Hey guys! We have so much to catch you up on.. Four days after we got home from Cambodia, Josh took some of his worship students on a short missions trip to Guatemala.. ( I'll let him tell you all about that!) While Ezzy and I were at home re-adjusting from jet lag, my grandpa on my dad's side took a turn for the worse. He had been sick for a while, but his end was in sight. He passed away and we flew to Florida for his funeral. Thankfully it all worked out, Josh's connecting flight to fly back home was actually in Florida, so he got to be there for the funeral as well. Death is such a strange thing.. In the moment after you take your last breath, something very spiritual happens. Your spirit departs from your body and either gets to be forever present with the Lord, or is forever taken away from His presence. I remember in some of his last months Josh and I spent some time with him and just talked with him about Jesus. One of my favorite memories was after that when Josh played his guitar and sang all of the Spanish worship songs he knew over Papapa (that's what we called him). It was such a special moment, and even though he was sick, he had so much peace as Josh sang the beautiful words.
The funeral was beautiful and we got to see my dad's side of the family, which is HUGE! But it was so great to see them! Any ways, so that's what we have been up to since we got home.. But now, lets fill you in on where we are at with Cambodia!
It was so great to be back there! It was confirmation in our hearts that the Lord has called us there! Why our timing keeps on changing I'm not sure, but we've heard that this is actually a pretty common process for missionaries. I think it is part of God growing our character and teaching us to keep trusting Him, even when we don't understand. And I also think that as the longing for us to just "get there already" grows in our hearts, the Lord will use that to encourage us in the times when we are finally there, and it's really hard. One thing the Lord was reminding us as we were there was that it is going to be HARD. Yes, there are exciting aspects of it, and we are passionate about it, but it is also going to be really hard.
As far as the blue prints for the AIM Base, and what it will all look like… We found some options for a base office, and some options for community living to make housing cheaper for the team. Now these are all still options, but they are options we weren't aware of before we went! And we found some housing ideas for us. (We are still praying into weather or not we will have a separate living space or live with the team, but either way, we want to do community living.) Two things I really do want to find wherever we live is a bathtub for Ezzy (most places only have showers); and this isn't by any means a must, but I would LOVE to have a yard. It is so dirty and dusty everywhere else we go that it would be so nice to have a place outside that Ezzy could play in, that I'm not constantly having to watch her. So as far as housing goes we got to see ideas and get ball park estimates for pricing. Some of the start up costs will have to include appliances, like a fridge and oven, etc.. But again, It's all good to know! We also had the chance to sit down with several of our missionary friends there and they were so helpful! They talked about everything from budget, to what was the hardest for them after they moved, and what kind of stuff you will want to pack because you can't easily find it there. It was so exciting!
As far as blueprints go for the Children's Home.. Their property is small, and the land is not good for gardening so we have been trying to find some innovative ways to go about this. We talked to them about using Aquaponics, which is a food production system that combines conventional agriculture, with hydroponics in a symbiotic environment. So basically you can raise aquatic animals like snails, fish, crayfish or prawns in a tank and cultivate plants with that water. Here is a picture of one.
We have also been looking into vertical gardening,
and a few other ideas. While I'd love to say we have it all figured out, I honestly think it will be a lot of trial and error, and a lot of listening for the Lords leading on things.
We also talked to them about how we will be able to send World Race teams to them and we can have teams teach English, not only to the kids, but also invite the neighbors in the community. This is something they were excited about, because they are always trying to find ways to get involved and love on the community. The teams can also help with any manual labor needed or anything else for that matter! Many hands lighten the load.:)
