Survivor Spoiler Alert – The Power of Relationships

It’s Sunday night… I just finished watching the finale of Survivor and need to go to bed. This season of Survivor really made me think. For most of the season, I’ve been bored, waiting for boring players to become interesting to me and deciding that another cast was what the show really needed–and wouldn’t get until fall. But a few months ago, a player named Kim started standing out to me. She was smart. She was a business woman. She wasn’t crazy or wishy-washy.

 

Tonight, she won. And as the show’s host asked her about her strategy, Kim commented on her relationships. She said that she took the time to get to know people and she felt like it helped her get farther in the game. Even so much as to vote for her to win after she’d been a part of kicking them off.

 

I’ve also given a lot of thought to the fact that while the show is Survivor, and there’s only one winner, the winner needs other people in order to get there. Someone on their own, without an alliance, gets voted out pretty quickly. They can’t make it to the end.

 

The rest…everything else that happens in the show, just makes for good tv. That is, unless the cast is boring. :0)

 

But that got me thinking of the power of relationships. And not only that, but the value of them. Someone once pointed out to me that we use financial terms when we talk about relationships… for instance, I used one above–“value”. Why? That person suggested that it’s the closest phrasing we as humans can use to describe how we cherish… treasure (see, another one!)… those we love. 

 

And it made me think of each of you, and of our relationships. Of how we met, whether in school, at church, on a team, just in life… or that we’ve known each other so long we can’t remember where we met. It made me think of my commitment to you to pray for you and be a good friend to you, to encourage you, and to be there however I can. And of your commitment to me… of your prayers, your encouragement, and in the case of missionary-ing, giving financial support. It’s never easy to ask for and I don’t know what to say other than that I am so thankful for each and every one of you.

 

I’m not writing right now to update you on support raising for Thailanda. I’ll write later this week with news for that. Right now, I just want to thank God for each and every one of you.

 

Because, as I mentioned above… if the game of Survivor can’t be won alone, then nothing in life can… and that is definitely true for missions. I was talking today with some friends about the importance of the Church as a support, working together in a healthy way– sending, supporting, and going in the way that God ordained. Perhaps the biggest example of this for me personally is the humbling reality of raising support, of being dependent in such a way. But it’s more than just financially. It’s going side-by-side with someone else; it’s accountability, it’s worshiping together and lifting each other up.

 

It’s relationship. 

 

There we go again with that word. 🙂

 

So, that’s one of the two things on my heart tonight.

 

The second thing I wanted to share with you tonight is a need I promised I’d share. Last year, I went to Cambodia and met 4 amazing women who are living there and working directly in anti-trafficking. Since then, 7 more have joined them. The first group of four are in the “home stretch” of their commitment; due to leave or sign up for a longer term in the fall. One of them, Elise, needs more support so she can stay through October. Here is her story:

 

Hi, my name is Elise Paty
and I am part of the Adventures in Missions (AIM) Cambodia team. I’ve been in
Phnom Penh, Cambodia for a year and a half now, volunteering at Daughters of
Cambodia, teaching English. Daughters is a NGO that provides jobs to men and
women coming out of prostitution, teaching them work-skills, offering them
creative classes, English classes, counseling and social work resources, and
opportunities to attend church services and discipleship classes-all in hopes
to bring them the love of Jesus and freedom from prostitution.
               
Since being here, I’ve grown to love teaching
English, seeing the encouragement and confidence it brings to the girls I’m
teaching. It’s been so rewarding for me, and I’ve seen God use it to bring
life, encouragement and community to my students! Cambodian culture doesn’t
place much value on education–many of my students have low education levels,
while some have never even been to school. It’s so empowering for them to have
opportunities to realize they are learners and capable of learning a valuable
skill like speaking, reading and writing English. I see God bringing Shalom to
these girls-encouraging them to their full potential, loving them, healing them
and surrounding them with community. It’s beautiful!