crazy girl

This is the adorable wild child that I have committed to pray for, support, and be like "extended family" to for I guess the rest of my life! :)

my crazy girl & some of the sisters in her home

My crazy girl has a spirit of joy about her- personality just exudes from every inch of her being. She loves to laugh and dance all around- you can usually find her swinging someone's arms around or in the pool jumping off someone's shoulders. She is loud and crazy when she warms up to you. Her HOL mom says that her personality tends to get her in trouble.. she can be bossy or pushy with her sisters when she wants to be. When she came to her home, she got in trouble all the time and even got into fights at school. She came from a poor tribal village where her mother had died and her father had nothing. Now she has 2 parents  and 7 sisters that love her and provide for her  and she knows Jesus.

all the girls in her home and their mom

When I decided that I wanted to become an extended family member to one of the HOL children, I was able to choose from a few that needed a family member because I know them all. I love that I got to pick my crazy girl, because one day I can look at her and say "I chose you.. out of all the others, I chose you to be mine.. just like Jesus did."

saying goodbye

On the last day of camp, saying goodbyes is always emotional and sad for both our American team and for the HOL kids. When I said goodbye to my crazy girl, I held her precious face in my hands and said "I love you because you are my family. I'll pray for you and think of you every day.. and I'll be right back here next year to see you again." Isn't God SO good that I get to be a real part of her life? That I get to know her and sit in her house and hold her every year? I couldn't be more grateful for that gift and for the way He has restored joy inside of this crazy girl.

my friend.

I made a new friend this year in Southeast Asia. This friend CHANGED my life. He became more than my friend.. he became my family, my brother.  I've waited a long time to blog about him because I don't feel like I have adequate words to describe him- no words I have do him or his story justice.

My friend is strong. He has known addiction so deep that he was willing to sell even his own daughter to satisfy it..he has come out of that addiction with strength. My friend is gentle. Before he speaks, he quietly meditates on his words- carefully choosing his response so that it comes out of a heart of dedication to his God. My friend is hilarious. He can make me laugh so hard that I fall to the floor with in hysterical laugher.. and the best part is that we can only communicate with a few sentences. His laughter brought relief to my aching heart when I thought it couldn't hold any more pain. My friend is bold. He stands up to people that want him to stop his work.. his prayers were full of boldness and power, unlike any prayer I have ever heard. My friend trusts his LIFE and the life of his family to our God. He knows that the risk of following Jesus is worth the reward of the people of his nation knowing Him. I have never, never met anyone like him.

When we said goodbye, I cried tears of sorrow at having to let him go- at knowing that he had to return home to a life of immense pressure and responsibility... at knowing my life pales in comparison to his. I wept for my friend to the point of not being able to speak.. and he wept with me. All I knew to say that he would understand is "I'll pray for you." So I said it- over and over and over as I hugged his neck. And then I turned and ran for the door because I didn't think my heart could take the sadness anymore.. and my friend followed me. He put his hand on my shoulder and he said to me "Amanda, I sorry for your pain."

My friend knows faith more than I will ever know. He trust in our God more than I ever will. When he prayed "I will not trade you for anything God" he meant those words in the depths of his being.. he meant that he would give his life.

This psalm resonates deep in my soul for my friend, my brother in Christ.. will you join me in praying it for him?

"In times of trouble, may the Lord answer your cry.

      May the name of the God of Jacob keep you safe from all harm.

  May he send you help from his sanctuary

      and strengthen you from Jerusalem.

 May he remember all your gifts

      and look favorably on your burnt offerings.

                     

 May he grant your heart’s desires
      and make all your plans succeed.
 May we shout for joy when we hear of your victory
      and raise a victory banner in the name of our God.
   May the Lord answer all your prayers.

 Now I know that the Lord rescues his anointed king.

      He will answer him from his holy heaven

      and rescue him by his great power.

 Some nations boast of their chariots and horses,

      but we boast in the name of the Lord our God."

 

Psalm 20

 

being home.

i've officially been home 28.5 hours, which is actually 3 hours less than it took for me to travel from Southeast Asia to Tennessee.. crazy huh?? i have all kinds of feelings about being home.. it is so sweet to hug my family, spend time with friends, sleep in my bed, and drink real diet coke again. in so many ways i needed to come home- i needed to be with the people that know me the best and most importantly, i needed to be alone. i haven't been truly alone in over 3 weeks, and i have been dreading the thought of it since the minute i left Cambodia.

being alone means dealing with the ache in my heart.

being alone means thinking about these faces and knowing where they are is still a really horrible place that is on the other side of the world from me, away from the reach of my arms to hold them.

being alone means crying out to the Lord until i have no more tears left because my confused heart doesn't understand Him right now.

the bottom line is that i don't want to have to deal with the things i saw because it hurts too much. i don't want to have to face the depths of the sin of this world. the depths of the sin of ME.. because i am NO different from any other. our sins are so deep and real that they affect us even at birth. we are never innocent- not even as children. never deserving of grace. and that is so hard to grasp & understand when i am looking at people who have literally nothing, looking at children who are victims of the worst kind of sin condition. my life would be much easier if i didn't have to try to understand.. but i do have to try.. for these faces, for these people, for the Savior Jesus that died so that i might have life.

i have so many stories to tell from my trip- some of them stories of sadness and pain but many of them sweet stories of joy. my hope is that i'll be able to share some of them with you over the next little while since i didn't have time to blog as much as i wanted to while i was gone! :)

Camp

I just realized that it's been over a week since I last blogged- oops! We have been SO busy that I haven't had time to sit down and write. We've traveled around the southern part of the country a little bit and it is sooo beautiful. I would gladly post pictures if I hadnt dropped my camera and broken the lense off.. Shocker that I did that, I know. :)
We spent most of our time putting on a camp for 72 of my favorite children on this planet. Every year I count down the days until I get to hug them again- hearing "chi Amanda!" (sister Amanda) yelled over & over across the resort for 5 days brought healing to my heart. We laughed and laughed like we always do, played games, worshipped together, learned about Paul and how we can be like him, and ate until we were full. Some of my sweetest moments were sitting with girls by the pool, talking about life (when we could communicate) or just holding hands and not saying a thing when we couldn't. I love the bond I have with these children- one that is formed through Christ. It is precious to me!
There is one girl who is going through some really dark, hard things inside her. Something happened to her when she was younger and went home for a visit that she is his now speaking about, and it is affecting her in most areas of her life. I was able to sit and pray with her while a pastor prayed over her- I will never forget her weeping while he had her repeat after him a prayer of forgiveness for the person that hurt her. The sound of brokenneas in her voice was something a child should never have to feel so young. The sin in this world is undescribable. Pray for her & her healing process- especially for her HOL mother as she walks through it with her.
Another sweet memory is the last night, when we got together to celebrate 10 years of the homes being established. The oldest child, who is going to college this year, gave a speech and spoke about the gift of being redeemed by the Lord & cared for in her home. She gave advice to all the other children to honor their parents & cherish their siblings. I am so proud of her and how she is letting God mold her. I wish I has pictures to go with this post- Ill have to add them when I get home!
Now we're back in the city for 2 more days before we head home. I have realt mixed emotions about that- im ready for a fountain drink & pancakes but it is going to break my heart to leave this place & these people. I have seen so much that I dont want to go home and forget. Pray that I listen well to what God wants me to do with it all.

Brokenness

It's hard to believe that my time in Cambodia is already over. Yesterday, Caitlyn Philip Tiffany Debbie & I said goodbye to our first team and took a bus back to Southeast Asia to meet up with the team from Fellowship. It was definitely a bittersweet goodbye- the entire 7 hour trip back I battled with an overhwhelming sense of grief and brokenness. There is SO much I saw and experienced in Cambodia- SO MUCH. Many things I can't even blog about- some because there isn't time, some because I need to protect the people I met.. but it's almost impossible to explain the depths of the hurt and pain my heart is carrying. I try to process it a little at time, because when I look at the big picture, it overwhelms me. I don't think that was the Lord's intention in bringing me to Cambodia- so I try to pray over it in small doses so that I'm not left feeling helpless and drowning.

On our last full day in Cambodia, our team went to visit the Ton Le Sak- a lake about 2 hours outside of Pnom Penh. This lake is special because on it reside an estimated 40,000 Vietnamese people. Did you read that? 40,000!! That is INSANE. They live in floating villages all over the lake- little communities of boats that are floating everywhere. The reason that they live this way is because the Vietnamese are so looked down on by the Cambodian people- they are the poorest of the poor in Cambodia. So poor that they don't even have a land to call their own. They are a displaced people with no citizenship, no school to go to, nothing but their floating boat houses. It was so sad to see the people of my heart living in such poor conditions- they are truly a forgotten people.

When we got to the lake, we were taken over a bridge made out of wooden planks (yes, i freaked out and froze in the middle of it for those of you that know me well) and then we got into boats and went to a pastor's house. We prayed for him, hopped back into the boats and started out into the community. We just drove around for awhile, looking at how the people lived. There are houses that have boat repair shops in the front, little general stores.. it really is like a community out on the water.

After driving around, we stopped at a house and were invited in by a family of 4. This family had 2 beautiful young daughters. We sat with them and the Vietnamese that were with us began to share Christ with them while the 3 Americans sat in their boat and prayed. So many of the people living on Ton Le Sak have NEVER HEARD the name of Jesus. Never. Can you imagine? The missionaries we were with said that when they first came to Cambodia they drove boats up and down the lake, asking people if anybody knew about Jesus.. and everybody answered no. They are just sitting in boats, living for the next day, waiting for someone to share the gospel with them.. and praise the Lord, the family we sat with accepted Christ! It was a beautiful way to end our time in Cambodia and I'm so thankful that the Lord allowed me to experience it.

Since leaving I have really struggled to fully engage with where I am now. My heart and mind just can't stop thinking about the things I have seen. I constantly pray, dream, and think about the faces of Cambodia. I would love your prayers as I enter in to a new role as team leader of this next trip- I know the Lord is asking me to be present here and to let the other things go for now. Tomorrow I get to see my 75 brothers and sisters and spend the next 5 days with them and I know it will be good for my soul!

For now, I will leave you with this verse that the Lord gave me today for Cambodia:

"Oh, how can I give you up Israel?

How can I let you go?

How can I destroy you like ADmah 

or demolish you like Zrbolim?

My heart is torn within me, and my compassion overflows

No I will not unleash my fierce anger.

I will not completely destroy Israel,

for I am God and not a mere mortal.

I am the Holy One living among you,

and I will not come to destroy.

For someday the people will follow me.

..and I will bring them home again"

-Hosea 11:7-11