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