Wonderful Dedication

Yesterday was just great - a busy wee day that began at 7am early church and finished at 8pm with our homegroup gathering. In between was the key event - the dedication of 'Wonderful House', with people gathering at 2.30pm for the 3-4pm dedication followed by food and fellowship.

Welcoming our guests - Samdy translating; Chris ready and waiting in the wings!

We had 50 invited guests arrive - a happy mix of perhaps 60% Khmer; 40% expat. Sue and I welcomed everyone; then handed over to Chris Lee who sang (a Cindy song); brought tena kotu greetings from NZ, shared a little and then sang a great song 'God of Miracles'. Pastor Jesse followed with words about the vision and values of the home.

A bit of an overview - Susie and I up the front with Samdy - Chris with guitar behind us. The canvas canopy gave us much-needed shade.

Then it was time to anoint the property. This was a brilliant time - everyone was given a container with olive oil and 5 people were assigned upstairs; 10 people sent into the downstairs rooms where our sick will be; and the rest of the folk prayed and anointed the outside property. Sue and I were thrilled to see how everyone really engaged in this process. 'Wonderful House' and property is well oiled and prayed over!

Anointing prayer - Pastor Jesse, Patrick and Canadian Donnie in the upstairs kitchen

We then regathered and Pastor Mara led in a stirring Khmer-language prayer. The Barang (white fellas) present did not need to understand in order to know that Mara's prayer carried great power! Folk then gathered around Sue and I and really prayed for us. As they finished praying, rain started to lightly fall. We had canvas canopies so no problem.

Praying for Sue and myself

Adrian and Joan prayed for all the patients who would come to this place. I then shared briefly on 'Compassion with Power' and the reason the house is called 'Wonderful' (long story - short version: a very strong dream I had the night after our first visit to this property). By now it was raining quite hard and water was pooling in the canvas, so water baptism was offered ...

4pm - and the sun was shining again as we shared finger-foods, cold drinks and people had a good look around. Five people approached me as volunteers for the work too, over the dedication period.

Our next steps - do job interviews for two staff positions (3 days/nights on; 4 days off - then 4 days/nights on, 3 off...). Then we will work with those staff to set in a volunteer roster. A third staff member will be needed for cooking and cleaning. Next - staff training. Simultaneously we will have some physical work and alterations happening - led by Peter Parker from Waitara, NZ (Pete arrives July 11).