What has Team Seven:Eleven been up to this week? Have we been enjoying the beautiful Cambodia countryside? Yes. Are we loving on the beautiful children at the orphanage? Of course. And what about daydreaming about American food, and jointly cheering over cinnamon crunch bagels from Panera Bread and free Wifi internet? Without a doubt! So here is an update of Team Seven:Eleven.
Ministry for the Week
We started the week off with church Sunday morning at the orphanage. It was an exciting experience because families from a nearby village were picked up in the huge flat-bed truck that the orphanage owns and joined our worship service. Brandon volunteered and did an amazing job preaching the message at church, after only a 30 minute heads up from the pastor. This week we have been able to visit another cell group and encourage the four church members who attended. I enjoyed the cell group because we asked the members to pray for our team’s weak state of health, which was greatly needed. Several days this week we visited our neighbors in the village and continued building relationships with them. We were able to pray for one of the ladies’ sisters who is recovering from a moto accident that happened the day before. The guys were able to help dig up some huge, bright purple potatoes out of one of the ladies’ gardens, and then we got to take them home with us to eat! Yummy. Two afternoons this week our team worked around the orphanage making new laundry lines and digging holes for the fence we will build around the trash pile. The fence will hopefully keep the chickens and cows from strewing all the trash everywhere. The rest of the week was typically filled by playing with the kids, participating in the nightly worship, holding English classes for the children, and meeting for devotional time or planning with the team. 
Week at a Glance
This will be our final week at the orphanage, and we are praying God will lead our every step. Many of our daily activities will be the same as the past few weeks; we will spend time with the kids, visit people in the village, and work around the orphanage. I think many of us have felt an urgency to speak the truth of the gospel to these children at all times this week. Even though we are ministering at a Christian orphanage, we cannot assume that the truth of Christ is known or understood. This week we are holding a mini vacation bible school type of thing for the little kids Monday- Friday, we are having a party Sunday afternoon, and most of the nights we usually do English classes, we will now be having a bible study. With each of these activities, we hope to just share the gospel of Christ and the love He has for them. I am looking forward to this final week at the Four Square Orphanage and all that God is doing here. 
Yearning for Cinnamon Crunch Bagels
Our team has finally reached the point where we miss aspects of home quite a bit. One night last week we ended up talking about American food for like an hour straight. We talked about each restaurant we wish we could eat at, and got excited when someone named the same food they would order at that restaurant that you would. It reached a climactic moment when Brandon exclaimed “I could really go for a cinnamon crunch bagel from Panera Bread right now. We all jointly cheered “Yes!” “With a hot cup of real coffee”. Again, louder this time, “Yes!” “And free refills of coffee”. The cheer now a low roar, “Yes!” “With free WiFi internet”. A final “YES!” resounded through the room and carried all throughout the orphanage halls. We were practically drooling after the experience. It has sense become a daily event to talk about cinnamon crunch bagels and free WiFi. If anyone wants to send us some Panera bagels through the mail, feel free!
Prayer Needs for the Week
- Health for our team. Many of us are struggling with our health in some way or another.
- We will show and proclaim the gospel of Christ to these children every chance we get.
- The people in the village we have been visiting will be encouraged and God will use the seeds we have planted.
