Good-Bye for Now

As I went to sleep last night I pondered a conversation that I had with On.  We were chatting and she was dreaming of what her life will be like when she grows up.  She is 13 and has been at the orphanage for 5 years.  She is dreaming of becoming an interpreter.  She would like to learn Chinese and Korean as well as the English she knows and the Khmer.  On says that she always practices her English on visitors that come which is a great use of her resources.  She wants to travel and have a husband.  She at first said she wanted 100 children, then she pared it down to 2 :)  She wants to visit our family in the US before she has a baby and then bring her family back for another visit.  And she wants to ride in an airplane.

The part that I want to share is that she was telling me all about her sponsors.  She named them and what they do.  She has 2 because some families split sponsorship because it's about $50 for a child here at this orphanage.  She said she prays for them everyday and she spoke about them with such love and care as you would extended family.  I was struck because so many of us sponsor children around the world and most of us will never be able to have a face to face talk with that child whose picture hangs on our refrigerator.  But I want to testify to you that our sponsorships change lives!  It brings hope of a future of the Lord's choosing, not one dictated by environmental and societal issues.

If you have not sponsored a child I really encourage you to take that step.  Change a life and have the faith that the Lord will work mightily in that child's life when you can't always see the effects.  Be the change in the world that you want to see :)  One child at a time :)  All these children here who have sponsors can tell you who they are and what they do and their names because they pray for them.  A Greater Hope Orphanage has children that still need sponsors and Compassion International is an awesome organization that has children for you to give hope to.

Kit was saying last night that the oldest 4 children who tested out on their graduation test these past two days came home very excited and full of hope!  The current system dictates that they are to pay for their grades and if they can't pay they don't get good grades.  Kit and Ream will not pay for better grades because it is wrong and not beneficial for the children.  These boys came home saying that they felt they had done so well and passed!  It was a big stress off of them and a time to celebrate for all the kids because they are seeing firsthand that they can be honest and have ethics and succeed.  When the kids get to public school they have to pay for grades or what Kit and Ream have done is to get them extra classes so that they can learn.  Because of the pay for grades issue many children do not know how to read or write by graduation.  One of the boys who tested yesterday had a boy sitting next to him who could not read or write, and he was trying to take the graduation exam!  Praise God His ways are right and true!  And He showed Himself faithful again!


This morning we had the hard task of saying good-bye.  We were able to get a group photo with most of the kids!  So thankful!  We missed some who had already taken off to the school.

Several of the kids gave us beautiful notes they had written and some photos of themselves.  The photos are precious items.

We rode to Phnom Penh with Ream who had some orphanage business to do in the city.  The work is never done but she and Kit keep going.  I really enjoy my time to sit and chat with Ream!  She is soft spoken and wise.  She has a wealth of experiences that she attributes to the Lord planning ahead for her.  She said that she took traditional dance for a while and spent a lot of money learning.  Then she didn't use it.  She wondered if she had wasted her time and money.  Then she said the Lord brought her these kids at the orphanage and she was able to pass on what she had learned.  It blessed her so much as well as the kids.

Some kids have come to them very broken people.  But Ream reminded me that they don't want pity.  They want to testify to the power of Jesus to heal and make their lives new, to make them able to forgive and to help them hope and laugh and love in a beautiful, healthy way!

I think that since we've been at the orphanage we have been so busy hanging, helping, enjoying activities and such that we are going to need time to process all the Lord wants us to know, learn and remember from our trip.  We are leaving part of our hearts in Cambodia.

We arrived in Phnom Penh, went to the market for some snacks and then to our hotel.  This is us arriving in our hotel.  It looked like a little doorway in the middle of these store fronts that I've shown pictures of, but once we passed through it was like a green oasis.

We spent quite a bit of time swimming in the pool.  It was refreshing and we had lunch poolside.

We ventured out to the River Front in Phnom Penh and the traffic was packed!  Everyone going every which way but we never saw an accident.  Coming back in our tuk tuk we were close enough to the other people on moto's to touch them.  Like standing next to them literally.

We walked for a bit on the River Front, had some pastries and sorbet at a little bake shop.  We also saw the Royal Palace which is quite beautiful.

Tomorrow morning we leave for San Francisco.  We will leave here at 12:40pm (1:40am EST) and arrive in San Francisco on Thursday at 8:10pm (11:10pm EST).

I will post again as we continue this last leg of our journey.  But for now I ask that you pray for Kit and Ream Carson and their children Sam, Joe and Ada.  Please pray that they have wisdom and encouragement and energy to complete the good works that the Lord has laid out before them.  We know it is not by works that we are saved but only by the grace of God through the sacrifice of His son Jesus.  And they acknowledge they need the Lord to continue doing what they are doing.

Please pray of the children of the orphanage.  Pray that the Lord blesses them and continues to grow them to become more like His Son.  Pray that they are able to learn the lessons and school work that they need to in order to have the most opportunities available.  Please pray for safety and protection and boldness in the sharing of the hope that is within them.

Please pray for the orphanage and school to have enough money to continue it's good work.  The Lord is active and blessing them and we pray He continues to shine His light in Cambodia through them and the needed funds to implement His plan.