Media Missionary Focus

Opportunities, The Will of God, and Open & Closed Doors

As I write this it is going on 1:00 in the afternoon here in Springfield, MO, and almost 1:00 in the morning back home in Cambodia. But opportunities come at strange times. About 12 hours ago, at 1:00 AM here in Springfield, I was wrapping up a meeting and some work with a local media production company owned by a good friend and discussing a new opportunity.

Cambodia has a population of about 12 to 13 million people, and about 60% of those people are under the age of 14. Obviously reaching children with the gospel is a necessity. The opportunity that is opening up for us speaks directly to that need. Let me be clear; this isn't a " done deal", so I can't go into a lot of details, but there is a very good probability that we will be working to bring a popular children's ministry series to the children of Cambodia.

So if this isn't a done deal, why even bring it up? Well, opportunities is what missions is all about. Day in and day out we have various opportunities come our way. Some of them we have pursued, some we haven't. And of those we have pursued, some have worked out well, and some haven't. In human terms it often seems to be a roll of the dice. However, I believe that God doesn't play dice. I believe that God has a purpose and a plan and we need to seek to follow his lead in all that we do. Rather than picking something because I think it is a good idea and then asking God to bless it, I would rather find those things that God is blessing and do them. At times, despite my best efforts to do this, I have made mistakes. In those cases we have worked with different groups and in the long run ended up wasting our time and efforts on projects that didn't pan out. So coming into this opportunity the question is, is this a part of God's plan for us and our ministry in Cambodia?

There isn't any short and easy answer to this question, and honestly, at this point it is too early to say. But what I want to ask you to do is to help us by praying that God would lead us and guide us and make His will clear in this matter. I'm not any kind of spiritual giant. Like you I struggle with knowing God's will and direction. So usually, when I pray for His direction in these types of areas, I pray that God would make His will clear despite my limited vision. Please pray with me that God would open the doors that He wants us to use, and close the doors that He wants us to avoid. Ultimately, missions is life as a disciple of Jesus Christ, trying to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12-13).

I'll update you on how things go as things become more clear. Thanks and God Bless.

posted by Troy In Cambodia @ 12:27 AM