I am always aware of the constant poverty in Cambodia, and on this trip, covering some 8 provinces on the western side of Cambodia I found myself unable to help time and time again. The one thing that gives me comfort while living among such poverty is that I was able to help about 100 kids this week have an opportunity to get education, eat good food, and have opportunities that all the other people I met could probably never even imagine.
In 1985 Steve Hyde built a church to provide a place of refuge for the community after a huge flood in the community of Malanday, Marikina, Manila in the Philippines. During Typhoon Ketsana, the community was again destroyed by the flooding, but 26 people were able to take refuge in the church building.
Having been on the mission field basically my entire life, I have seen many things which cause churches and missionaries to be unsuccessful in ministry. One thing which I find to be one of the most severe problems which not only affects individual church growth, but also the growth of the entire Body of Christ is that of competition.