A Prayer in Departing

For Friends and Family in the US,

God, I thank you for these individuals and communities that have been instrumental in the shaping of the journey thus far.  I cherish the life shared; the times of fear and times of hope; the times of laughter and the times of pain; the times of serious contemplation and the times of not-so-serious conversation; and of course, all the profound times of seemingly nothingness.  It pains me to leave.  But God, I look forward to seeing how you will continue to be present in their lives.  Grant that each every person be increasingly aware of your presence each day and drawn to your nearness in every moment.  God, bring courage in great temptation, peace in overwhelming circumstances, joy in the mundane process, and hope for the glory that is and is to come.  Let them to respond to you daily in wholehearted surrender, together living into the greater narrative of hope and redemption.   

For the SERVANTS Team that I Join, 

Lord, thank you for this team that goes well ahead of me.  Thank you for their wisdom, their guidance and prayers, and their diligence in living with people and in places forgotten.  God, guide them in the decisions that they make daily.  Give them grace in communicating with one another, as well as strength and rest in loving their communities well.  Sustain them Lord, in you.       

For Cambodia, 

Lord, you know Cambodia's history well.  You know the unthinkable horrors of the civil war, and its effects on the country today.  But somehow, the consequences in the aftermath of the Pol Pot Regime, can not even stand against your story of hope and redemption.  Continue to guide Cambodia, Lord, in it's dire political, economic, and environmental condition.  Be near to the Cambodians living in poverty, slavery, and sickness.       

And finally, for My Transition into the Next 6 Months, 

God, I confess that I am afraid of what I do not know, and what I can not control.  I cling desperately to the assurance that you go before me and you are always with me.  You know my every fear as well as my every hope.  God, seemingly now more than ever, I need you to show me how to hold things loosely.  And I need you to remind me again and again and again in the immediate transition.  Would heat, mosquitoes, and a language barrier be secondary to awareness and gratitude of your presence with me.  In every temptation for me to think only of my own discomfort, Lord, I ask that you would show me how to worship.  And that you would give me an ever-increasing love for the people and communities around me.  Open my eyes, God, to know your story in the days ahead in Cambodia

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;

Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art

Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,

Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.  

Love, 

Hanna