Adventures in Missions

The Sweetness of the Mornings

I love these mornings. I love how easy it’s become to wake up at (or before) 6 AM. I love the sounds of all the roosters and crickets and lizards and birds. I love the coolness of the air, the orange glow of the sun that quickly rises above the palm trees and creates a cotton candy aura in the clouds. I love my cup of coffee that comes from a powder mix. I love all the sleepy-eyed entrances as I’m sitting at the table, the mumbled good mornings and crazy bedhead hair-dos. I love the tuk tuk rides to the market when it’s my day, the only time I ever get just a little bit...

Dun’t Fart

“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...

We Must Hunger for God

As Easter comes closer, we continue to explore what it means to draw near to God. Fasting is one way we can learn what it means to truly hunger for his presence. After the Jews were conquered by Rome, they fought to maintain their religious and cultural heritage by turning to the Law of Moses. Essentially, they created practices and rules to help protect Mosaic Law so no one could even get close to breaking it. They dressed differently, kept strict dietary practices, and did not mix with other cultures, all in the name of obedience. The Pharisees and Sadducees relegated the Jewish...

We Need to be Right with God

One of the most important elements of preparation for Easter is our posture before God. Every year it’s the same. As the sun rises higher in the sky and the earth thaws from winter’s blast, we throw open the windows, pack away our winter clothes, and dream of bare feet and short sleeves. Spring is on its way. We need to get ready. Because like the earth, we too get a fresh start. So we make Pinterest boards and research better methods to organize in hopes that maybe this year we’re be able to open the closet without fear of something falling on our heads. We sweep, mop,...

meet team cambodia: wedding picture edition

so we’re a month and a half late, but we wanted to introduce our team! (disclaimer: definitely wrote this blog weeks ago but our wifi was never good enough to post it til now.) better late than never, right? anyways, we have now been to two cambodian weddings here (and are going to a third soon). here are some pics from the first one of everyone in our $3 rental dresses from the market & our $3 hair and makeup from the asians 🙂 and some pretty accurate descriptions of our lovely team members for your imaginations. for more (serious) info on our lovely ladies, check out...

Walk like the Father

On Wednesday 18 February, a boy named Vichet walked into our lives. A close relative to ours here passed away Monday night and Tuesday night we attended the evening session of the funeral. Sophea, staff here, saw Vichet wandering around the funeral, and knowing he wasn’t from the area, tried asking questions of who he was and where he came from. He didn’t answer any of the questions. The next morning, Vuthy came up to me and asked if I had experience with people who had mental health issues. Not really knowing in the wide range of mental...

One Month Down…Say What?

*So this post was actually written two weeks ago, but because of frequent power outages and sketchy wifi, I couldn’t post it until today. However, I still felt like I should still share :)* I wouldn’t really consider myself much of a writer, which explains why I haven’t blogged yet, but I figured I should catch you all up about what my life has looked like for the past month and...

The New Normal

**Double Disclaimer: Wifi is a struggle. So this blog wouldn’t post once again. So here it is—two weeks late!** * Disclaimer: This blog was to be posted last week at my one-month mark of leaving home, but last week, the power went out at where we get our wifi so I never was able to post. (The adventures never cease in Cambodia.) But today is our one-month mark of being here at YDC Kampot and doing ministry!* Cambodia is like something I have never experienced before. Today marks one month since I left home to embark on this three-month adventure. I came here not knowing...

Leaning, Loss, and Love

I believe that it is human nature to lean on things. Think about it. Your legs get tired. Your body feels heavy. You are prone to lean on whatever the nearest object is, be it a pole or a chair. You shift your weight from foot to foot and can consider it a joy when you find another person to lean on—to feel the heartbeat of another as your weary soul searches for rest. Death is one of those situations that always exposes the vulnerable state of the human condition, creating in us a desire to lean. On Monday our team was invited to a funeral of someone we barely knew. The day before...

We Need More of the Presence of God

Adventures’ focus is discipling and equipping a generation to spread the Kingdom across the globe. As Easter approaches, we are taking time to focus on what this season means as we seek to be better disciples of Christ. Depending on your personal traditions, you may be celebrating the season of Lent. This is a time in the Liturgical calendar when Christians across the world enter a season of fasting and repentance in preparation for Holy Week. Though many of us in Evangelical circles did not grow up with Lent as a yearly practice, there is much we can learn from our more liturgical...

Why I Took My Daughter on a Mission Trip to Philadelphia

Alum Project Leader and Participant Dayna Bickham saw Christ on the streets of Philly during a family mission trip. No one grows up thinking, “I want to live on the streets.” Life is tough. Sometimes our choices lead us to dark places and sometimes we just get the short end of the stick. Regardless of our station in life, everyone matters to Jesus. When I told people I was heading to Philly on mission trip, I got mixed reactions. Some wondered why I wanted to go to a city in the US to preach the gospel. Don’t you have to go overseas to go on a mission trip? And...

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

It was Saturday. Amber and I were both feeling a little off. We wanted to get away for a few minutes and refresh, so we walked up the street to what we call “the coconut place” to get an iced coffee. We ran into Dara, one of the boys we live with, who was getting some food. He asked us to sit with him and hang out. We ended up staying far longer than we expected, just hanging out and talking. It was getting close to dinnertime though, so we attempted to head back, but Dara wanted to stay just a little longer. As we finally made our way to the path to walk back, Soppanet’s...

Author: Adventures