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Our Resources Were Woefully Inadequate

2009 Cambodia Mission Trip

It all started in October, 2008, with a short email message from Judy Aitken, ASAP director:  “Is there a possibility that you would be interested in going on the ASAP Mission trip to Cambodia in February 2009?”  They needed Vacation Bible School coordinators for the children’s program for the annual week-long camp meeting.  Wow!  Would we?!?!  My husband, Dale, and I love doing children’s ministry together and Camp Meeting is one of our favorite places.  Judy gave a little information and directed us to the ASAP website.  She also requested our prayers.

Dale and I had briefly visited Cambodia while on a Mission Trip to Thailand in November of 2007.  We had fallen in love with the people there, and as a result Dale’s workplace had adopted the Sda Center AIDS Hospice as a sister hospice.  With excitement and apprehension we investigated and were overwhelmed by the magnitude of the task and the cost.  They were expecting 500+ kids, ages 0-15, and our cost would be close to $3000 apiece.  But having seen God at work in the past, I was confident that money was not an issue.  The bigger question was, Do we trust God enough to step out in faith and commit ourselves to this dual task of planning and preparing a program for 500 kids and raising the money?

A glance at our finances showed that our resources were woefully inadequate, but if we were as willing to give our all as Jesus was to sacrifice for us, we might be able to scrape together enough for one of us to go.  Every day we prayed for God’s guidance.  We both felt called to go as a team.  Time passed.  Immediate action became necessary.  We needed to contact our friends and family before Thanksgiving, or our letter would get lost in the Christmas rush.  With much prayer we sent out 100 letters plus a few emails giving our beloved friends another chance to see God at work.  Many of them had supported us on other mission trips.  Would they help us meet this enormous challenge – and opportunity?  Would $3000 be too much for our God?

God is so amazing and awesome!  Within ten days of our letter going out, 12 families had responded with a total of over $1000.  We met the first financial deadline with our deposit to ASAP.  Praise the Lord!  But God wasn’t finished.  In mid-December, when it seemed that maybe the responses had petered out with $1000 still to raise, I was praying about it.  That very day the mail brought a check from a couple in Michigan with a note from the wife saying that during her devotions God impressed her to send us a sizeable check!  The final total was $3,318 given by 32 families. Besides that, our church and school families generously gave supplies to help with the VBS program!  And God had still more surprises: Airfare from Florida to Cambodia was considerably less than we expected, and Florida Hospital, Dale’s employer, pitched in by partially sponsoring him and a hospice nurse to serve on the trip.  Isn’t God marvelous?!

The trip was wonderfully blessed.  Early morning prayer as a Mission Team energized us daily for the thrilling task of sharing Jesus cross-culturally.  Eager kids came joyfully to VBS every day.  Thirty teens from both Cambodia Adventist academies served willingly and capably as translators and helpers.  Lives were changed, including ours.  Yes, God never stops pouring out the blessings.

Dale Wolcott leading out in song service at VBS.	Nancy (author) and Dale Wolcott while in Cambodia, 2009.