Updates GALORE.

Life has been pretty busy lately, so I apologize for the lack of blogs. Instead of writing a bunch of seperate posts, I am going to try and give you a brief overview of the rest of Cambodia and our time in Malaysia.

Life in Cambodia was pretty restful. In the mornings, our team would meet for worship, Bible study, and breakfast. After breakfast, Chelsea and I taught a Microsoft Word and an English Grammar class until lunch. After lunch, I had the rest of the day free. On Saturdays, we would have game day with the students, which generally was ultimate frisbee in the park.

My free time was time to be alone, go on a bike ride, and be with God. Many hours were spent pedaling the streets of Siem Reap praying for the city, for our team, for the people….for life. In my last blog, I attempted to relay what God was doing inside of me. As I said before, this was a month of brokenness. When I asked God to fill me with his Spirit and to search me and know me and create in me a clean heart, he answered. It just wasn’t the way I expected. It seemed like from that moment on, I felt a deep conviction within seconds of thinking something that wasn’t in the will of God or speaking out of a place of frustration, etc. It felt like I was getting less, not more, like Jesus. This left me in a state of even more frustration, yet I see now that this is a beautiful beginning. He’s dealing with the leftover baggage…the pride… so that he can trust me with all he has planned for me. It’s in his mercy and love, not his anger, that he disciplines.

At the end of Cambodia, we had a squad debrief in which our two squad coaches, Gary and Joey, and the rest of the 30 r-squad members came together in Siem Reap to rest and re-fill. The things God did at debrief changed everything for me. I won’t go into details yet, for the story is still unfolding. Know, however, that I plan on telling you this story, for it truly is a testimony to answered prayers!! I encountered God in a new way, and I have seen him answer my prayers so quickly, and even answer ones that I have been praying for years, that it leaves me in awe. I learned so much about him and myself this month. Thank you for your prayers… they truly got me through the hard times. I can’t wait to tell you more stories!!

I hope God will bring me back to Cambodia one day, for the harvest is RIPE and READY in this place!

Exhausting. Our month was exhausting. This month, the girls and guys seperated for different ministries. The girls split up into two teams. Our team was showered with favor…and lots of work. The first assignment was for our team to go to Port Klang, an eclectic hole-in-the-wall city, for five days. We literally had 7 am-11 pm days. We did everything from visiting a home for the elderly, house visits, leading worship for refugee kids, prayer walking the Indian district, working at a two day food festival, going to an 8 course benefit dinner, etc. So much activity for 5 days, yet it was so cool to see the Lord’s provision.

After the 5 days, we then traveled 8 hrs. by bus and train to Buttersworth, Malaysia. There, we again went full force. Our days began at 6:30 (for the workout ppl) and ended super late. Our living situations were quite entertaining. The 12 of us split into two rooms, and six girls stretched, pad-to-pad, the entire length of the room. So needless to say, were many hilarious bonding sessions. We also had AC, praise the Lord!!

Ministry was interesting and not at all what we expected. We thought we would be discipling and supervising abandoned and abused kids/young adults, but instead we got handed their fund-raising responsibilities. We cut out thousands of paper hearts for sponsorship, made ribbons, and painted a mural for the church.

I learned a lot this month through our contact Janet. Janet is a spitfire of a woman- one who preaches conviction and truth, and lives what she teaches. She lives a radical life of intercession and worship. I have watched this woman pray through hardship in her own family, pray for our team to be united, intercede for her nation, and fall on her knees in adoration of our God. Her life of absolute trust and dependence on God challenged me. Here was a woman that is walking through the fire with such grace and faith that it inspires me to ACT on my faith. (More to come on this in the next blog.)

I think I can safely say we all left that place in deeper unity- not only with each other, but with our God too, and we all learned the meaning of servanthood in a new way. Sometimes God has us do the seemingly small, insignificant things, and we wonder at the meaning of it all. It’s easy to get frustrated when all you are doing is cutting paper hearts. Yet…God loves our obedience. He is searching for willing hearts…hearts that will do whatever he asks, not because we are forced, but out of deep love for our Maker and Friend. How appropriate, then, that he had us cutting paper hearts this month. What a creative God we serve!

We have arrived!!! Updates soon!

Wow- I am so overwhelmed with the amount of people who have partnered with me this year. THANK YOU! Thank you thank you thank you! Let me tell you what you have done so far- you have helped plant a beautiful soccer field for orphans, you have helped plant seeds in the philippino prison, you have held orphans and neglected children, you have taught english, you have prayed, you have loved on prostitutes and lady boys, you have ministered to gang members, you have brought hope to the hopeless…and so much more! And it’s only the beginning of month four!

Here is where I am at in my support:

In my actual account: $6623.50

Monthly support pledged for the remaining months: $3800

Total: $10, 423.50

So far, I have $3876.50 left to raise!!! WHOO!!!

My next deadline for funds is coming up. So as a little Christmas gift, I am praying to be fully funded by Dec. 25!!! Please pray and consider if God would have you partner with me during these next few months! 🙂

Whew, that’s a lot of info. I’ll be better this month about updates! 🙂 Thailand will definitely be a powerful month!