each other to
eat bags of fried crickets.
●
Therefore, pray for our health and
well-being.
●
Pray that we use this day to process the
week before it—all the blessings and God-ordained conversations and heartaches
and so forth.
●
Pray that we’re still focused on
furthering God’s Kingdom even if we’re not preparing and directing mission
activities.
●
And pray that we’re able to get
everything together for a timely departure.
Also, please pray over our specific flights:
Return flight schedule
Phnom
Penh to Seoul: Leaving 11:20 PM
Saturday, 6/22 (9:20 AM CST), arriving 6:35 AM, Sunday 6/23 (3:35 PM CST 6/22)
Seoul to
Dallas: Leaving 11:00 AM (7PM CST 6/22),
arriving 9:35 AM CST Sunday 6/23
Dallas to
Jackson: Leaving 6:35 PM, arriving 7:55
PM
Thank you
so much for praying over us during this time!
We’re so very thankful for you and your faith. We could not do this ministry without you!
Praying for you and the team as you go minister in the "hard places". Thank you for your willingness to serve. I love that you desire to serve the "least of these"...most of us don't want to do that, we want easy. You are always ready for a challenge.
ReplyDeleteMost definitely praying for you, Alyssa! So thankful that people like you and your team are able to go and be the hands and feet of Jesus to counteract some horrible situations.
ReplyDeletePraying for you, all!
ReplyDelete