Day 7

So, this day was very much like the last two so I'm just going to comment on a couple of things that stood out to me.

Wednesday 21 November 12

My CPR class was really getting awesome. All of my students were learning and retaining information so well; they had amazing questions as well. Some of them I wouldn't have been able to answer without my background in life guarding. It is really amazing the way that God prepares us for things!

After my CPR class, I got to talk to my translator about how she had come to know Christ, what her home life was like, and how she had come to be a disciple at Rahab's House. It was incredible just to listen to her story.

We went to the brick factories and then to lunch. We ate pork that had been killed (Yeah, we heard it!) the night before. This was my favorite lunch, but not because of the food, even though the food was incredible. I got to really talk to a couple of the disciples. I heard Saka and Dary's testimonies. Saka is so awesome. Her nickname is Believer and that definitely suits her full well! Dary's testimony is awesome. Her heart is fully for Jesus. It is beautiful to see her passion and love for Him! It is seeping out of her every pore! Her testimony was one of the clearest gospel presentations I have ever heard. She really understood that she was a sinner in need of Christ's blood.

Speaking of Christ's blood, today at Kids' Club we talked about the crucifixion. Here is a general outline of what was said and acted out:

--Jesus praying
Narrator: Jesus had lived a perfect life, free from sin and darkness and full of loving others. But there were still some people who didn't like the things He taught. Jesus knew that the time for His death was coming. He was afraid. But He still trusted God. He prayed for one whole night, and in the morning soldiers came for Him.
--Troops come in and grab Jesus and walk to the other side of the 'stage'.
Narrator: The troops brought Jesus before the leaders of the synagogue, who planned to kill Jesus, even though He hadn't done a thing wrong. The crowd decided to kill Jesus by hanging Him on a cross.
--Jesus stands up on wall with arms out and soldiers "hammer" his hands into the wall
Narrator: Jesus died on the cross. He suffered for you so you don't have to suffer. Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Basically, it all boils down to the fact that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and the wages of sin is death! BUT the FREE GIFT of God is eternal LIFE in Christ Jesus our Lord! God loves us SO MUCH that while we were still sinning, He sent His ONE AND ONLY SON to DIE on a cross for US. To pay our wages (death) and give us His (life).

Their questions after this were amazing. One that really stuck out to me, because they were paying super close attention to detail and because it is a pretty deep question, "If Jesus is God, why does He pray to God?"

Kara was our question answerer. PRAISE THE LORD. She did such a great job of this!  She described the trinity to the kids as an apple. Apples have seeds, fruit, and skin, but the parts all still make up one apple; well, God has Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but all the parts make up one God! There were other questions too, but that one stuck out the most.

Then, we got to go to the ATC (Agape Training Center) to buy some stuff. The ATC is where rescued girls go to learn skills to provide for themselves. They make t-shirts, necklaces, and bracelets. The bracelets are my favorite! They have so much meaning! I bought about a million to give out to my friends and share with them about what is going on in Cambodia and how much God is showing up!

Then I had aerobics and afterwards literally ran into the van while dripping with sweat so we could go to the hotel and get a two minute shower before a fancy dinner. This night was insane!

We went to a restaurant with the IJM staff members for a community building dinner. We ate food until we were about to explode! This dinner was hard for us, too. We were supposed to really meet people at IJM but we were so exhausted from a week of hard work. We pretty much just ate and tried not to fall asleep!

Verse of the moment: "Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10 We were clinging to this at this point in the week. We were so weak and tired from lack of sleep and excess of work and heat! God really came through though; we always had more than enough energy to do our work. God makes good on His promises. Every time.

From my prayer journal on this day: "Daddy, thank you for being so strong that you pick me up even when I am too weak to sit up. With You I can stand and run and jump and do aerobics! Without You I am dead on the floor! Thank you for the stories of Paul (1 Cor 1) and how encouraging they have been! Your word can always fill me up when I am dried up and empty!

Thought of the moment: Sometimes I think it is easy to trust God in situations like what was going on that week in Cambodia than it is now in America, because God is all you have over there. In America, sometimes I get stuck in the "I can do it!" mindset and I don't trust God to step in where I can't. 

I CHALLENGE YOU to live the rest of your day in complete submission and trust of God! I promise, if you give Him the opportunity to make His name known, He will do it! Pray for your heart and for your faith!

Song of the moment: Beautiful Things // Gungor

Even when it seems impossible, God can and does make beautiful things out of us -- out of the dust of our lives! He is incredible and he is the source of life in our dry bones!

Where are You?

"They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams.” But when Reuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life." Genesis 37: 19-21

Background on this: Joseph was Jacob's favorite son. He was the one with the rainbow coat, and he was also the one the his brothers were jealous of. In fact, in the verses above, his brothers are plotting to kill him. Now God had given Joseph a dream that one day he would rule over his brothers, even though he wasn't the oldest. So, his brothers' plan for murder seems to go against God's plan for Joseph to lead them.

It seemed like God wasn't working actively to fulfill his promise to Joseph.

Sometimes it seems like God allows evil to happen but He is always with us working to fulfill His purpose.

At the end of this story, God puts Joseph into a position of authority so large that God's glory is magnified even more than anyone ever would have imagined possible at the beginning of the story. Joseph was over his brothers, but he was also over an entire country! God was there even in the hard times. He used everything for His good and for His glory!

Dave said this during our morning devotion: "God's plan is perfect. There is a purpose. The evil was not His intention, but He did allow it and His promises are still as true today as they were yesterday."

God can and does take what was intended for evil and uses it for good and amazing things! God doesn't waste anything; He uses all things for the good of those who love Him and to fulfill His purposes. As people, we want to know why things happen and resolve things by saying, "These things happened to me so that [insert random thing]." However, God does not always answer the "Why?" question or resolve the situation. What He promises and what He does is redeem the evil situations. So, the only answer we can ever give, is, "These things happened to me so that God could have more glory."

God is sovereign.

Now, why am I blogging about this in my Cambodia blog? Two things that are hard to see God in: 1. sex trafficking, especially that of minors 2. Toul Sleng (the torture camp we saw on Saturday)

Both of these are horrible, evil things. It is so easy (and I hear this a lot) for people to say, "Why do bad things happen if there is a good God?" I am not here to answer that question. That would take more than one blog, and honestly I don't have all the answers. All I want to say is that God is sovereign. Bad things happen, but God is bigger than that. He uses all of that for His glory and for His good!

So, I want to encourage you. Bad things are going to happen. They happen to everyone. Sometimes they seem endless. But there is hope in Jesus! 

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30

"And we know in all things that God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

When you are doing life with God, He will get you through whatever hardships come your way and He promises that He will use them for your good! So, when stormy waters come your way, trust Him.

"One day Jesus said to his disciples, 'Let us go over to the other side of the lake.' So they got into a boat and set out. As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. The disciples went and woke him, saying, 'Master, Master, we’re going to drown!' He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm." Romans 8:22-24

Why aerobics happened...

I have already talked a little bit about aerobics, but I'm going to go into a little more detail now.

Monday through Thursday I led aerobics in the streets of Svay Pak in front of Rahab's House. Anyone from the community could join in.

If you know me at all, you know why I am NOT qualified to lead aerobics. For everyone else, I can barely walk stand up without falling over for no good reason! My parents tried to get me to do ballet and gymnastics as a child to fix my lack of coordination; it did not work! I am basically the least coordinated person you know.

So, aerobics is lots of moving, almost dancing, in a specific way at a specific time. I am just about the least qualified person to lead aerobics in the entire world. I was TERRIFIED to do this! Seriously. Anytime anyone asked how they could pray, that was my answer.  How in the world do I lead aerobics in Cambodia?

The answer to that question is the cool part.

I can't.

I can't lead aerobics in Cambodia. I am not qualified. I do not have the physical capabilities. I don't know the moves or patterns.

Jenn, you said this was cool? That answer is mega lame!

Not true, I couldn't lead aerobics. God did it through me. God is so big and powerful! He used me in aerobics so His glory could be all the greater!

It reminds me of Gideon. Read Judges 6-8. God used the least, Gideon, to do His great work and show off His power and get all of His glory!

So, the first day of aerobics, I was about five minutes late getting out there cause I had to run around and get my teammates to pray for me before I could get the guts to go outside and get started! I knew God was my only hope to get through the class.

I walked into the road with three disciples and Kara, one of my teammates, and gave my music to the "DJ." We stretched, prayed, did aerobics for an hour, I explained why I was there and did a brief gospel presentation, we stretched, and prayed. At the end of my first day, it had grown from 4 people to over 70 people from the community. God is good.

Things I got from aerobics in Cambodia:

1. God can use anyone for anything. His glory will be shown!

2. I can trust God because He is bigger than I am small.

3. God will make a way to get the gospel to all people. He gave us a command (Matthew 28:19) and He provides ways to do it.

Aerobics turned out to be one of my favorite parts of the entire trip. God definitely planned for me to do it! It was a great experience that I will carry with me for the rest of my life to remember God's faithfulness, provision, and power!

Day 7

Tuesday 20 November 2012

From my journal: "Today was super fun because we were finally in the swing of things...sorta! Haha!"

So, it started off like it always did: We went to Gateway! The food was incredible as always and the community and fellowship with my team, Matt, and Alf and Kelly was such a blessing! 

After we had finished stuffing our faces, we went to Rahab's House in Svay Pak for day two of service.

CPR class went really well! I was expecting to have to reteach most everything we had learned the day before because of the language barrier and the difficulty of the information anyways; however, I was pleasantly surprised! They had studied their notes from the day before and remembered almost every single thing I had taught them on Monday. These kids are so intelligent! 

Next, we went to another brick factory location. We fed more people rice, fish and sauces and shared the gospel with them. I liked this day better than Monday because we got to walk around and see their homes and the area to really get a feel for the culture. We fed about 90 families on this day.

Then, we met the woman that my church, 1:21 Community Church, had helped to free from the brick factory. 

A little set up for this story: People get into debt and work at the brick factory to pay it off. The brick factory provides them housing and supplies at a heavily inflated rate. This traps them into the work because they can never earn enough to pay back their debt and buy supplies at this rate.

So, the woman we met had been bought out of the brick factories for just $350. $350. That's all. That is not a big number to us in America, but it is what was holding her in perpetual slavery. She now runs a little shop to sell necessities and food to the workers at a very low rate.

We went to visit her shop, since we had heard about it at church. We spent $5 there. Alf said that had probably made her entire week. But with all of the happiness we gave her with our business, she was much more happy just to meet us and pray with us.

When we had wrapped up at the brick factories, we went back to Rahab's House for Kids' Club! The disciples were such a help! I don't know what we would ever have done without them! They led dancing and singing with the kids to help us kill time and they always made sure to help us direct everything to Jesus!

Chris Clayton sang a few worship songs to get the morning going. Next, Dave introduced our group by teaching the kids a break dance move (and what break dancing is in the first place!); he taught them how to do the worm with their arms. Some of them got it, but I still can't do it to save my life! Dave is very talented, though!

Then I told our story with Ratanak as my translator. He must have been making it funny, because I would say three words and he'd talk for a minute and the kids would bust out laughing! We told the story of Jesus Calming the Storm.

--Start with two people holding a sheet stretched out (calm water) and everyone else off to the side.
Narrator: Jesus had been performing miracles all day long. As evening approached, Jesus said, "It is time to cross the lake."
--Jesus gestures towards the sheet (lake) and Jesus and the disciples walk behind the sheet like they are on a boat.
Narrator: It had been a long day, and as soon as they were all on the boat, Jesus fell asleep.
--Jesus stretches and pretends to be sleeping. Disciples still chilling on the boat.
Narrator: Just then, a storm approaches! And the waves begin to shake the boat...
--Shake the sheet (rough water) and disciples freak out.
Narrator: All the while, Jesus still slept. The disciples were scared though, and they woke Jesus up to save them.
--Disciples wake up Jesus
Narrator: With a word Jesus calmed the storm and the disciples were amazed!
--Jesus does like a stop hand and the sheet stops. Disciples look super stoked.
Narrator: The disciples had been so scared by the big waves. They forgot that if Jesus is with them, they have nothing to be afraid of. And that is still true today; no matter how hard life gets, as long as Jesus is with us, He will get us through it!

This story is hard to teach because 50% of these kids are being trafficked and abused. It is hard to tell those kids that they have nothing to be afraid of. But, it is beautiful to teach as well, because it is true even for them, even while they are being abused.

They asked amazing questions. "How can Jesus calm the storm?" "Why were the disciples afraid?" "Why did God allow the storm to come?"

The craft of the day was to make a boat with disciples and Jesus in it out of paper plates and popsicle sticks. It was pretty legit! The game we played was with sheets and beach balls; we had all the kids make "waves" with the sheets and bounce the balls around. They would take turns being Jesus and calming the storm.

Then it was time for aerobics. God got me through it with so much energy! I have one thing to say though: Never do aerobics in flip flops! It will  kill your back! Despite the pain and fatigue, aerobics was quickly becoming my favorite part of the trip!

Next, without time to change or dry off, we jumped onto the van and went back to the hotel (for a fast shower) and got dinner with Esther from World Relief. World Relief is the company that places girls into different forms of aftercare once they are rescued, so it is a friend of IJM.

Finally, we debriefed and made bracelets (You'll find out about that on Thursday!)


Thought of the moment: Today I want to talk about finding your worth in God and not in anything else -- not even serving God! God has been teaching me that serving Him is my number one most important goal. He has chosen me. He loves me. He has given me tasks to do. He will never leave me nor forsake me... What a GOOD GOD!

Verse of the moment: How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to His word. Psalm 119:9 We must realize that God is what is best for us! He is what is most important. We can never attain our fullest potential without Him there to guide us in the path that we should go.

Song of the moment: All He Says I Am // Cody Carnes and Kari Jobe

We belong to God. We were bought with the blood of Jesus. We are not alone. We have God walking with us in every struggle!

Convictions

So, this is going to be a shorty... Make sure you read "Day 6" before you read this so you can set the scene!

This was another big conviction God gave me in Cambodia; it happened during my first day of CPR classes -- totally caught me off guard! As I was wrapping up my class, after about 1 hour and 45 minutes of teaching, my translator said to me, "Are we about to finish?" I was pretty happy with how far we had come in one day so I replied, "Yep. We are about to wrap up!"

Her response, "When do we pray?"

Speechless. Praying during CPR class? My instructors never prayed during my lifeguard & CPR certification classes. In fact, none of the classes I have ever taken, besides bible studies, have involved prayer.

"We want to pray before and after the lessons."

I was so inspired by these people. The disciples at Rahab's House seriously live every second for Him! Every single second. They pray constantly.

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

They live those verses out. They constantly praise God, turn to God for help, encourage each other with prayer... They don't underestimate the power of God or the power of prayer. I want to be like that. 

Day 6

I think I am most excited to write about this day! I am a little nervous to as well, because so much happened this day and I really want to make sure I get it all right. This was our first full day of serving in Svay Pak. I remember waking up with butterflies...

Monday 19 November 2012

I woke up at 5:30AM after staying up until 11:30PM on Sunday doing aerobics with Sandra. I think we went to bed last every night; it was hard to tell if we were tired because of sleep deprivation or jet lag! We went to Gateway for breakfast (I told you to get used to hearing that!) and it was delicious! If you are ever in Phnom Penh, make sure and eat there! We had plenty of yummy food, but more importantly, hot coffee! The coffee in Cambodia is strong too, so that was a blessing!

Then, we went back to the hotel to get all of our stuff together for crafts and Dave led us in an amazing devotional! God definitely knew what he was doing when He made him for our trip pastor!

From my journal: "It has been amazing how much God has shown up on this trip! I just feel like every single detail has been preplaced... Haha probably because it has! God is so good."

Next we went to SVAY PAK! DAY 1!

We arrived at Rahab's House a little before 9AM and went straight off to work. We all had a specific role from 9-11AM every day. I taught CPR every morning to about three of the disciples and my translator, Neath. I don't know what I would have done without her! My make shift sign language is pretty sub par! In two hours, we learned unconscious choking, rescue breathing, and CPR! I was amazed by their attentiveness and desire to learn.

After CPR, we went to the brick factories. I wrote about the brick factories a little bit before, but I will do it again now. The brick factories are where the poorest of the poor live. The workers are essentially enslaved there. We brought them rice, which most groups bring when they go visit; however, unlike anything that other groups give, we brought fish and sauce for them as well. The way their faces lit up when they saw the fish...I don't think I have ever experienced something like that before. So we got to give them fish, but we also got to give them something better than that.

With every fish, one of us would say "Brey Jesu pro tienpo," or "God (Jesus) bless you." We wanted them to know that we were not the ones providing for them -- God is their provider! Vince also spoke to them in a large group and shared the gospel very plainly with them. It was amazing.

After we handed out all the food, we saw the places that they lived. I don't know if some of the places could be called shacks, maybe roofs would be a better way of putting it. Some of the people were already preparing their fish as we walked around! It was so sweet to see that we really were meeting a legitimate, practical need at that place.

We got back to Rahab's House at 12:30 or 1PM for lunch with everyone. Today was rice and fried chicken! I understand it is a famous recipe. I think the Khmer word I want to use is "lana," which means "delicious" or "very good."

Once we were done stuffing our faces and meeting the American stereotype, we headed upstairs for Kids' Club! This could be it's own blog! The best way I can figure to relate Kids' Club to Americans, is VBS for brick factory kids. We started with some singing and dancing, led by the always amazing Chris Clayton. Then we introduced ourselves to the kids and prayed.

My job for kids club was to narrate the stories. We made a series called "Walking with Jesus" (named by the lovely Sharon Rice!) and the first teaching was on Jesus feeding the 5,000. While I told the story (with the translation expertise of Ratanak -- Praise the LORD!), my team acted everything out behind me. They were so funny! The kids loved it; they were so engaged!

From my journal: "They were becoming so much more open and loving towards us as time went on; I can't wait to see what time holds at the end of the week!"

Here is essentially how the story played out:

--Set up with Jesus and everyone else sitting around him.
Narrator: One day, Jesus was teaching people on a hill. Five thousand people to be exact! He taught all day -- from morning until night -- and the people were very hungry!
--Sitting people rub bellies like hunger pains.
Narrator: The disciples knew that they didn't have enough food for the people so they wanted to send them home, but Jesus had another plan in mind...

--Maybe have one person be a disciple and everyone else is a hungry sitter? Disciple shrugs shoulders or looks confused??
Narrator: Jesus asked who had food in the crowd and 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish were found. The disciples were confused about how that was going to feed 5000 people!
--One of the crowd members gives Jesus a fish and a piece of bread (maybe cut out of paper?) and the disciples laugh
Narrator: Jesus trusted God to provide for the people. He prayed for the food and gave it out.
--Jesus prays for food and maybe tears pieces of the fish and bread paper and gives it to the crowd?
Narrator: Everyone got fed and there was even some left over! God made something out of nothing. God provides for us and meets our needs when we trust in Him!

After the story, we did crafts and played a game. Our craft was making crepe paper covered fish to remind the kids of how God multiplied the fish and bread to feed the 5,000. Our game was snake tag; it was played with the same theme in mind. It started off with one person, but when you got tagged you joined a chain of "It" people. Only the ends of the "snake" can tag more people. The kids had so much fun! I am just amazed by how much happiness and laughter they have!

Especially when you consider that 50% of the kids there are still being trafficked... some even that same night.

After Kids' Club, it was time for us to break up into our individual assignments again, and this was the moment I had been dreading for months. Aerobics. I can barely walk stand up, how am I supposed to be able to lead an aerobics class?!

God. That's how.

From my journal: "After some last minute prayers, I went out and began with about four students. By the end of the hour, I had at least 70. God is so awesome. Enough said."

God took total control! I was able to make it through the full hour with a huge smile on my face!

Then, we went to a fancy restaurant with Christa. The traffic was INSANE though. Barack Obama was in town, and political opinions aside, he was causing plenty of traffic issues for us! Half of the roads in Phnom Penh were shut down for him! Despite all of that, we made it to the restaurant and t

he food was so amazing! Everyone's looked incredible!

Funny story of the day (Sorry Sandra!): I was laying in bed, writing my journal, when  I hear screaming coming from the bathroom! It was a cockroach! If you know me, you know I can do snakes or spiders, but I can't do cockroaches. I don't know why, but I can't deal with them for one minute, and this guy was prettttttty big! So, I did what any girl would do. I went across the hall and found a man (Dave) to come squish it and throw it away for us :) Myyyy hero!

Then, it was bedtime, after a long day.


Which sounds a lot like I'm feeling right now! I have got to quit staying up until 3AM writing these things! Oh well, at least finals are over...

Thought of the moment: Make God the focus of your day today! I dare you!

Verse of the moment: 1 Corinthians 10:31 "So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." It is so easy to get caught up in what we want or what we want people to see in us. Remember, a man cannot serve two masters; pick God! He is the only one who will never let you fall!

Gosh here is so much more to write! I can't do it tonight though; I will tell a couple more stories tomorrow.

Water, water everywhere!

I already said it's hot in Cambodia, right? Well, what do you need when it is hot? Water! I might be a nursing major, but I think everyone knows that water is necessary for life. More than just drinking water, we need water to shower, to flush the toilet, to brush our teeth... We need water.

In Cambodia, water is everywhere; it rains all the time, so roads are flooded, there are rivers and lakes, houses have running water... The problem with needing water in Cambodia is getting usable water. You can't just drink any water in Cambodia, you have to drink bottled water. But you can't just drink any bottled water in Cambodia, it has to be specially sealed with plastic. There is a big problem with people resealing water and selling dirty water as clean water.

So, clean water is a valuable thing there. Real water.

(This is not my photo, I found it on Google. But this is the brand we drank the whole time.)

You can drink other things there. We had smoothies like crazy while we were there. The problem with smoothies: They cool you down and wet your throat, but two minutes after you drink it you are thirsty again. We needed real water, real hydration, so that we could survive.

So, one day, say around noon when the sun is highest, Jesus had been traveling and he was pretty worn out. He decided to take a break by a well; it was pretty shady and there was some water to drink. A Samaritan woman comes to get some water.

Well, Jesus broke some cultural norms (Jews talking to Samaritans and men talking to women) and asked her for a drink of water from the well. Her first reaction was shock, "Why is a Jew asking a Samaritan woman for a drink?" I think He saw that coming.

"If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." She had a problem with his logic. "You have no way to get to the water; the well is too deep! And what is this living water?"

Aaaaand Jesus, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

She said, "Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water."

Paraphrased from John 4:1-15. Read the rest of that story, it's pretty amazing!

Water. We need it for life. We need the right kind or we will never be satisfied.

Now, let's go to life. Everyone has a hole without God. He is the living water. He is the giver of eternal life. He is what completes us. We can never be whole without Him. But, that doesn't mean we don't try. So often, I think that we drink 'smoothies' to try and satisfy our thirst before we turn to 'water.'

Things we try and fill up with: Money. Pride. Things. Idolatry. People or popularity. Sex. Drugs. Clothes. Body image. The list could go on forever. Let's pick one...

How about clothes? (Maybe you don't like clothes; just go with it!) So there is this t shirt that I have to have.  I know that I will be popular and fit in at school if I can just wear this t shirt! So, I buy the t shirt. Tomorrow a new style gets popular, or maybe mustard stains it right in the middle. Either way, now I need a new t shirt to meet my need. My worth is in the t shirt.

Now let's talk about Jesus and why He is better than a t shirt. Well, besides the obvious (He died on a cross for you), he promises to satisfy us. So, while we can never be satisfied with just one t shirt, or our imperfect boyfriend, or the way we look in the mirror everyday, we can be satisfied and made complete in Jesus.

Interjection: Before I really get going here, I need to say something. I really don't hate Americans. I love Americans! I love America! I know that there are Christians here that are truly seeking after and following and and I am so encouraged to know a couple of them. I am writing all of this to show people how the other side of the world does the Church and following Jesus and also to encourage others to really seek after Him and follow Him, because that is one of the biggest impacts that this trip has had on me.

Back to my point: Someone told me when I had just gotten home, maybe America isn't so much distracted by their stuff so much as they don't know what they are missing out on.

This woman didn't know about how amazing this living water that Jesus offered her is, until He told her! She was going about her business refilling water countless times to quench her thirst. She did not the better way to do it -- the best way!

Her response when Jesus told her, "Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water." She knew when she heard that this is what she needed.

So now I am telling you this. Jesus has come to give you LIFE, but not only life, life in the FULLEST! (See John 10:10)

How will you respond to that?

Heart

A verse that spoke to me a few days ago:

"From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." Luke 12:48

This will be a quick one (I hope), because I need to study in about 6 minutes. I have been reading other missionary blogs all morning and I am so inspired by the heart behind them. Missions is all about sharing God's love. We can meet practical needs all day long, and that is amazing but it is not the point. Jesus is the point, meeting the spiritual needs.

Things I read that stood out to me:

"After a nice sweat is found and some games are played over the course of a few hours, we gather them up and talk a bit about ourselves and why we are there in the first place. We a

re there in some ways simply to assure them that they matter and that the world has not forgotten them. Even if that means the rare missions trip from DFW, we return every year with our time and attention and we have no plans on stopping."

From this blog: Click here!

"My friends who came to feed them and give them food and love on them are the closest representation of Jesus they have ever seen. So much so that they just call them Jesus. In a sense the kids might have well been saying 'Hey Jesus is here! Jesus is here!!!' 'What you do to the least of these you have done to me' comes to mind. Gosh I hope that the rest of my life looks like that as well."

From this blog: Click here!

Gosh I love these. So, I have two main take-aways here

1. We go to show others the love of God.

2. We go to show others that the world has not forgotten about them.

I love that this is the heart for these missionaries, and it should be the heart for all missionaries! After all what did Jesus tell us are the greatest commandments? Love God, love others.

I hate that a lot of times, this is only our heart on the mission though! The world is full of hurting people that need the love of Jesus in their lives! So, my challenge is this: Love God, love others. Do it now. Do it here (or wherever you may be). Just do it, and never stop doing it! The whole world is your mission field, and every day is your opportunity to share the love of God with someone who needs Him!

I am not perfect by any means, but this trip inspired me to try.

"For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." Philippians 1:21

Christ died for me so that I can live for Him.

Days 4-5

Sorry, this is really long. I promise, it's worth it! Keep reading!!

So, I figure it is about time to post more about what we actually did; however, we still haven't gotten to the real work part by days 4 and 5. During this time, we were still acclimating to Cambodia and learning about the culture of the place we would be serving at for the next week.

Also, I forgot to tell you... Friday we ate dog.

It was an accident, and I have to say that I don't regret it all that much. It was so good! They put this sauce on it that was like pepper and lime juice mixed. It was super tasty!

Saturday 17 November 2012

I didn't write down much in my journal today, but I can mostly remember everything we did (I hope!). What I wrote: 

"Today we prayed together and ate together and went exploring in Phnom Penh. We were tourists today, but I loved it because we got to learn about who Cambodia is! I love the people and the culture. It is so unique. More on that later. Now, sleep."

I lied. I didn't write more on that later. But, I will now (Redemption)! Hehehe...

Most mornings on this trip, we started off with a devotional, led by the incredible Pastor Dave Cervantes! He usually did something from Oswald Chambers or something like that... Then, we had prayer requests and someone would pray for us. It was awesome -- every single time!

Then, we got breakfast at Gateway! (Get used to reading that, it happened every day.) We got an amazing layout of pancakes, french toast, and omelettes. Matt hooked us up!

We went exploring in Phnom Penh after breakfast, which included Wat Phnom and this other place (I am terrible at names, but especially foreign names!). 

So, Wat Phnom is where Phnom Penh got it's name, if I am remembering this correctly. And it is a big Buddhist temple (Wat = temple). It was beautiful, but it was also sad because there were tons of people leaving offerings for Buddha and going to pray to Buddha there. There were monkeys there, too! There was a rumor of elephants, but we didn't find any.

So, the other place -- I think it was a palace for the royal family -- was huge and golden and flowery and beautiful. This is the point of the trip where my group became obsessed with photo bombing. We photo bombed everyone everywhere outside this palace. It was awesome! Talk about team building...

Here is a photobomb from later this day by the great Dan Dehart! This was taken in front of our fancy pants hotel.

So, after all of this delightful mischief we went to a bakery, and I'm not sure if I can say the name of it online if I say what it is too...so I will hold off on the name for now. Anyways, all of the girls who work at this bakery have been rescued out of sex trafficking. They are paid a fair wage and given an education. They are also professionally trained in baking and cake decorating; they have made tons of cakes for some very important people! We took a tour and ate cupcakes!

Here is an example of the cupcakes we ate! Mmmm!

The biggest thing I got out of the tour was something that the manager said to us: "A lot of people think of freeing girls from sex trafficking like letting a dove out of a cage; they think they can just go straight out of slavery and into a beautiful, whole, free life. The girls in this kind of slavery are more like sea gulls in an oil spill. You can set them free, but they can't have a complete, whole life until you clean all of the oil off of them." (Highly paraphrased and much less poetic than how she said it.)

These girls need restoration. God is providing for that at this bakery! What a great God we serve!

"He restores my soul. He guides me in the path of righteousness for His name's sake." Psalm 23:3

"I have said these things to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." John 16:33

That night we ate pizza at Alf and Kelly's home. If  you know me, you know how much I love pizza (not at all). But the fellowship was amazing. I love Alf and Kelly with my whole heart! We were all so tired, though; it was hard to fully enjoy the time we had with them. Jet lag is a killer.

Sunday 19 November 2012

Writing about today makes me nervous because church was so incredible.

This morning we changed it up for breakfast! We went to the Evan's house and had cereal/ pop tarts. I felt like a kid again! I love pop tarts! We had to eat super fast so we could make it to church on time. Church was at 7:30AM in Svay Pak, which is at least 30 minutes from Phnom Penh, where we were staying. 

So, we left Alf's house at around 7AM to head to Rahab's House for church. Pastor Shantah (Spelling?) was waiting out front to great the congregation, so we got to meet him before the service started. We went up to the third floor (Most of the buildings in Cambodia had at least three floors) and walked into a room that was already busting with song and dance! These people know how to worship! There was so much life in this church!

They let us sit in the front -- and when I say let, I mean made -- and we had two or three disciples to translate the service for us. They played several songs, some Khmer and some English. It was beautiful! Their band was very good, but it didn't matter what it sounded like to them; they cared about the actual worship. Their faces were glowing with the love of God! I can't use words to describe their worship, so I'll let the Bible do it for me.

"I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live!" Psalm 104:33

"Let them praise His name in the dance: let them sing praises to Him with the trimbel and harp." Psalm 149:3

They sang "My Jesus" and I just about lost it when they got to the part that goes: "Shout to the Lord, all the Earth! Let us sing!" It was the perfect picture of the church being unified to sing these lyrics with believers who live halfway around the world.

They were singing and dancing and clapping and shouting because of their absolute love for God! They didn't care what other people thought of their worship; they cared about what God thought of their worship! It was easily the most worshipful church I have ever been to. I wish America was like this. I have been watching people around me worship since I have been back; it isn't the same. Most believers in America are not fully surrendered to God in worship; they care much more about what their neighbor will think of their clapping, or out-of-tune singing, or hands held high... In my journal, I wrote that this church has "more passion than a Latin soap opera." I just had to throw that in!

Americans... More on that later. That is more than I want to put into this post.

They danced, too! They danced to a western song that I am not familiar with, and even though some of the congregation didn't speak English and couldn't understand the words of the song, the dance told the story. It was an amazing fullness of worship.

Then, Pastor Shantah took the stage. Wow! I didn't have a translator close enough to hear, so I just listened to the message in Khmer. I looked up the scriptures he referenced, picked out the few words that I knew, and listened to the few English phrases that he threw out for us. I couldn't tell what he was saying exactly, but I could tell that he wasn't holding back! It was the explicit gospel.

The just of it, as far as I could tell, is that God loves us. We are sinners. Christ died for us. We can resist temptation.

It was incredible. Then, we took communion together. Second time I almost lost it. Being with a whole different part of the body was amazing. God is so good! After church we met a few of the people we would be working with for the rest of the week.

After that we went to lunch at Mike's Burger with Alf, Kelly and kids. The food was super Western, but super delicious! We also met a couple of Obama's secret service workers while we were there... Oh yeah, Obama was in Cambodia the same time as us. So, the roads looked like this:

Traffic was INSANE. Half the roads in the country were shut down for Obama.

The next part is awesome, so get ready. We went to a Western church at LOGOS school. It is primarily for missionaries and the services are in English! Hallelujah! Even better than that, Alf, Dan, Chris Clayton, Kara, and I got to lead worship together! It was one of my favorite experiences worshiping ever, besides the one from this morning! We played four songs: "Those Who Trust," How Great Thou Art," "How He Loves," and "Forever Reign." It felt like home; it was amazing to worship with my dear, beloved family!

The pastor of this church brought it. He preached on God's glory and the gospel, one of my favorite topics! I actually got a lot out of it! I think I will write a separate blog on that tomorrow.

There was an amazing sense of community at this church. The pastor cared about every single person in the congregation. Genuinely. He knew specific prayer requests of the members and asked them how they were coming along, and he introduced all the new people to the congregation. The church cared a lot too, pretty much everyone came and met us before it was time to leave!

We got dinner with Christa and went back to the hotel to rest up. Well, Sandra and I decided to practice aerobics for a while before bed time so I would be ready to lead it the next day. It turned into me doing aerobics, and Sandra laughing at me and telling me I was doing a great job for an hour. It might have been a waste of time, but we had so much fun! I love Sandra so much! I am missing my roommate now!!


Thought of the moment: I don't care how you worship. I don't care if it looks like the worship I saw in Cambodia. I just care that you do worship. Do whatever it is that draws you close to the Lord and don't be afraid to just love Him! 1 Corinthians 16:13 "Be on your guard; stand firm in your faith; be courageous; be strong!"

Verse of the moment: Luke 18:9-14 "To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 'Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: "God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get." 'But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, "God, have mercy on me, a sinner." I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.'

Song of the moment: Instead of a Show // Jon Foreman It's not about looking religious or what other people think of you when you pray, or sing, or dance for the Lord! It is all about what God thinks! It is about how you are loving God with your worship -- whatever that looks like!

Watch this!

I found these videos about Agape International Missions (AIM). AIM is the organization that set up Rahab's House (Where my team and I were working). These videos will give you a little bit better of an idea about what is going on. Take five minutes out of your day to watch these. Then, take another five minutes out to pray for this incredible organization and the girls it helps!

It won't let me insert the second one, but here is the link:
GO HERE!

I love especially the second one. It explains the mindset of girls going into the brothels. When I wrote about Svay Pak in my last post, I mentioned that many people are very poor there. Very poor in Cambodia does not mean the same thing as very poor in America. Very poor means living on less than one dollar per day. One dollar. Per day. Now, living isn't just cost of food. Living is housing, living is clothing, living is food... Living on less than one dollar per day. A fourteen year old enters a brothel to help feed her family.

Now, pray! 1. Pray for the country. Pray for culture change. Pray for economic change. 2. Pray for the young children who are getting out. Pray for their restoration. 3. Pray for AIM. Pray that God would multiply the work that they are doing.

I know I haven't blogged much about AIM or Rahab's House yet, but in the next five days' blogs you will hear TONS about it!

Cambodi-huh?

So, I am using this post just to introduce you to Cambodia a little bit better so that when I start telling you what I did in all the different places we went, you wont get confused!

Let's start basic. Cambodia is a country in southeast Asia. It is between Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. On the map, it the purple spot straight down from the 'A' of 'CHINA.' Cambodia has a very hot, humid climate -- worse than Houston or New Orleans! While we were there, it rained a lot! There are close to 15 million people living in Cambodia. The people of Cambodia are called Khmer (kum-I). The Khmer people are predominantly Buddhist -- 95% of the people practice Buddhism (according to wikipedia...). In 1975, the Khmer Rouge took over and killed a lot of people; now the People's Republic is in charge. The effects of the Khmer Rouge are still rippling in Cambodia, even after forty years without them.

Phnom Penh is the capital of Cambodia. It has a population of almost 2 million people. It is pretty western looking; in the 1920s, it was considered one of the loveliest French built cities in Indochina. There are many beautiful monuments and temples there that you can see when you drive through it, like Independence monument. It is the wealthiest and most populous city in Cambodia. Our hotel was in Phnom Penh.

Svay Pak is a village about 30-45 minutes outside of Phom Penh. It is very small, especially in comparison to Phnom Penh. Svay Pak is infamous for it's brothels; it is a child sex trafficking hot spot in Cambodia. The people are very poor that live in Svay Pak. Rahab's House and the brick factories we visited were in Svay Pak.

I couldn't find a map with Svay Pak on it, but this shows where Phnom Penh is. Svay Pak is in the same part of the country.

Rahab's House is a former brothel that is now owned by Agape International Missions. It was opened in 2007 and provides education, medical attention, dental services and free food to the community. Rahab's House also has church services weekly with over 300 attending every week! They also have a Kid's Club, that reminds me of VBS, for the brick factory kids.

The brick factories are where the poorest people are found. They are essentially slaves once they begin working at that place. How that process works (as best as I can understand it): Someone needs a loan, let's say $350. They go to the brick factory owner and say, "I will work for you to pay back this $350, if you loan me the money." They get the money and start working. They are paid so little, they can never save enough money to pay back the $350. So, they are stuck, and their kids are stuck, and their kids' kids are stuck... They live at the brick factories and buy their supplies and food from the brick factory owners (at a highly inflated rate). Slavery.

So, now you have a basic idea of what Cambodia is. I hope this helps you understand better what I am talking about in the posts to come! Sorry this one was just straight up educational! Stick around, I promise it's about to get good!

UPDATE: Here is a video I found that gives a really good idea of what Phnom Penh is like...
GO HERE!

Day 3

Friday 16 November 2012

This was our first full day in Cambodia! For me at least, it was still totally surreal to be there. Like, mentally, I was aware I was in Cambodia. It just didn't totally sink in yet. I kept telling myself, "We are in Cambodia right now." I mean, it was obvious; nothing looked like America. We had been preparing for so long, it was hard to process actually being there.

On Friday we woke up for our first taste of Gateway. This is an amazing restaurant that we went to every morning for breakfast and a couple of evenings for dinner. It was founded by a Canadian named Matt a few years ago.

Matt is awesome. He loves Jesus. He also has a Khmer wife that helps him run Gateway and at least two (I'm not sure if I counted all of them or not) children that play around the front all the time.

Gateway is special, because it is a Christian facility. So, they play Christian music. We walked in, an Chris Clayton (a member of my team) was singing inside. No, he didn't run ahead of us and set up a welcome concert; his CD was playing there. Which is awesome! He is famous in Cambodia. Haha!

After breakfast, which was entirely delicious, we drove up to the IJM office.

Driving. Let me spend a minute on that. Driving in Cambodia is NOT like driving in America. They still drive on the right side of the road (well, they are supposed to anyways), but there are not any real rules of the road (at least not that anyone follows). We had an awesome driver though! His name is Chanthorn. I traffic got so bad at times we'd hear him, "Oh my God!" It was so funny!

At the IJM office we met several people, and since I'm not absolutely 100% certain I can say any of their names, they are all remaining anonymous. IJM is International Justice Mission. They work to end injustice around the world. In Cambodia, they are working specifically with regards to sex trafficking of underage girls. They set up investigations to find out where the girls are that need rescue, they work with the police to put together busts (which is made difficult because of massive corruption), and they help to place the girls once they get out of the brothels. We heard from every department: investigations, legal, and police (I know I missed some...Oops!). The representative we heard from told us about the department and about challenges that they face.

We had heard a lot of these things before in our trainings, but it was way more impactful coming from the people who were actually doing the work every day. It was also incredibly encouraging. Hearing about the ways that God has been working in Cambodia for justice and about the changes that have occurred in the past few years was incredible! I have so much hope for the future of Cambodia because of what God is doing in these people.

Then, we got lunch with a few of the IJM team at The Living Room. I thought it wasan odd name for a restaurant, but it was one of my favorite places we ate for the entire trip!

Excerpt from my journal: "The way He is working in Cambodia makes me fall in love with Him every second! Seriously, you can feel Him here and see Him; especially with all of the staff that are doing justice in His name every day!"

Ready for a change of tone? Next we went to Tuel Slang, which I don't even have words for. One of my teammates said it best when she called it Hell on Earth. It was an old torture prison of the Khmer Rouge. People who were rebelling against the evil rule of the Rouge were brought to this camp and tortured for months before being brought to the killing fields for their death. Torture doesn't even seen to grasp the fullness of what went on there.

It's hard to process that God is there, too.

We went back to Gateway for dinner and a live performance by none other than Chris Clayton! It was breathtaking to watch and listen to Khmer believers praising my God! What a picture of unity to watch God bring the church together, from across the world, under one roof to praise His name! He is at work there!


Thought of the moment: Sometimes we get a little self centered as Americans. We forget that the whole world isn't just America. I challenge you to pray for Cambodia right now. Pray that God would be active there. Pray for salvation there. Pray for justice there.

Verse of the moment: Mark 16:15 "And he said to them, 'Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.'

Song of the moment: God of This City // Chris Tomlin God showed up to me in Cambodia so many times; this day was an example, but he was there every second. He IS the God of that city.

You know it, but do you know it?

So, Christian or not, I bet you have heard Jeremiah 29:11, or seen it on a tapestry or a coffee mug or something..

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."

Well, this was my first big moment where God peeled open my eyes to one of His truths in Cambodia. I read this verse, but I wasn't focused on me -- I was focused on Cambodia. Get ready for this.

God says to me, "I know the plans I have for Cambodia! I will bring welfare to Cambodia and not evil! I will give this place a future and a hope!" Is your heart racing yet? Are you excited? God made a promise. Even in this dark, dark place, God, the light of the world, is working for good!

One of my teammates used the best analogy for this: When we were on the airplane, they dimmed the lights so that everyone could sleep. Every now and then someone would crack a window to see what was outside. White light would flood in and fill the entire airplane from the smallest crack in the window.

The darkness was slain by the light.

Back to Jeremiah. God is in Cambodia. His light is already slaying the darkness, and it continues to do so right now! He is flooding into that country like the light was flooding into the airplane from just a cracked window! Darkness doesn't stand a chance against my God! He is hope for Cambodia! There is a bright future ahead there!

I know this because God promised. I know this because I can feel Him there. I know this because I saw it in the faces and the hearts of the people He is using at IJM and at Rahab's House.

As I was writing this, a song came onto Pandora (my addiction). The Earth is Yours // Gungor

It goes like this:
Holy, holy, holy, holy Lord // The earth is Yours // The earth is Yours

Praise God! He is in control! This was not a trip for me to do anything for God; this was a trip for me to watch what God is already doing. I got to watch an see how He is the God of this country -- how He has a plan, a hope, a future!

Here's another passage to read with a heart towards Cambodia:

"O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up ... You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me ... If I say, 'Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,' even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as day, for darkness is as light with you ... I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well ... in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you. Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God! O men of blood, depart from me! ... Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see is there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!"  Excerpts from Psalm 139