A Girl's Dream

Miranda is one of our youngest missionaries.  Since she was a child, she has had a passion for spreading the gospel to the unreached through education.Currently, she is pursuing her master’s degree in education, while living in Cambodia.  There, she is also spearheading the establishment of an adventist academy in the area of Battambang.(Battambang, Cambodia at night)Last year, while Miranda was living in a small village, teaching English in a local elementary school and working on her masters degree online.  Her interest in education led her to visit other schools and ask questions about how education is done in Cambodia.  This is how she became aware of the need for an adventist academy in the Khmer language. So in her spare time she began looking for land and networking with people who can help her with this project.  Read more...Her plan is for this academy to be taught in Khmer, the local language of Cambodia.  There is only one academy in the country that teaches in Khmer, but it is filled to capacity.  All the other academies teach in English.  ASAP has several schools that teach younger children about Jesus while providing education. They are lost again to the world after grade 6 or 7, because there is no Adventist academy where they can go to be taught in their own language.If they learn in their native language, they can take the gospel to many places in Cambodia.  The most effective way to reach the millions in this poor and war torn country is to properly educate the Cambodians themselves to spread the gospel.Not long after returning to Cambodia from being in the States this winter, Miranda met with the president of the Cambodian Adventist Mission where they discussed going forward with the purchasing of land. Thankfully God has provided a Korean pastor, a local church planter, and a bible worker to assist Miranda with the land negotiations. Purchasing land can be very difficult, especially for a foreigner. Miranda then traveled to Battambang and finalized her decision of finding a place for her to live there. This enabled her to be in close proximity to the land, the negotiations, and the work that will happen in the future.(Miranda's housewarming party in Battambang with some young church members)Miranda is currently learning about the local community, and getting to know the other bible workers in that area. She has joined with them in their efforts for outreach to the city of Battambang.  The local workers and ministry leaders meet at the church each morning for worship before they go to work.Miranda is looking into architects and have a couple leads from other missionaries in this area.  Hopefully, they will be able to get the blue prints and building plans done in the near future. Although the process is slow, God is leading it forward still. Next week a videography team from the Philippines will be arriving to conduct interviews and film footage to create a project video to send to churches. They hope to also use the video to raise money that will go towards the building, while at the same time informing people of the project.In words, this sounds like a normal building project, but when you are working with a completely different culture and language nothing is normal.  It usually takes a whole day to do one thing, so this causes everything to move along much slower than anticipated.  We must learn to enjoy the process, and see what God is teaching us to do in the moment.The number one thing this project needs is prayer.  Fundraising has begun for the school buildings and we need your help too.  Estimated cost is $500,000.  Miranda specifically needs prayer for an architect to draw the building plans and then a good contractor to work with.   Prayer is also needed as the negotiations continue about the land purchase. Please pray for Miranda and support her project as God leads.