Coming Home

Inneke, my wife, says that it feels like "coming home".  By that she means by my accepting the offer from Hope  for the Nations to become their first Executive Director, we are coming home ... because of the strong "family" relationships with have with HOPE founders, leaders, volunteers and friends. My new email is patrick@hopeforthenations.com . 


Find below my official announcement.

 HOPE FOR THE NATIONS

The members of the Board of Directors of HFTN are pleased to announce the appointment of  Patrick Elaschuk as Executive Director (ED) of Hope For The Nations.

Patrick will be responsible for managing the organization and increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of HFTN. His appointment is full time and begins September 1, 2011.

His job description will include Donor care, Human Resource management, Financial Resource management, Partner Relationship management, Program Management and the resourcing of projects throughout the world.

Patrick and Inneke bring a wealth of experience to our society. Patrick has been connected to Hope for the Nations since its inception in Kelowna BC, Canada in 1994. 

Patrick and Inneke live in North Vancouver BC, Canada with their two daughters.

Here is a brief bio written by Patrick:

“Children are not only the hope for tomorrow, but the hope for today.  For 20 years, Patrick and his wife Inneke have been championing for children and youth in a variety of settings and contexts. 

One place where they made a strong impact was in Davao City Philippines, where they pioneered Hope for the Nations Philippines, which continues to reach children and youth at risk, helping them grow into influential leaders in the community. 

Patrick has worked as Youth Pastor and Pastor of Missions and Outreach in Vancouver churches, has planted a youth driven church in Asia and has led Discipleship Training Schools in several multi-cultural locations.   Much of his experience has been “on the ground” with community development leaders in the 2/3rds world helping them rise up to greater heights through mutual partnerships and empowerment. 

Being married to an Asian and having lived in Asia for 7 years, Patrick has acquired a taste for Asian things including durian and sashimi.  Inneke, a midwife with an accounting background, continues to help support HFTN through her gifts of administration and leadership. 

Some of the more memorable things Patrick has done are;  teaching a one year business course to urban poor families, leading short term teams of specialists to Cambodia and training youth to help mentor children at risk.”

For him in whose heart is the fear of the Lord there is strong hope: and his children will have a safe place (Proverbs 14:26 BBE). 

                                                                                                                                                               

Hope for the Nations     Tel: (250)712.2007        Email: support@hopeforthenations.com         Web: www.hopeforthenations.com

Great first day in Phnom Penh

My first 24 hours in Cambodia has been filled with precious memories, familiar sights and sounds and some unexpected surprises.  Being back in Phnom Penh has refreshed a love of Cambodia and what God is doing here.  For example, this picture was taken on a previous trip here where our team ate frogs legs and pizza on a boat ride on the Mekong.  More importantly, I am remembering the courageous people we are connected with that have given their lives for hope.  Hope for children rescued from trafficking, hope for people living with HIV-Aids, hope or Cambodians who just need a dose of grace and mercy.  

I am with a team of 22 people from Tenth Church in Vancouver.  12 of the younger members of our team have left us to participate at an English Camp.  I am leading a medical team that will leave for Poipet (on the Thailand border) on Wednesday.  There we will be working with our dear Hope for the Nations partner, CHO (Cambodian Hope Organization), led by Chomno.

My unexpected surprises came after being part of a vibrant church service this morning at New Life Fellowship, that I ran into Daphne and Jeremy Chandra (bro and sis) - close family friends from North Vancouver.  We ended up having lunch together at Cafe Yejj and heard their stories as they have been travelling in Asia for a couple months.  Also ran into Donnie, who led a primary health care team to the Philippines several years ago.  He is  living here, married, and has 2 young kids.  Very cool day so far.   

     

T minus 5 days to Cambodia

The wee hours of Friday morning will find me on airplane bound for Cambodia with 21 other team mates from Tenth Church.  I will be resurrecting this blog, so come back to hear stories from Phnom Penh, Poipet and Siem Reap.

God of this City

In Singapore

Phnom Penh to Singapore.
It has been a remarkable time in Phnom Penh. As a team debriefing today, it was great to hear the different perspectives that each person had. It seemed like a key take away for all of us was "trust". Trusting God to lead, provide, prepare and establish our partnerships in Cambodia. In the next few days, when I am in an internet friendly area, I will share more about our time. We are spending the night in the Singapore airport and have been enjoying free foot massages....

Border Dispute

Please pray for Cambodia for the ongoing border dispute with Thailand. Also pray for the elections that were held on July 27 (the birthday of yours truly). And of course, please continue to pray for our trip to Cambodia that it would be fruitful in every way and that we would have the wisdom to make decisions that would honor the Lord and be in synch with what God is doing.

First week in Cambodia

We have been in Cambodia for one week now. Today was election day so most of the stores, restaurants etc were closed so that people could vote. Our team attended a church today where we prayed at great length for Cambodia. We count it a privilege to be here for such a significant time and are praying on location for the leadership of the country.

Our internet access has been extremely poor and thus we have not had many times where the signal is strong enough to even load the blog main page, therefore we have not been able to share as we had hoped. Please keep posted as we will load more pictures and updates as we are able.

Our time has been very informative and productive. Some brief highlights;

1) We held a 2 day seminar on small business development with Hagar as well as helping with an early childhood seminar for Hagar teachers.

2) Linda and I were part of a Diamond Project (DP) Alumni gathering. DP is a leadership and mentoring program of the EFC.

3) Led a TAP (Timothy's All Project) luncheon and informational gathering with some of Cambodia's lead pastors.

4) Spent quality time with Raju (TAP leader), Seila (Evangelical Fellowship of Cambodia - EFC - Youth Commission leader), Sokal and Serey (Big Brothers and Big Sisters - BBSC - Leaders).

5) Spent a half day with Abraham (Diamond Project graduate) with his work doing church planting and community development in a very poor relocation site.

6) Helping train in a BBSC regional training session.

7) Tours of the Hagar factory and women's shelter.

On our remaining days, we will be spending time with Chab Dai Coalition, strategic planning with EFC Youth Commission and BBSC as well as Yejj.

We highly value your prayer for our team in addition to prayer for the nation of Cambodia as it experiences elections and a border dispute with Thailand.