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!

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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