So…who wants to help third world orphans??? How about YOU!

Hello world!
I am not going to beat around the bush. As I sit here at the Sovanna mall close to where we live in Phnom Penh, I am trying to figure out how to write this. What I hear the Lord saying is be bold, be blunt, and just ask. So, that’s exactly what I am going to do! We need your money.

My team and I are working with an orphanage here that is probably the poorest ministry that our squad has been with. There are about thirty children ranging from the ages of nine months to eighteen years old, eighteen boys and twelve girls. The orphanage is run by a Cambodian man who was also raised in an orphanage. He literally found some of the kids on the street and just took them in. This orphanage needs SO much. But, we can’t give it to them. They don’t even know where the money for next month’s food will come from. They have enough food to get them through this month, but after that, they have no idea. All they can do is trust that God will provide, which He will.

God put it on our hearts to do something for them that they would never be able to do otherwise, and to bless these kids with an experience that they will remember for the rest of their lives. We want to take them ALL to the beach! We discussed it as a team and felt compelled to at least try to do this. We brought the idea to Rithy, our contact and the director of the orphanage, and he told us that they have been praying for a year to figure out a way to take the kids to the beach. What?! Yes! When we heard that, we got even more excited. He told us the total cost to do this $600 for the transportation, the food, and the lodging. We want to take all the children and all the helpers and volunteers. The total would be around forty to fifty people. Our world race budget doesn’t even come close to covering this. But, you could EASILY bless them with this experience of a lifetime.

You might be wondering why we aren’t asking for money to give them food for next month or something more practical and essential. Well, please, by all means, donate money to provide food for these kids and Rithy and his family. If that is your heart, PLEASE bless them with that. However, we feel strongly that God wants to go beyond that. He doesn’t want us to just survive on this earth, He wants us to thrive. He longs to give us gifts and surprise us with things that BLOW OUR MINDS. So that is exactly what we are longing to do for our ministry contact. Rithy just wants to do something for his kids that he could never do on his own. His eyes lit up at the possibility of their prayers being answered.

I could easily guilt trip you into giving or convict you in some way. But, what I am feeling in my spirit is that you are better than that. You deserve more credit. I believe that you will give because your desire is to spread His love in ways that you could never do on your own too. Here is your chance. Jump in on what God is wanting to do here in Cambodia for these orphans. We would greatly appreciate it and without you, we can’t do it, so it really does depend on you.

We want to take the children on this trip of a lifetime in just two short weeks, so please help soon if you can! We are hoping to have the money raised by one week from today- Wednesday, October 17th.  Once we know if this trip is possible, we will need to plan transportation and lodging.

If the goal is not reached and we can't go to the beach, we will give all the donated money to the orphanage as a one-time donation to help with their basic operational needs.  Either way, your donations will be helping children AND answering prayers!  It's a win/win!

You can also visit the brand new blog that our team is creating for the orphanage at www.chcorphanage.wordpress.com.

Team Unlocked: Jill Schulenberg, Hosanna Sheeley, Katie Howard, Missy Hollinger, Rose Huber and Brittany Baker.