The other day I woke up feeling very feverish and weak. As the day went on, it only got worse. I spent most of the day in front of the fan trying to cool off, and I couldn’t go play soccer with the kids or join my team for ministry. It was discouraging because I only had a few days left to be with the kids so I wanted to be with them as much as possible. Later that evening as my team met for team time, I tried to be with them. By this time I had a raging fever, felt weak, and climbing a flight of stairs left me winded. When asked how I was feeling on a scale of 1-10, I was somewhere...

Well we made it to Cambodia. It was a long journey to get here, but we did it. Through many delays and having to sleep in airports and long car rides, we made it to our ministry, New Hope for Orphans (NHO). This ministry is so beautiful. Full of beautiful children, beautiful hosts, and a beautiful vision. The children here are so full of energy. It seems as though they do not have an off switch. I often wonder how we even keep up with the kids because they are so high energy but we somehow find a way. They are all so loving and want to be with you all the time. They’ll try to sneak...

You could ask me what I expected from these orphans, and I’m not sure what I’d tell you. A part of me expected their hearts to be hurting from the young sufferings they’ve endured, and perhaps they are. Part of me expected the typical western view of those in poverty, to realize the overstated ‘phenomenon’ that humans can be happy with next to nothing to their name. Crazy, huh. But what I see in these kids has been strange to accept, difficult to process and humbling to endure. And it’s all about the love they pour out. They’ve taught me that...

After over 70 hours of travel and spending the night in the Malaysian airport, my team and I arrived at our ministry site. We are working at an orphanage in Cambodia. We don’t have wifi where we are staying, but we go to a cafe about once a week. I will be updating the blog as often as I can! I’ve only been here two days but so much has already happened! Vandy runs the orphanage where I am working. He grew up an orphan because his dad left when he was two. He grew up wondering why he wasn’t enough, or why his dad didn’t want him. Vandy wanted to make sure no other...

Since part one of this blog, my team and I have accomplished so much here in Cambodia. We finished the construction projects we set out to conquer when we arrived, we successfully taught English classes, and showed so many in this community the love and hope of Jesus. From praying over Buddhist temples to passing cold water out to construction workers, we followed wherever the Lord led. We were able to meet not only spiritual needs, but also physical ones. Sometimes that looked like buying a pair of shoes for someone, or praying for pain to be cast out in Jesus’ name. Other times it...

The past three and a half weeks have truly been a whirlwind… and honestly I’ve been struggling to put exactly what I have been experiencing into words. From 4 days of training camp to 65 hours of travel and finally settling into my new home in Cambodia for the next month. CRAZY is an understatement. Currently, I am writing to y’all (yes this is a thing now) in a small church in northern Cambodia underneath my mosquito net lying next to 12 of my newest (and sweaty) friends. Like clockwork every morning we are woken up around 4am by a rooster and soon after the laughter of...