Well we have officially settled into what will be our home for the next month and it has been nothing short of amazing. At first it was a somewhat crazy transition from meeting so many new people at training camp to all the travel days and bumps not just along the road but also on our very turbulent flight to Cambodia before ultimately landing at the orphanage and sleeping in the sanctuary with no A/C. Despite all of that these past couple weeks have been so fulfilling. As real and present as the struggles and things we don’t have are, I don’t feel led to share those stories....

Sweet sweet New Hope kiddos, Wow! These 3 weeks in Preah Vihear have flown by. It feels like just yesterday we were pulling up in the van to your little orphanage. We arrived tired, hungry, stinky, and eager to serve and show you God’s love and now looking back I realize that I slept, ate, showered, and served but you showed me God’s love. I was overcome with emotion the first time I worshipped with you as you all squeezed your eyes shut, raised your little hands to the heavens, and proclaimed His name. Your servants hearts are so evident. Thank you for organizing my shoes,...

The past year of my life has been nothing short of wild. I went to India and Mongolia, I’m currently in Cambodia, and soon I’ll be in Thailand. I have met hundreds of people, prayed for most of them, learned “hello” and “Jesus loves you” in 3 different (soon to be 4) languages. I graduated with my masters degree, got my first “job”, quit my first job, drove across the country with my best friend. Laid on the beach in the same week I climbed a mountain. I lived in a city with public transportation for the first time. I rode camels, ate...

This is Sopaeak (pronounced So-pay-ek). He is 11 years old, and his favorite color is blue. He loves to play soccer and constantly asks to watch movies on my laptop. He runs around and plays with all the other kids, but he isn’t really like them. Sopaeak is amazingly gentle and has a peace about him that’s beyond my understanding. His father is not in his life and his mother is dying of HIV/AIDS, but you’d never know it by the joy that overflows from within him.  On one of our first days here at NHO (New Hope for Orphans), our team decided to worship down in the...

At night I wander out into the middle of the dirt driveway, also known as the soccer field, and I focus my gaze above me on the starry night sky. It is not the most breath-taking scene I have gazed upon, yet it is beautiful and close to my heart anyway. I am in a small Cambodian town yet at night I gaze upon the same stars that my friends and family across the world. Every night I find my friend in the sky, Orion, who connects me to my two best friends in the world. In that moment I share with them the piece of my heart that has been stole by this Cambodian town and the precious children...