The Month of September... the Month of Uber-Busyness!

Hi everyone! Hope your summer was great! I am sorry for the lack of posts lately; as the year goes on I'm becoming ever more busy! One of our staff members, Sveta, recently moved back to Russia to start a new season in her life, which has been a transition into some new things for me. Also, Eric and Ginny have just left for their yearly trip to America, so we have been gearing up for their absence.

Everything is going very well here, and I have been learning a lot! I am now the official driver of Rosie (some of you are acquainted with her already), a ministry moto that I am using when going out to Kandal province for community health teachings and other things. Since Sveta is no longer here, I am kind of the solo teacher for our health program now (all the staff have of course volunteered to help whenever necessary). In between my administrative work, I am also teaching English every weekday at Sak Saum now, instead of two days per week. It's fun, and I think I am growing a lot in this area. 

With Eric and Ginny away, I am sort of their liaison with everything that's going on over here. On the one hand, it's a big responsibility. On the other hand, it's not that hard since they are very good at keeping in touch. 

We now have a new boy living at our Foundation Center (still waiting for funds to build a safehouse!), he is actually the younger brother of Sarai (one of our Sak Saum girls). Phec is a really great guy who unfortunately had the same problem as Sarai once did: an abusive, unloving family situation and no option other than the streets. He is doing very well at the Center and has such a joyful, thankful attitude! Please pray that we can build a safehouse soon to help other kids like him! (And click here if you'd like to help financially.)

We also have a new girl at Sak Saum, named Huong. Huong was at-risk for trafficking because the factory she worked at was closing... she is living with us now and is doing really well! She has some basic sewing skills already but is learning a lot of things now that she never had a chance to do before. She's a great girl and gets along with everyone. We're looking forward to seeing God do awesome things in her life!

Again, sorry for the lack of updates, hope you all are well!

God bless,

Emily

Long Awaited Photos...

Teaching health class at our Foundation Center...

Students playing games with our NY team in July
Sak Saum director Theavy
Kids playing in Saang

Adios, Auf Wider Zen...

Hi everyone! Hope you all are well!

I am doing quite well myself, and am very happy to have spent the last two weeks with our visiting NY team, which included my sister and other friends (including one of my pastors). It was so great to see them all and chat with them about life “back home” (I seem to have multiple homes :P). I was of course especially blessed to hang out with my sister!

It’s interesting to be on this side of outreaches; in the past I was here many times as a team member or intern, but not as staff. It was nice that Eric and Ginny let me stay close to the team and spend a lot of time working with them instead of sticking to a more normal schedule.

The team did so many things while they were here, making it very difficult to mention everything… but here it goes: leading games and activities for children and youth programs, leading devotions at Sak Saum, taking the Loaves and Fish orphans on a field trip, helping fix up our Foundation Center building and playground, taking our Sak Saum girls on a water park outing, teaching English and music, preaching at our new Sunday services in Saang… that is just a partial list!

The team’s departure was a tear-jerker; although I’ve never had too much of a problem with homesickness, it was still hard to say goodbye to my sister and friends. But at least I know I’ll see them again at Christmastime. :)

Now I am getting back into more of a routine: office work, starting back up our Bible class with staff, Sak Saum devotions and English, health teachings, etc. Sveta and I had fun at our last health class: we dressed up as clinic doctors and taught about eye and ear care. I am so blessed that a lot of older men and women from the community are attending; this is the first time that some of them have wanted to come to the Foundation Center. So, teaching health and safety is opening up some new doors for us in Saang!

Hope you all are having a great summer! 

God bless,

Emily

Random Update

Sorry for the long wait for this update, as usual, I've been keeping very busy!

Thank you all for praying for our boy Aaron, his wound from surgery has healed remarkably quickly and he's bouncing around the house as cute as ever! Please keep praying for him because of his TB...

Our community health initiative has been going well; We're starting with hygiene and then moving on to a million other important topics (:P). We've had about 40 people attending each class so far. It's been exciting to have some of the local elderly people come to our classes and join in the activities!

I am very excited about our New York team coming next week... can't wait to see my sister and of course everyone else. Some have never been here before, so it will be fun introducing them to the culture and our ministry. They'll be doing a lot at our Foundation Center as well as with all of our programs.

This past week I and my housemates "moved", although we really are right next-door to where we used to be. We recently were able to rent the adjoining building in addition to the one we have for Sak Saum, which is great since we were running out of room! Our landlords actually let us put a doorway between the two buildings so they are connected... It's a bit dizzying at first because the two houses are essentially mirror images of each other! But it's great to have more space; it will allow us to do more training and all the nuts and bolts stuff that Ginny and the girls do at Sak Saum.

Hope you all are well, God bless!

~Emily

Time Flies...

Hi everyone, I just realized that by the end of this week I will have been here in Cambodia for 6 months! I can't believe how quickly the time has gone by. Thank you all for you support and encouragement!

A lot has been happening here, to put it mildly. These past few weeks have been a bit difficult for some of us, but personally I am fine. You can keep our little boy Aaron in your prayers though... during a stay at the hospital to remove some inverted boils (not very fun for the poor kid), we were informed that he has TB and will have to be on medication for a year. He is home now, but his cut from the boil-removal is still healing.

On top of that, one of our Sak Saum girls had a bit of trouble recently when her parents decided that she was getting married, like it or not. They spun some very deceptive and upsetting plans to try to force her to go along with it, including following her to the hospital where she was visiting Aaron and trying to force a confrontation with the supposed fiance. They even tried to convince her that if she didn't marry him, her mother would be put in prison because of the dowry (highly unlikely). Fortunately, she was able to make her own decision and exercise her right to say no to the marriage. Now her family has essentially disowned her and is being very cruel.

Arranged marriage is a common and accepted practice here in Cambodia, and many girls are not even aware that they have the legal right to choose whether they will marry the person their parents choose. This is one of the things that we want to teach the women in Sak Saum and young girls in the province who think they are trapped in these situations. It's a difficult thing for them to say no to their families, but they need to know they have that choice.

Next week will begin a series of health teachings that Svetlana and I will be doing at the Foundation Center... Simple lessons such as handwashing, boiling water, brushing teeth, and keeping cuts and wounds covered are things that many rural people have never been taught. It is amazing sometimes to see how bad their living standards are simply because they don't know any better. Hopefully we'll be able to help the community progress a little on that front.

We recently gained custody of another Loaves and Fish orphan: Bora, a handsome little 10 year-old who had been living with his uncle's family, will now stay at the Foundation Center with staff. His uncle was becoming increasingly threatening and abusive, and so with the help of the local commune leader we intervened. I'm so glad that we could help Bora, and hopefully after we build our safehouse we'll be able to do more for kids in similar situations.

I'm looking forward to next month since we are having a short-term team come from NY, including my sister. Should be fun to see them all and hear how life is back in the US!

God bless,
Emily

Saang Safehouse Project

I'm sending this information to everyone on my e-mailing list but I want you all to see it so I'm posting it here too... click the links below to see some info about our plans for a children's safehouse on our Foundation Center property...

Saang Safehouse Project 

Page 1

Page 2

God bless!

~Emily

Baptisms, Church Planting, and More!

Well folks, it has been a very busy month, so busy that perhaps I won't apologize for such a long blogging delay...

Before you read any further, please take a moment to become a follower of In His Steps new blog, which will be a way for supporters and anyone who's interested to keep up-to-date with what the ministry as a whole is doing!

As I said, this month has been very busy. Some things I've been working on:

• Tweaking our current accounting system so that I'll be able to help more with finances... we're a non-profit ministry but money still has to move around! 

• Teaching English twice a week to some of our Sak Saum girls

• Working with our Russian staff member Svetlana to plan a year-long series of community health workshops in Saang - there is no real health education in the provinces and we want to start teaching people how to care for themselves and their families. It's been a slightly overwhelming task, but I know it will be worth it.

• Preparing some documents for what will eventually become the first church planted by In His Steps! There's paperwork and background prep that needs to be done so that the Saang district can have a bonafide, well-grounded, community-minded church. Very exciting things ahead!

• Working on some projects to raise awareness of our plans to build a safehouse for at-risk children.... I'll post more about that soon.

On Mother's Day, we baptized 42 new believers, mostly from the Saang area. Almost all became Christians through attending our Foundation Center English classes. One of the widows we sponsor (a mother of 5 who is living with AIDS) was baptized along with two of her children. Several of our Sak Saum girls were baptized as well!

On a sidenote, it's been a very hot and humid month with unusual amounts of rainfall. Here in Cambodia there are basically two major seasons: dry season and rainy season. Rainy season really should be starting in June/July, but apparently it's arrived a little early! I'm not talking about light little showers, but rather torrential downpours that can sometimes flood the streets 3-feet deep! It's definitely an adventure!

Hope you all are well, please feel free to comment or e-mail me!

God bless,

Emily

Some Angkor Pics

Here are some photos from my three-day trip to Siem Reap province... the woman in the pics is my friend/housemate/coworker Theavy, the man is her brother, and the little boy is her son Sokun. :)

Happy New Year! :)

Hi everyone,

Happy Khmer New Year! Cambodians count years in the same way as the Western world, but their traditional new year is a big deal and they celebrated it all last week!

The majority of Khmer people go visit their relatives or their home province during this time. Those who are Buddhists make ceremonial visits to 5 temples, offering sacrifices and burning incense. For Christian Khmer, it can be difficult when visiting relatives because of family pressure to visit the "wat" (temple). 

Since I obviously couldn't go visit my own family for the week, I went with some friends on a three day trip up north to the province of Siem Reap. Siem Reap is famous for the ancient ruins of Angkor, dating back to the 9th century. It was so cool for me to go there, since I have wanted to see Angkor since I was about seven years old and saw a picture in the encyclopedia! I'll be posting pictures from the trip soon, the architecture was amazing. :)

This past month has been busy in many different ways. There was some government paperwork that we finally completed right before Khmer New Year... basically it is an agreement with the Cambodian Ministry of Social Affairs, to recognize that In His Steps is working in Cambodia and submit our plans for the next three years. I'm glad that the application is completed; now we just have to wait for it to be processed! Please pray that we have favor with the government so our application can be approved.

My English classes with some of the Sak Saum girls have been going well... so far we've been covering things like simple verb conjugation, likes and dislikes, and general vocabulary. This week we're beginning prepositions.... all this sounds very systematic and formal but actually it's mostly conversational and simple. It's important to keep things simple, because English is a hard language! English speakers in Cambodia have much better job opportunities, so it's an important skill to teach.

Lately I've been working with Joanne (our New Zealand staff member) on cataloguing our Sak Saum products. All the profit from the products goes back into helping the Sak Saum women, but in order to sell the bags we have to market them more! Fortunately all the products are beautiful, and practically sell themselves whenever they're shown in the states. :)

This morning at our weekly staff meetings (Sak Saum women also attend), I had the opportunity to do a teaching on worship with our Russian staff member Svetlana. We both got to share about different aspects of worship and some of our own testimonies. Svetlana demonstrated a beautiful worship dance while I sang, and then we had a fun time introducing everyone to a simple Hebrew dance so they could all join in! 

Our directors Eric and Ginny will be returning from the US on Friday, so please keep their trip in prayer. I missed them while they were away (they're kind of like second family to me!) and am glad they'll be back soon. 

Angkor pictures will be posted shortly!

God bless,

Emily

Zoo Trip!

Hey everyone, here are some pics from our orphan program's recent field trip to the zoo! None of them had ever been to a zoo before so it was a great experience for them!

Emily

(New Post Coming Soon!)

Goodbye March

Hello everyone, 

March is almost over and I can't believe how time is flying! I've been keeping pretty busy and am not quite sure where this last month is gone...

Since I last updated you a lot has happened! On Sunday, I went to the wedding of a Sak Saum woman named Pieng. She married a man from a different province, a farmer. Their engagement was quite a bit different from what Westerners are accustomed to... the families meet and agree that their two children will marry! It was kind of sudden by my standards, but Pieng was a very peaceful and even joyful bride, and plans to tell her husband, new relatives, and community about her love for God.

Pieng will still be involved with Sak Saum to a degree, and Ginny plans to employ her as a sewer even though she no longer lives in the city. I look forward to seeing her when she comes and visits every other month.

Ginny and Eric are leaving tomorrow for a short trip to the US so they can get some paperwork in order for taxes... While they're gone, I'll be starting an English conversation class with some of the Sak Saum women who are getting to an intermediate level. We'll be meeting three times a week... just had our first class today! 

To start, we'll be practicing verbs and conjugation. Fun stuff... just kidding :P. Actually it's at times like these that I'm so glad I don't have to learn English as a second language. It's quite difficult to explain all the different exceptions for conjugation and spelling!

This week I'll have to stock up on some groceries because in April most stores shut down! Throughout the country! That's because for about a week, the Khmer celebrate their traditional New Year. But since most of them go back to their families homes for an extended visit, nearly every business shuts down or severely limits their hours! So... I'm getting prepared. Should be interesting!

Hope you all are well, God bless!

Emily

Some Women in our Sak Saum Program

It's a Beautiful Day In the (Saang) Neighborhood... :P

So sorry that posts have been sparse...

Some exciting things have been happening at our Foundation Center in Saang! Over 17 people have gotten saved in the past week, an awesome harvest for our staff there that have invested a lot of time and love in people's lives. I'm looking forward to going to Saang tomorrow for their weekly youth Bible study... in the past we've had about 40-50 students each week, but their numbers are growing to about 70! Very exciting that people are engaging with God and not just observing. :)

Everything else is going pretty well, I just started an ISOM (International School of Ministry) class with a bunch of the staff; it's an extensive Bible and ministry course that we are doing each Thursday morning. I'm sort of facilitating the class and taking it too... looking forward to learning a lot!

On Tuesday I taught a two-hour First Aid and Safety class for all our staff and the women in our Sak Saum program. There is not a lot of teaching on this subject here, and a lot of misconceptions about how to care for injuries... people can develop gangrene and need a limb cut off simply because they were never taught to clean and protect a small cut! So it's a really important topic and I enjoyed educating the staff about it. It was fun to see them practicing bandaging each other's "wounds" and tying slings out of kramas (a common regional scarf that they used for practice). 

Actually the timing for that class was perfect, because that night one of the teachers on staff, Solomon, had to care for his brother after a moto accident! Fortunately his brother is recovering just fine.

Hope you all are well, feel free to comment or e-mail me!

God bless,

Emily

Long Overdue Update

Hi everyone, sorry for the long delay... I wanted to tell you about the youth retreat as soon as we came back but it's been pretty busy here.

The retreat was awesome (those who know me know that I don't italicize lightly!) and it was big blessing to be a part of it. We ended up taking over 26 youth from Saang district (a very poor area about 20 minutes away from the capital) to Sihanoukville, a beach town in southwestern Cambodia. The youth were so excited to come! I think that for those of us who have grown up with a wide range of experiences and education, we can't truly comprehend the excitement of seeing something like the ocean for the first time.

We arrived at Sihanoukville after a long and tiring bus ride. There are certainly some features along the way that do not exist in America! For instance, at the "rest stop" (essentially a few toilets and some food vendors selling deep fried bananas, sticky rice snacks, and hard boiled eggs), we drove over a mountain that has a whole section of "spirit houses" along the road.

Spirit houses are small shrines to dead ancestors and spirits (even though Cambodians are generally Buddhist, they have absorbed a strong animistic and ancestor worship influence). People traveling over the mountain believe that if they offer sacrifices at the spirit houses, they will have a safe passage over a slightly dangerous road. Needless to say, our group did not stop and make offerings!

Anyway, during our first day at Sihanoukville, we took the youth to the beach, went to dinner, and then had our first worship and teaching session with Jocelyn from NY. She shared about hearing the voice of God. Even though the youth that we brought are all Christians, many are new believers and very young in their understanding. It was awesome to see their expectancy and eagerness to hear from God.

The second day was jam-packed with activities from morning until night! After breakfast we had two teaching sessions, one from our intern Daniel and one from me. Daniel shared his testimony and I shared about God communicating with us about himself and our relationship with him. Daniel helped me with some visual aids and examples, and I really enjoyed doing the teaching.

We all took a lunch break, then returned for teaching sessions from new staff member Jo and from our director Eric. Both were very good. Afterwards, some people rested/napped, and others headed to the beach. I opted for the beach and really enjoyed hanging out with the youth. Some of them made sand castles and others played volleyball or went swimming.

That night after dinner, Jocelyn spoke about intimacy with God, and then our other director Ginny shared about making a choice to draw near to God. We ended the night with a time of prayer for the youth. It was awesome to see their response to the Holy Spirit and open hearts to what God was doing in them!

There was a time of testimonies before heading home the next morning. I was so encouraged to hear each person speak about what they had learned, and how God had spoken to them during their trip. It was such a cool time. :)

Anyway, we arrived back in Phnom Penh last weekend, and have been keeping busy ever since! Hope you like the pictures!

God bless,

Emily

P.S. Please keep my finances in prayer this month! Trusting in God...

A Long Week (Pics of Aaron and Saang District)

Hi everyone! Just wanted to give a quick update and show some pictures...

Explanation of pictures, in order:

-Aaron, our new little buddy (see previous post for explanation)

-Some students at our Foundation Center in Saang district

-Community playground at the Foundation Center

-Volleyball players in Saang

-Moses, one of the children in our Loaves and Fish program (he has grown so much recently!)

I had a bit of a rough start this week, and was actually pretty sick on Monday from a 24-hour bug of some kind. It wore me out a bit but I was fine by the next day. I'm very glad it didn't last longer because it wasn't a very fun experience! But I'm doing great now, so no worries.

Our newest staff member, Joanne from New Zealand, arrived here on Wednesday. Joanne will be writing programs and helping with teachings for Sak Saum and other ministries. It was very nice to finally meet her! She's quite chatty and friendly; I think we will get along nicely. :)

Yesterday we had an international staff dinner, with some different ethnic foods that a few of us made. Sveta from Russia made borscht (beet) soup, I made some guacamole and salsa (yes, I know it's not exactly "American" but then again most American food is borrowed from other places anyway), and we also had a Thai curry dish. It was a fun night and great for staff to get to know each other better. Then late last night, Jocelyn from New York arrived. It's great to see her and hear how everyone at home is doing. I'm looking forward to the youth retreat she'll be speaking at.

Hope you all are well!

~Emily

A "War and Peace" Length Entry...

Hello everyone!

I have quite a bit of ground to cover in this update! I hope I don't forget to mention anything...

Something very significant has happened since I last wrote... there is a new addition in my house! (No, no one has given birth :P) A one year-old boy named Aaron has been legally transferred to the care of our Loaves and Fish program, and he will be living with Theavy, Sokuun, and Sarai. Aaron comes from a difficult family background and we hope that he will now be able to thrive here with us. 

Aaron's mother died soon after his birth. Loaves and Fish staff heard that the father, an alcoholic man known as "The Village Tiger" was unable to care for Aaron and his older siblings. They went to see the family daily, bringing food, hygiene items, and vitamins for the children and teaching the father how to care for them. For a time, there was improvement, but unfortunately the father has now become involved with a woman with AIDS and has been selling the children's food to buy alcohol.

Because of the clearly unsafe situation, our staff consulted with the local government and brought Aaron to be cared for Theavy and Sarai on Thursday. The father was in agreement with this, because he understands that his son deserves better. There are also plans to remove the older children if necessary. It's a very sad situation but it would be much worse if there was no way to help.

Aaron is an adorable little boy with beautiful brown eyes. He is fascinated by so many things that he has never seen before, like electric fans, new toys, and even our coffee table! So far he is doing well with the adjustment. We are working on building his strength, because he is still learning how to walk. Please pray for Aaron, that he will know he is loved and grow strong and healthy!

~

Other things have been happening recently... we had a new intern named Daniel arrive from Singapore on Monday. He will be here for a year, helping with different aspects of ministry and being discipled by Eric (founder/director of IHSI) and Sarith (Cambodian director). Daniel is very nice but also very quiet. Being here is probably a big adjustment for him. There must be quite a contrast, moving from one of the wealthiest countries in the world to one of the poorest!

Next week will bring more new arrivals. Joanne is from New Zealand and will join In His Steps as staff on Wednesday. She will be renting a room in the same house that I live in. I've been able to talk to Joanne a little bit online but am looking forward to meeting her in person!

On Friday, Jocelyn from New York will arrive here for a short visit. She'll be speaking at a retreat that we are leading later this month for Christian youth from the Saang district. Joanne, Daniel, and I will be speaking a bit as well. About twenty youth plus staff are coming, and we will all be taking a bus about 4 hours south to the oceanside. This is a really big deal for the youth, since they come from a very poor area and many have never traveled away overnight or seen the ocean.

~

I've been keeping pretty occupied with some projects for Eric and Ginny. This year they felt that the ministry infrastructure needed to be strengthened so that we can expand in an effective way. I've been working on compiling staff policies and a handbook, child protection policies, documenting ministry resources, a little bit of accounting, and reading up on Cambodian labor laws! (It probably sounds more intimidating than it is. Really, it all boils down to the goal of increasing our ability to care for Cambodians in need! "Nitty-gritty" work now is preparing us to help more people like Aaron.)

Anyway, thank you for enduring this long update! I hope you all are well, and I really appreciate the prayers, e-mails, and comments!

~Emily

Foodstuffs :P

The green beans here are quite amazing... actually they are long beans, and they grow on trees. But they taste the same to me and I'll eat them quite readily, as evidenced by a recent dinner.  

Also....
I'll bet you folks didn't know that fried silkworms taste like garlic mashed potatoes! Neither did I... until the other night. :P :P :P

1st Week :)

Hi everyone, just wanted to give an update as my first full week here draws to an end.... 

Work is going very well. As I've mentioned, a lot of what I will be doing here is administration under the director of In His Steps International, Eric Hanson (and also probably some teaching). I arrived here just in time for some reports, year-end accounting, and general organizational things that need to be done, so I'm having fun with that. I love writing reports (yeah I know, call me crazy :) ) and it's awesome to be doing a year-end review because I can learn about all the things that the ministry did in 2008.

There is such evidence of the fruit from what In His Steps is doing here in Cambodia. Through the different programs (Loaves and Fish, the Foundation Center, and Sak Saum) so many lives are being touched. In case you aren't familiar with the different ministry programs, i wanted to introduce them a bit here so that you'll know what I'm talking about when I mention them in the future!

• The Loaves and Fish Program is a a way to provide for the needs of orphans, widows, and the disable. It is based in a very poor village called Saang, about a half-hour's ride outside the city. Saang has a lot of HIV/AIDS and many orphans as a result. Loaves and Fish (L&F) takes care of these children (most of them live with family members: aunts, grandmothers, etc) through providing food, medicine, health checkups, and tutoring. In Cambodia, being an orphan causes a lot of social stigma, so L&F tries to the kids life skills and get them up to academic speed with their peers. Most importantly, it builds relationships with those in need, and shows them that they are valued and loved.

• The Foundation Center is a school built and run by In His Steps, offering free English and Bible classes to children and teens. It is a part of IHSI's vision for the prevention of human trafficking. The Center just moved to a new property with more room for the students, and a great playground where neighborhood children can come and play safely. I went there last Saturday and attended there Bible study - a lot of students there remember me from other times that I've come to Cambodia. It was awesome to be there when there was a salvation invitation and three teenage boys gave their lives to God!

• The Sak Saum program is for women at risk or rescued from human trafficking. In His Steps really wants to help the whole person, physically, mentally, and spiritually. This coming year, there is going to be a catalog/magazine telling the story of how far Sarai (one of the Sak Saum women) has come. It will also feature the Sak Saum products and show how purchasing them sows directly into these women's lives, enabling life skills training, counseling, cooking class, traditional dance lessons, English class, health teachings, and more. These are things that these women would never have access to without the help of In His Steps!  It's really cool to see the effect on their lives. (Click here for some great new pictures of them.)

Hopefully that gives you somewhat of a picture of In His Steps ministry here in Cambodia... there are a lot of other aspects as well, too many to list! I'm very blessed to be involved and look forward to seeing what will happen in 2009. :)

Anyway... Today is Sunday, and after church I had a chance to visit an orphanage here in the city with some friends. It's a small orphanage (only about fifteen kids), run by a women from New Zealand, and the kids range in age from about 5 to 14 years old. I taught a Bible story, and then we played some games and had a snack (kettle corn!) We were only there for a few hours, but it's so obvious that some of these little kids are carrying around a lot of pain... so sad! But it's good to just sit there with the, pray for them, give them attention, hugs, all that good stuff. I definitely want to go back there in the future.

Keep scrolling down after this post, because I finally fixed my camera issues! There are some pics of the orphanage, my room, and fellow housemates Sarai, Theavy, and Sokuun. :)

Bye for now!

~Emily

Housemates, My Room, and an Orphanage Visit...

1st Weekend

Hi everyone, I'm nearing the end of my first weekend here… everything is good, I'm getting over jet lag now… Tomorrow will start my first full week of work, so I'm excited about that. I wanted to post video/pictures of my house but I'm having some camera issues… once I get that worked out I’ll put them up.

It’s been great getting to know my housemates Sarai, Theavy, and her little son Sokuun. Sarai is one of the women in the Sak Saum program. She has blossomed since coming to Sak Saum; you can see God working in her from the inside out She doesn’t speak English and uneducated and yet so talented! That’s really what In His Steps is all about, recognizing the value in people, helping them grow in their talents and relationship with God.

Theavy is a beautiful person who has had some very hard times, but in having some conversations with her it is obvious that she trusts in God. And her 2 year-old son is literally a miracle child (Theavy could not have children for 7 years, until she was prayed for… and now she has Sokuun… his name means “gift from God”).

Sokuun is great, he’s a very energetic little kid and very fun to play with… I'm have a great time chasing him around the house and playing hide-and-seek with him. I just taught him how to “high-five”, so he does that a lot. ☺

Anyway, just wanted to let you all know if you have any questions feel free to ask in the comments; I do read them! Hope you all have a great rest of your weekend!

~Emily