Back Home

I'm Home! It's Saturday, and I've been up since 5:30AM. That has never happened before. I may be present in the Central Time Zone but my body still thinks I'm in Cambodian Time Zone.

One highlight I can't believe I haven't shared already is when we arrived in Cambodia you will never, ever, ever believe what we saw on our way to the hotel...here goes LSU fans....a guy on a bike wearing an LSU hat. By the time I got my camera out it was too late, but it was PRICELESS.

Here are some pictures from the first few days of the trip. I wanted to take one of the flight attendants home. They are so adorable! There's also a picture from our infamous breakdown.

Day 1 at the Orphanage and Festival

Orphanage Dedication and Day 2 of the Festival

Around Town

One morning, we took a "Tut Tut" to the market and hung out for a while accompanied by our new best friend and interpreter Pheneth Kim. He's 19 years old and is about to graduate from high school.

Yes, I did eat a cricket! I learned that in the poorer areas they would eat crickets and spiders just to stay alive.

There's so much more to share...

A group from Celebration Church in Jacksonville, FL, came with us and did a great job posting pictures and interviewed people around town. http://hopecambodia.blogspot.com/

I haven't decided whether or not I'm coming home.

This is the best way I can describe this trip.

Psalms 48:8
We had heard of the city’s glory, but now we have seen it ourselves—the city of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. It is the city of our God; he will make it safe forever.

Last night was our last night at the festival and it went out with a bang!! There was no room in the building for our group so we enjoyed it outside with a thousand other people.

Check out Pastor Dino's blog for more details and pictures. There's a picture of McCall and me with our new friends from the orphanage.

http://www.dinorizzo.com/

I'm in Heaven

No seriously! The last few days I've been playing with kids at the orphanage then enjoying the festival at night. I'm learning to speak Khmer! There so much to tell and I don't know where to start.

Yesterday, we dedicated the building at the orphanage. The kids sang songs and did a skit for us. They are so beautiful. I fell in love with a girl named Damer. She's 15 years old and speaks a little English. She had the most beautiful smile. When I was leaving she held my hand as we walked to the van. I opened the window to tell her "bye" again and she reached in and said,
"I love you so much". WOW! Our mission and theme is Hope For Cambodia, and that is definitely what we are doing.

There's another orphanage down the street for girls ages 4-10 years old. There are about 50 girls and all have been rescued either from rape or child traffic prostitution. There's a coalition on the border of Thailand and Cambodia dedicated to saving these girls from this lifestyle.

Tonight is our third and last night to host the Festival. A local band plays music then our band gets up and plays. No one in the crowd speaks English, but they praise God by clapping, dancing and jumping. It's amazing the number of lives that are being changed.

I've eaten chicken fried rice and pizza from the same restaurant for the last 3 days for lunch and dinner. I dreamed of it last night.

The hotel is decent, but we're not allowed to brush our teeth with the water.

God is good! I can't wait to post pictures of everything, and I can't wait to see what else God has planned.

Oh, this morning, my pastor asked me to go with him to a local church to share my testimony. I've learned a little Khmer, but there was an interpreter next to me. That was an amazing experience!

Greetings from Phnom Penh, Cambodia

We arrived in Cambodia last night (Phnom Penh). My first Cambodian dinner was alright. It's similar to Thai and Vietnamese...so lots of rice, noodles and spicy soups. The poeple are amazing. They get a kick out of us trying to speak their language (Khmer). I can count to 20 in Khmer.

Today, we drove to Battambang where the festival and orphange is located. It's about a 5 hour drive, but it took us 6 1/2 hours. We have a 9 bus caravan. Half way here, of course my bus' transmission went out. My driver kept saying "No Problem, No Problem"; I think because that's all he knows how to say in English. When I originally got in bus the driver put on Enrique Iglesia. It thought that was so funny. Below is a picture of the town at night and my bus driver with these two boys who were so cute.




Tomorrow, we're painting the orphanage and getting prepared for the festival. The governement still hasn't granted us permission to host the festival in it's current location, so we may have to reset everything in another location. Please pray for that everything goes smooth.

Greetings from Hong Kong

Well, we've made it to Hong Kong and only 8 more hours to go!!! I just went to Burger King. A Whopper Meal is $40.00 & an ice cream cone is $7.50. (Haven't figured out the money conversion or the time change). All I could afford was the ice cream cone and it was really good!

We're about to board and head to Singapore, but I'll update my blog as much as possible.

I know what if feels like to be pregnant...

Now that I've got your attention..I'm not pregnant, but preparing and waiting for this trip feels like forever (9mths) and it's finally here. We're flying out tomorrow and will return July 27th. My leader, Marc Cleary, is already in Cambodia. Here's an email he sent us. (FYI-It's a little graphic.)

Last night was our first service for HOPE Cambodia. Everyone was making quick adjustments as the Cambodian Government switched venues on us at the last minute, moving us from a 10,000 seat arena to a 700 seat theatre. Despite the sudden change in venues, God displayed His glory. Hillsong London rocked out and Ps. Gary Clark, also of Hillsong London, delivered a powerful message. There were so many young people attending that were on fire for Jesus Christ already. They were dancing and celebrating before the Lord.
During the day, we visited the Royal Palace of the King of Cambodia, fed monkeys, rode on an elephant named Sambo and took a boat ride down the Me-Kong River. After enjoying the local sites and attractions, we visited Cambodia's dark past by touring the Genocide Museum at the infamous S-21 prison and the Killing Fields of Phnom Penh. It was amazing actually standing in the places where just 30 years ago millions of innocent people were literally slaughtered in the cruelest ways for no reason at all. The heaviness and darkness was unbelievable as you saw the make-shift prison cells that people were chained to everyday that were no bigger than small closet. The Khmer Rouge regime was so deliberate in their terror that the photographed and kept detailed files on everyone one of the millions of people they slaughtered. This is very horrifying, but I saw pictures and read first hand accounts of them tossing babies in the air and catching them on swords and long knives. I also saw the actually tree where they took babies and beat them to death against it while playing music loudly to cover up the groans of the thousands of people that were dying in the ditches they just finished digging. It is the most brutal and evil things I have seen firsthand.
Yet, despite the dark past, Jesus Christ is breaking through the darkness with His eternal light. The young people that were at the first service are the hope of Cambodia. I was fortunate enough to hang out with a 20 year old college student named Vatanak (pronounced Va-tah-nah). Despite his father being a prominent buddhist priest, Vatanak accepted Christ as a teenager taking free English lessons at a local Christian Church in Phnom Penh. He told me that ever since he accepted Jesus that his life is "full of love, joy and peace unspeakable" that he never knew existed.
Vatanak is why we are here. To create an opportunity for kids like him to be changed and help change others through Jesus for all eternity.

Happy Birthday America!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7Wt4XlXUrc