It’s a phrase that one of our Cambodian brothers says often.  It’s simple, but it’s one of those Cambodian things that we find ourselves saying every day. Team Cambodia has had some emotional goodbyes in the last week.  We said goodbye to Vuthy, our ministry leader.  We had a tearful goodbye with our Cambodian brothers and sisters on Sunday.  Now it is the end of debrief and we are faced with our own team goodbyes.  We have already said goodbye to our leaders and the rest of us fly out tomorrow (well I guess it’s actually today considering that...

My heart was full of nostalgia as we drove down the paved road to wifi one last time.  Everything struck me as familiar—the people, the places, the sights and sounds.  The chaos of the market was not overwhelming, but warm and inviting.  And then it hit me: this new place has become home. The girls sitting to my left and my right are now my family.  I have spent the last three months waking up next to them.  They are the last faces I see before I fall asleep.  They are the ones I pray for and pray with.  We are living in the new normal, where going to...

Imagine. You have spent a little more than two months in beautiful, rural Cambodia.  You have had maybe a week (max) of city experience and even less time with just your team.  You and most of your teammates finally get the opportunity you have been waiting for: Angkor Wat. This is one of the seven manmade wonders of the world!  This massive temple holds history, religion, and beauty—all completely unique to Cambodia.  I am sorry to say it was underwhelming. We woke up at 4:30am to leave at 5am and see the sunrise over Angkor Wat.  Everyone who goes to Angkor Wat...

Last Saturday our team had the chance to do something different on our off day.  We took an almost two hour drive, squeezing as many people as humanly possible into a sweaty fifteen passenger van.  We had our hearts pierced by the brutality of the killing fields. Then went to a sweet little café called Connecting Hands in downtown Phnom Penh.  This café was not just an ordinary eatery.  It is actually an NGO that trains women who have a history or poverty, abuse, and/or sex trafficking.  They learn how to become baristas, waitresses, and chefs. The café was cute, decorated with comfy seats and...

I never thought I would be called to this. I never imagined that I would travel halfway across the world to share the Lord with a tourist from Canada. I never thought I would befriend a bartender and go to her church. I knew the Lord had called me to something bigger than myself, but I didn’t know it would look like this. When I signed up to go to Cambodia for three months, I had very different expectations of what my stay here would look like. I thought I was going to be working with human trafficking and showing the women involved that there is hope and a way out. Instead, I live with...

“Haley, dun’t fart.” This is the most accurate description I can give of what it is like to teach a class of Cambodian preteens who speak broken English. All of a sudden there was a bad smell that crept its way into our classroom.  Emily quickly picked out one of our students and told him not to fart, which began a series of “Haley, dun’t fart” and “Emily, dun’t fart.”  We definitely did not stop them.  We actually joined in the ridiculousness. This is just a snapshot of classroom life.  There are many more stories filled...