Time for debrief!

Today is our last day in Siem Reap! Tonight we're taking an overnight "sleeping" bus to Sihanoukville for two days of debrief. Then Wednesday it's back to Phnom Penh, and we head to the airport that night!

We'll spend all day on Thursday in Seoul, leaving late that night, but gaining most of a day back when we cross the date line, so we land Thursday night at 9:00pm in LA. If you're picking a team member up from LAX, try to be there by 9:30, as customs and baggage claim typically moves fairly quickly for US citizens, in my experience.

The last of our ministry finished up well! Friday we had a party at the village, playing some outdoor team games and serving a meal to the kids and some of their mothers. Some of our girls painted a mural on one of the walls at the preschool, which turned out great. We've been saying goodbye to all of the amazing friends we've made here, and now we're heading out. See you all in a few days!

White Doves

Today we finally had the opportunity to go to White Doves, a safe house for women rescued from sex trafficking and prostitution. The girls practiced beauty salon skills they have been learning by giving our team manicures and pedicures! We were also able to purchase some hand-made items from the girls such as cards, bookmarks and wallets. What an incredible day it was to be able to encourage these women and witness such a beautiful transformation of their lives. White Doves currently houses about 40 women rescued from many different situations from all over Cambodia and neighboring countries. Recently, 7 new women were brought to the safe house and as you can imagine, they are having difficulty adjusting. Please pray for these women to be open to receiving care and experiencing God's redeeming love.



With Love,
Natalie

ps- we come home in exactly one week!:)

A quick journey in pictures

After 30 minutes of fiddling, I'm giving up and letting the pictures remain in no sensible order, since Blogger won't let me move them without ruining everything. Enjoy!

Teaching at the preschool

At the drug rehab center celebration

With some of the kids in the village

The team right before departure for LAX

Natalie, Kaylin, and Grace in the rain at our house

Health Update

Hello sweet friends and family!

For those of you who were aware of my poor health, thank you so much for your prayers! I would like everyone to know that I am recovering well and finally out and about today.

To make a long story short, Friday afternoon I began to feel ill but wrote it off as cramps and went to my ministry site anyway. I didn't have the energy I usually have with the kids, so I knew something was off. When we returned back to YWAM that evening I was really nauseous and decided top skip dinner and go straight to bed. I slept for maybe an hour and woke up feeling worse than before. My sickness escalated pretty quickly, I was shaking, freezing cold, my body ached, my stomach was upset and vomiting and diarrhea was inevitable. There was a celebration (music, food, dancing, laughing) going on outside of my room in honor of the two other teams staying at YWAM who were leaving the next morning to go home, so I was alone in my room for a while until Kaylin found me and I told her I needed to see a doctor. I tried to fight the pain and sickness as much as I could and contemplated in my head the pros and cons of going to a hospital in a foreign country. When my temperature reached 101 and I could hardly move, I knew I was desperate for medical help. I ended up going to an international clinic and having to stay overnight because I was severely dehydrated, and my temperature had risen to 102. The doctor who took my in also said that he thought I had some type of bacterial infection. Corinne stayed the night with me in the hospital and it was so comforting to have her there with me every step of the way. It took a lot of trust for me to surrender my helpless body over to the doctors and nurses here, and overall it was such a humbling experience. I was definitely in good hands. By morning my blood results showed low calcium and potassium and my stool sample indicated that I have Entamoeba histolytica, which is a parasitic digestive infection. I was able to return to YWAM by noon and I was given a number of medications to take. Since being released, I have been able to rest and recovery quite quickly.

Many of my closest friends and family know that I have a weak digestive system, and I have had a parasitic bacterial infection before, so I can only be thankful to have gone through this once before and know what my body needs to recover. It was definitely a hard experience to be struck with sickness again, but the Lord has spoken to me time and time again that in my weakness He is made strong, and like the apostle Paul, I will boast about my weaknesses if it means bringing glory to my God.

2 Corinthians 4:9 says, "We are struck down, but not destroyed." This is one of my favorite passages, and I continue to have the faith to believe that my weak body means only that the strength of the Lord is stronger and He is at work in me. I have been struck down again, but I'm not destroyed.

Thank you for your prayers of healing.
With Love,
Natalie

Checking In

Everything is going well here! Sunday we went to church at the Siem Reap Christian Fellowship, which is an international church that meets in the afternoons since a lot of the members are missionaries, involved elsewhere Sunday mornings. Lindsey, Robin, Jonny, and I led worship with the help of Noel and Fe (the missionaries we're working with), which was a blast. Four of the girls led Sunday School for the 3-5 year old kids, which was...trying, I heard haha.

After church, we went to Noel and Fe's favorite spot to eat, a Khmer food buffet with traditional live music and a traditional dance show, which was fantastic.

Ministry this week has been preschool every morning, a few girls also coming to the preschool in the afternoon, and the rest of us going to the village every afternoon. I taught the village kids prepositions of place this week: on, in, under, next to, behind, and in front of. They picked it up really quickly! Yesterday a baby peed on Kathy's shirt.

Tuesday night we went out to the carnival with the team from Florida that's also staying at the YWAM team house. It's a local Cambodian hangout, off the tourist path, so we definitely stood out as we rode the FAST ferris wheel, the tiny rollercoaster than went through a cloud of bugs on each pass, and played a game of throwing darts at balloons to win prizes.

Yesterday I helped an Australian missionary who's been working with Noel and Fe, named Glen, start her blog so that she can share stories and pictures that way with her friends and supporters back home. I'm still plugging along on the website for Noel and Fe's ministry, and today I'm starting a blog for the preschool! I hadn't predicted my work here involving so much web help, but I'm glad to get to share a bit of expertise in that way.

Angkor Wat and International Church

Hello everyone!!

Yesterday we went to Angkor Wat for the day and visited three different temples. If you are not familiar with Angkor Wat, you might recognize these temples from the movie, Tomb Raider with Angelina Jolie! The temples were such a beautiful sight to see, so intricately made with amazing architecture. Look forward to seeing some incredible pictures! It was a hot day to be outside, but it was definitely worth it. Steven and Corinne have been to Siem Reap twice before and had not seen Angkor Wat, so it was a great experience for everyone.

Last night we went to our first American restaurant, called the Red Piano, and ate AMERICAN food! It was a nice break from noodles, fried rice, vegetables and curry. I think everyone finished every last bit of their food :)

Today, our team has the privilege of leading worship for an international church with a congregation of about 150 people! Steven, Robin, Lindsey and Jonny will be leading worship tonight and Kaylin, Grace, Kathy and I (Natalie) will be teaching Sunday school for 3-5 year olds. We have never been to this church before and have no idea what to expect, so pray for us as we take on these responsibilities.

Thank you again and again for your prayers and for staying updated with us. Even though we are finally settling in here in Cambodia, friends and family from home are constantly on our mind and we eagerly wait for the day we return home and can tell all of you personally how the Lord is SO alive here.

With Love,
Natalie

It's the little things

Hi friends and family! Or should I say "Sus dei!" (Hello in Khmer)

I just wanted to give a little big of what God's been showing me here in this amazing country.
I've been blessed to be able to go to the market and make friends during the time between ministries. One place most of us have come to love is The Blue Pumpkin. It's an amazing lounge where you can get delicious western food, fruit shakes, and Cambodian pastries. It's in Äircon, which is the cool way of saying air conditioning here. haha. I met a girl that works there and just started talking with her. She was super smiley and I just love making friends. She is Cambodian, and as I talked with her I found out she speaks four languages!!! Khmer (Cambodian), English, Spanish, and French!! I was soo impressed. Now, being at home in Southern California, I get super embarassed to try speaking in Spanish, especially since I'm half Mexican... it's just rather sad. haha. But here, I have NO understanding of Khmer; so to hear that someone can speak Spanish got me SUPER excited. I started trying to speak to her in Spanish, and found that bewteen English and Spanish I could have a pretty comprehensive conversation! I came to find out that she wants to move out of Camobodia, get a job, save money, and then return to help her family. My heart went out to her! I also felt like I really need to learn at least ONE other language. I think Spanish would be a good start. I'm pretty sure ministry in California has BIG use for that. ;)
To keep this story short... I came to find out that she is a Christian! She found Jesus because a foreigner ministered to her sister and then her sister told her. It made me SOOO happy. I have plans to hang out with her soon. :) She said she has questions and wants to sit by the river and talk. I'm so excited. Hearing that she found Jesus that way was such an encouragement to see the harvest of other believers who have been here before. Not only that, but I had such an increased realization of the affect of ministering to just one friend and the impact that has on the people in their sphere of influence.
Another friend that I made works in the Old Market. There you can barter and get all kinds of great Cambodian attire, paintings, and jewelry for very cheap. Our team has come to love their signature phrases. Anyways, with this one friend, I got to know her from purchasing some bags from her. I love returning to her every time I go and talking about her culture and what she believes. She asks questions about "my country"too. Hére's what I realized: Cambodians do not separate their culture from their religion. When I asked to learn about "Cambodian god", she began to tell me about times with her family and things they do together. She told me about celebrations and rituals and how she lives her daily life. It was difficult to explain to her that not everyone in America is Christian. I thought about it... and well, I feel like Cambodia just might be one step ahead in faith integration. Of course their faith isn't in Jesus, but I can't help but think how short I fall personally in integrating God in every aspect of my life. What does Christian culture even look like? Maybe I'll know when I begin by telling someone about Christianity by how I live more than the words I say. I've been taught this concept many times - to not be of the world - but I feel now more than ever I have a deeper understanding of what that might actually look like.
All that to say, I am being filled so much by the little encounters with the people God loves so much. Next blog I'll have to talk about all my thoughts on working with the kids. THEY are just as great. I know God is using our team to making lasting impressions on everyone, Cambodians, foreigners, and missionaries here alike! It's such a blessing to work with everyone on this team!
Thank you for your prayers and support!!

Until next time,
Robin

Routine

We've fallen into a work routine here, which is great! Mornings we go to the preschool run by Pastor Noel's wife (the Filipino missionary couple that we're working with) for three hours, where most of the girls help with teaching, and a few of us help with some work projects around the school. I'm in the process of getting a website up and running for Noel and Fe's ministry, Light of the Nations.

Today we went to a drug rehabilitation program run by the government, where Noel runs a program every Thursday and Friday morning. We'll be assisting him there -- today was a lot of cleaning in preparation for their 3-year anniversary celebration tomorrow. We pulled out a large desk to clean behind it, and discovered a gecko that was over a foot long, and about 7 of its eggs!

In the afternoon, a few girls help out with the afternoon session and the preschool. At 4:00, most of us head to a village where we help out with a program for kids. This involves playing games, singing songs, and teaching an English lesson to some of the older kids. We've been able to help Noel greatly by dividing up the children by age group for more effective learning for those who come for the English lesson.

In other news, we saw the King today! The road we take every day was closed off by police, so we were riding in tuk tuks down the little road parallel, when we go to the point where we needed to cross. The police said we had to wait a minute, as the King had arrived at the Siem Reap airport and would be coming down the road. We sat there a minute until his entourage of cars passed, and he looked out the window and waved right at us as he drove by! I'd know his face anywhere, since his picture is posted at big roundabouts and in many restaurants, schools, and businesses in Cambodia.

That's all for now, but everything is going well!

Ministry and Cambodian Life

Hello friends and family!
We just wanted to give a quick update on how ministry is going. We have been working at a preschool for children of missionaries and it has been such a fun experience! There is enough of us to work one-on-one with each child, which is such a relief for the few teachers that volunteer at the school. Our second ministry involves teaching English in a village to Khmer children. The village children have a lot of energy and definitely keep us busy! Before we took them into the classroom yesterday, we played red light green light with them, which they LOVED! It was a beautiful thing to see their faces light up as we played with them. The village definitely has a lot of needs, so we ask for prayer in discerning what we can do to best serve them. We will all be going to a drug rehabilitation center tomorrow, so also pray for a fruitful ministry there too!

We also wanted to tell you all a little bit about our life here. It has been quite the experience living without the American luxuries that we are used to. Here is a short list of the things we have become especially appreciative for: air conditioning, cars, paved roads, being able to flush toilet paper, skin without bug bites, clean laundry, sweat free bodies and obedience of traffic laws. Rest assured, we are loving it here and slowly adapting to the change in culture. Praise report, the food is delicious!

Thank you for all of your prayers, we have witnessed the Lord's hand everywhere. God is present here in Cambodia and we are thankful to be apart of His global church.

With Love,
Natalie, Kaylin and Grace

Life in Siem Reap

We're safely in Siem Reap! We arrived on Saturday afternoon after a 6-hour bus ride. The team definitely prefers the atmosphere here to Phnom Penh -- much more laid back, though this is the busiest that Corinne and I have ever seen this city. We've eaten some fantastic Khmer food, and connected with the other teams here (a YWAM team, and a group of 6 people from another org). We met a younger team from Hawaii, also YWAM, in Phnom Penh, and they'll be joining us here in Siem Reap tomorrow.

Today is our first day of work, and later this afternoon we'll be going out to a village to observe a program run by an org that partners with YWAM in using teams. We'll be working with them, a small organization run by a Filipino man and his wife, for the bulk of our time. They run a private preschool, a village ministry to kids, and they run a program at a government drug rehabilitation center for men 2 days a week. This week we'll start working in all of these areas, trying to assess how we can be of the most help during our short stay.

I happened to ask the man who runs this organization, named Noel, if they have a website, and he said that is a need that they've been hoping to have met. I've never built a website, but with my HTML experience and a bit of research, I'm really hoping to be able to get something going for them before we leave.

Things are always changing in Cambodia, so Corinne and I are adapting to different ministry options this year, different people running things, etc., but the YWAM base is vibrant as ever, and continuing to grow. I ran into one of the young English teachers who I worked with 2 years ago, Somnang, and got to reconnect with him. He's studying English Literature at a university here! I could tell he was brilliant 2 years ago, so that was exciting to hear.

We're hoping to get in touch with Martin and Dary at the White Doves Center (a rehabilitation facility for women who have left brothels that we've been involved with in the past) before too long, but they're no longer affiliated with YWAM, so it's tricky.

Everyone on the team is doing well! No sickness, no injuries (aside from Corinne's skinned elbow today), and good spirits around.

We made it!

Greetings from Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia!

We arrived in South Korea on Thursday and spent the morning and afternoon walking around Seoul a bit. We decided to walk up the steep mountain to the Seoul Tower, from which you can see all of the city, but got caught in some serious rain on the way up! We reached the top drenched, and the clouds obscured our view of the city, but it makes a good story I suppose.

We left Seoul Thursday evening and took an uneventful 5-hour flight to Phnom Penh, landing around 10:30pm. It's been raining a lot here, so the weather was in the low 80's last night, which was great. We all slept well, and now we're getting ready for a day of learning about Cambodia's past here in the capital. We'll be visiting Tuol Sleng (S-21), a high school that was converted to a prison and torture facility during Khmer Rouge rule in the 1970's, and the Killing Fields, the site of one of the hundreds of mass graves unearthed after the genocide.

Tomorrow we'll be taking a bus to Siem Reap (about a 7-hour trip), where we will spend the majority of our time this month. Once there we'll do a cultural orientation to Cambodia, and start figuring out just what specific ways we'll be helping YWAM this month.

Please pray for our hearts as we learn about a very dark time in Cambodia's recent history -- a time that deeply impacted one of our team member's family. And please pray that we are put to use in meaningful ways in Siem Reap.

We'll update again from Siem Reap, but in the meantime, know that we are all well and safe!

Departure quickly approaching!

Our flight is in about 48 hours! Thanks so much for following this blog: we'll make sure to keep you updated frequently while we're in Cambodia!

One way you can begin to pray for our team even now is for finances to come in between now and Tuesday evening to make this trip possible. We're still a few thousand dollars off of our mark, but I'm confident that as we reach out in the next two days, the funds will come -- I've seen this happen the last two years on this team. If you're interested in making a donation (ANY amount is helpful, even $10!), the website to do that is www.apualumni.com/owmgive. The online donation process is secure, quick, and pretty straight forward. Thanks for considering helping us out in this way! I'm sure many of you checking out the blog already have -- thanks for helping make this work possible!

-Steven

Welcome!

Friends and family of Team Cambodia,

Thanks for checking out our blog! We'll be updating this a few times a week during the trip, so you can know what's going on and how we're doing.