Hello from Cambodia!

Hey everyone! Much to my surprise, there is an internet cafe here. Right now we are in Poipet, Cambodia and we will be here for about 2 weeks. We arrived yesterday afternoon, and it was definitely an adventure crossing the border. I'll freely admit that the whole thing was a little scary to be honest, but it was never dangerous... we were completely protected and things went very smoothly.

Cambodia is so different from Thailand. We are only about 5 miles from the border, but as soon as we stepped out of Thailand, we could immediately see the difference. It is definitely a 3rd world country here. There is garbage and junk everywhere. We observed some children picking through garbage on the street and then eating it. I saw some pretty awful things just at the border crossing, things I don't think I'll ever forget. My heart is absolutely breaking that people live like this. Of course, I've always known that people have, but seeing it with my own 2 eyes is so different. And right now I'm typing this on a PC in front of a fan while there are hungry children roaming the streets... some things I just don't understand, such as this.

We are staying at a hotel which absolutely blows my mind. I feel like a princess in complete and total luxury! We have AIR CONDITIONING, beds, hot water, cable tv?!, a bathroom I only have to share with ONE person... but the big deal is definitely air conditioning! It is getting much more muggy here, so the a/c is a tremendous blessing. I really feel almost guilty staying in such a luxurious place. Most of us were looking forward to bamboo huts and dirt floors, but I am so thankful and blessed to have the room that I have.

This morning we went to church down the street and it was all in Khmer. I think it may be easier to speak Khmer rather than Thai, because it's not a tonal language. Although it seems like most people here speak Thai, since we're still so close to Thailand. Anyway, it was really awesome to experience a Cambodian church service and hear their songs, etc. Since we didn't understand what was happening, we just did our own Bible reading. They did have us go up front at the beginning of the service and introduce ourselves, and they seemed quite shocked by Ian. He is 6'8" and you have to understand that I at 5'8" was taller than 98% of the people in attendance. So Ian is basically a giant. :)

Thanks for your continued prayers! We don't really know what to expect yet these next 2 weeks. We have orientation today, and then I think we start working tomorrow. It sounds like we may be doing sports ministry, which the guys are thrilled about. We're also working with the children's home/preschool/orphanage, but doing what exactly, I'm not sure. I'm excited to find out! I heard there's another YWAM team here, so maybe we'll get to meet them. We'll see!

Keep praying for us, especially for safety. Cambodia is really dangerous, and we're not allowed outside at night, even in groups of 3. It's just not safe all around. Please be praying that I'll have ways to minister to everyone that I see, especially people on the street. There is so much that is needed here. Where do we even begin?

Leaving Thailand tomorrow...

Hello everyone! I had such a busy week this week. Thanks again for your continued prayers and thoughts!

This week we asked the pastor if there was any kind of practical, physical work that we could do to be a blessing to the church. We ended up painting the entire church building! I'm not sure of the dimensions, but it has 2 floors, plus another floor that leads to a rooftop. It took 2 days to paint, but it was really fun. It was also really scary! I found myself lying on the roof ledge on my belly painting below me, and staring into the street below. God definitely kept us all safe! One day this week, a group of guys also went to work on a house of a former church member. They basically live in a bamboo hut with no walls. The guys were able to put walls up and really meet an important need for this family! It felt so good to bless people in this way.

We continued to teach english in the afternoon this week, and it was fabulous. I really enjoyed being a teacher and I'm going to miss it. On Tuesday, there was no school (I'm not sure why), but a ton of kids came over to the church just to hang out with us! It was so sweet! Because we were working, we couldn't spend as much time with them as we wanted to, but for a couple of hours in the afternoon Rachel, Darcey, and I did crafts with the children. They were coloring different pictures illustrating Bible stories and I so desperately wanted to explain to them what they were coloring. The language barrier can be so frustrating. Anyway, Wednesday was our last day of teaching (and Mike and I were able to share the gospel in our class, YAY!), but yesterday was our last day at the school. We had the opportunity to perform our dramas, songs, and also present the gospel. It was amazing! We did songs like "Every Move I Make", "Lord's Army", and we ended up doing 4 dramas. The children seemed to love everything we did. I think the most amazing moment was when we were singing "Jesus Loves Me" to the crowd of kids (about 100 of them), except we sang: "Jesus loves you"... Some of these children this week have grasped a little that there is a God that created them and loves them, but some of the children just have no idea. It was such a huge thing, some of the little ones heard for the first time that day that there is Someone named Jesus that really loves them. After our program, the pastor spoke for about 30 minutes. It wasn't translated, so I don't know exactly what she said, but Wuut said she was talking about creation. With Buddhism, that's almost where you need to start. You can explain how God created the world, and eventually get down to the gospel message, but they are still stuck at the fact that God even created the world. At the end, the pastor prayed for the children and I looked out and saw all of the children with their eyes closed, their hands folded and just lost it. I so desperately want these children to understand how valuable they are, how they are loved, how precious and special they are... The last thing we did at the school was go back to our respective classes to take pictures. Mike and I also gave a farewell, which caused both of us and most of the girls in our class to cry. It was a really really emotional time. I hugged so many children and told them I loved them. And they really loved us too. It pains me that we have developed these relationships, and now we have to leave. But I know that seeds have been planted, and hopefully more YWAM teams will be sent here to work with the school. Please be praying for that. So, our farewell ending up being incredibly sad and depressing... and the little ones didn't really understand. Wai, the little 3rd grader I have grown especially attached to, told me: "Pope gun my", which is "See you later". She didn't understand at all that I was leaving forever, and that I will probably never see her again. I hope I do, though...

What an amazing time I am having here. Even though yesterday was so sad, it was also so incredible... I know that these children have been touched and struck by our love for them and willingness to come here and teach them. There has been talk today about some of the girls possibly coming over after school to see us one last time. I hope that they do!

Well... as always, there's so much more to say. It's likely that I won't have internet access the entire 2 weeks that I'm in Cambodia, so you may have to wait to hear about my orphanage adventures. I'm really excited about this next part of our outreach, and experiencing something new. It would be so easy to stay here now that we're all comfortable in our atmosphere and surroundings, but I think it's great that things are going to be shaken up a bit.

Thanks for your prayers! I love you guys...

My 2nd week in Thailand

Hello everyone! Thank you again for all of your prayers! I am so thankful for you. I would not be here in Thailand if it wasn’t for your love and support. I am so grateful for each and every one of you!

Well, let me catch you up. Last Sunday we were in charge of the church service here in Watthana Nakohn. The ministry development team (which is Ian, Darcey, and Mike) prayed about how the service should go, and they felt like we should have worship, followed by an encouragement message from Amy, a testimony from Younsoo, the drama “Kerplink”, then a short sermon-ish thing from me about the body of Christ, followed by Ian also giving a message about the body of Christ, spiritual gifts, etc. It was a pretty exciting service! I was really nervous about preparing a message and speaking, but it went really well. It’s a little strange to pause after each sentence so that Wuut can translate, but I actually kind of like it. It gives me time to put my thoughts together, and there’s no awkward pauses. I’m really glad I had the opportunity to speak the first time we ever did a service, and God really showed me His faithfulness by giving me exactly what He wanted me to say. It was great!

That week we continued to teach English for 2 hours every day. I’m really starting to enjoy being a teacher, although it’s a bit funny for me to be considered as one! If only the Thai children saw me in America in t-shirts, jeans, and chucks 24/7… actually, on Monday we had a “play day” with them and I changed into jeans and they were all giggling. I suppose if I was in 6th grade and I saw my teacher in “casual wear”, I would think it’s funny too. :) It was a great week, though. I think Mike and I are definitely getting the hang of teaching more, and I’m getting more confident as time goes on. It’s such an amazing opportunity to really get to know these children and develop relationships with them while we’re here, but it’s also going to be heartbreaking to leave them in just a few days.

Anyway, I was finding a lot of the children to be a little frightened of me, and also Ian and Mike, because we’re bigger people. This past week, there was a “Celebration Day” which was kind of like a concert and game day, where each class had a song and dance to perform. It was so much fun to have a day off with the kids and see them dressed up, and singing, and dancing, etc! Because of this, we also had an opportunity to perform a drama, so we did Kerplink, which is kind of catered towards children. I have the main speaking role in the drama, and I prayed beforehand that because of that, some of the children would be more warmed up to me afterwards. And it happened! Now the little ones (mostly 2nd and 3rd graders, I think) are hanging all over me and I’ve grown especially attached to a little girl named Wai (pronounced like “why”). She is adorable and loves my camera… she always wants to take pictures with it!

Also this past week, we passed out a ton of Thai literature and tracts to people all over the city. I will freely admit that this isn’t my most favorite activity, but I know that God uses tracts, and please be praying that He will be faithful in this and plant seeds in peoples’ hearts.

Yesterday was a really fun day! Saturday is our day off here, so in the morning a bunch of us went on what we thought was a mountain hike. It ended up being a huuuuge rock that had stairs leading up to the top, around 375 stairs to be exact (Dave counted!). The stairs were a little rickety and incredibly steep, and it was a little scary… at least for me! But the really cool thing was that monkeys were EVERYWHERE! I have never seen so many monkeys, and it was so fun to see them in their natural habitat. The surroundings were a little jungle-ish too, which was so fun to see. But now I can say that I have fed several monkeys! It was pretty fun. After the “hike”, we went to a hotel pool which was amazing. It only cost about $1.15 US to swim for as long as you wanted, and I must have swam for at least 3 hours. It felt so nice to be in the cold water, and I really wish I could be in that pool right now! :)

Today has been a great day. We were in charge of the Sunday service again, and this time the format was: Worship, Dave giving a message, the drama “Locked”, and then Darcey giving a message. We were all set and ready to go with the service starting around 10 AM, but at 9:00 there was a huge surprise for us. A bunch of kids from our school showed up! When Dave told me, I could hardly believe it, I was so excited! I am so astounded by God’s faithfulness today, and I was so happy to see their faces in our house! There were about 7 girls from Mike and my class, and also a young boy from Ian and Darcey’s. So, at the last minute, Darcey changed up her sermon a little to really preach home the gospel. We don’t know what is happening in the hearts of these children, but please be praying for them! I am so confident that God has planted real seeds in their hearts. Please be praying that He will be faithful, just like we know He is. But it really struck me during the service this morning… this may have been the only opportunity these children will ever have to hear the gospel. Just pray that God will reach them!

The children stayed for lunch (after much persuasion!), and a few of them wanted to go into town with Darcey and I. It was a blast! We walked around a couple of markets, and they would point to things and say it in Thai, and we would do the same, but in English. I learned a lot of Thai today! :) The children are so sweet, though, they’re always hanging on us and holding our hands. We walked to the 7 Eleven and all had some slurpees. I am so thankful that the children love us so much, and just be praying that they’ll see that the goodness in us is not really us!

Oh gosh, there’s so much more that is floating around in my head… there’s just so much to say and describe, and unfortunately, so little time! I wanted to let you know that we’re actually going to be here until Saturday morning (the plans changed a little) and then we’ll be heading to Cambodia. It sounds like for the next 2 weeks starting on Saturday, that we will be in the country of Cambodia the entire time. We’ll be at an orphanage and I don’t know specifics yet about what we’re doing, but it’s supposed to be our busiest ministry time.

Keep praying for us! Last week, every member of the team was sick at one point with some sort of stomach bug. Pray for our physical health and our ability to have compassion for the Thai people. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for your prayers!!!

Hello from Thailand

Hey everyone! I wanted to let you all know what has been happening here in Thailand. Thank you so much for all of your prayers and thoughts! I am so thankful for all of you.

The flights into Thailand were relatively smooth, although I was pretty sick and ended up running fevers on both flights. The air pressure really hurt my ears (they still have yet to completely pop, actually) and was terrible on my nose (I had bloddy noses at both take-offs). But, they were safe and weren't delayed, so that is hugely important.

We arrived into Thailand very early on Tuesday morning. We haven't had time to shake off jet lag, but it hasn't really been too big of an issue. The first 2 days we spent in Bangkok doing orientation. The first day we did a scavenger hunt around the area, and the 2nd day we went into downtown Bangkok and visited some of the Buddhist temples.

We have been in Watthana Nakohn the past few days, and we'll be here til the 18th. We were told it's a "small village", but it doesn't seem that small! We are teaching english for 2 hours every weekday at a local school. It is an amazing opportunity to really develop relationships with the students and also present the gospel while teaching. It's very exciting! We're teaching 3 different classes, so we paired up boy/girl... Mike and I are teaching the 6th graders. They are so smart and already know a ton of english.

I've already had a couple of stand-out moments since I've been in Thailand. I swear that I'm part Thai, because a part of Thai culture is that they're shy and they smile a lot. That is so me! So, in a lot of ways, I fit in really well. Before I came here, people told me that my smile would even minister to people. And I've found this to be true, especially on the days when I was not feeling good, and could only muster up the energy to smile. When we were coming to Watthana Nakhon (about a 2 hour drive from Bangkok), a lot of vehicles that passed us would honk and the people would smile and wave. I often felt like I was in a parade with my returning grins. Eventually I just started initiating the smiles and the waves to be friendly. Every single time, I would receive a beautiful Thai grin back, except for this one vehicle. I don't remember the specifics, I think it may have been a pick-up truck. But there were 3 Thai people riding on it, with beautiful brown skin. They had "hard" looks. I smiled at them, expecting a smile or wave in return, but there was nothing. Just the same, blank stare. It really struck me that it's going to take more than smiles to open up some doors, to tear down some walls. Sometimes it makes me feel almost hopeless, like what do I have to offer them?

I had a similar experience when we visited a hospital yesterday. We were handing out literature to the patients there, and also just talking to people. I walked into one hospital room and saw a man laying on the hospital bed with his legs completely twisted. I didn't know what to do. I still don't know what I should have done. How do you react to that? What can you say? I wanted to sit down with him and find out his story, and just be an ear to listen. But I can't even do that with the language barrier. It can be so frustrating. Thankfully, we do have a translator working with us. He is amazing! His name is Wuut (pronounced like "woot") and he speaks really great english, actually.

There was one other incredible moment. During recess on the first day we taught at the school, the children surrounded us and were taking our autographs. I started to cry, with these 20 beautiful Thai children surrounding me. It made me so upset that just because I'm white, I'm viewed as so much higher, or so special, or so much more important. I despise it! I hate that our world works this way. The only redeeming thing from it, is that when you come to a place like this, being white opens doors for communication. But it desperately pains me that these children somehow view me as more valuable just because my skin is lighter. But I also cried because I never thought I'd have a moment like that. I never thought I'd make a difference in the world, and God is showing me that I already have. I don't really know how to explain it, but God is showing me so much. Please be praying that I can keep up with Him!