Happy Thanksgiving! We give thanks today for many things. We had a super day today doing all the same things as yesterday. The pastor of the church seems to be overwhelmed with joy as he watches the progress. He is not used to how fast things are getting done. We want to send a special thank you to those at Cornerstone who wrote words of encouragment and scriptures for us to read while here. We shared several of them with each other this morning at breakfast as part of our Thanksgiving devotional. The ladies of the church were told that this was a holiday for us. Several ladies asked many questions as to why we celebrate and what Thanksgiving is. We had a wonderful surprise when the ladies prepared turkey, mashed potatoes, bread, sweet bread, hot chocolate, and rice. The pastor, his wife, and all of the Mastor´s commision kids came to our hotel with the food and we all sat down for a banquet. What a wonderful way to say we love you too! The relationships that are being established are amazing. In spite of language barriers love is able to transcend. Please continue to pray for us as we have one more work day left. God bless you all and we will see you soon.

Wednesday: What a productive day. The team worked so hard. We tied rebar, dug more trenches (footers),and moved stone. We shoveled and hauled away dirt as well as mixed and poured concrete. God is good. Just as the word that was spoken over us said, the foundation is being laid.

Tuesday: Another day of hard work and the sun came out which made it hotter. But, we had plenty of sunscreen and drank plenty of water. The guys seemed like the Flinestones since they spent the day breaking huge rocks with a sledge hammer.The boulders used to be the floor of the sanctuary. Some of the team dug footers and moved dirt.
Everyone is well, working very hard, and now we´re getting ready to go to dinner. Hopefully we will get to bed early for a much needed night rest.
We have had a great time in the Lord with the Master´s Commision kids, and with the people of Escol Church. The pastor stands watching all that the Lord is doing and smiles. Continue to pray for us for health and safety.

Sunday:
The first day of work was very busy: tore down bathrooms, knocked down a kitchen, moved piles of gravel and sand to get ready for grading the sanctuary floor. Everyone is safe and healthy
*Chincha News*
- Miles, David, and David panicked about being late, thinking it is 7 oclock, bang on Rowena's room at 5 am.
- Miles and Stacie get locked in the bathroom...BUT not at the same time!

There is plenty of hard work and sunscreen.

Anthony shared his testimony at church and had a great message about the power of prayer.

Monday:
The word spoken over the team Isaiah 58:11 & 12 came to pass, as we dug footers, even though it wasn't planned. Everyone was VERY grateful when the backhoe arrived!

We arrived safely in Chincha on Saturday evening. Our brothers and sisters at the Church Escol had a warm welcome for us. God is awesome and has completed the work we had planned. We will follow His plan and move to the next part of the project. May He bless our efforts.

Praise God! The Peru team arrived safely in Lima. All of the luggage and tools arrived as well. God is good. We are having devotional time and preparing to head out to Chincha. Rich and Wanda plus the kids are healthy and glad we are here. We are excited about getting to work in Chincha and being a blessing there.

The Peru team is about to take flight. We will leave Friday, Nov. 20. We look forward to sharing how God shows up and the awesome work He does. Stay tuned.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Friday is coming fast and we can't wait. Check back every day for updates!

Wednesday!

Praise God for cooler weather! :) It was a few degrees cooler today and once again the kids worked really hard at their ministry sites. Tonight, while our families were Celebrating Jesus, we attended an awesome worship service at a nearby church. There was an amazing praise band and we heard from and got to meet Caleb who is a missionary in Cambodia. The kids loved him! Another great day. Only one more day and we'll be packing to head back to Virginia. I'm sure our kids will be sad to say goodbye to all their new friends from North Carolina and Michigan!

Tuesday!

Today was another great day of hard work and great fun! The kids are amazing! After spending time today at Girls, Inc., Carver Rec Center and Avondale Rec Center playing with and encouraging the kids and the workers, we enjoyed a fun evening splashing in fountains and getting ice cream at Coolidge Park!

August 3rd!

We had an awesome day today! The kids worked hard at a couple different recreation centers and at Audubon Acres clearing the land. After dinner, we had the opportunity to visit Lookout Mountain where we could see 7 states! It was beautiful and the kids had a blast! We have made many new friends and cannot wait to tell you all the stories of all that God is doing through this experience! We love you and thank you for your prayers!

August 2, 2009

Pictures from Today!

We stopped for lunch at the Wytheville Visitor Center where Pastor Jason's three aunts greeted us with dessert. Then we had the amazing opportunity to visit Pastor Jason's grandmother who lives in a nursing home. Our kids blessed these people so much with their handshakes, laughter, stories and songs!

We have arrived in Chattanooga!

Hello everyone!

We have arrived safely in Chattanooga! Activities, including dinner, began the moment we stepped off the vans!

We had a wonderful day and pictures will be posted a bit later tonight. We can't wait to share some amazing things that we got to do today on our way here!

Almost Ready to Go!

Hello all!

Here it is... our Chattanooga blog! We are so excited to be leaving in only 3 more days!

Please be praying for safe travel for us on Sunday. Pray for our team members as they pack and prepare for the week.

Our Final Day In Battambang

Today brings a close to our brief stay in Battambang but it definitely has been a life changing experience. The men are hard at work trying to complete the huts before we leave tomorrow morning. The huts look awesome and we are so proud of the men's progress. We closed our time at Four Square orphanage with a fun day of VBS. And the women had another special time at Rapha House sharing a devotion wtih the staff.

Tonight we will be having a special time with the YWAM staff. Please pray that they would be encouraged and blessed.

We are excited to come home and see our families! Please pray as we start our travel home tomorrow. We love you!

More Fun in Battambang!

We have been in Battambang for five days now and are nearing the end of our stay here. Yesterday was really busy. The men were hard at work again trying to complete some huts for the YWAM base, but their progress was slowed because of an afternoon downpour. Evelyn, Linda and Ann spent the morning at Rapha house while Michelle, Hannah, Joy and Phillip continued their VBS at Four Square Orphanage. The afternoon times are spent teaching English at several different locations, Rapha House, YWAM's Youth Center and with Kalyan ( a Khmai girl who runs a street kids ministry). We have all realized that we don't remember anything we learned about English and are constantly being challenged to remember the rules of grammar. =)

Today some of our team was able to do a prayer walk in a handicap village beside the YWAM base and had a powerful time praying in the Spirit over this community.

Please continue to pray for strength, I can tell people are growing tired quickly, with the days being hot and our schedule being full. Also, please pray for the Community Service tonight on the base, at which Jay will be sharing his testimony. Thank you so much again for your support!

Love, The Khmai pies =)

Day Two in Battambang

Today we are hard at work in the different ministries we are working with. The Lord has really blessed our team with many gifts and talents and we are definitely getting every opportunity to use them for His glory. The men are hard at work this morning building huts around the YWAM base, which will be used for Bible studies, small group meetings, etc. The women divided up and some are blessing Krissy and helping her clean her new house and the others (plus Phillip... who is not a girl =) are doing a VBS at an orphanage.

We are excited to bless the base with these new huts and to bless Krissy. The children at the orphanage enjoyed learning about how God created earth and loved to sing to us in both English and Khmai.

Please continue to pray for opportunities to be God's love and grace extended. Also that we would be lead by the Holy Spirit and would be quick to obey His leading and guiding.

P.S. Today is the one year anniversary of the death of a former Khmai YWAMer. Please be praying for the staff to be encouraged as they remember his great life in serving the Lord and would be filled with joy instead of sadness.

Thank you again for your prayers!

Hello From Battambang!

Well we made it! We arrived in Battambang, Cambodia Saturday afternoon around 4:30 p.m. Our travel went pretty smooth. We are definitely glad to be here and not traveling =) This morning our team split up in to two different groups for church. One group went to Rapha House Church and the other to Four Square Church (which hosts an orphanage we will be working with). Linda was able to share her testimony at the Rapha House and Brandon preached at Four Square. After church we went through a series of orientations to prepare us for the ministries we will be a part of. And right now the team is on a scavenger hunt to figure out the city on motos =) and are enjoying every moment!

Thank you so much for all of your prayers. We are recovering well from the time difference and enjoying all all the new food we are experiencing. Please continue to pray for divine appointments. During our intercession times we believe God wants to do miracles and an out pouring of His Holy Spirit. So please be praying for these and that we would be quick in obedience to the Lord. Thank you again for joining with us in prayer and please know we are holding you all in our hearts and praying for too. =) Have a good day!

The Day has Arrived!

The time has nearly arrived for us to board the plane and we are anxiously awaiting to see what God has planned for this trip. We know God is the author of this journey and we can not wait to witness His authorship as the story unfolds over the next 11 days.

Please pray for safe travel ( we will arrive in Bangkok, Thailand 12:00 A.M. Saturday morning... its a really long journey...). Also pray for favor as we cross over the the Thai/Khmai boarder. Lastly, pray for the people we will be working with and serving. Pray that the love of the Father would be evident to them.

Thank you so much for partnering with us and cannot wait to tell you all that God is doing!

16 Days Til...

Prepped and anxious, our team leaves for Asia in 16 days. Our total travel time will be just over 24 hours before we land in Bangkok, Thailand, and another 15 hours before we reach the YWAM base in Battambang, Cambodia.

God has been speaking some amazing things to our team through our times of intercession. One consistent word has been Isaiah 61:3, that for those who mourn in Battambang, God will give "a crown of beauty for ashes." We know that as we stand on that word, God will be faithful to use us as we partner with the YWAM base and local churches to bring hope and joy to the local Cambodians we will serve and share with.

Once we get to Cambodia, we will be updating our blogs very frequently, so make sure to check back whenever you can.