Isaiah 61:1 "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, ..........."
This is a powerful prophetic statement about the Messiah and what He would come to do. In fact this is the very scripture that Jesus read in his home town synagogue when he began his ministry and has been used to commission many ministries in His name ever since. We will rely on this fundamental principle to guide Open Arms World Outreach to help us see with clarity and act with wisedom to fulfill God's purpose. To everything there is a beginning, and in the Kingdom of God on earth, all things start with prayer. On Sunday June 6, Open Arms World Outreach (OAWO) was given the hospitality of the Spirit of Prophesy Church in Portland. I was invited to share the vision and goals for the outreach and then gather into prayer all who attended. Following a discussion of related issues, the church body then began praying in agreement with millions of other Christians all over the world, joining in with the World Weekend of Prayer event. The focus of this annual event is to pray on behalf of the millions of at risk and fatherless children everywhere. I know for a fact that the foundations of the world tremble when those who are called by His name come together in this way, seeking the face of God on behalf of the little ones He holds so precious to Himself.
I don’t believe it was a coincidence that our sister Rev. Mullita Romeo just happened to hear from God to turn around from where she was going and come to SOP Church. She didn't even know what we were doing until she arrived. She also just happened to bring with her a picture board covered with pictures of the children and staff of the orphanage she supports in Thailand. It was great to have her share her pictures and we were glad to have her tell us a little bit about the orphanage and conditions in Thailand. This was nice because the video we were going to watch suddenly would not play. I guess we were given a real-life testimony instead. From the start, OAWO has been comitted to helping her support this orphanage as one of our first tangible actions. This time of sharing and prayer was an uplifting blessing to me and I hope to all those involved, and I encourage anyone who was present to comment below.
But now, it is time to keep moving with ‘all speed ahead’. The next step is to finalize the dates for our campus awareness conferrences this summer, and all the related arrangements. We are also in the process of developing the gusdelines and core principles of the school curriculum and applying for grant funding. Then it's off to Thailand in October for 3 weeks. We will really have to race to make all the necessary personal contacts with church, government and business leaders that are needed to move on with the project. We also will be looking at land for the school, and currently have two properties of interest that would be ideal. Shown are a couple pictures from one of these properties. It is a 35 acre operating farm/ranch found only 10 minutes from Chiang Mai, the second largest city in Thailand. This place is currently staffed by hired hands, and it would generate income and provide food for the school.The property already has two large houses and a bunkhouse for the farm workers, who we would keep on to run the farm. Very convenient! Just 20 minutes down the road, Chiang Mai University with nearly 30,000 students is one of the premiere engineering/technical schools in Asia. Last but not least, we would get a chance to visit the orphanage that sister Mullita Romeo supports and deliver a gift to them. We will also seek out medical care facilities and other children's shelters that we may be able to network with.