I am blessed to be sitting in an air-conditioned room, enjoying ice water and cream cheese wontons with a TV radiating light from above. I glance out the 2^nd story window and am reminded that right outside, people are no where near as fortune as I. Take a right outside the front doors of Café Eden, hang another right on the first street, and about 2 blocks down on the left hand side, make a stop. There you will find 12 young Khmer boys, homeless, dirty, and high off of glue-sniffing. Some abandoned and the rest homeless by choice, these 12 now call this street corner their home. Aging from 16 to 20, they roam the city during the day, asking for spare change, or take a hit off glue fumes, trying to escape the pains of life for just a few hours.

After being asked for change by them last week, Kim, a girl on my team, invited them to our Wednesday Night Gathering (basically, a church service) at the YWAM base. Surprisingly, all 12 showed up, suspicions guarding their faces, not knowing what to expect. After the gathering ended, some of the guards fell to the wayside and they began to chatter outside of their clan a bit. They left with bellies full of corn, and logan fruit, some even grinning and waving goodbye. After a few days of planning, 4 of us showed up to their “home” Saturday, arms filled with bags of rice and meat-on-a-stick. No picture can capture their surprised delight. No words can express the way my heart strings were plucked.

That night with them was more than a reality check. I can leave this nation. They can’t. I can go to the store and pick up whatever food I was craving. They can’t. I can call my parents and tell them I love them. They can’t. It is moments like these that keep me going. It is the reason my heart is filled to the brim with thanks. It is what spurs me forward when all I want to do is quit. To see warmth light up their eyes and hope dance across their faces adds new sparks to the flame that is already in my spirit.

I long for the day when I won't wonder how many kids have empty stomachs, or how many are hardened from years of abuse, or how many are orphaned because sickness has claimed their parents. My heart burns for it, to see a generation who knows their identity as Heavenly Royalty. If it is this strong on my broken, feeble, human heart, how much more can it be on our Father's?

I am thankful to my Father for how He has provided in abundance my entire life.

I am saturated with hope for what God can do in these kids’ lives.

I am carrying a soul full of Fire, ready to see His Kingdom come to this earth.

"No place I'd rather be, than here in Your love. So set a fire down in my soul that I can't contain and I can't control. I want more of you God"

These lyrics by the United Pursuit Band have been my prayer over this past year. How faithful the Lord is to answer the deepest cries of my heart. He has been incredibly faithful to the desires of my soul, to be taken deeper in the Spirit, for Him to be my teacher, the first love of my life. To open my eyes more to how He moves in the world, from the biggest to the smallest of ways.

It can be a challenge, to wait on the Lord for prayers that have been prayed for what seems like eons. To not give up but to keep pressing in because you still have that tiny strand of hope that He will still answer, even when all is quiet. And just when it seems like He won't, He opens your eyes to the ways He has been moving during your entire life, all for you so you can bring Him more praise.

One of these ways I saw Him pour out faithfulness was back in the village when we were staying at the orphanage. A few days before we left, for some random reason, an ice cream truck was driving down the dirt road. Sunny, a girl on our team, saw it, flagged it down, and we had all the kids come meet us on the road. All the kids got ice cream that day, some for the very first time.




Squeals of delight came from behind me as I stood in front of the truck. Nead and Minn came flying out form the back of the village, racing through the front gates with water dripping from their hair. Of course there was no time to dry off after a shower when there was ice cream! The joy that lit their faces up was indescribable. The ways that He is faithful to even the little prayers for ice cream is so sweet.



We have truly been seeing the Faithful heart of God here. Our classes are all going great. We have started to make friends with them and other locals, building up relationships and going deeper. Our team unity is still amazing and we are all becoming more of a family by the minute. With outreach half way over, we are seeking His heart for more of what He wants to do with us while we are here.

Thank you for all of you prayers and support while we are out here! They mean more than words can describe.

Love.

It has been over 2 weeks since we first arrived in Cambodia, and already this beautiful nation has stolen a piece of my heart. After being in the country for just a few days, we headed out to live in a village for the next 12 days.

As we arrived at the orphanage we would be staying at, shy kids peered around door corners to catch a glimpse of 13 new people who would be staying with them. After settling into our new rooms, my coleader and myself sat at a rickety wooden table that the kids eat their meals at, to talk with the pastor of the orphanage. Within minutes, 3 little girls (Nuein, Nead, and Minn) were clambering up me, braiding my hair, playing with my hands, and giggling like there was no tomorrow.

(Minn, Nuien, and Nead)

That night, our team gathered in the church building in the center of the orphanage to meet all the kids. After meeting all the children, one of the most touching moments of my life took place. All the kids gathered around us and for the next 5 minutes, 35 orphaned children prayed with zeal for us, all at once, and all out loud. Not because they had to, but because they love Jesus and they already loved us.

(church time)

The next twelve days were challenging but so incredible. We slept on mats on floors surrounded by mosquito nets, bucket showered with rain water, used squatty potties. Dirt roads, murky water, mud. Bugs. Lots and lots of bugs. Ramen noodles for breakfast, rice and meat for lunch and dinner. Little boys coming home from school, carrying hand picked bouquets for all us ladies. Little girls braiding our hair, intertwined with flowers. Lots of tickling, laughter, and joy. Through out the days, we got to know the stories of all the kids a little bit more. The story of Nead, Da and Kao are one of them.

After their father left the family, their mother turned to alcohol, leaving the 3 of them to fend for themselves. By the age of 4, Nead had learned how to catch rats in rice fields, kill, cook and sell the bodies at the market. They would keep the heads of the rats as their source for food. Her older brothers could build wooden guns to catch and kill the rats quicker. The pastor saw one of the boys running through the fields at night and set out to hear his story. When he found the living conditions they were living in, he quickly gained permission to take them to the orphanage, where they can eat, play, go to school, and encounter the Father's heart. With the amount that beautiful little girl smiles and laughs, you never would have guessed about the life she used to live.

(Me and Nead)

My life is forever changed because of these kids. No fighting, no tears, no drama, no fits. Just love. No games, no toys. Just each other. No mother, no father. Just Jesus. And they love Him with all they got. With so little in the physical and so much in the faith, these kids have become my new heroes.

1 week left

11 weeks ago, 85 people who had never meet before gathered here on this island. They packed their bags, said goodbye to home, and headed out to a giant rock in the middle of the ocean for 6 months to seek the Lord. Leaving all they knew behind, they came here looking for something real, something Divine. Loaded with questions, seeking hearts, and eagerly growing faith, the school began.

It is absolutely amazing looking back and seeing how much God moved in our school. I have watched the most broken of hearts encounter the Father's love for the first time. I have witnessed hardened hearts be softened to the presence of the Holy Spirit. Watching 85 strangers become a family is one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. The Lord has been so faithful to each heart, no matter student or staff. We are all His kids, and He has watched out for us, loved us, grown us all this past season. I have had more breakthrough and walking in FREEDOM of being a Daughter than I ever have in my life.

Exactly 1 week from today, I will be heading out with my amaaaaaazing outreach family to Cambodia. We are all quickly gaining His heart for this broken nations and can't wait to get there and share the Love.

Team Fambodia!!!

Our first week there will be spent living in a village, ministering to orphans. After that, we will be staying with the YWAM base in Battambang, the second largest city. We will be partnering with a variety of ministries in the mornings, and focusing on the youth center that the base runs in the afternoon.

Please be praying for

• Protection over travels
• Favor while we travel
• Health while we are there
• Team unity
• That we all gain a bigger heart for Cambodia
• That we stay completely Spirit-led

Thank you so much for all your prayer and support!