We serve an awesome God! Over the last ten days God has moved in my life way beyond my expectations. This mission trip was another step i needed in my life to make my walk with Him that much better. God's love is so great and it has no boundries! God taught me several things and many amazing memories were created along the way. We can not control all situations but we can control our relationship with God through obedience and faith. The kids had a strong relationship with God and were hungry to learn more about Him everyday. I could truly see their love for God, especially during the praise songs. I pray that God will bless them and fill their hearts with love, wisdom, encouragement, forgiveness, and acceptance.
I cannot forget about my teammates..... I enjoyed all of you and thanks for never forgetting our purpose of the trip!
-Suntel (The kids called me Suntel instead of Shantel)
-And Jesus looking upon them saith, with men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible. Mark 10:27
In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the worlds of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, "It is more blessed to give than receive." Act 20:35
August 2, 2011
July 31, 2011
Last Day With The Kids
Sorry for the late update, but here's a recap of our final day with the kids:
We started off our day with the normal routine of bible lessons, then arts & crafts, and free time. Team "A" was up and they were closing out the week's theme (Covenant) by teaching about how God fulfilled his Agreement with Noah and promised never to destroy all life on Earth again. He illustrated this by creating a rainbow as an outward expression of this agreement between Noah and God.
The craft of he day was having the kids decorate their individual piece of 8x8 cloth. Most of them drew rainbows to go along with the lesson, but some of the kids got creative. I think I remember seeing a tiger of some sort on one. Ha! We then strung each piece together into a big quilt to symbolize how Relationships, Obedience, Trust/Faith, and Agreement all come together to create a Covenant with God.
We broke for lunch and we could help but think of the limited time we had left with the kids, but we still had so much fun planned for the rest of the evening. We got back to the orphanage around 2:00pm and were super excited to see the ice cream that we had ordered for the kids was about to arrive. Woo hoo!
After that we headed to the New Life Church in Bantey Meanchey to meet up with Pastor Navy. He wanted to show us the church and have us pray with him about the growth of it. What an incredible man! He's come a loooong way since gather under a tree with a handful of people to worship God, and now the church has about 75 attending. It doesn't sound like much, but Bantey Meanchey is a very small province.
Back to the orphanage we go! Since it was our last night with the kids we decided that it would be fun to have one last hoo-rah, and we loaded them all up in our little bus and headed to "the gardens." It was like Disney Land for them. There were life-sized statues of different animals and superheros, a playground, music, fountains, and awesome food. It was really the only time that we got to eat together - just us and them. Such a bonding experience and the kids LOVED it!
After "the garden" it was time to say our goodbyes :( We had prepared a quick 5 minute slide show recapping the week, so we showed that and then prayed for the kids. This was one of the most amazing things that happened all trip. As we encircled the kids, we all started praying at the same time. Yes, everyone... at the same time. 30 voices praying to God out loud. Powerful! And although it was hard to hear your own prayer through all of the voices, it was amazing to think that our God hears each and every word that each and every person was saying.
Tears, tears, and more tears, but we have no doubt that the kids know just how much we love them.
-Mike
We started off our day with the normal routine of bible lessons, then arts & crafts, and free time. Team "A" was up and they were closing out the week's theme (Covenant) by teaching about how God fulfilled his Agreement with Noah and promised never to destroy all life on Earth again. He illustrated this by creating a rainbow as an outward expression of this agreement between Noah and God.
The craft of he day was having the kids decorate their individual piece of 8x8 cloth. Most of them drew rainbows to go along with the lesson, but some of the kids got creative. I think I remember seeing a tiger of some sort on one. Ha! We then strung each piece together into a big quilt to symbolize how Relationships, Obedience, Trust/Faith, and Agreement all come together to create a Covenant with God.
We broke for lunch and we could help but think of the limited time we had left with the kids, but we still had so much fun planned for the rest of the evening. We got back to the orphanage around 2:00pm and were super excited to see the ice cream that we had ordered for the kids was about to arrive. Woo hoo!
After that we headed to the New Life Church in Bantey Meanchey to meet up with Pastor Navy. He wanted to show us the church and have us pray with him about the growth of it. What an incredible man! He's come a loooong way since gather under a tree with a handful of people to worship God, and now the church has about 75 attending. It doesn't sound like much, but Bantey Meanchey is a very small province.
Back to the orphanage we go! Since it was our last night with the kids we decided that it would be fun to have one last hoo-rah, and we loaded them all up in our little bus and headed to "the gardens." It was like Disney Land for them. There were life-sized statues of different animals and superheros, a playground, music, fountains, and awesome food. It was really the only time that we got to eat together - just us and them. Such a bonding experience and the kids LOVED it!
After "the garden" it was time to say our goodbyes :( We had prepared a quick 5 minute slide show recapping the week, so we showed that and then prayed for the kids. This was one of the most amazing things that happened all trip. As we encircled the kids, we all started praying at the same time. Yes, everyone... at the same time. 30 voices praying to God out loud. Powerful! And although it was hard to hear your own prayer through all of the voices, it was amazing to think that our God hears each and every word that each and every person was saying.
Tears, tears, and more tears, but we have no doubt that the kids know just how much we love them.
-Mike
July 28, 2011
Day 3 (at the ophanage) Recap!
Yesterday was our 3rd day at the orphanage and we dug in deeper to our theme for the week (Covenant) by teaching about Faith and Trust.
We started off the morning with our normal routine of praising God through songs. These kids love to sing! And I'm not talking about just kind of humming and mouthing the words so that it looks like they're singing. I'm talking about being able to see the veins popping out of their foreheads and necks kind of singing. Love their energy and passion for the Lord.
Team "Not-A" was in charge of the lesson for today and shined more light on the story of Noah and his patience, trust, and faith in God. We then asked the kids to right down what they are currently "waiting on God for." We collected their prayers (that they wrote down on strips of colorful construction paper so we can later make a rainbow out of them) and we're going to have them translated into English for us so we can specifically pray for them later in the week :)
We continued our lesson with the story of David & Goliath and how David had faith in the Lord. By having such strong faith he was able to defeat the mighty giant with just a sling and a stone. We acted out the story (which we will have to post a video of later) and it was soo funny. The kids loved it. After the story, we passed out half-dollar sized stones that had crosses on them to represent the stone that David used to kill Goliath. Hopefully they will keep it with them and always remember to trust in God.
We headed back to the orphanage after lunch for more activities to support our lesson for the day (trust / faith). First up - trust falls. The kids LOVED doing this! We'll have some great pictures to share of their faces as they fall backwards. ha!
Next we played a game that doesn't really have a name, but here's how it works: We put cones all over the floor and blindfold one of the children. One other kid then directs the blindfolded one through the obstacle course. There are certain place where the blindfolded has to pick up candy along the way all while the rest of the kids are shouting out directions too (the other kids shouting is not part of the game, but it naturally happens). Sometimes it hard to hear the voice of the true director amongst the distracting ones. Does that sound familiar?
We broke for dinner and then headed back again for MOVIE NIGHT! The kiddos absolutely LOVE movie night! It's hard not to get excited about Monsters Inc, popcorn, candy, Coke, and glow sticks. It's probably more fun watching the kids watch the movie, and we enjoyed every minute of it.
We've got another awesome day planned for the kids today! Team Rainbow Squadron... unite!
God is so good,
Mike
We started off the morning with our normal routine of praising God through songs. These kids love to sing! And I'm not talking about just kind of humming and mouthing the words so that it looks like they're singing. I'm talking about being able to see the veins popping out of their foreheads and necks kind of singing. Love their energy and passion for the Lord.
Team "Not-A" was in charge of the lesson for today and shined more light on the story of Noah and his patience, trust, and faith in God. We then asked the kids to right down what they are currently "waiting on God for." We collected their prayers (that they wrote down on strips of colorful construction paper so we can later make a rainbow out of them) and we're going to have them translated into English for us so we can specifically pray for them later in the week :)
We continued our lesson with the story of David & Goliath and how David had faith in the Lord. By having such strong faith he was able to defeat the mighty giant with just a sling and a stone. We acted out the story (which we will have to post a video of later) and it was soo funny. The kids loved it. After the story, we passed out half-dollar sized stones that had crosses on them to represent the stone that David used to kill Goliath. Hopefully they will keep it with them and always remember to trust in God.
We headed back to the orphanage after lunch for more activities to support our lesson for the day (trust / faith). First up - trust falls. The kids LOVED doing this! We'll have some great pictures to share of their faces as they fall backwards. ha!
Next we played a game that doesn't really have a name, but here's how it works: We put cones all over the floor and blindfold one of the children. One other kid then directs the blindfolded one through the obstacle course. There are certain place where the blindfolded has to pick up candy along the way all while the rest of the kids are shouting out directions too (the other kids shouting is not part of the game, but it naturally happens). Sometimes it hard to hear the voice of the true director amongst the distracting ones. Does that sound familiar?
We broke for dinner and then headed back again for MOVIE NIGHT! The kiddos absolutely LOVE movie night! It's hard not to get excited about Monsters Inc, popcorn, candy, Coke, and glow sticks. It's probably more fun watching the kids watch the movie, and we enjoyed every minute of it.
We've got another awesome day planned for the kids today! Team Rainbow Squadron... unite!
God is so good,
Mike
If You Srey So...
Although it's always difficult to learn 20 new names in just a few days (especially for me), it's even harder to learn so many names in a language you don't speak! The kids are so smart and they learned all our names in no time, albeit with alternate pronunciations (Santel, Dawid, etc.). We have done well to learn their names as well, and I can only imagine how our pronunciation sounds to them! A lot of the girls' names start with "srey", which is Khmer for "girl." I'm not sure why this is, but we have Srey Chen, Srey Vin, Srey Kouch and Srey Roth. Several of the boys' names begin with "So," but I don't know what that means. So we have Socheat, Sophol, and Sokhom. The cool thing is that as we spend more and more time with them, we almost forget that the name is foreign - the names become a part of who they are to us, and they are simply Si Long, Savoeun, Dané, etc.
We also found out that there are quite a few sibling pairs at the orphanage, but not necessarily the ones we expected! I was glad to hear that the kids do have their siblings with them. Of course, as amazing as these kids are, they all love each other so much like brothers and sisters should that it's impossible to notice any difference in treatment.
And in case we haven't emphasized how special these kids are, this should give you an idea: David, the only parent on our trip, asked our interpreter, "Do the kids get into much trouble?" Phillip, the interpreter, gave him a funny look and said, "Trouble? No, no trouble." I may only be speaking for myself, but if only our parents, bosses, teachers, etc. could say the same with such conviction!
-Mark
We also found out that there are quite a few sibling pairs at the orphanage, but not necessarily the ones we expected! I was glad to hear that the kids do have their siblings with them. Of course, as amazing as these kids are, they all love each other so much like brothers and sisters should that it's impossible to notice any difference in treatment.
And in case we haven't emphasized how special these kids are, this should give you an idea: David, the only parent on our trip, asked our interpreter, "Do the kids get into much trouble?" Phillip, the interpreter, gave him a funny look and said, "Trouble? No, no trouble." I may only be speaking for myself, but if only our parents, bosses, teachers, etc. could say the same with such conviction!
-Mark
July 27, 2011
I can now say I've eaten wild pigeon. yum
It's Wednesday? Whoa, time is flyyyying by! Guys I am loving it here! The kids are great, the people, the food (seriously no complaints here... however I am more of an adventurous one when it comes to trying new things -- me and David), and the weather is much more tolerable than I was anticipating. Seriously, ATL is just as hot and muggy as it is here.
I decided to stop taking my doxycycline yesterday. I hope from here on out my immune system alone will be suffice. I was developing an ever growing, ever angry rash I believe is an allergic reaction to the medicine. So keep me in your prayers for good health..... :) Bring it malaria.
I can't tell you how nice it is to get away and immerse yourself here, in this culture, with these sweet kids. My worries and anxieties back at home have all melted away. Here, life is raw, existential, simple, beautiful, and invigorating. I'm learning a lot about myself, the world, how we are as human beings - and relate to one another regardless of language.
Oh yea, I wanted to tell everyone to go on Amazon RIGHT NOW and get this book: "Ordeal in Cambodia". It is written by the man who has started the 3 orphanages we're serving here. It's his story of how he and his wife escaped Cambodia during a time of vicious warfare. It's a short book, in large print, **a very fast read. Seriously, it is so unbelievably touching. You'll thank me.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Ordeal+in+Cambodia+&x=0&y=0
Okeeeee, that's all for now! Time to go eat some more rice and unknown meat!!!!!!
I decided to stop taking my doxycycline yesterday. I hope from here on out my immune system alone will be suffice. I was developing an ever growing, ever angry rash I believe is an allergic reaction to the medicine. So keep me in your prayers for good health..... :) Bring it malaria.
I can't tell you how nice it is to get away and immerse yourself here, in this culture, with these sweet kids. My worries and anxieties back at home have all melted away. Here, life is raw, existential, simple, beautiful, and invigorating. I'm learning a lot about myself, the world, how we are as human beings - and relate to one another regardless of language.
Oh yea, I wanted to tell everyone to go on Amazon RIGHT NOW and get this book: "Ordeal in Cambodia". It is written by the man who has started the 3 orphanages we're serving here. It's his story of how he and his wife escaped Cambodia during a time of vicious warfare. It's a short book, in large print, **a very fast read. Seriously, it is so unbelievably touching. You'll thank me.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Ordeal+in+Cambodia+&x=0&y=0
Okeeeee, that's all for now! Time to go eat some more rice and unknown meat!!!!!!
Arise!
As you can imagine, all of the Rainbow Squadron collapsed into bed after the marathon bus ride to Banteay Meanchey. But we awoke ready to get down to some fun with the kids! Our team is split into two groups - Team A is Candace, Sarah Beth, and myself, and Team Not-A is Mike, David, Shantel, and Maris. Team Not-A kicked things off with the first part of our series on Covenant with the foundation of Relationship. We all wore different colored shirts to represent different needs we all have, like love, acceptance, forgiveness, and encouragement. They used Skittles, a la a recent series at church, to show how the world may leave us without full measure of the things we all need, but God's desire is to fill us to overflowing! You can imagine how important this is to orphans who are missing the family relationships where many of these needs are usually met in part. They have truly experienced the outpouring of God's abundance!
This morning, Shantel and I each woke up feeling rough. Team A was up to lead the lesson, and I didn't want to leave the other teammates hanging! Neither of us was sure if we'd even be able to travel over to the orphanage, and of course it's mildly distressing to have an unidentified ailment in a foreign land - especially since I have already tasted the agony of malaria! But the team gathered around to pray for us, then we returned to our rooms to rest while everyone else got breakfast. I was at first tempted to believe that God had heard our prayer for healing and left us sick, wondering what discomfort might come next. But I fell asleep quickly and awoke just before the team returned from breakfast feeling remarkably better! Shantel had also rested some, and we each ate some toast and bananas the team brought for us. I couldn't believe that, after tossing and turning in discomfort all night, I was feeling so much better in just about an hour, but by lunchtime Shantel and I were both able to eat a decent meal!
I realized that I had expected immediate healing after our prayer, or no healing at all. After waiting an hour, the healing came. What makes my weak faith so shameful is that just last night I was reading the story of Lazarus from the book of John. In that story, Lazarus was dead and buried for four whole days - long enough that his body would have begun to decompose. But Jesus shrugged off the doubts of the witnesses and called Lazarus out of the tomb. I realize how little I was asked to endure - Lazarus had to wait four days for healing, and he was buried in a tomb! Why did I doubt that God would heal me after waiting just one hour?
Anyway, we've had a great morning now and we're heading back to the orphanage in a few minutes. We'll update again later!
-Mark
This morning, Shantel and I each woke up feeling rough. Team A was up to lead the lesson, and I didn't want to leave the other teammates hanging! Neither of us was sure if we'd even be able to travel over to the orphanage, and of course it's mildly distressing to have an unidentified ailment in a foreign land - especially since I have already tasted the agony of malaria! But the team gathered around to pray for us, then we returned to our rooms to rest while everyone else got breakfast. I was at first tempted to believe that God had heard our prayer for healing and left us sick, wondering what discomfort might come next. But I fell asleep quickly and awoke just before the team returned from breakfast feeling remarkably better! Shantel had also rested some, and we each ate some toast and bananas the team brought for us. I couldn't believe that, after tossing and turning in discomfort all night, I was feeling so much better in just about an hour, but by lunchtime Shantel and I were both able to eat a decent meal!
I realized that I had expected immediate healing after our prayer, or no healing at all. After waiting an hour, the healing came. What makes my weak faith so shameful is that just last night I was reading the story of Lazarus from the book of John. In that story, Lazarus was dead and buried for four whole days - long enough that his body would have begun to decompose. But Jesus shrugged off the doubts of the witnesses and called Lazarus out of the tomb. I realize how little I was asked to endure - Lazarus had to wait four days for healing, and he was buried in a tomb! Why did I doubt that God would heal me after waiting just one hour?
Anyway, we've had a great morning now and we're heading back to the orphanage in a few minutes. We'll update again later!
-Mark
July 26, 2011
The longest kilometer...
Monday was another great day with the kids. For breakfast we bought a bunch of pastries, bananas and water and headed back to the beach. Right after breakfast kids were off into the water. If they are lucky, they get to swim and water play time once a year. I played soccer with the kids along with Mike ..it was 5 a side and we Americans got wooped bad by a bunch of 12 and 15 year olds. We had had another good lunch on the beach. They beach vendors had prepared shrimp, crabs and squid with white rice. You can really see in their faces how much they enjoyed lunch..it's was really a big treat them. They daily meal is usually a small piece of chicken and soup ...with of course plenty of rice to fill them up. Food network was right about memorable meals..and this was one of them.
The bus ride to Bantey Meanchey from the beach was an interesting one. It's been quite a while since I rode in a bus ride and for sure not a 11 hrs ride! The highway was pretty much one of the better ones in Cambodia. It's was shared with cows (cow crossing), sometime dogs, hundreds of people on mopeds, trucks and pedestrians. A lot of potholes too. There were plenty of rice fields everywhere. This area is the rice bowl of Cambodia. We saw 3 factories..workers leaving home for the day..all standing and piled up like sardines on large pickup trucks. The coutry is very poor with 60 percent of folks working the fields. Garments and shoes are the main exports. We also saw several large Buddhist temples on hill tops..they looked very majestic from a distance. All i can think of are the stark differences between Buddhism and Christianity...But i just know for sure our god is the one and only true god!
Kids sang and danced in the bus sometimes in English and sometimes in khemer. Lots of praise songs. Its just amazing how lively and full of spirits these kids where. We played some games on the bus..they were real competitive to say the least. Rain slowed us some as it's right in the middle of the monsoon season. We finally got into Bantey Meanchey at about 11pm or so....David
The bus ride to Bantey Meanchey from the beach was an interesting one. It's been quite a while since I rode in a bus ride and for sure not a 11 hrs ride! The highway was pretty much one of the better ones in Cambodia. It's was shared with cows (cow crossing), sometime dogs, hundreds of people on mopeds, trucks and pedestrians. A lot of potholes too. There were plenty of rice fields everywhere. This area is the rice bowl of Cambodia. We saw 3 factories..workers leaving home for the day..all standing and piled up like sardines on large pickup trucks. The coutry is very poor with 60 percent of folks working the fields. Garments and shoes are the main exports. We also saw several large Buddhist temples on hill tops..they looked very majestic from a distance. All i can think of are the stark differences between Buddhism and Christianity...But i just know for sure our god is the one and only true god!
Kids sang and danced in the bus sometimes in English and sometimes in khemer. Lots of praise songs. Its just amazing how lively and full of spirits these kids where. We played some games on the bus..they were real competitive to say the least. Rain slowed us some as it's right in the middle of the monsoon season. We finally got into Bantey Meanchey at about 11pm or so....David
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