Motos, Marshmallows and So Much More :-)

        As September comes to a close I’m missing the change of seasons that I love so much!  Here in Phnom Penh, there’s absolutely no change, the days are still in the 90’s with lots of humidity.  If you live in part of the U.S. that is blessed with autumn please enjoy for me too!  This has been my fourth month in Cambodia and I really feel like it has simply been living life.  The things of daily life here have become normal for me and for that I’m glad.  For example, of course we’re going to eat rice and pork in the tuk-tuk for breakfast and, without any hesitation, our tuk-tuk will make 3 U-turns on the same road as he gets lost looking for a specific store, oh, and (my favorite) there will be a very loud, very crowded wedding right outside our house on a random Thursday morning beginning at 5:30 that won’t end until 10pm Friday.  All just part of normal life in Cambodia J

            The past month has been full of Jesus helping me to overcome fears of all kinds!  For example, after riding a moto once during the day time at a speed of about 2mph I was fairly convinced that I didn’t want to do that again.  One night I was out with some Khmer friends, we’d walked from my house to where we were eating and as it was time to go home Panha (who knew exactly how I felt about motos!) told me I was going to ride on his moto to get home! It was nighttime, I was unprepared and he did not drive slowly at all!  Needless to say, I prayed, held on and made it home! 

             Another fear arose as I was asked to give my testimony in Svay Pak. As I told my story to Veasna a few days before we were to speak in Svay Pak I found myself feeling peaceful and I was speaking with a sense of authority that could have only come from my King.  I know the stories of the people of Svay Pak very well because they are so parallel to my own life and as I stood in front of 50 people, holding a microphone and speaking of the goodness of God in my own life I knew that the Holy Spirit was up to something.  It is a rare thing for an American to share a story like mine, a story that lets the people here know that they are not alone, that America is not a utopia and that God has plans to give all people hope and a future!

            During the past month Jesus has been reminding me of how well He knows me and that He longs to see my heart full of joy.  I got to visit two Christian orphanages!  Now, you might be wondering how I find life and joy at an orphanage….On a daily basis I work with kids who do not know the reality of being loved.  They do not spend their days being carefree as children should, they don’t have dreams for their futures and their lives are built on fear, insecurity and a mind bent on survival.  Spending time at an orphanage where children are loved, can recognize love, know the difference that love has made in their lives and where they play games with each other, care for one another and worship Jesus together has truly been a breath of fresh air for my heart!

            I have also been honored to do some amazing things with the students in my English class.  We had a party because it is the end of their break from school and they will begin going to classes again in October as well as continuing to study English.  During the party we ate Oreos (they cost twice as much here as they do in the States and are a treat that Khmer people don’t normally get to enjoy), spoke lots of English and played a version of Chubby Bunny where we put marshmallows in our mouths and tried to say the word “marshmallow”, they had a such a good time!  

             Also, I went with Veasna to buy English-Khmer dictionaries for each of our students. He helped me pick out the best version that would be most helpful for them.  When we gave them out the students were so grateful! Veasna had to show them how to use them and once they understood there was so much excitement in the room, you could feel it!

            I want to thank each of you because the things you’ve just read about would not be possible without your encouragement, prayers and financial giving.  I am honored to be part of what is happening in this country and do not take a single day here for granted.

            I hope that you enjoy reading these updates as much as I enjoy writing them!  Each time I finish writing one I’m filled with a renewed sense of anticipation about what He has in store for my life, your lives and the lives of the people of Cambodia!

The Fun Things I Get to do in Cambodia!

Another month in Cambodia has gone by!  Some days it feels as if time is going very slowly and other days, like today, it seems as if time just flies by.  This past month has been one of gaining solid ground, building new friendships and saying goodbye to 4 wonderful people who have lived with me for 8 out of the 11 weeks I’ve been here.  I have been posting photos on my Facebook page as I can.  Please be aware that I cannot post many pictures of the children I’m working with since they are highly at risk of being exploited or trafficked.

            Daily life for me in Cambodia is busy and plenty rewarding!  Each day I am accompanied by 2 of the H.P.C. interns and our 2 translators all day as we partner with what God is doing in this city.  I need to tell you about our translators.  They are brothers, Panha and Veasna, they have just finished high school and have also just signed contracts to work full time with the H.P.C. Veasna is 18, Panha 17, they have lived in the city their entire lives with 2 younger brothers and both parents.  They grew up Buddhist in belief but not holding to many of the traditional practices.  Their family believes in all kinds of traditional Khmer and Buddhist rituals for luck, health, prosperity, etc.  Veasna was the first in his family to accept the truth of the Gospel, Panha followed and now they are praying for their father, the last member of the family who has yet to see the Truth.  These boys have a passion and zeal for the Lord and for the broken people of their country that is extremely rare in anyone here let alone young men.  Pray that He would continue to reveal more of His heart for His people to these brothers of mine so that they may step even more fully into the Kingdom destinies He has for them!

My mornings are spent teaching English in Svay Pak.  I have grown to really enjoy and love my students.  I have been so blessed to be able to keep the same group of 8 students that I have had since June when the team from Metro was here and 4 more students were added to my class in July.  My class is made up of students between the ages of 14-21 which allows us to have some great conversations and to really get to know one another.  This month, Veasna, (who, by this point, has become a very good friend as well), is teaching with me each day. Having him in the classroom is really helps all of us!  Please pray that Veasna and I would continue to find opportunities to share Jesus with these students, that I would be able to come up with new and creative ideas to teach this curriculum that is geared for European students to my Khmer students and pray for blessings upon Rahab’s House as they have opened up their doors to allow these classes to be held there.  

Each afternoon I go to Wat Phnom (one of the biggest Buddhist temples in Phnom Penh) and we do Kids club there in the afternoons. Things at Wat Phnom are really beginning to shape up well!  During the past 3 weeks we have been doing Kids Club (a Bible story/skit, craft, games, songs and snack) 3 days per week leaving the other 2 days as time to continue to build relationships through simply hanging out with the people there.  As we told the story of creation God sent tangible reminders that He is with us-the elephant and the monkeys who reside at the Wat all started coming towards the pavilion where we hold our meetings right as we talked about God creating the animals!  There is also a hospital near the Wat.  This hospital is free for needy families and as a result many will travel from the provinces outside the city to receive treatment.  This gives us many opportunities to pray for little ones and their families.

            Last Friday was the most fun Kids Club meeting yet! We all dressed up as superheroes to demonstrate that Jesus is far more powerful than any of us, the kids had a blast and then were thrilled when we gave them each a coloring book we’d made and some crayons to keep. We also had marshmallows for snack that day which is a huge treat (we usually bring fruit in hopes of helping keep the kids as nourished as possible).

            We could use prayer in the area of creativity and energy.  We must be creative as we figure out what kinds of resources we can find to work with here.  Doing Kids Club in a public area limits the parameters we can set as far as controlling the environment so please for wisdom as we deal with the children as well as all the other onlookers.  Kids Club takes place from 3-4:30 and the team plans from 1-2:30….we can all use some supernatural energy and strength during these hot afternoons!

             During July I had the honor of visiting a few brick factories not far from Svay Pak.  I was able to join with a team from California who were working with the church in Svay Pak (the church is called Rahab’s House) giving out rice, shoes and oral hygiene products. There are many of these factories all around Phnom Penh.  They are mostly staffed by women and their children.  These people work in sweltering heat then go into a room where the bricks are baked.  The room has no ventilation system and reaches temperatures well above 100 degrees.  Due to the poor ventilation many are diagnosed with pneumonia and eventually die. They work long days for less than $1/hour.  Many Khmer people don’t understand the concept of being compelled to give because of love; they think we are only giving so that we can receive good Karma in return.  As a result, we spend lots of time in prayer before and after we go out to the factories.  Please pray with us that the Truth would shine through us…..

            There are so many stories I could tell, I might just have to write a book someday J

            Thank you, friends, for taking the time to read this, for your prayers, for your encouragement through emails and Facebook….thank you! I can't begin to tell you how much it means to me.....

Friday the 13th in Cambodia ;-)

Friday the 13th in Cambodia was a good day:

-7am-maintenance workers banging on our door so they can tear apart our bathroom to fix a leak/flood (at least we're all wide awake now)

 -7:45am-walk outside to find that the construction workers who tore up our sidewalk last week are now laying wet cement in a 4 foot span directly in front of our front door (to see last weeks' adventure look at my In Cambodia Photos album)
-10am-during English class I taught my friend, Veasna, the word "hoodie" (because he wears them all the time) and at one point there were 4 languages being spoken at once: Khmer, English, Vietanamese and Spanish
-11:30am-lunch with Veasna and Panha at KFC (very fun-drank green soda, attempted to eat cheese wedges-not so good...)
-12:30-2:30pm-at our apartment (along with all the maintanence guys) making costumes for Kids Club
-3:30pm-we're all dressed up like superheroes (I'm Superman with a blue cape/poncho and can fly!) to tell the kids about how powerful Jesus is!
-5:00pm-I'm reminded about how much value I place on going to church....and how much I miss church
-5:30pm-I'm right!!! It DID rain!!! (supposedly, only Khmer people can tell when it is REALLY going to rain, but tonight, I was right),
-6:00pm-great salad for dinner with Shannon
-7:30pm-an unexpected phone conversation with one of the students in my English class
-9:00pm-very encouraged about Svay Pak from reading Coen's note about it (shared it with Shannon and we both started laughing about the joy we are honored to experience in that place every day). It was a good day :-)

Just wanted to share with everyone some of the fun times I'm having here!

Thanks everyone for your prayers and constant encouragement, it means so much to me!!

Lots of Newness

            Another month in Cambodia has gone by!  Some days it feels as if time is going very slowly and other days, like today, it seems as if time just flies by.  This past month has been one of gaining solid ground, building new friendships and saying goodbye to 4 wonderful people who have lived with me for 8 out of the 11 weeks I’ve been here.  I have been posting photos on my Facebook page as I can.  Please be aware that I cannot post many pictures of the children I’m working with since they are highly at risk.  If you’d like to see photos, even if you don’t have a Facebook account, you can see my In Cambodia Photos. 

            Daily life for me in Cambodia is busy and plenty rewarding!  Each day I am accompanied by 2 of the H.P.C. interns and our 2 translators all day as we partner with what God is doing in this city.  I need to tell you about our translators.  They are brothers, Panha and Veasna, they have just finished high school and have also just signed contracts to work full time with the H.P.C.  Veasna is 18, Panha 17, they have lived in the city their entire lives with 2 younger brothers and both parents.  They grew up Buddhist in belief but not holding to many of the traditional practices.  Their family believes in all kinds of traditional Khmer and Buddhist rituals for luck, health, prosperity, etc.  Veasna was the first in his family to accept the truth of the Gospel, Panha followed and now they are praying for their father, the last member of the family who has yet to see the Truth.  These boys have a passion and zeal for the Lord and for the broken people of their country that is extremely rare in anyone here let alone young men.  Pray that He would continue to reveal more of His heart for His people to these brothers of mine so that they may step even more fully into the Kingdom destinies He has for them!

My mornings are spent teaching English in Svay Pak.  I have grown to really enjoy and love my students.  I have been so blessed to be able to keep the same group of 8 students that I have had since June when the team from Metro was here and 4 more students were added to my class in July.  My class is made up of students between the ages of 14-21 which allows us to have some great conversations and to really get to know one another.  This month, Veasna, (who, by this point, has become a very good friend as well), is teaching with me each day.  Having him in the classroom is really helps all of us!  Please pray that Veasna and I would continue to find opportunities to share Jesus with these students, that I would be able to come up with new and creative ideas to teach this curriculum that is geared for European students to my Khmer students and pray for blessings upon Rahab’s House as they have opened up their doors to allow these classes to be held there.  

Each afternoon I go to Wat Phnom (one of the biggest Buddhist temples in Phnom Penh) and we do Kids club there in the afternoons. Things at Wat Phnom are really beginning to shape up well!  During the past 3 weeks we have been doing Kids Club (a Bible story/skit, craft, games, songs and snack) 3 days per week leaving the other 2 days as time to continue to build relationships through simply hanging out with the people there.  As we told the story of creation God sent tangible reminders that He is with us-the elephant and the monkeys who reside at the Wat all started coming towards the pavilion where we hold our meetings right as we talked about God creating the animals!  There is also a hospital near the Wat.  This hospital is free for needy families and as a result many will travel from the provinces outside the city to receive treatment.  This gives us many opportunities to pray for little ones and their families.

            Last Friday was the most fun Kids Club meeting yet! We all dressed up as superheroes to demonstrate that Jesus is far more powerful than any of us, the kids had a blast and then were thrilled when we gave them each a coloring book we’d made and some crayons to keep. We also had marshmallows for snack that day which is a huge treat (we usually bring fruit in hopes of helping keep the kids as nourished as possible).

            We could use prayer in the area of creativity and energy.  We must be creative as we figure out what kinds of resources we can find to work with here.  Doing Kids Club in a public area limits the parameters we can set as far as controlling the environment so please for wisdom as we deal with the children as well as all the other onlookers.  Kids Club takes place from 3-4:30 and the team plans from 1-2:30….we can all use some supernatural energy and strength during these hot afternoons!

             During July I had the honor of visiting a few brick factories not far from Svay Pak.  I was able to join with a team from California who were working with the church in Svay Pak (the church is called Rahab’s House) giving out rice, shoes and oral hygiene products.  There are many of these factories all around Phnom Penh.  They are mostly staffed by women and their children.  These people work in sweltering heat then go into a room where the bricks are baked.  The room has no ventilation system and reaches temperatures well above 100 degrees.  Due to the poor ventilation many are diagnosed with pneumonia and eventually die.  They work long days for less than $1/hour.  Many Khmer people don’t understand the concept of being compelled to give because of love; they think we are only giving so that we can receive good Karma in return.  As a result, we spend lots of time in prayer before and after we go out to the factories.  Please pray with us that the Truth would shine through us…..

            There are so many stories I could tell, I might just have to write a book someday J

            I am so grateful and humbled by all who are praying for me and those who give financially. 

            Thank you, friends, for taking the time to read this, for your prayers, for your encouragement through emails and Facebook….thank you!

July in Cambodia

            I have been in Cambodia for almost 6 weeks now and I am really enjoying what He has planned for me here as well as learning so much about so many things.

            HA! That was a very vague sentence, huh?

            Okay, the first month was spent leading an absolutely outstanding team of 4 from my church in Kansas City.  We taught English for 3 weeks in a village called Svay Pak.  This is a village that has been and still is very notorious for taking part in the selling of very young children for sex.  Giving these kids as well as the pimps and brothel owners the skill of speaking English has the potential to transform their lives.  When the people are empowered with English a huge number of employment opportunities become available to them.  Many of the people involved in trafficking in Svay Pak are involved because of pure poverty.  Speaking English affords them the chance to choose a better means of employment.

            Svay Pak is about a 50 minute ride by tuk-tuk from where I live in Phnom Penh and it is where I will be spending my mornings for the next month.  My team did such a great job with English classes that we have decided to continue them!  The classes are taught in a 6 story building that was intended to be a nightclub and brothel.  But, God’s name WILL be glorified in the dark places of this world…a partner ministry that HPC works with here purchased the building and it is now home to a thriving church!

This church is simply amazing…it reminds me so much of the church I came to know Jesus in.  The doors are almost always open, there is a clinic two afternoons a week, a kindergarten program, Kids Club (similar to VBS) takes place for 2 hours TWICE A DAY, an official school will be opening this fall…and now, English classes as well!  The Pastor and his wife have taken in many of the teens who have decided to follow Jesus and they call them “disciples”.  These teens and young adults (about 20 of them) spend most ot their day at the church doing anything that needs doing and studying the Bible together.

            My afternoons will be spent in Phnom Penh helping to start a ground-breaking ministry.  I will be part of a team that will organize Kids Club in an area that has never been exposed to such a thing before.  It is an area within the city where young boys (as young as 8) and teenage girls sell themselves not only to tourists but to locals as well.  I am so excited about this opportunity.  I cannot wait to see what Jesus has planned for this ministry.

            Please pray for strength and energy…the heat of the days here really drains one’s energy quickly, especially as we’ll be doing our afternoon ministry outside.  Pray that angels would go before me in every step I take.  Pray for hearts and minds to be softened even as you read this.

          

            Thank you all so much for any support you give be it prayer or financial.  I have my budget pretty well figured out on a monthly basis.

            Rent/Utilities-$200

            Phone/Internet-$40

            Transportaion-$300

            Food-$150

            Language-$240

            Misc.-$70

            Total-$1,000

Currently I have $450/month pledged.  If you would like to know how you can give financially, please contact me :-) 

Thank you all so much for your participation in what is going on in Cambodia.

From Cambodia!

I can't believe that I am sitting in a coffee shop in Cambodia typing this, isn't that crazy??

So much has gone on during the past 2 and a half weeks since the team and I got here that I don't know where to begin....

Arrival was a bit rough since one of the boys on my team lost his passport en route from America to Taiwan.  Talk about being thrown in the deep end, no small introduction to leading overseas here!!

God's grace has been THE thing that keeps me going thus far.....

I have been homesick.  I never really understood that word before, I always kind of thought that people just used it to mean that they really missed people.  Now, I think I understand it a bit more.  I've never left a place and missed the people there...until now.  It was not easy especially for a few days last week.

I'm so busy thinking about the team that I find it hard to focus on what's going in me.  Once a week I let myself stop being a leader (when I say once a week I mean for about 3 hours) and attempt to process some of my own stuff.

The team leaves in a week and a half and so now I'm attempting to begin to transition them into the leaving stage but it is really hard since I don't even want to think about them leaving....

I need sustained energy, I need to be able to process everything that's changed since I LIVE here now....I still need His grace.....

Thank you all for your prayers and love, I'll write soon (should be getting Internet at my apartment so that will help with communicating....I hope....)

Anticipating Adventure! Feb. 22, 2010

Dear Friends,

           

I have been thoroughly enjoying the oddly cold and SNOWY winter that has hit Kansas City this year!  I am looking at it as a special blessing from the Lord since next winter I won’t be getting any snow….unless there’s a miracle in Cambodia J  I have also been taking full advantage when my friends have off of work because of weather…lots of play days that will make great memories!

           

I am getting to know the people who are part of the Hard Places Community (H.P.C.) a bit better.  There are sixteen of us in all.  Six are overseas in either Cambodia or Thailand and the other ten of us are still in the States.  We all communicate through Skype and e-mail mostly (God bless the Internet!).  It’s lots of fun being able to connect with others whose hearts share the same passion and vision for His love to overcome the dark places of this world!

           

My team and I have spent countless hours on fundraising during the past few weeks. While we won’t leave until May, each of my four team members need to raise the $1,500 for their plane tickets by the middle of March.  We have been doing bake sales, Parent’s Days Out, going door-to-door and some of the boys have even gone to extremes and cracked eggs over their heads on a college campus!  We have also been doing some intense learning about the human trafficking crisis in Cambodia-watching documentaries together, reading excerpts from books and studying the Bible to find out how God feels about all of it.  This has led to some great times of prayer together.

           

As for my own journey to Cambodia, aside from my team that will only be with me for one month…..I have spent some time learning about the tortured history of Cambodia and its people.  My heart breaks for all that this county has endured.  At the same time though, the people are making immense strides at recovering their dignity and that excites me!  My friend Ruthie (a member of the H.P.C.) who is in Cambodia now is starting a school for children who are or have been victims of the sex slave trade.  The school is scheduled to open in the fall of this year! God is certainly on the move in Cambodia and I can’t wait to get there and join what He’s already doing!

           

I have received $150/month in support. That is 1/10 of what I will need monthly for living and ministry expenses.  Having monthly support is a gift of stability that I value more than you can know.  If you are able to give tax-deductable gifts on a monthly basis please follow the enclosed instructions.  One time gifts are also immensely appreciated!

           

Thank you so much for all of your continued support and encouragement.  I’m so glad to be able to share this journey with you!  As always, if you have any questions please feel free to contact me.