I'll take an order of experiences with a side of fantastic.

Hello friends, family, and followers! We are a little behind on sending out a second blog. We have been busy, busy, busy. We last left you before we went to the children’s home and Tonle Sap. The children at the children’s home are so much fun! We were greeted with a dance by some of the children and given scarves as gifts. Following the formalities we played volleyball, ate ice cream (one of the flavors was one they love and tasted like onions… of course Ryan and I ate it all), and Ryan and a few others even found and opened coconuts. We will for sure enjoy many more times with these precious children.

The next day we went to the Tonle Sap Lake. This is one of the largest fresh water lakes in Asia with estimates of over one million people living in boats on this “water world.” PCL has a barge there where they educate children and try to meet the needs of some of the floating communities. There are different villages on the water that include various people groups. When we were there the barge was near a Vietnamese village. We were told the hardest part about the way the lake works is that the river feeding the lake changes directions which makes the lake bigger and smaller based on the seasons. This fosters a nomadic culture where villagers move to where they can find food, work etc. This means that time to teach and meet needs can be limited to three month stints. This can be a problem in cultures where it takes long periods of time to get to people.

Yesterday we went to a land mine museum in Angkor Park. We got to hear harrowing and sad stories about the history of Cambodia including in-depth information about the Khmer Rouge and the killing of their own people. Millions of Cambodians were killed in mass genocide and not many people realize how much this affected this region of the world, let alone realize that it even happened. Sadly, I really didn’t know much about this until I looked into working with People for Care and Learning. We got to go with the children’s home, and we had lots of fun being with the children and Julie’s children. Rachel reminds me of how I was when I was younger. It was quite the experience to see the land mines and also watch a documentary on Aki Rah, the man who created the museum. It’s estimated that he as demined 50,000 landmines since his start. He was actually a child soldier for the Khmer Rouge then defected to the Vietnamese forces to fight the Khmer Rouge. His story of going to planting landmines to demining is both sad and remarkable. CNN names him as one of their CNN Heroes. We got to meet him when we were there. It was such an honor.

Yesterday morning we also got to go to a primary school to help Naroth (PCL) and his family lead a morning Sunday teaching. Ryan went up to help and I could not have been more proud. So see all of the children sitting there soaking up anything and everything touched my heart. To hear them clap and sing brings tears to my eyes as I remember. Blessed.

Last night we were blessed to have dinner with Travis and Kelly Johnson along with other members of our team. Travis is a pastor in Miami, FL and is currently in the middle of his “Will Ride for Hope” tour from Vietnam through Cambodia and then to Thailand. The ride is raising money for PCL. At the moment he has raised over $20,000! He is being featured on many radio stations and media outlets as he rides. When I say it was a blessing to meet them, it truly was. You can see many of their videos on facebook and at their blog http://willrideforhope.wordpress.com/ . We will pass them tomorrow on our way to Bangkok and hopefully see them again there.

Today we signed papers for an apartment!! This is very exciting because we were looking for a place to stay. We are near Pub Street and within walking distance to PCL. We should have internet there, so we will be able to communicate when we are not teaching or out in the villages doing other projects. We are so excited to have our own place, and God truly provided for us in this aspect. We are so thankful for all of our wonderful partners that made this possible. We welcome any and all visitors! We would like to remind all of our friends and family who contributed and partnered that not all are blessed like us and able to go. By giving you are here. We are each called to our own important things, and you are in the midst of your own great missions. Thank you so much for helping us with our mission.

Prayer needs: Safe travel to Bangkok (Thailand), safe travel to Phnom Penh (Cambodia), curriculum guidance and teaching, children’s home, integrated farm, teams, and provisions.