In this year we have witnessed more grounds being dedicated to righteous establishments than any other year I can recall. Joy-filled SEAPC supported grand openings for orphanages, churches, schools, clinics, daycares and autism centers, worship venues, coffee shops, and restaurants around the world have filled the weeks of 2016. This year, even in our own house, we launched the SEAPC Global Exchange center.
So as I write this, it feels fitting to be sitting in the mission house of a new church campus in Chino, Calif., on the eve of its dedication ceremony. Though new to Chino, this church is by no means new nor is our friendship. What an honor it is to be a part of Bread of Life Christian Church, led by Pastor Cathy and Pastor Fonda Chang, and a privilege to have the opportunity to stand with them as they dedicate God’s land, which they have purchased back to Him, for his purpose.
These lands we’ve committed to, though different in look and feel, share a common purpose in this season. The orientation of their use has now been assigned proper position for good. With Christ, they will yield measurable return in this season. Both through the people who work them and the produce developed, health will come to the nations.
For Pastor Cathy and the Bread of Life Christian Church, people are the product, and the land they have purchased to produce good people came by no small price. Years of intercession and material and spiritual investment have brought them a place of inheritance. Step by step they have stood on God’s word and have followed the Holy Spirit’s leading.
So much so that they even decided that the best time to give $165,000 to build a children’s home through SEAPC in Cambodia for New Hope was during their new church building program. Who does that? Together through their sacrificial and time-sensitive giving, New Hope ministry in Cambodia was able to provide thirty-two orphaned or abandoned children with a new home. The land in Pailin province sits above the gorgeous countryside valley and was purchased with the prayer that it would soon yield beautiful children of God.
Just as in Chino, this purchase prevents the land from being used for anything that does not give righteousness to the people.
God has given each of us the skills, ability, and power to gain wealth with our lives and to turn that wealth into permanent places for good. “Fine Establishments” filled with hope, peace, and promise for the future.
In the coming year we will need these skills and frankly your help to establish more centers like this home in Pailin. We have been asked to support 232 children in a village-based government orphanage in Laos, build another two facilities for the orphaned kids we serve in Cambodia, provide seven more technical training centers for the BC Arise program which is breaking the poverty cycle for 126,000 kids in 488 rural Cambodian schools, and to build the first Elite Academy for Autism in Beijing.
These are “Fine Establishments” in my eyes, worth every penny we can give in God’s eyes, and certainly will extend your dedicated desires for righteousness to those desperate for reclaimed land and a purpose-orientated place to grow.
Please help us build in 2017 and thank you to all who have joined us to build and push back the darkness in this amazing year.
