I heart these kids!

Alex in Cambodia sent me a few pictures that he thought I would love to see.  I wanted to share them here!!

The email's subject was: Someone asked me to send these to you

Followed by this:

Care to guess who???? 

FYI...he's offering you a cucumber in the last pic!

FYI FYI...orphanage cucumbers rock the house. So you're getting a pretty dang tasty gift.

It's Rothanak!!!!

And a second email:

Before you look at this pic, I wanted to tell you that there has been some major rearranging done with sleeping arrangements lately. The girls are now in the new building and the boys are split in the "old" building (younger boys below, older upstairs) - and they have dismantled/reassembled most bunks in the process. So I can't say for certain who might have written what you are about to see, but it is on Hieng's bed. Love it!

Heing sleeping

Just to let you know, Heing is the boy that I sponsor at the orphanage.  No matter who wrote it, I felt loved all day long!!!

And one more picture that Alex sent. First he sent:

And asked me if I recognized it.  OF COURSE I DID!!!  DO you see the necklace in the pic??? Well, I had made it in high school (see the #11 -- my basketball jersey number) and wore it all the time.  After high school it was one thing I just couldn't seem to get rid of, that was until I brought it to Cambodia.  I just though Pichhing had to have it!!! And I love that he's still wearing it!! Yay!!

Then Alex sent me this picture:

Now you can see Pichhing's face.  And the yellow bracelet he is holding... yep, its his present to me!  I'll get it in April... I can't wait!!

And, since the picture above of Heing is him sleeping, I thought you may want to see him awake...

Videos Uploaded To YouTube

I've uploaded some of the videos from the trip to YouTube.  Check them out!!!

Cambodia, come & gone...

I've come and gone from Cambodia.  I can't believe it. Sometimes I think about it and wonder if it was just a dream.  I can't relay (very well) how great it was.  I couldn't have asked for a better team or better leaders.  I couldn't have asked for a better group of children to visit.

It's funny how different this trip was for me personally than the trip last year.  I was much more open and receptive to the children.  Last year I was more scared.  This year I ran up and grabbed the children, hugged them, held their hands, swung them around, played, built, and decorated with them.  They are more amazing than I had remember (and I remembered them as being very amazing).

As we each walked into the orphanage there were children who naturally drifted towards each teammate.  It was amazing to watch each of my teammate interact with each of the children individually and in a group.  Without a common verbal language (the children can say a select few English phrases and we could poorly count to 10 in Khmer) the common language became love.  And the unconditional love of the children and the adults at the orphanage struck me to my core.

The children that gravitated towards me (or I towards them) and some of the (million) memories I have are...

Arriving at the airport.  Polin was there.

She was the girl I bonded with last year.  She stuck around me a lot.  She is in middle school and helps with the cooking and cleaning around the orphanage.  She is amazingly beautiful.  When we arrive the children have no clue who is coming, when she saw me she lit up and said "Kristie.  I miss you."  All I could say back was I missed her too!

Sunday service.  It's amazing to hear God praised in other languages.  I absolutely love it as it reminds me of how big He really is.  There isn't anything that separates us from him.  No language barrier.  He knows them all.  It was at Sunday service that I first saw Heing again.  He is the child at the orphanage that I sponsor.

This child has more personality in his little finger than I have period.  He just lights up a room when he walks into it.  His smile melts hearts.  He once said that when he grows up he wants to be Prime Minister and I think he would be perfect for that role.  It was great to see him wink at me in church and later point at me in a way that he and I had done the year before.

The first drive up to the orphanage.  There were no children waiting. It was crazy, they weren't expecting us.  When the first few arrived and greeted us with hugs and 'hellos' one of the boys ran off only to come back a few minutes later holding the hand of Narin.  The boy surveyed the group and then said something in Khmer, pointing straight at me.  Narin's face lit up.  And so did mine.  I jumped up and down, he remembered me!  I screamed Narin as he ran towards me.  I ran towards him and gave him a huge hug and spun him in circles.

He also was the one on the last day who decided, for the group, it was time to stop saying goodbye when he shoved me into the bus.  Someone said later he was crying but didn't want me to see.

Pechhing repeating what we would say.

He is an absolutely brilliant kid.  Literally.

Mike taught him how to play checkers.  After one game no one could beat him.  He can think strategically like no other.

And Rathanak.

He was sick the entire time we were there.  My nickname for him became my 'Cambodian Space Heater.'  I'm the only person I know who would need a space heater in 90 degree weather.  He is another amazing boy.  He is in the same grade as Polin and he is give the responsibility to hold keys for some of the rooms. This is a big deal as the grownups don't even have the key!  We asked one of the translators to let us into a locked room and they had to call Rathanak to unlock it for us.

I miss them all...

And, to end the trip my team headed to Siem Reap.  It's the most westernized place in all of Cambodia and is a fun place to shop and just hang out.  On the last day, the team went on an ELEPHANT RIDE.  I know, what kind of mission trip was this??!!?! Ha!  But I have to say, it was pretty cool!

After the ride I got to feed the elephant bananas. Bonus!!


A quick reflection and plug to finish the post...

Reflection 1.  When I think of the trip, this song comes to mind.
Reflection 2.  When I think of the trip, Joshua 1:9 and James 1:27 come to mind.

Plug.  Fallen Sparrow is a non-profit built from people who have gone on the same mission trip and continue to have a heart for the children at the New Life Orphanages.  They are trying to raise about $12,000 for rice (for 3 orphanages - about 90 children) for the next year and to provide a few computers.  If you would like to contribute please do so by going to their site and clicking on Give.

For greater things are yet to come...

Cambodia Update

I can't believe that in less than four weeks from today our team will be flying to Cambodia! And we have a blog!!! We have a few posts already but if you remember last year we posted a ton of pictures and brief comments on our time at the orphanage, around Phnom Pehn, and Siem Reap.  Please feel free to check it out and keep up with us on the journey!

I first want to again thank everyone who has already put so much into our journey to serve; through planning, praying and pooling of resources even before we arrive at the orphanage. I am utterly amazed that more than half of the $3200 support needed has been raised. For those of you who would still like to contribute you can do so by either going online to http://www.goglobalx.org/, click on Give, the country is ‘Cambodia - Phnom Penh', the trip is 'Cambodia - Phnom Penh Christmas 12/02/10 - 12/12/10'.  Or you can make a check out to ‘North Point Community Church.’  Please mail the check to me (if you need my address please let me know).  Please try to give ASAP.  And, yes this contribution is tax deductible. 

Please continue praying for us as you have been.  Once again some of the prayer requests are:  (1) our team will stay unified, (2) we will endure safe travel,  (3) the children and community will be receptive to us and Christ, (4) God would use us as a way to share His love, and (5) through this amazing experience, we will continue to grow in our faith. 

I can't express enough how grateful I am to have each and everyone of you in my life. Thank you for your continued support!!

WinShape Retreat

I wanted to stop and take a minute to reflect on the time that I got to spend with my mission trip team.  We got to spend two days together at WinShape.  It was amazing to get together, to share our stories of what brought us to this point and to do some fun team building activities.  Since the whole team was there I thought you may want to see everyone.  Here we are...

We are a pretty good looking group if I could say so myself!  We also had a chance to climb a rock wall.  Not to brag or anything but I made it to the top (so did Elloa and Drew)!  What a lot of fun...

I know there were other cameras there so others may be able to upload some other great pictures from the weekend, however if you want to see all of the pictures that I have check the link on the side or click here.

Cambodia 2010

It's beginning to look a lot like... Christmas (in July)!!!  Which for all who know me well, know this is my favorite time of year!!  Does this feel like deja vu??  Yep! I’m going back!!!  I was so fortunate to go to Cambodia last year and ecstatic that I’ve been chosen to go back again this year!!

First I want to say thank you so much for all the support you have given to me already in prayers and love.

As a member of the Cambodia team, I will have the opportunity to partner with New Life Church as they love and encourage the children at their orphanage. By creating a fun, relational environment, I will have the privilege of teaching these children about God, building friendships, and most of all, showing them that our team cares for them.

And I can’t do this alone.  I need your help (again).  Please prayerfully consider partnering with me in this journey.  I will need your help in two ways.

First, thru prayer.  My prayers are:

1. Our team will be unified
2. We will endure safe travel
3. The children and community will be receptive to us and Christ
4. God would use me as a way to share His love
5. Through this amazing experience, I will continue to grow in my faith.  

The second way I will need your help is thru financial contributions.  I will need to raise $3,200. No contribution is too small (or too large ;)... if 100 people donate $30 I'm there!!  If you are able to assist, you can either go online to http://www.goglobalx.org/, click on Give, the country is ‘Cambodia - Phnom Penh', the trip is 'Cambodia - Phnom Penh Christmas 12/02/10 - 12/12/10'.  Or you can make a check out to ‘North Point Community Church’ and mail it to me.  If you need my address please let me know!   Please try to give before October 2010.  And, yes this contribution is tax deductible.  

I would love for you to be able to put faces with the prayers and support you will be sending our way.  For an uplifting and heartwarming video about some of the kids we will be serving, please click here.

Cambodia Pictures & Movies Galore!!

So I have uploaded a ton of pictures finally!  Like over 1,000.  I have all from our adventures to Phnom Pehn but have to still go thru the Siem Reap photos.  Fingers crossed that I will get them done soon. It has been sooooo much fun getting to review the amazing time I had with my fellow mission-aries and the children.  Also, I have uploaded all the movies that would fit.  Some were too large and I will hopefully get them on YouTube.

Just an FYI... I have signed up to go again in December.  Please pray for this opportunity to come again if that is God's plan in my life!!

Cambodia Video!!

I have been going thru my pictures almost nightly trying to organize the 5,000 photos I have received and in the middle of the pictures I have found a few scattered videos.  I love seeing them and will slowly get them uploaded to YouTube. 

Here is the first one.  For those who know and love me you will be amazed by my incredible acting talents...



Hope you enjoy!

Cambodia...

So, I've gone to Cambodia and come home.  Saw my family.  Celebrated Christmas and a New Year.  Been busy and back to work.  Got Preston back.  Cooked a lot.  But haven't said much here about the trip to Cambodia.

Well, I'm not to the point of making a massive recap but I can say something quickly.  And give you a link to pictures!! So far all that I have uploaded are the ones I have taken however my group got together last week to share all of our pictures.  I have them all and need to go thru them before uploading since there are quite a few duplicates.  However they will all be uploaded eventually!!  Keep posted!!

And now my few notes from my trip. 

• I had the most amazing time and I'm praying about the opportunity to return.  Please pray with me. 
• My roommate, Lisa, who most called my wife on the trip was the best!!  We roomed together, laughed together, and felt grateful that we met on the trip.  We have gotten together quite a few times for dinner and knitting.  I also see her at church on Sunday.  Tonight I went to an art show by her friend Laura Bowman.  She is a wonderful artist and I loved her art.
• The orphanage was spectacular!! I was some what afraid of what it may look like before I got there however knowing what a great place the children get to stay, how as a group they are such an amazing family, how Pastor Vek, his wife, and the rest of the people who take care of and love the children, and how they learn about God and get to know him put me at ease when our last day came.
• The food was to die for!! Yummmy!  I loved it!! 
• The group as a whole worked so well together.  We each has such amazing strengths that we all got to use, we each brought different ideas that were so fun to see executed, and it was great to make some new friends.

MIA - Cambodia Here We Come!!

I have been MIA, I am aware of this. An over-packed calendar with no ambition to type is all I have to blame it on, however it's a poor excuse, I know.  However, it probably won't change in the near future as my family is leaving town tomorrow A.M. (after having a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend with my Mom, Dad, Dan, Doc, Preston & me) and I will be off to Cambodia on Thursday!  How crazy it is that time has flown by so quickly!  I can't believe the end of 2009 is here!

If you would like to follow what happens in Cambodia please follow us here...

Please keep us in your prayers!!

Christmas In Cambodia Blog

So, I wanted to give you the link the new blog for the mission trip to Cambodia that I am going on.  I am still very excited about the trip and I am looking forward to it so much!!  I will still post some things about the trip on this blog but the other blog will have information from all of the trip participants!!  Please keep us in your prayers!!