Follow The Leader

Ever have those moments that make you stand back, look at the situation around you and have your heart smile? I had a few of those today.

It was day 1 of the Harvesters mission trip and first on our to-do list was cleaning up the community in a village not far from Phnom Penh. We went up and down the roads, picking up trash and cutting down the tall grass on the roadside. Almost immediately, my heart was reminded that this was something that I had an idea to do a few years ago when I was in Cambodia the first time, but it never happened. And to be honest, there was something inside of me that felt it would be like trying to fill a cup with a hole in bottom. Littering is so normal here. I am seen as strange sometimes when I hold my trash until I can get to a trash can. So this was an idea that I just kinda stuck a pin in and moved on. But when we were out there today, I saw that it is possible to work on patching the hole in that cup and all the while continue to fill it.

My favorite thing was that my little team of four quickly grew by 8 or 9 more people. They were kids from the village that began following us and once they saw what we were doing, they helped! They saw our example and started to follow. I was so touched by this and again felt my heart smile, thinking that maybe these kids will pick up trash again in the future...or maybe not litter in the first place. I don't know the realistic likelihood of that, but I have hope.

These are two of the precious kids walking with us. I am a sucker for the brown skin and cute little smiles!

As we walked down the road, we realized none of us Harvesters knew where we were going and thought we would have turn around and walk all the way back up the way we came. But the children very adamantly assured us that we would loop us back around to where we started. All we could see in front of us was a field so I was a little nervous we were going to have balance on the thin walk ways in a rice paddy. Finally, though, we took a turn onto a path that did indeed take us back to the beginning.
Insert yet another heart smile.

It was on this road that we met Sueng, a very lovely and friendly woman that immediately wanted to talk to us, to know what we were doing and asked if I would take a picture of her baby. I happily obliged. Before we left, the students were able to share with her how much God loves her and she allowed us to pray for her. We are going back to the same village tomorrow and I am hoping that we can find her again in the field. I would love to our conversation and answer any questions she may have.

I will post more pictures and stories from day 2 of the missions trip soon.

The 365 Project Continues...

Here are a few more pictures from my daily picture project...

115/250...which one is not like the others?

If you said the yellow one, you are wrong. That is a mango, just like two of the three other green items. The middle one is my sunglasses case. More than once I have had people ask why I carry around a mango. I have even mistaken it for one before myself. I love mangoes and I am very sad that mango season has come and gone. Just gives me something to look forward to next year.

119/246...do you like tigers?

A long time ago, I was given the title of "honorary Shauan" by some of my closest friends, Wayne and Karyn. And as most amazing people do, they have some equally amazing kids...Avery (7), Reichen (3) and Phoenix (1). When Karyn came to Cambodia in May, Avery sent this mask, a drawing of a tiger and a little note in my care package from home. I nearly cried looking at this and then laughed out loud when I saw this question. And of course my first thought was “When the tigers are from you, Avery, they become my favorite animal!” Man, I miss that boy!!! This is currently hanging on my wall.

126/239...delivery confirmation

This was a hug that my friend, Megan asked Katie to give to me when she brought an outreach team to Cambodia. We decided to take a picture to send to Megan to give her delivery confirmation but we couldn’t NOT laugh because we kept hugging and while I love hugs, the two of us are the least "huggy" people out of that group of friends. But in that moment, I wouldn’t trade that funny awkwardness for anything.

133/232...Angkor Wat

There is something so amazing about these temples in Siem Reap…realizing the sheer amount of work that went into them so many years ago is enough to make you awestruck.

158/207...moment of insanity

I don’t know that I could even come up with a reason why I thought Katie and I would be capable of holding my friend Seyha…or why in the world he agreed to it!! Thankfully she let go of his legs before I started to drop him. He and I still both ended up on the floor. And I would have to say it was definitely an odd way for her to end her time in Cambodia. We took her to the airport just after this picture and while my heart was so happy that she had been here, but I am sad that she had to leave. I am not built very well for goodbyes.

170/195...Reflect

I went with some friends of mine and waited while they got their sewing machine fixed. And what better way to pass the time than to bust out the camera and take pictures. This pose was my friend's idea and I love it!

186/179...trivia i could've lived without

It takes approximately an hour to squeegee and dry the floor of my bedroom. I found this out after the water seeped in under the balcony door and completely covered my room, then began to run under the hallway bedroom door and created a waterfall down the staircase to the first floor where everyone was sitting. I wasn’t home at the moment but thankfully everyone else ran up and cleared out the stuff from under my bed.

189/176...night surprise

I just happened to glance out my window and saw this tonight. Such a nice surprise!

201/164...making this look work

I got home at the exact wrong moment that the others were painting and they all thought it would be a fun idea to capture me, restrain me and paint my face. Let me assure you, watercolor paints do NOT taste good.

From Their Hearts to Ours...

There are few things that make my heart smile more than getting an encouraging word from someone in the form of a card or letter or email...knowing that someone out there is praying and standing behind me and that gave of themselves and their time to tell me as much...I really do love it.

This week, I was blessed many times over when I received a package from America with this inside:

A beautiful stack of homemade cards! Each summer for the past few years, I have been the "Missionary for the Week" at Lake Aurora Christian Camp in Florida. I love going to work with the kids and seeing these young people learn about God and about loving the world the way that God loves the world. Their theme for this year was "Shine For Jesus" and trust me when I say that these kids are doing just that. I was obviously unable to join them in person this year, but with the beauty of technology, I was able to do a couple skype video calls and still be a part of this program all the way from Cambodia. I also had my friend and co-leader join me for one session to say hello and teach them a few Khmer words. I still remember the missionary from Haiti coming to my camp years and years ago, knowing that even then, without really knowing, God was planting something in my heart for missions and the world. I love knowing that God could be using me in that same way in the lives of these children. I have had a few of them tell me that they really want to do missions and even some say they want to come to Cambodia.

The kids decorated the cards not just for me, but for the students in the discipleship/missions class that I lead.

Today, I passed out the cards and there were such smiles of surprise and joy on my students' faces as they received the cards and they asked if we could pray for the kids and maybe even write them back! We have prayed and will continue praying for the specific children that decorated our cards, and we'll have to see about the pen pal idea. Thank you Tod and Cora and all the other staff, volunteers, and campers at Lake Aurora for your prayers, your love and letting your light shine all they way to Cambodia and encouraging us as we let God shine through us here!

Hearts Of Servants

I love seeing how willing some are to love through serving and helping others where there is a need. I have been blessed by the Harvester students that I work with when the step up to the plate with joy to do just this.

There was a children's outreach at church yesterday and as a part of the program, the leaders were making a traditional porridge for the kids. The Harvesters did one of the behind-the-scenes jobs for a program like this...washing the dishes.



It may be "small," but the blessings are huge.

Bring On The New...

Random fact about Phnom Penh, Cambodia: There is a small waterpark on the outskirts of town, not far from where I live. There is a lazy river in said waterpark. For anyone trying to float down this lazy river on the bright yellow inner tubes for the past few Sunday afternoons, they have found it a bit of a tight squeeze.

The reason...this has been the location of 38 baptisms!!

For the past three weeks, we have been going to the waterpark to do baptisms for the new believers. Yesterday I had the privilege of taking part in six of those.

My heart was bursting with joy as I baptized them into new life with the Lord and felt His excitement for each of them.

Five of those six are my students and in my weekly small group.

July has been appropriately entitled the "Month of Celebration" here at my church. What are we celebrating? New life...new hope!