Kien Kleang Orphanage | pastor ivanildo

Guest writer: Doug Kegarise, Pastor of Development and Deployment

What did you accomplish by age 32?

My heart is so full. Tonight we visited G.R.O.W. here in Chiang Mai, Thailand. (Grace Refuge Outreach Worldwide is a ministry that Pastor Ivanildo has been instrumental in leading for the past several years). It is a home that currently houses 11 children who have been victims of some horrible things…things which I will avoid detailing here. The point is, that because of the compassion and vision of one young woman, these children have been rescued.

If you don’t believe that Jesus Christ changes lives, you need to meet these children. The situations that these kids come from wound and scar children in significant ways. Most people wouldn’t waste their time trying to help them… and even those with good intentions may give up because of the massive amount of time, heartache and sacrifice it takes to walk with them through such trauma. But in time, healing comes. And we saw evidence of the redemptive work of Jesus tonight.

Several children showed above and beyond hospitality, greeting us with cold drinks. A 9 year old showed the awareness and kindness of an adult, sliding her chair closer to mine so that I could follow along with her in a songbook. A 12 year old LED an entire devotional program for the whole house and us guests. A 10 year old recited several different passages of Scripture from memory. Several children articulated their testimonies, including the painful details of past trauma. And every single child exhibited responsibility helping to clean up dinner. Yes, every single child…including a 4 year old. And in the midst of all of it…joy! So. Much. Joy.

Who is behind this? Jesus, of course! He is the one who transforms lives. But he has used a 32 year old woman, my new friend Faa, and her staff and volunteers to love, serve, protect, train and disciple these children. She is investing in the kids that no one else wanted. And she is changing the world. There is a house full of kids in Chiang Mai who will continue to do radical things for Jesus. And her motivation has everything to do with her own life experience. She, too, was rescued – in order to rescue others.

What about you? How has God rescued you? What painful history have you dealt with? How are you using it to rescue others? There is a generation of broken people – some by choice, but many by no fault of their own – who need the love of Jesus in their lives.

For more inspiration, please check out www.grow-worldwide.com

Take a moment to pray:

For Faa, her staff and the GROW kids

For YOU to recognize how you’ve been rescued to rescue others

Guest writer: Doug Kegarise, Pastor of Development and Deployment

It was not on the official program. One of those things to do, “if time allows.” No, can’t say it was on the agenda, but there hasn’t been a time yet when I was in Phnom Penh and didn’t make an effort to get there– a brief visit to the Kien Kleang Orphanage, where it all began for me. The year was 1999 and it was here that I held my first HIV/AIDS patient, a little boy who was 3 but looked like he could be only a few weeks old. He had that look of anguish in his face, the kind only those who experience severe pain can express. But it was too late for him. He was already beyond recoverable.

I found out that there were others like him in the home – waiting for their turn to die.

I got out of the property, went inside the van, and wept bitterly. “Why? God, why?” I kept asking myself… And that day I made a promise to God that if He opened the doors, I would do anything to help rescue at risk children. And a decade later I met Faa and the dream is now a reality in the form of G.R.O.W. (http://grow-worldwide.com).

We only had a brief visit today and I felt bad I walked there empty-handed. But the smiles and hugs were worth it all, from my friends who have suffered so much in this world but keep on smiling.

In the pictures here is a girl with Down’s Syndrome. Se was only 13 when I met her in 1999. But she has never forgotten me. And her hugs are so special. The other little gal I only met a couple of years ago. She and her sister are deaf and mute, but their smiles are much ore than words. Note to self: come back only if I have time to play for a while. And never again empty-handed!

Pastor Ivanildo C. Trindade (reporting from Cambodia)

2013 Southeast Asia Team – Post 6

2013 Southeast Asia Team – Post 3