Among the things on our hotel restaurant menu that none of our team ordered:
Beef salad with red ants
Salad Binladen
Dove on fire
Sour morning glory soup with snake head fish
Fried poisean (Bad spelling or bad dish? You be the judge)
Fried appendiox chicken with pepper (bad spelling…?)
Fried mama (don’t want to know)
- Randy
We are just winding down from another incredible day at Rapha House. We began the day attending church at 8 AM. Randy introduced the team, we then sang (with much enthusiasm – so said our incredible tour guide and translator, Theara), and Randy gave the sermon. The sermon was based on the story of the Prodigal Son. Randy “”knocked it out of the park”, as he is always does when Grace is the topic. He would speak and then Sourm (the Cambodian Rapha House Director) would interpret. The Rapha House girls were very attentive and polite during the service and sermon and we were all quite impressed. We had a short time to visit the girls afterwards and then were provided a tour of the grounds and compound.
The grounds are rather unique and have a huge agricultural area. We saw their fish being fed and learned a bit about growing mushrooms for profit.
After lunch we had the most “Western” meal of the trip. Burritos with some pretty yummy fruit drinks. At least mine was pretty yummy.
We then had desert (and some more surprise food) with the girls from the Rapha Freedom Foundation. These girls are a step away from Rapha, living in a halfway house not too far away and continuing to learn their trades prior to fully leaving the program. We had an absolutely fantastic time with the girls.
The group of girls that John, Harvey, and myself sat with were a blast. They asked us to sing to them and we took full advantage of it, singing our favorite TV show tunes such as the Flintstones, Gilligan’s Island, and more! Harvey knew the words even better than I did, but between us we got through a bunch! We traded off with singing with the girls back and forth (okay – we probably hogged the floor a little more) but just had a great time.
Later we went back to Rapha where we participated in devotions and then had the great opportunity of providing gifts of dolls to all the girls. They were a huge hit and a few of the little girls were just extremely excited. I later even talked to one of the older girls (age 18) and asked if she had ever had a doll before. She hadn’t, she was an orphan, and never had had a doll in all her childhood years. She was very appreciative and thanked us over and over.
We spent the late afternoon playing and talking with the girls. Though most don’t know much English, they seemed to all know this thumb wrestling game which I hadn’t played in 40 some years or so. It was very sad and humbling to see the girls for the last time and it was a real emotional roller coaster kind of day for all of us.
It has been a real blessing to be part of this trip so far and I am greatly looking forward to our adventure traveling by boat to our next stop tomorrow. God bless all of you for keeping us in your prayers.
Fred
Last night we received a welcome not surpassed by royalty. When we arrived at Rapha House and they opened the gate, 100 girls had formed a corridor and were waiting to welcome us. As soon as the first team member exited the bus the girls began applauding. The first girls placed fragrant jasmine bracelets that they had made on our wrists and as we walked through the gauntlet of praise we looked into the sweetest faces you have ever seen and the Cambodian smiles of appreciation brought tears to more than one team members eyes. When the last team member exited the line the girls gathered around us and took our hands and hugged us and said how happy they were to have us here. Over and over the precious children introduced themselves using the phrases they had learned in English classes: “Hello, my name is (Sreymom). What is your name?” Thus began what is sure to be one of the most emotional weekends most of us will ever experience.
For the past day and a half each team member has had a girl approach them and take their hand and ask “Would you be my mother (father, grandmother, grandfather, sister)?” Some have asked : “Do you love me?” How could we not? Chris has often said since our trip last year that the only way she can handle the situation emotionally is to block out the reality of the abuse these girls have suffered. I haven’t figured out how to do that. Last night at the welcome party many of the girls performed traditional Khmer dances for us. As I watched them dance, especially the younger ones (some as young as 6 years old), I could not help but think “How could someone be so evil as to see these tender children as sex objects?” And my heart broke once more over at the hell they have been through.
One of my favorite children is a little ball of energy who speaks excellent English. I was especially impressed by this because when we met her last year she had just arrived from being trafficked in Thailand. I mentioned this to Theara and she said “Oh, she speaks or understands 6 languages.” I asked how such a young girl could from a poor country could know so many languages, and when the question was half-spoken the thought came to me that I didn’t want to hear the answer. As I had feared she said “Her traffickers taught her so she could communicate with the customers.” I’ m not sure that I can talk to her tomorrow without weeping.
Tomorrow we deliver the dolls and with them the love that you share for the girls of Rapha House. Tomorrow night we say goodbye. Pray for us. We will need it. And pray passionately for these precious, beautiful, innocent yet scarred little girls. They need it so much more.
Randy
Where to begin? These past two days have been absolutely incredible. Our team has done so much work and we’ve had the chance to experience God’s love and His healing power.
Yesterday we spent our day at Kid’s Club, which is a ministry run by Theara for children in her backyard. During their time there, they are able to play, share, and learn about God’s word. During our time there, we played with the children, read a Bible story, and helped them make their very own faith bracelets. The children got a huge kick out of our cameras, and they loved having their pictures taken. They were so precious–their smiles could light up an entire room, and once they came up to you to hold your hand and ask for your affection you knew that God was at work in their hearts and minds–that He was keeping them safe and happy in His loving embrace. It was wonderful to share that moment with them.
After we played with the children we walked through Theara’s village. I’m drawing a blank on what to write about this–except that it was in complete poverty. I’m afraid there’s not a better way to put it. It was moving to walk through the village and see first hand how these people were living. They had no water, no toilets, barely any food, and their children ran around half naked in the dirt. When you looked in their eyes you could see the struggles they were going through.
And yet…the children were experiencing joy on so many levels. Every game we played brought a smile to each of their faces. It’s amazing that something so little can make such a huge difference in a person’s life. It’s sad to think that we have so much–a house, running water, food every day, a family, and clean clothes, and yet we complain so much about the smallest things. Seeing this kind of poverty really helped us to understand that we are so blessed with everything that we have. Not only that, but we are called to share those blessings with others. What a wonderful world it would be if we could all share everything we had. What a wonderful world it would be if everyone lived in the footsteps of Jesus. What a wonderful world it would be…
Many people praise us for the work we’re doing, and some others don’t quite understand it.
Greg had a great devotional the other night. He read a story from the book, One Month to Live. The story goes like this: A man is walking on a beach when he notices a bunch of starfish washed ashore. The sun is out, and it’s a very hot day. The man knows the starfish don’t have a chance of surviving in the heat, yet he wishes that he could save them all. He continues his walk and sees a young boy throwing starfish into the sea one by one. The man asks the boy, “Why are you even trying? You will not make a difference, for you cannot save them all. They will die in the sun anyways…” The young boy looks at the man, throws another starfish into the sea and says, “I just made all the difference for that one.”
What a powerful story…
It’s encouraging to know that even when you cannot save the world, you can make a huge difference just by being in another person’s life. Spending time with the children reminded us that even the smallest of things–a simple hug, a handshake, or a smile, can make the biggest difference.
God Bless.
—Jessica
We finally arrived in Cambodia late last night after two LONG flights! We met Theara at the airport and then checked into our hotel (which is very, very nice! =) ). Everyone is doing really well and we have already adjusted to the time change thankfully. The weather so far is sunny and warm. Today we enjoyed breakfast at our hotel and began a day of touring. To understand the Cambodian culture and what has happened to the country we went to a genocide museum and visited the Killing Fields. This is where many Cambodians were innocently tortured and killed so it was very moving to see the faces of the victims. After this, we spent the day in Phnom Penh eating lunch (which was also great!) and shopping in the Russian market where we practiced our bargaining skills. We are now sitting in our hotel relaxing before we go to work for the next 7 days! Please keep us in your prayers as God begins to really open our eyes to the needs of His children in this part of the world. Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers =) See everyone soon!
Tara
Hey everyone, we’re safe at the airport and ready for our flight. Last night was a bit hectic–our flight to Chicago was cancelled, but God took care of us and we were able to drive to Chicago during the night. The chaos turned out to be a blessing in diguise, as we were able to share some great stories and bond over a few hours of a great card game. Our flight boards in about an hour, but amidst our anxiousness for the journey ahead of us, we know that God is with keeping us safe. All of you are in our thoughts and prayers, and we ask that you keep us in your prayers. God Bless. Jessica
Louise:I Love You –Jack
Ready to get on the plane, God bless, I love you and I’ll blog you when I get there — Heather
Chris and Randy say “Hey” 
Mom, Dad, family and friends, I love you all, thanks for all your prayers! Keep them coming! –Jessica
Everyone else says hello!
I just wanted to share my God moment with you all! On Sunday after the meeting I had a message from my Dad and Step-mom (who live in Florida) they were all excited and said call back asap. So I called on my way home. The church they belong to has been using a local high school instead of buying a building. Anyway during the service Sunday the pastor said “I know that many people would like us to buy a building right now but I feel the money we save by renting would be better spent on things like helping the little girls in Cambodia who are being sold into sex trafficking!” My dad was like WOW! So he went up to the pastor after and told him about our trip. He asked me to send him the website information so he could see how their church could help! I also passed along our blog site so they could follow our trip. I just thought this was amazing!! On the same day we are packing, across the united states another pastor is having this placed on his heart! God is good!!
My second one happened tonight at walmart. I was buying the rest of my stuff and the cashier said “so i am guessing someone is going on a trip?” So I said yes i leave for Cambodia on Monday. Her 1st reaction was just like many others when they hear Cambodia “what are you crazy?” then she began asking me questions, since I was buying alot of stuff I had time to explain why we were going.
Sara
“Why are you doing this?” That’s the question many on our team have been asked when we tell people we are going to Cambodia. When we answer that we are going to serve and love young girls who have been rescued from sex traffickers their faces soften and you can tell that they are touched by the need as they say “Oh, that’s a good reason.” But to be honest, even those of us on the team sometimes ask ourselves “Why are we doing this?” “Why are we spending all of this money and all of this time and leaving our families and traveling to the other side of the world, just to play games and hang out with some young girls who can barely speak our language?” “Wouldn’t it be better to just send them the money?” I asked that question of the Rapha House director after John, Chris, and I did an exploratory visit to Cambodia last year. Stephanie answered “Sending money is great. But the girls need to see the faces of the people who are supporting their healing. And the supporters need to meet the girls and see the work; because they will come back as advocates and spread the word.” And the girls of Rapha House need to feel our hugs, and see our smiles, and hear our words of love. Some of them have seen “Twin Oaks Christian Church” painted on the side of the tuk tuk we purchased for their transportation at their new safe house last year. But now they will get to see and experience the love Twin Oaks has for them.
“Why are we doing this?” If you want to better understand our motive, get the book “The Road of Lost Innocence” by Somaly Mam. It is the true story of a Cambodia girl who was sold into sex slavery at a young age and now devotes her life to rescuing other girls from that evil and helping them find freedom. Most of our team read it as preparation for the trip and after you read it you will pray with even more passion for the girls of Rapha House.
“Why are we doing this?” Because God called each one of us to this journey. And when God calls and you follow, the adventure begins. The adventure begins for us in 3 days. Thanks for going with us through your prayers. – Randy
I want to welcome all of the Twin Oaks prayer partners to our team blog (thanks to Jessica for setting it up) Various team members may be adding posts as our trip unfolds to direct your prayers, let you know how your prayers are being answered, and to bring you along with us on this grand adventure. We may even be able to include photos and videos. There is apparently a way for you to be notified by email whenever a new post is added (but I can’t tell you how so you’ll have to figure it out for yourselves:) For now, it would be great if you’d pray for God to give each team member a great last few days with family before we head to the other side of the world on Monday. Thanks again for going with us through your prayers. God bless. Randy
Here we are, just 9 days away from our trip. We’re anxious, we’re excited, and so many questions are running through our minds…
What does God have in store for us?
What kinds of things will we see?
What kinds of emotions will we experience?
How different will it be?
Will we be safe?
…is it worth it?
The answer is yes. We may be scared, and like most things in life that are new to us, we have to ask ourselves these same questions; however, the most important thing to remember is that God has a plan for us. The entire universe, including our life, is in His hands. Unlike humans… so unsure about the future and what to do about this problem or that mistake, God knows what is best, and He has a plan for each of us. When we know this, the only thing left to do is to trust Him.
I was telling some of my friends about the trip to Cambodia, and their immediate response was, “Cambodia? What on earth is there? You WANT to go to Cambodia?”
I could only smile at them and say yes. When they asked why, I told them that God has wonderful things in store for us.
The most amazing aspect of this trip is the work that we’ll be doing. In the recent months it’s been one of my greatest pleasures to be able to sit down with someone and talk about God. The beautiful thing is that you never run out of things to talk about. Nothing compares to His love, and I think perhaps it is one of the greatest feelings knowing that we’ll be sharing this love, His love, with others.
Of course, in the beginning, amidst the anxiousness there was fear. Some of us worried about leaving our families, while others struggled with finances. But here we are, and through the strength that God has provided us, we’re 9 days away, and it’s tempting to ask ourselves, “is this really happening?”
I read a passage yesterday that I found to be a beautiful demonstration of the trust and hope we must have in the Lord. But also, this passage read to me as a sort of “calling.”
“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed him.
Mark 1:17 (NIV)
This passage is so beautiful to me simply because of Jesus’ words– “I will make you fishers of men.”
The passage is appropriately titled, “The Calling of the First Disciples,” and as soon as Jesus proclaims the good news of the Lord, the disciples immediately leave their nets to follow him.
What trust! How amazing it is that they were called, and because of this there was no hesitation whatsoever to follow Him. What is even more amazing is that we too are called, and through God’s grace, He will make us fishers of men. ♥
In Mark 10:17-29 Jesus is explaining to his disciples that the only way to enter the kingdom of heaven is through the grace of God. After Peter says that they have given up everything to follow him, Jesus goes on to say that no one who leaves everything behind for Jesus and the Gospel will fail to earn even more through God. This passage is amazing to me because it tells me not to fear…even to leave everything behind to follow Him, because with Him, we gain everything.
We begin our journey in just 9 days. Our minds are busy with all kinds of thoughts and questions, but we know that God has wonderful things in store for us. Knowing that we are called to be fishers of men and that through God alone we are able to reach out to others and share His love, we leave our fears behind as we prepare for this extraordinary adventure. – Jessica
♥
