only by His grace

Greetings from Kampuchea! Well it has been a month filled with many challenges and changes but also of God’s amazing goodness and love…

Romans 9:16 reminds me that “it does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy…” I have been learning this more and more as I journey through my time here in Phnom Penh. Through all the joys, disappointments, challenges and blessings so far, it is so reassuring to know that in the end, it is not about us at all, but it is ALL about God and his mercy and grace. Anything we do means nothing without it. He is so good to us!!

I was so blessed in the first week of April to have my mum come to visit with me for 18 days! I was so impressed at her ability to balance on the back of my motorbike side-saddle after 4 years of being away. She’s awesome! We were able to have many cups of tea amongst hours of chatting. She also joined me on one of our mobile clinics all the way up to Ratanakiri provincial prison. Ratanakiri is 12 hours travel by bus, with roadworks, potholes, red dust, and karaoke on high volume all the way up! We arrived to find 15 plus prisoners packed into each prison cell, measuring about 3 square metres. No beds, pillows, sheets or blankets and only an hour or so during the day when they were let out of their rooms to walk around. As we set up our dental and medical stations, the guards would bring 3-5 prisoners out at a time. A very similar trend was appearing, patients complaining of numbness and tingling in legs and arms, headaches, night sweats, stomach pain etc…

As a mobile clinic we were limited in the medications/treatment we could offer and focus mainly on primary healthcare, however it was just such a privilege to be able to spend even a small amount of time with these prisoners. Many of them were so young and scared, most had been there over a year and not been seen by the court yet... I was so touched by meeting these men and having the opportunity to reassure them, encourage them and listen to their concerns. One of our staff was able to meet with the Prison Fellowship representative and Pastor of the area and gain permission to go cell to cell and share with the prisoners. As it was around Easter time, it was an excellent opportunity to explain what Jesus has done for them on the cross. Many of the prisoners had question upon question about salvation and several of them made a decision to follow Him that week. What an awesome God we serve!

The bible study I have been involved with at the HIV girls home continues to be a blessing. Over the weeks leading up to Easter we were able to talk to them about what Jesus’ sacrifice meant and what his Resurrection means to us as Christians. Please continue to pray for their hearts to be open to the love and freedom that is available to them.

Back at the office… it has been such a blessing getting to know the staff and students associated with One2One over the last 3 months. As you may know a lot of my time has been spent working alongside and training them in basic report writing, budgets, proposals and plans for the various clinics, conferences and courses that we run. As some of the circumstances with the staff have changed, my role also changed and over the last few weeks I have been wrapping up and handing over my responsibilities to the girls. I feel that I have learnt so much from my time with One2One and I am so thankful for the time I have had to share with, pray with and speak into these young men and women’s lives. Please continue to pray for them with me as they seek after God and learn more about living for Him.

SO… As the handover has been slightly earlier than expected I want to take the last 6-8 weeks of my time here to investigate other areas that God may have in mind for me! I will be taking some time to visit several NGOs, in particular those with a medical component, such as Servants/TASK, Daughters, Aim4Asia, Asian Outreach and Hagar. I may also have the opportunity to work some shifts in one of the Cambodian hospitals with a fellow New Zealand midwife. I would also love to take Khmer language lessons during this time and focus on the spiritual/biblical language so I am better equipped to share in this area!

I know God has called me “for such a time as this” and as I am seeking him about my future in Cambodia I know that He is guiding my steps.

Thankyou again to all those who support me and may you be blessed as I have been! Please continue to remember me in your prayers and thoughts, I always love hearing how you are all doing in the Land of the Long White Cloud…

Love and blessings,

Hannah