Hello Hometown!

My Cambodia/Vietnam outreach team on DTS graduation day:

Ben, Madeleine, Bekah, Marta, Alexis, Victoria, Tina, Stephanie, Me, and Zach. 

Sarah, our other team member, has followed God's call and decided to stay in Cambodia!

Seattle greeted me with a refreshing blast of brisk, cold air as I stepped off of the plane last night. I guess my shorts and sandals just aren't going to cut it anymore...

My last week in Kona was a pivotal time for wrapping up this whole DTS experience. Coming back to the states and trying to sort through the thoughts and emotions of outreach in Asia, in addition to the culture shock of being back in a Westernized country, left me feeling a little lost and listless. But as the week progressed, God's faithfulness and grace in this whole process became more and more apparent. I have been slowly coming to a greater realization that through the good times and the difficult, God is helping me grow in love for Him and for others.

There was something different about each one of us, all 40-some DTS students, as we worshipped together this week. I began to understand more how God had been faithfully working through the last three months to bring us to a richer and deeper understanding of His love not only for those who are lost but for us as His children. God has done what was prophesied over us even before we began DTS together - that we would be family. At the end of the week many tears were shed as we gave each other long hugs and said our goodbyes.

I'm back at home now, writing this on my bed with my cat snuggled close by. The noise from the tv of the Huskies playing Purdue filters into my room and the reality of being at home becomes a little more tangible to my tired and still somewhat jet-lagged mind and body. I'm sure I'll be thinking through all the things I experienced and saw over these last six months for a while to come. But the overarching theme threaded through all that I've gone through, I have already come to grasp: God is good. He is faithful and so gracious to us in our weakness. His love covers over our fears and our failures. He truly can change us to make us more like Him. 

To all of you who have been writing me messages or just thinking of me or praying for me, THANK YOU!!! I tried my best to reply to people when I had internet connection these last few months. If I didn't give an apt reply, I apologize!

I feel like God reminded me of a song this week as an encouragement for me and maybe for you :) These are key words that I've taken to heart as I readjust to being home and trust in the Lord for the future:

My life is in Your hands...

Final Photo of Compassion DTS 2008-2009

I'm back in the States!!

I left Taiwan at 3:00pm on Sunday, today, and returned to Kona on Sunday at 9:30am. I love flying and gaining a day :) I'm so tired after traveling from Cambodia to Taiwan, staying overnight and then flying to Kona. I'm battling jet lag at the moment but I'm soooo excited to be back in the States. I've never felt such appreciation coming home to America as now - there's something special about coming back to your home country after having left it for an extended amount of time. Needless to say, I'm glad to be back in the beautiful land of Aloha smelling the clean breeze, seeing the big, blue ocean, and reuniting with the other outreach teams from my DTS. And I've been craving a big, warm chocolate chip cookie from the oven for three weeks now and will hopefully be getting my wish in the near future!!!

Thanks to you all for your support and love! I'm looking forward to seeing many of you soon and can't wait to share more of the pictures and stories from the past half year with you. Wow, I can't believe its already been that long...

As far as prayers requests go, I would love your prayers for the readjustment back into Westernized living and culture as well as the process of sorting through in my mind and heart all the things I've gone through and seen these past few months. I'm also asking for God's love and grace to cover me as I rest and look towards the possibilities of the future. I love you and I'll be seeing many of you soon :)

The view from the house in Battambang where I am staying. Sunsets are beautiful!

I'm getting practice holding babies at orphanages.

Hanging out with cancer patients in Vietnam :)

Last Weeks

Written March 2, 2009

Isaiah 40:31 Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength…

 

I can’t believe it is finally March, the month I’m meant to go home to Seattle. My thoughts often turn towards home and the possibilities of the future as the days of my DTS outreach in Cambodia dwindle down. We as a team are still going strong by God’s grace and still have excitement for our ministries here in Battambang despite the wear and tear of living in multiple foreign countries, eating different food and regularly combating the effects of the Big D (for those of you who don’t know, that’s our term for the not-so-pleasant visits to the bathroom J). In the one week we’ve been in this small town we’ve already worked in numerous orphanages leading programs and games, spent time taking care of orphan babies, discipled youth, taught English classes, led church services, participated in outreach to street kids and worked with the Youth Center started by YWAMers at the YWAM base. It has been exhausting and wonderful all at the same time.

 

It’s been quite the adventure doing this DTS and living in Southeast Asia these past few months. There have been the emotional ups and downs, the occasional bouts of illness, the constant adjustment to a different way of life but it has been well worth it. God is moving in Cambodia and I’ve had the privilege to experience it first-hand through interactions with Khmer people and through involvement with the ministries already established here. The society is rapidly changing as the nation continues to rebuild itself after the affects of the Khmer Rouge and so the rise of this upcoming generation will carry great consequence to not only the nation itself but to the countries surrounding it. Cambodia has an openness and freedom that can allow for a great move of God – so, feel free to pray for this nation whenever you want! If you’re curious about what is going on with the ministries in Cambodia, check out the UofN Cambodia website at UofNCambodia.org.

 

Other prayer requests I have would include decisions regarding post-DTS opportunities and adjusting back to life in America. And I thought I would let you know that I’m SO excited to see family and friends back in Seattle! I will be spending some time after leaving Cambodia at the Kona YWAM base to finish DTS and then I’ll be home by the end of the month J. Thank you for your prayers and support!

 

Let us now become weary in doing good for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. 

Galatians 6:9-10