Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Pictures






Just chillin on the roof of a restaurant. No, it was not open to guests, they
just let us go up to take pictures...

Me and Sauvry on the roof before dinner.




Lygia and me on the roof before dinner.


This is what the sky looks like when I go running in the evening


One of the many temples near me. (Truthfully, I don't remember which one)








Overall Update


It has been a crazy few months! Since the last time I sent out an update, we've started a children's ministry, ended a children's ministry, expanded our outreach, gained several girls in our program, lost a few and had a change in our leadership. So, I'm going to give you the reader's digest version...

We started our Kid's Club as a result of a two teams coming. We saw that there was a need during the mornings for about thirty kids in our area since the Cambodian schools had shut down due to an epidemic. It was such a blessing getting to hang out with the kids and to be apart of a children's program again. After about two months, most of the kids went back to school during the mornings and our staff's availability changed making it impossible to run a program for the kids in the mornings. So for the time being, we've shut down our Kids' Club and are waiting on God to provide staffing. 

We started being more aggressive trying to get into one massage parlor in particular, simply so we could offer them free medical clinics and English classes. We finally were able to get access to the girls and now we have too many girls to help between the three massage parlors and one karaoke club. Right now our facility is so jam packed with 16 girls and a waiting list so long that with the way things stand now, we simply cannot accommodate all the girls by the end of 2013. Because of this fact, we're pulling back on outreach and simply working  to maintain relationships and are waiting to see how God provides both with finances and staff. 

Steve and Lygia moved back to the states at the beginning of the month and our new director of Siem Reap, Laura, just got here last Friday. Really bummed to have them move home, but God has so been blessing this time. A few days before they moved I made a new friend who introduced me to a new church. I cannot tell you what a blessing it has been going there! The people are so nice and I really feel at home with the group of women. I can really see myself calling this my Siem Reap church home. 

This last week I found out that a woman from Lakeside Church that I used to volunteer with was in a car accident and passed away. It has so broken my heart and for several days was just a wreck. God so blessed the timing for a team to come. A team from Bayside Church came up and has been visiting, training our girls in the salon. They have been such a support and a real blessing not only to our girls and our ministry, but to us personally. Laura and I got to spend one night in a spontaneous night of worship and prayer with them. It was such a blessing to spend time in prayer and worship with a group of women and be able to be vulnerable and share the brokenness for this family that I was feeling. God knew exactly what I needed and what our girls have needed and has provided it through this amazing team. 

God has really been working and moving in my heart these last few weeks really teaching me what a Christ-centered community is and how I personally should be acting. I feel like these last few weeks, as crazy as they have been, have held some of the sweetest moments with my brothers and sisters in Christ that I have ever had, and I have seen God's provision in such a personal way that I have never before experienced. It has been awesome!

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Cruel and Unusual Punishment

For some time now, we've battled on and off with the girls about doing their chores and their cooking responsibilities. After countless warnings, sit down conversations, and schedules made to make this simple and clear, it was time to put down the hammer. So we called all the girls together last night and discussed what their punishment would be... For the foreseeable future, the girls would have to eat breakfast and lunch that I cook. Yes that's right ladies and gentleman, they have to eat American style food! I know what you're thinking: "Pancakes for breakfast and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch!?!?! Brittnay what on earth are you trying to do these poor girls?! Haven't they been through enough?!" And to that I say, you gotta do what you gotta do.

I woke up this morning at 4:30 so I could be at Rahab's at 5:00 to cook breakfast and make sack lunches for the girls who would be at school all day. I put on some worship music and began cooking a punishment filled with love. A few pancakes into it (which looked and smelled amazing by the way) I began to worry.

What if the girls actually like the food and this punishment backfires? What if I end up getting stuck waking up this early to make breakfast every morning? I am not a morning person. This is not going to work. Lord, please, don't let this backfire. Please let this plan not be as stupid as it is beginning to seem. PLEASE don't make me have to wake up early again tomorrow!

And to all of you who don't believe in prayer, well looky here...I was so busy freaking out I accidentally burned four pancakes that were cooking. Then the pan was too hot and the next couple of pancakes burned a little before the inside could finish cooking all the way. Now, I wasn't trying to make gross pancakes, I promise, but I was I crying when I saw this. No. No sir I was not.

All in all, the pancakes were edible. Beautiful, oh goodness no, but only a few were burned and most of them were actually pretty spectacular if I do say so myself. But when the girls came to eat them, Oh dear. You should have seen their faces. They all told me how wonderful they were, but they simply weren't very hungry this morning (coincidence? I think not).  Finally one girls had the courage to admit none of them liked the pancakes but they didn't want to hurt my feelings. They just wanted rice. When they found out that they were going to be eating pb&j for lunch, no one held back. There was so much wailing and whining about how Cambodians need rice and they don't want to eat bread two meals in a row, and if they promise to do their chores and responsibilities can they please go back to cooking their own meals...you know, the kind of meals with rice?

I played it cool. "Well, I'll talk to the house moms and Sauvry about it. We already have enough pancake mix for a couple days, It would mean a market run today.... I don't know...I'll see what they think. But you have to promise that you are going to do your chores and cooking. " Loud and enthusiastic promises were made. When I went over and told Sauvry, she smiled and said she would go to the market today to get more food. I told her not to tell them right now. To let them sweat it out a little. Make them think they're going to have to have pancakes again tomorrow. With the most conspiratorial smile I have ever seen she agreed and walked off to tell the house mom that the plan had worked. 

That's how we roll. We're pretty hard core when it comes to punishments over here. (I can't even keep a straight face writing that...)No, but all in all, I'm glad this was such  a simple and effective fix to a long standing problem. God is good!