Cambodia Day One defeating injustice one step at a time

Preparation…

Here we are in Hong Kong. One thing about Global reach trips there is a lot of hurry up and wait. We rush to this gate rush to that gate then we get to other airports and just set and wait. It gives you time to think and just mentally and spiritually prepare.

As i set here waiting to find out which gate we will be leaving from I think about all the preparation that has gone into this trip. The prep and organization and relationship connections that make what we are doing possible. It takes lots of communication, fund raising, and planning to make it successful.

Everyone loves the actual event. The action that is taken, the outreach, and the service, but none of these things can even happen if someone doesn’t love the preparation. There are seasons in our lives that are purely preparation times. I encourage you not to rush through, avoid, or ignore these times. Rather pay very close attention because the results will be profound personally, and collectively. Purpose is only fulfilled through preparation. there is no other way. So thanks Autumn, and Adrienne, Andrew and Allison, Travis, Nathan, Terry, Amy, Taylor, Tiffany, Kelly, Darci, and Kelsi for loving the preparation. We have raised money, we have trained, we have now traveled and tomorrow, we will use our preparation and impact someone’s life.

Stay tuned for updates and thoughts from Cambodia.

David

a test

Global Reach for justice Rwanda, Africa…2009 from David Gadberry on Vimeo.

harvest superstars 3…Autumn Ellis

Autumn is a great volunteer at harvest. She is involved in all kinds of ministry opportunities to help people. She is always working in some capacity in the church and is involved in counseling unwed moms. She and her husband Kyle are a great team and have two beautiful kids. She’s a lot of fun, but her compassion is like a trademark of her life. She truly cares about people, and wants to be on the front lines helping to change peoples lives. This is her third year to go with us to Cambodia and she has helped tremendously. Go Autumn!

Harvest superstar 2…

Andrew and Allison Morris. Andrew and Allison are our Edmond Campus Pastors. This couple are definitely “go getters.” Allison also serves as our RTG director. They are superstars because of their heart for people. When they talk about reaching out to people or projects we are working on, you can hear their passion for God. This will be their third trip to Cambodia. They have literally raised over thirty five thousand dollars for their trips and projects over the last 3 years. They have made ongoing relationships with people in cambodia and Andrew has gone as far as to connect with local cambodians to learn the Khmer language.

They are hard workers, and great team leaders, and most importantly they truly care about sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ through words and actions. Yep, definitely global reach superstars.

harvest Superstars…

Harvest’s staff and team members truly see ministry as the highest calling and best opportunity in life. We have several of these superstars going to Cambodia with us in just 2 and half days. Kelsi Vickers is one. Kelsi has been a part of the harvest team for several years now, has worked primarily with the one and only RevSPike. She is a sharp young lady and a hard worker. She is passionate and compassionate. She has gone on global reach trips with us for the last 3 years and has truly made a difference in the lives of people in Rwanda and Cambodia. I am so thankful she is going on this trip, and i am anxious to see the great things God will use her to do, and the things she will learn from this trip. Go Kelsi, your a world changing superstar!

Pumped…

I am so excited about all the great things happening with harvest. We are leaving for Cambodia in just over five days. This trip is going to be awesome! Be watching the blog for all the updates. Some will be written, others video, its going to be a fascinating and life changing trip. If for no other reason then i get the privilege of taking my oldest daughter, Taylor with me. She is 15 and a passionate Christian. Locally she is involved in our Creative team at harvest, she plays the acoustic and is starting to lead worship in some settings. She is very committed to the cause of Christ and has a real evangelistic spirit in her school. She has known for years that she is called to be a world changer. I have done my best to inspire her about life, but leave the destiny and purpose things between her and God, and She believes she is called to live her life in ministry.

So I am proud that another generation of Gadberry’s are stepping up to the plate to make a difference in the world. She will be the fourth generation ministry leader.

Let me move on before i get carried away and ahead of myself. It is such a thrill to take her and to be able to partner together to help people. If I haven’t learned anything else as a parent I have learned its always better to model what you want for your kids than it is to merely talk about it.

So what better way to teach Taylor how to help people, how to reach the world with the love and Gospel of Jesus than to take her, and let her do it with me.

I have also learned that these times provide for some of the greatest bonding experiences in a parent/child relationship. I love it that I am not struggling, or fighting with her about teenage issues, but rather partnering with her to change the world.

I love it that my kids love God, love the church, and love the ministry.

Its gonna be fun! Here we go!

David

We can do something…

In the last blog I gave some thoughts and statistics that are really staggering, heartbreaking, and shocking.  Several people responded and most said what most say.  They were outraged, irritated, and frustrated, then went on to say, someone has to do something.  What can we do?

A few years ago, when I became aware of the sex trade, and the unyielding problems that come with hiv/aids internationally the effects of war, and poverty, and the lack in underdeveloped nations, it profoundly effected me.  I always knew about these problems, but you can know, and not really “know.”  I knew mentally, but had never seen it for myself, and I have to say its way to easy for us as Americans to bury our head in the sand and just deny what goes on around the world, and even in the impoverished areas of our own nation.  People think if they just ignore it, it doesn’t exist, but when i took my first trip to Cambodia there was no denying the travesty that exists, and no ignoring the roaring voice in my mind that yelled, “DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS!”

My mind realed, i was thinking about all the problems.  starvation, poverty, disease, war, children being orphaned, the sex trade, and so much more, and for a moment i just became overwhelmed.  I was thinking, this is horrible but what can I do?  I mean, really what can I do?  Then I adopted a new thought.  “I can’t do everything, but  I can do something, but what I will never do, is nothing!”

So we have been doing something.  You can read in previous blogs some of the things we are doing, and in future blogs what we are going to do, but I want to give you some thoughts, on how to do something.

Whether local, regional, national, or global you can do something.

1.  make up your mind you will do something. Something, meaning anything that you have the power to do.  Many people do nothing because they think if they can’t do something huge it wont make a difference.  The truth is most of what is making a difference in the world today are things that started by someone saying, i will do what i can, and just grew from there.

2.  Wake yourself up, and those around you up to the need, and take responsibility for it. If everyone is thinking someone else will do it, then no one will.  It takes all of us doing what we can, when we can, where we can, to effect a change.

3.  Brainstorm what you can do. Don’t think that the answer to everything is merely money.  We have lots of resources that are based on talents, and time, and not just treasure.  Yes it takes money but you can do things that make a difference that don’t cost a lot.  Its at least a place to start, and remember our resources go a lot further in the third world than they do here.

4.  Become a partner. Nothing significant will ever be done on any level without partners.  We need each other.  Others need you and you need them.  We all bring something different and good to the table, and working together gets more done than trying everything on our own.  We are developing partners all over the world.

5.  Make people aware. I used to think awareness efforts were a waste of time.  I would say, people need to quit talking and start doing something about it.  Then I realized that with our ability to ignore things awareness is very important.  To do what we do we need financial partners and we have learned that people are motivated by getting a revelation of what is really happening, rather then us just saying we need help.  People need to know that little girls and boys are being sold and bought for sexual perversion.  People need to know that people have no medical care, or no education, or no hope because of corruption or poverty.    When we make people aware it incites a riot on the inside of them, it turns their world upside down and demands action.

6.  Don’t get frustrated when people aren’t as motivated as you about these needs. It takes time and your frustration will only negatively effect you and put an edge on you that will repel people not attract them to help you.

So those are some things I think about.  Just remember you can do something.  So do it.

David

Responses….

The responses to the last blog are available in the comments here on wordpress. Some people responded on facebook, here are those responses.

Michael Cobb says…
Very simple…….we need to change it!!! One person at a time……Christ did not build the church in mass…..He did it one soul at a time…individual relationships…….

Alie Newby says…
my thoughts are now that i’ve read it, what’s the plan of action to change it? what can i do personally to make a difference?

Brooke Elkins says…
think of times past, such as the Roman empire shortly before it’s fall. The greed, lust & selfishness of it’s people kept them from loving and helping others. That seems to be the time we Americans are living in. We are only concerned with our things and our desires, we can’t be bothered by other people’s problems. Yet we have all the tools … Read Moreneeded to save the world, just not the heart. I speak of America as a whole not as individual people. I pray everyday that Oklahoma will turn it’s heart back to God and serving His people and we will shine as a beacon to the world. We must rise up and help all who truly need it!!! I’m sad that most of us have only words of concern, but no actions.

Austin Ralstin says…
On the topic “something to say” i read it and had the biggest lump in my throat, it was hard to swallow.

On the topic “Press” I COULDNT AGREE WITH YOU MORE! Not only is it how we have been called to live but its healthy for us as well.
Prov 13:12 “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.”
If we could … Read Moretruly have the desire to change lives, that desire would truly change ours. We would be constantly cultivating environments that welcome/usher in unity. We would watch our speech and the way we act with not only non-believers (Colossians 4:5-6) but with one another (prov 4:24, prov 18:20, Ephs 4:12). Knowing the weight of our desire we would understand that it could not be achieved alone and in turn “Press” for a better understanding of God and His will (2 Peter 1:2) all the while holding strongly on to our Godly relationships. Honestly having a true desire as a “Body” i think that would be the answer to “something to say”

Be sure and read the comments on the previous blog, some good comments. It seems like everyone is saying some similar things, Its wrong, something needs to be done, what can we do?

Tomorrow I will write on what we are doing, and what can be done. We can’t do everything, but we can do something, and what we will never do is nothing.

thanks for the responses and comments, lets get more people in on the conversation and more solutions will come.

thanks
David