Surprise! I’m terrible at blogging but we are still alive and well.
Anyway, to catch you up on where we are in this journey, we are nearly midway through month 8 and are in Cambodia for a second month. We’ve had a team change and are loving working with this incredible group. Everyone has such a heart to serve! Plus, we have a lot of fun together. We are also blessed to be serving again at Bykota Children’s Home. We had a fantastic month here in January with most of our team rating it as a fave and were pumped to find out we’d be staying through February. It really couldn’t have come at a better time. Usually, when you finally get in the swing of things, it’s time to leave. I had grown to loathe packing all of my stuff up at the end of each month. It grows old. So getting to stay at Bykota was pretty awesome. We all said it’s the closest we’ve been to feeling like we’ve had a home in 8 months. And I know it’s just going to make saying goodbye this time that much harder but getting to see relationships blossom this second month will certainly be worth it.
Bykota House is the best-run children’s home I have ever encountered. I mean it. The Benz family has been here for over 10 years and they have modeled this place after a family. All of the 23 children plus the staff call them mom and dad. They’ve adopted 7 Cambodian children of their own. They really believe James 1:27 and are living it out in a way I’ve never seen before. I’m thankful for the opportunity to see their heart for all God’s children and to learn from them how to make something like this work. They have incredible faith and are dependent on the Lord to provide for the entire organization and their own livelihood. George Müller has always been a missionary hero of mine for his faith and desire to care for orphans and it’s been a blessing to experience life with a family that lives like he did. If you’re interested in learning more about their organization or are interested in supporting them through prayer or financially, check out their website http://www.orphanaid.org and see how you can get involved.
Being here has truly been a gift. Our team is split up serving in different ways during the day. Myers, Howard, and Kevin help teach English school to two groups of kids in the morning and in the afternoon. They help by teaching vocabulary, grammar, Bible stories, and computer skills. Karla helps one of the younger Benz children with her homeschooling each morning. Lindsay assists in the preschool classroom while Marie and I work with the special needs group. Hearing the stories of all of the children and seeing how their lives were transformed by coming to Bykota is incredible. We have all built some exceptional relationships here. Leaving these kids is going to be the hardest thing I’ve had to do in 8 months but knowing that they have opportunities because of this place gives me great joy. These kids are the future of Cambodia and they are experiencing the love of Jesus Christ through the family here and are going to do some great things for this community. I’m so thankful for the chance to serve alongside this ministry and hope to come back again someday!
In other news, we are about to round out our 6 months in Asia by heading to the Philippines. My dad will be joining us for the first week in March to serve with our ministry there and we are thrilled to have the chance to see him and work with him. After that, we’ll head to Africa to finish up our last two months before heading back stateside. Please pray with us for endurance and joy in these last months as well as guidance as to what the Lord has for us upon returning. We love you all and are continually blessed by your prayers and support!
Photo credit to Marie Olson
