Greetings from Cambodia. Another month has went by so fast! When we take time to enter all these pictures we realize how much has been accomplished in the past four weeks!
The ending of the year into the beginning of January our family took a much needed holiday to a different province along the coast in Cambodia. Kampot is a beautiful place by the ocean with some mountains. We traveled here with some new friends and fellow co workers from ICF. They invited us to join them and so we did for a week and it was just the physical rest we needed. We stayed at a hotel right by the river and we enjoyed the week resting in Gods beautiful creation.
Beautiful ripening jackfruit
We have traveled to Kampot several times over the years usually with fellow Khmer church family. We were excited to visit some of our favorite restaurants in the city.
We brought our hammocks and enjoyed the beautiful cooler weather.
One day we rented motos and drove up the mountain to a beautiful waterfall.
and durian that was locally grown.
Just beautiful, all of Gods wonderful creation!
Such a special time with friends.
Britton and I enjoyed a morning date at a local coffee shop.
We were able to rest and sleep by the water.
A beautiful pool for the kids to play in.
We took several adventures.
One day we went kayaking, which was a first for our children.
Another day we went ziplining which was also a first for our kids.
Our beloved Khmer brother joined us for the weekend.
Eating octopus hotdogs by the ocean :)
Pro hut is some of our favorite Khmer food.
We also took him kayaking a day.
Sweet family times. On New Years evening we all went on a river boat cruise.
And then we went to a local resort that was having a New Years Eve party. They had a nice buffet meal, lots of planned games and skits, dancing and a welcoming into the new year. Alot of fellow missionaries were there with teenage children so this was perfect for us! We all agreed this was our most memorable New Year we have ever had.
Davids birthday is January 1st. This year he turned 24 years old. We enjoyed the day climbing a nearby mountain to a waterfall.
Celebrating his birthday by eating burgers on the beach.
Evening games and birthday cake together.
We had a blessed time all together. Thanking God for so many precious memories that will surly last a lifetime.
On our way home we stopped in Phnom Penh for some cleanings at the dentist.
Always missing family. Somedays the distance feels so far.
"Adventure Kids" morning. Praying together for the children needs.
Learning Bible verses together.
The sweetest little nephew face. We dearly love this little punkin and enjoy every FaceTime we have with him.
Ready for church one Sunday evening. Savanna seems to be growing right up! She resembles some of the Fisher family cousins.
Because of some rain making the dirt roads quite slick our boys had a small moto accident. Brysen burned his leg on the moto muffler.
Beautiful sunset on our way to a "Cheers event" for the expats at ICF. ICF does a really great job at taking good care of the expats who serve for them. We are so grateful for this community.
Lots of Kafe time working on various projects.
Savanna and I picking up our favorite green tea from our favorite seller.
We got some special passes into Angkor Watt. A pass for a foreigner into Angkor Watt is around 50 US dollars. They just passed a new law in Cambodia saying that if you've lived in Cambodia more than two years they will give you a pass to enter into the temples for free. This is so exciting for our family because it is a beautiful place to explore.
Britton and I went on a date one day to discover new things inside Angkor Watt.
Ended our date with raspberry tea at a quaint coffee shop.
Sunday morning briefing for the volunteers before the close to 1000 children come.
Getting a haircut and enjoying the kitty in the salon.
Our office and veranda where we eat lunch every day.
Working on Adventure Kids materials.
We had a 'Sin is Gross' class exercise. We dipped our hands into several yucky things to represent sin in our lives.
David came for the weekend. So we took him to Angkor Watt and enjoyed exploring with him.
We stopped at a local shop to get some of our shoes fixed. The shop owners little daughter really enjoyed Savanna.
Happy to see these words on a helmet.
Savanna and her little friend Elise helped wash dishes one Sunday morning.
Britton took all these boys to a local waterpark. These boys help set up and take down the hundreds of chairs every Sunday.
They had so much fun together! Our boys really enjoy these friends.
On January 23rd we celebrated Gracies 18th birthday. We cannot believe how fast time has gone! Eighteen seems like such an old age! We went to a little movie theater at the local mall together.
Pizza afterwards. Britton took her out for breakfast and then in the evening we were invited to some friends house from Canada for dinner. They are not staff at ICF but they volunteer quite a bit and we have enjoyed getting to know them.
Playing this new game that they brought from Canada.
We often eat on the floor in Cambodia. It has become very common for us that I didn't think about it until I'm writing this now. Maybe some of you wonder why we are eating cake on the floor! :)
Britton has experienced many miracles this month with his team. Above are bracelets that have been cut off. These bracelets are put on by the buddist monks. They believe they are for protection and healing but actually we have seen that as soon as the bracelet is put on a spirit of confusion comes upon them. There is a strong evil spirit of confusion here in Cambodia. When the bracelet comes off there is freedom and their eyes become clear again.
Cutting them off. By them asking for the bracelets to be cut off it is them rejecting the evil and beginning to seek Jesus.
One family in the village gave their lives to Jesus this past week. Almost every house in Cambodia has these little 'house idols' where they will worship at every day. They will burn incense and put fruit, money or bread for the gods there.
Britton said originally this man was going to hire someone to take his idol away. But he couldn't stand it any longer. In the middle of the Bible study he got up and started destroying the idol. Inside the idol they found a used pair of underwear maybe accidentally left in there by the builder. So all along they were worshipping dirty underwear.
Here Britton is cleaning up all the incense and things they had offered to it.
They spent the morning burning the idol that was inside the house as well. The outreach team will spend many months with this family. They will most likely walk through a valley of rejection by neighbors or family. We know the demonic will try to take them back. But we also KNOW that Gods spirit is GREATER! He is MORE! There is FREEDOM, and life-giving PEACE. There is eternal life and there is HOPE. We pray for every soul in Cambodia and all over the world. May they come to know the gentle shepherd, the loving Father, the closest friend. May they experience Heaven on earth. May Gods word go out to every one that hasn't heart of HIS GREAT NAME. There is truly POWER in the name of Jesus.
Prayer walks through the village. Trusting God that in His time, in His will, that He will meet each specific need.
Fresh mangos with spicy chili bought in the village. One of our favorite snacks here in Cambodia.
This month we had some Early Childhood Education training. This was helpful for the Kids Pastor to better understand the small children who join us in the village every week. We are working on every program she teaches. The goal is for good quality lessons that point to Jesus.
Working on fine motor skills while listening to a Bible story in Khmer.
We had Gracies senior photos taken this month too. She will be starting grade 12 quite soon.
Early morning date at a peaceful resort.
We enjoyed taking the children on a little field trip to an organization that trains rats to smell land mines. In the 1970s there was a couple wars as well as the Pol Pot regime here in Cambodia. So many land mines were left over resulting in many people loosing their legs or eyes. These rats from Africa are brought over and trained to sniff out the land mines resulting in the saving of many lives.
Each rat costs around $ 6,000 dollars. They are on a strict diet and are taken very well care of.
Thankyou little rats for your hard work in saving lives.
Sending our love to family and friends. We miss you every day. We hold you close in our hearts until we meet agin.
