“Let your hopes, not your hurts, shape your future.” Robert
H. Schuller
I recently visited a
village that has continually inspired me during my time here in Cambodia. You
may remember I wrote about it the first time discussing my Search for Significance.
During that visit
the primary school principal and community invited our group to work with them
planting flowers and trees to landscape where Samaritan’s Purse is working with
the community to construct a new primary school for Bos Thom village.
I was very touched
by the experience because what I saw was Cambodians and foreigners, young and
old, working side by side. It was a beautiful partnership where everyone was
investing in one goal: a better future for the children of the village.
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| Principal Min showing students how to plant flowers |
During the visit I
was especially touched when I watched the principal. He was working harder than
anyone! What a picture of servant leadership! Then I noticed something else
that was really special. He was going from student to student helping them
plant their flower or tree and then gently teaching them how to do it
correctly. Although I couldn’t understand all of his words I could see and hear
the care in his voice and touch. When I saw him working so diligently with the
students I realized in the simplest of tasks of planting flowers he was trying
to instill hope for the future in the children.
Later I was talking
with Sophea Ngath, the program manager from Samaritan’s
Little did they
know, Samaritan’s Purse was working to help them see those dreams become a
reality. In January Samaritan’s Purse started working with the community to
construct a new primary school building. The primary school building is only
part of the communities dream and they are working diligently on the rest of
the plan!
On a repeat visit Sophea said the village leaders told her how excited they were. When
they started dreaming and planning they expected it would take a very long time
to even get started. But once they started putting action to their hopes and
dreams, they've been shocked at how partnering together, we've all seen in a few months what they thought would
take 5 to 10 years to happen!
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| A young boy sitting in front of the new primary school under construction where he'll be a student soon. |
Reflecting on my
observations of Principal Min and his imparting of vision and hope to the
children and community, even in the smallest act of planting flowers and trees.
And, reflecting on the experience of the village leaders, I realize hope is a
powerful component of a significant life. It’s not just that we should have hope
for ourselves and our own future, but that we should encourage and envision
others with hope.
The work I am
involved with requires project management, logical frameworks and strategic
planning. Those are all great road maps. But, the fuel that drives the car down
the road, or even the fuel that drives the explorer who drew the map in the
first place is, a hope and a dream. Without hope we’ll either fail to develop a
worthwhile plan that changes things, fail to inspire others, or even worse we’ll never even try to
make things better.
“What gives me the most hope every day is God's grace; knowing that his grace is going to give me the strength for whatever I face, knowing that nothing is a surprise to God.” Rick Warren
I now ask myself “How
am I inspiring hope in the lives of others in what I am doing today? Especially, Hope in Christ! How can I help them plan and act in moving forward to see those
hopes and dreams fulfilled?
"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in
believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope." Romans 15:13
