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!