Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday

Hey everyone,
WOW! I have so much to say and I don't even know how to completely sum up the last 3 days! Thank you for all your prayers because God has totally showed up here. We all seemed to hit a wall on Tuesday night at the beach guest house. All I can say is we lived 3rd world style. God provided a verse for comfort and we shared together as a group. "For I have learned to be content in whatever the circumstance" So that's what we did, we were content and for an evening we got to see what it's like to stay in a hotel with no hot water, dirty towels/sheets/walls/etc, and a loud market right outside. It was an experience and thankfully we made it through, praise God. But the beach was incredible. Just seeing those kids faces light up as the saw the ocean for the first time is amazing. I will have those faces engraved in my mind forever. I posted some pictures on facebook. So hopefully you can see them there. The internet is very slow and i'm not able to put them on here. When I get back I will have a link to youtube where you can see a slideshow of all the pictures :)

Today was our last full day with the kids. We did curriculm, arts and crafts, and sports in the morning and afternoon. Then after dinner we popped them popcorn, gave them coke, showed them a slideshow of pictures from the week, and then watched The Jungle Book. They loved it! I wish you all could see their sweet angel faces! The movie was in English but they totally got it, which was great. All in all it was an amazing day and we were sad to leave tonight. The kids just grab hold of your hands and keep saying i love you in their language. I have never heard such beautiful words!

So tonight we go to bed with heavy hearts because we know tomorrow morning we will have 2 hours with them then we must say goodbye. I have heard the kids cry as we are leaving so please pray for our team. We all have bonded with these children and it will be so hard to leave them. Below are the details for tomorrow and since we will be traveling i'm not sure when we will have internet again. But thank you for reading, praying, and thinking of us. We defintely could not have done anything without you all. God has been all over this trip and thats because of you.

7:15 breakfast
8:00 leave hotel and head to orphanage
10:30ish leave orphanage and start 4 hour bus ride to Siem Reap
We will spend the night there and then on Saturday head to Phnom Pehn for the trip home.

I could type so much more but its 9:30 pm here and it's been a very long day so I must go to bed. But when we get home we can elabortate on these past few days. Please go to this linka nd take a look at the pictures.

Knyom sraw-line ne-uh nah
(that means "I love you" in Khmer)

Here's the link for the facebook pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2009108&l=7f0e3&id=113700005

Beach trip

We are back from the beach trip safely. We're exhausted so I will post more tomorrow!

Much love and we miss you all very much!!!

Hi from Cambodia

It has been an amazing experience. Our team is so incredible! It is truly a blessing to have met such wonderful new friends. We are doing great and having an incredible time with these kids. They are a gift from God. I have never met children so well behaved and so affectionate. It amazes me to be here, half way around and see how BIG God is! Sometimes we forget how big he is in our daily routines. Cambodia is growing in God and these children are shaping the future of this country. We thank you for all your support and prayers. We could not do this without you! Hi to my family and friends! I miss you and love you more than you know! Thanks to Rachael for continuing to update our blog and keep all of you at home informed and updated with our trip!
(Inside Joke to Rachael - maybe we should take a picture of our friend sitting at the computer blogging!!!)

Thanks for the Taste of Home

Hey, 

Just wanted to thank you guys for sending me the letters and pictures!  It was really uplifting to hear what you had to say!  I'm truly blessed to have y'all in my life, and I feel that my heart has been filled up today with your words!  LOVE YOU, and miss you all! 

-Mike

Monday

Hey everyone,
First of all-thank you so much for your comments. We love to know that you are reading these updates and specifically praying for us. It means so much to us. I'm sorry if you can't see the pictures on facebook. I thought that would make it easier to see them, but I guess it's not working for everyone. Today we got up, ate breakfast, and heading to the orphanage. We all were feeling tired this morning. God again used my mom to encourage the group with some scripture. It was Isaiah 40:28-31. God will renew our strength if we put our hope in Him. When we pulled up tot he orphanage the kids were runnign out int he street-jumping up and down so excited to see us. God used that to renew all of our strength. Our hearts were filled with happiness to see the kids be so excited we were there. The curriculm crew (Heather, Angela, and Ben) taught the story of Joseph and his coat of many colors and the kids loved it! They were even able to retell the story in a drawing. After curriculm, the arts and crafts team (Me (Rachael), John, Julie, and Molly) helped the kids color on little bags. We asked them to write on the bad was they can trust God for. One of the kids wrote in Khmer that he can trust God with his future. How amazing is that? These orphans are so strong in their faith that they know to trust God with their future. After that, Rec team (Jon, Michael, and Craig) did trust falls with the kids. I was picked to demostate how to do the fall so that was crazy! Good thing I trust my team :) The kids loved this!! We even got the pastor and major to do the fall, haha! We had lunch and went right back to the orpanage for the afternoon session. Curriculm taught more about trusting God through your ups and downs. Arts and crafts made sipper cups and rec played with rocket ballons (which were a BIG hit!). And that brings us up to now, we are resting and then gonna have an early dinner. The hit the bed early becauase tomorrow starts early! I won't be able to blog again until Wednesday night. We leave at 5:30am tomorrow (Tuesday) and will drive to the beach. It's an 8 hour bus ride one way. Then we spend the night there and drive back here at 5:30am Wednesday.

Please pray for the following:
-A safe travel to the beach
-That the kids don't get car sick (last year they got really sick but this year we are giving all of them dramamine)
-For us to have strength (me (Rachael), Molly, and Angela are sick of the food so pray that God will provide all the energy we need form the little food we eat)
-For the Kingdom of Cambodia, today they anounced their new president
-For all the Isalmic and Buddist here to see the light of Jesus when they see us
-Praise for all the connections with the kids that have already been made and pray for more :)

Thank you for all the prayers, we can definately feel your prayers and need them. We love you all and I will update after the beach.

PS-We got a surprise this afternoon (letters from home) Thank you so much to those of you that wrote to us. They were just what we needed.


Missing you-
Rachael

Last update for the day...

Our afternoon was awesome at the orphanage, I have posted pictures on facebook and the links are below. I updated them with pictures from this afternoon. I will write more tomorrow :)

Love-Rachael

more pictures...

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2009052&l=7acec&id=113700005

Sunday

I have about 5 minutes so I thought I would say hello and give a quick update. We got up this morning and had breakfast. Last night everyone slept good but woke up this morning around 4. So we didn't get much sleep. Please be praying for renewed energy for the team. After we ate, we went to New Life church for a church service. It was very humbling. They worship on a dirty tile floor in a church that has no air conditioning. When they sang to us in their language, I was overwhelmed. I have been praying for us to see the people as God sees them and I did at that moment. They were praising the Lord and it sounded beautiful. It was neat to read along in our language as they spoke Khmer. We didn't have a translator so they just gave us the reference in the bible and we read along. What an amazing morning! After that we came back to the hotel, changed, and went out for lunch. Lunch was pretty yummy (everyone was adventurous having mystery chicken, pork, or sausage in a noodle bowl-I had tuna, hah) And that brings us to now... this afternoon we will be doing curriculum introductions, sports, and arts and crafts so please pray the kids receive the love we are bringing! Thanks again for all the prayers and comments!

We love you all so much!

Mom, Greg, Nach, Mami, Stephanie-thank you for loving me and praying for me. I appreciate your comments on here :)

Ann-Thank you for posting comments too. Michael loves you!

Everyone else-keep the comments coming we love to see them. It's alot of encouragement for us!!!

PS-Here's some pictures, just click this link and it will take you to the facebook album-
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2009051&l=f8df9&id=113700005

Saturday and in Cambodia!!!!

(This is the team at lunch today)

Hey everyone,
We have made it to our hotel in Battanbang, Cambodia. It was a long day but an awesome day :) We met for breakfast at 9:00am and after breakfast left for a day full of bus riding. We first went to the Khmer Rouge memorial. It was a emotional experience there. Basically what happened here in Cambodia was very graphic and it will take generations to heal. The concentration camp was heartbreaking and even our guide (who wasn't even alive during the genocide) said it hurts his heart to be there. After we pull ourselves together we jumped on the bus, ran some errands, and had lunch at a Khmer/Thai restaurant. It was interesting-we had to take our shoes off when we got inside and eat on the floor. After lunch, we ran some more errands and then got on the bus for a 5 hour bus ride. It was hard to sleep for the bumpy roads and constant horn honking. On the bus ride, we had to stop for the bathroom. And let me tell you how interesting that was! It's a small room with a hole in the floor. You squat over the hole and after you go, you pick up water from a bucket next to the hole and pour it down the hole to wash your stuff down. Oh I forgot to mention that the little room smelled like old urine, great! The drive was long, but we are glad to be here in Battanbang. Once we arrived here, we had dinner with the man that runs the orphanage and his wife. And that brings us up to now...it;s 9:45 pm here. So we are gonna met and prepare for our day tomorrow and then hit the bed! Below are prayer requests...

-Pray for the team to have more energy without getting as much sleep (we are a little jet lagged)
-Pray for us to be able to connect with the kids tomorrow (we met them after church tomorrow)
-Pray for the team to feel comfortable here (it's a stange place, far from home)
-Pray for the team to be safe in the hotel wea re staying and in other areas we go. (in the hotel are rooms are spread all over the hotel)
-Pray for the New Life Church and what it's doing here in Cambodia
-Pray for "Peter" (thats what we call him because his name is too hard to pronouce), he wants to to change Cambodia so that Christianity is widespread here (talk abotu praying for something BIG)

And I think thats it for now, thank you all so much for reading, praying, and being connected with us. We wouldnt be able to be here if it wasn't for you! Here are some shout outs from the team. I have listed them by name with what they say...

Angela- I love you mom and dad
Julie & John- Hi to our parents and friends, we are doing great and we love you! Turtle soup ROCKS!!
Craig & Heather- We wouldnt be here without your support. Continue to pray for our trip and the kids, love to ALL!
Jon & Molly- We're here safe, we miss everybody!
Rachael-Much love to all my prayer warriors, friends, and family. I love you all so much!


And last but not least, we have learned a little bit of the language! It's much easier to repeat after someone (Thanks Peter)

Lear heouy (means goodbye-pronouced lay air)

PS-I will add more pictures later (thanks to Griffin!!) I have taken TONS, I just have to size them down before I can put them on here :)

A few posts from today...

Thursday 7/24 1:45 pm(date and time at home)
Friday 7/25 1:45 am (date and time in Cambodia)

I'm on the plane and just finished watching a movie. It's crazy because it's completely dark in the airplane. We've had dinner and supposed to be asleep now. But you know me, I can't sleep. I'm too excited to get to where we are going. We've already met some really cool people. When we were at the Atlanta airport , we (by we, I mean Mike) met one of the people responsible for starting a NP strategic partner in Jacksonville. It was totally random because the guy was just ahead of us at McDonalds. And yes we had McDonald's for breakfast before we got on the plane :) After we boarded the plane, we met this amazing grandmother (she's sitting in front of us). She has custody of her grandchild because her son is just to young to take care of this adorable little boy. She is on her way to China to take him to have surgery. He is two years old and is completely blind. He will be having a special treatment in China. It takes 5 times but apparently afterwards he will be able to see. Isn't that amazing!!?? After she was done telling the story I thought to myself. We take so much for granted. Just the fact that we can see is incredible. We are so blessed to be born in America. My heart feels totally full of love, joy, and peace. I was so nervous to get going but here I am on a plane on my way to the other side of the world. It's amazing that I am here making this big step. I'm so thankful for my supporters. I have an amazing group of financial and prayer warriors for this trip and I couldn't be more thankful. My husband is such an amazing man, i'm thankful to him for making confident to do this with just me and God! Also, I just want you all to know we are a group of random people that God put together. It's crazy how much we have in common with each other. God is so BIG and sometimes it's so easy to forget that, but DON'T forget...i'm telling you God is so big. I am reminded of some scripture that I read earlier. I had several cards to read once I got on the plane. My dad in law and sis gave me a sweet card that was very encouraging and even made me tear a little. Mami, I'm saving yours for later-but wearing my necklace and love it! :) But my mom had given me a envelope for everyday. I waited to open her envelope til I got on the plane and it was a piece of paper with some scripture on it. I have to tell you that it totally touched my heart because it was exactly what I needed to hear. That's why I say God is so big, because He knew I needed to hear that before I knew and he used my mom to get it to me. I will leave you with the scripture for now and i'm sure I will write more later. We all miss you and love you very much. Thanks for reading and being involved in this trip!

"O Lord you have searched me and you knew me. You know when I sit and when I rise, you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my laying down, you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord. You hem me in-behind and before, you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; If I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me. , your right hand will hold me fast, If I say "surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me, " even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like day, for darkness is as light to you. For you created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."
Psalms 139

PRAISE GOD! AMEN!

--Rachael-

7/24 Thursday 9:26 pm (at home)
7/25 Friday 9:26 am (in Cambodia)

We are still flying in the plane. And I have been tossing and turning for the last few hours. I'm really tired, but I can't sleep :( And unfortunately I have missed the window that I could have Ambien because we have 4 1/2 hours left on the flight and if I took the pill now then I wouldn't wake up when we land in Shanghai. So I'm a little uncomfortable right now, but i'm fine with that seeing that being uncomfortable is why I wanted to go on this mission trip. I know will show me the most outside of my comfort zone. So here am I Lord, here am-teach me and mold me! Well, i'm not sure why I wanted to write, I just can't sleep and I have already watched 4 movies and a few tv shows so writing just seems to be the next on the list. The service on the plane is great. They keep bringing around water to make sure we are hydrated which is great. You know what I just thought of? We have been on this plane for almost 12 hours now. I cannot believe that! I have to admit I'm so proud of myself. I'm surprised I haven't gone stir crazy. Well, that is i haven't gone completely stir crazy, only a little bit :) A little while ago we played InFlight Trivia and I realized how much I don't know, haha! However, Jules won! She's pretty smart! Ok, i'm rambling now and I'm sure all you readers have tuned out. So, goodbye for now-I will write some more once we are in the Shanghai airport-Thanks for reading!
-RW

Friday 7/25 4:45 am (at home)
Friday 7/25 5:45 pm (in China)

*****UPDATE******
We have landed safely at the Shanghai airport. Just waiting on the next plane to take us to Phnom Penh. We are all a bit delirious so please pray for us to get some good sleep tonight and wake up tomorrow feeling rested. Also, I had some stomach issues on the plane, so please pray that God will heal me. Because for now, I defintely dont want any noodle soup and thats a bad thing since i'm about to have all kinds of that type of food. We miss you all very much and love you. Thank you for all the prayers-below are a few more requests....

-Pray for the kids at the New Life orphanage, pray that their hearts will be open to what love we are bringing
-Pray for our team to unite and work together as a well oiled machine (we already do, but it's still good to pray)
-Pray for the John and Julie as they lead this team
-Pray for all of us as we battle the jet lag and time difference

Love- RW
(Gregory, I miss you more than you can imagine and I can't wait til the day we can do missions together. Love you!)

God is so BIG!

When I went to pick up my prescription at the pharmacy, the pharmacist wanted to know all about the trip and what we were doing!  We talked for a little and shared some stories.  At the end of our conversation, he paused, looked me right in the eyes and said, "I just want you to know that I will be praying for you and your group."  For some reason, it really lifted me up and I immediately thought..."God is soo BIG."  I'll see everyone bright and early at the airport!  Can't wait! :)

Our Itinerary

Congrats on 2 yrs of marriage John and Julie!!!!


Hey everyone, I thought our readers might like to see our itinerary.

So here it is...

Thursday July 24th
Delta Airlines Flight Number 19
Atlanta GA to Shanghai
Depart Atlanta: 10:05am
Arrive in Shanghai: 1:45pm

Friday July 25th
Shanghai Airlines Flight Number 833
Shanghai to Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Depart Shanghai: 8:05pm
Arrive in Phnom Penh: 10:50pm

Saturday July 26th
Visit Khmer Rouge Prison 21 – The Chilling High School in Phnom Pehn, Cambodia
Lunch and pick up materials within city
Drive to Battambang, Cambodia – check into our hotel
Dinner and get materials together for Sunday

Sunday July 27th
Church with the children
Lunch
Afternoon with kids for playtime and arts and crafts

Monday July 28th
Curriculum, Arts and Crafts, Sports
Break for Lunch (we will go back to our hotel)
Curriculum (Q&A), Arts and Crafts, Sports
Dinner

Tuesday July 29th
Drive to the beach with the kids
Full day at the beach with the kids
We will also spend the night at the beach.

Wednesday July 30th
Drive back to the orphanage from beach

Thursday July 31st
Curriculum, Arts and Crafts, Sports
Break for Lunch (we will go back to our hotel)
Curriculum (Q&A), Arts and Crafts, Sports
Dinner

Friday August 1st
Half day with kids – goodbye time
Drive to Siem Reap
Relaxed evening and dinner

Saturday August 2nd
Tour of Angkor What
Drive back to Phnom Penh
We will have a hotel to freshen up
Might have dinner with Pastor and his Wife
Head to the airport
Shanghai Airlines Flight 834
Phnom Penh to Shanghai
Depart Phnom Penh: 11:45pm
Arrive in Shanghai at 4:30am
(We will not be able to leave airport but we are looking into a hotel within the airport to hang out and rest and shower if you want. The airport is supposed to be very nice.)

Sunday August 3rd
Delta Airlines Flight 18
Shanghai to Atlanta
Depart: 3:45pm
Arrive Home at 6:25pm

As always, thanks for all your prayers!

The flight that keeps on giving..

I can not believe we are leaving in 2 days.
I am so excited! John and I have been so extremely blessed with all of you! We have made friendships that will last a lifetime! Thanks again for all your hard work and dedication throughout this journey! I can not wait to see all the kids and their smiles this week! They will touch our hearts forever!
If you have any questions please feel free to contact John or I! We will see you all Thursday 7:00am at the airport! Get ready for the flight that keeps on giving!
Don't forget your Visa (plus picture) and passport!!
John and I are off today celebrating 2 years of marriage! This is an exciting week for us!

Vaccines

It's now just a few days before we leave for our Cambodia trip and it occurred to me that getting the vaccines made me the most nervous out of anything we've done to prepare for this trip.  I think we take it for granted how blessed we truly are!  Realizing what these kids, and everyone else in Cambodia, are exposed to on a daily basis really blows me away!  Pray for their health...pray for our health.  :)

A Stand off?

Ben, one of our team members, sent out this link to read about some troubles in Cambodia. So for your reading pleasure here is the link...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7509412.stm

Enjoy!

Thanks for all your prayers, we are now 8 days away!!

Weather...

Hey friends,
Ben sent out this email today informing us that there is a good chance of beautiful weather while we are in Cambodia. So below is his email...

Tropical Depression aiming at Shanghai this morning is probably the best sort of news we could want for our trip. These storms are like flipping a coin in the sense that you can throw 13 tails in a row and while the probability of throwing 14 in a row is exceedingly small, the probability of throwing a 14^th after having completed 13 is still 50%. What I’m saying is: one storm’s headed to China and once the cycle finishes (there’s a 5 day lead before it hits Shanghai), there’s usually a gap in time before the next cycle begins and when that new storm forms, it usually aims at a different target. This one’s weak sauce and shouldn’t influence our flights. And since it clears out of the area just before we arrive, we should have good weather for the duration of our trip.

Images below are from: http://www.tropicalstormrisk.com/.

There’s also some nice flash data tools available at http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/

T-10 days

Well, it's almost here...10 days til we leave for Cambodia!!! That is very exciting and scary at the same time! My biggest concern is the jet lag and all the traveling we have to do. So if you have been on a long plane ride or just have some good tips please comment!!!!

Here's some tips I've heard so far...
1-try to get on that country time zone a few days before
2-eat the normal meal for the time in that country (this helps your brain realize)
3-take ambien on the plane and sleep when you are supposed to sleep