“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13 NKJV)

My daughter Vanessa loves Beyoncé. When Beyoncé announced that her new album was going to be released directly to iTunes, Vanessa had her fingers on the keyboard poised to download it. One of the songs on this album is titled “Superpower.” I don’t know if you like Beyoncé, but this title and the lyrics made me think. Do I visualize myself as a Superpower? I ought to. I am empowered by God to do greater things. Jesus said:

 

“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” John 14:12 NIV

 

In 2014, I have decided not to waste any time lamenting what I cannot do and do not have. Rather, I am acknowledging that I am super-powered by God with gifts, abilities, and a capacity to create. When I traveled to Cambodia in October 2013 this idea seemed to explode in my mind. I was so compelled by what I saw and I experienced that I knew that I would go back. (I wrote about my experiences in an earlier blog post Compelled by Cambodia, Part 1.) I realized that I could utilize both my chemical engineering and ministry backgrounds to help Teen Challenge Cambodia address their need for sustainability and their proposed biogas generator system. Increasing sustainability will increase TCC’s capacity to assist women and girls who want to leave the sex trade and develop a new life for themselves.

With that in mind, I started organizing a mission trip back to Teen Challenge Cambodia (TCC) for September 2014. The mission trip will be highlighted this weekend at Trinity Church’s Girlfriends Conference 2014 as an international outreach of our Women of Hope Ministry. One of the key focuses of the September 2014 trip will be to assist TCC with their Biogas Generator project. A biogas generator uses the waste from livestock to generate methane gas. The biogas generator will provide TCC with 1) a job development opportunity for the students as they care for the livestock and the biogas generator system, 2) a source of income and nutrition from the livestock, 3) a sustainable source of odorless cooking fuel for their kitchen, and 4) fertilizer for their rice field and other garden projects. Our team will help them obtain the required number of livestock and equipment for the biogas generator design and will assist with the installation. Heifer International has written a simple description about how a biogas generator works. Read more about it in Heifer International’s article entitled: Build Your Own Biogas Generator. Here is their diagram:

What are you super-powered to do?

 

“So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.” (1 Corinthians 15:58 NLT)

 

(I photographed this beautiful white amaryllis in my kitchen on December 31, 2013. I photographed a few of the women at TCC in November 2013.)