Our team of seven girls and an amazing leader, Brittany, have been in Cambodia for two days now and all I can say is WOW!  That is the only word that comes to mind when I think about all that we have see in such a short period of time.  Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, is where we have spent the last two days and tomorrow morning we will begin our journey to Kampong Chhnang to begin our ministry with the trafficked and the abused. You might be wondering what exactly a Tuk tuk is, well it is basically a carriage and instead of attached to horses it is attached to a motorcycle. Cool right? This has been our means of transportation, and I am so very glad. The Cambodian people drive with a purpose, they know where to go and are determined to get there. There is absoultely zero order in thee traffic; anything goes. All I can say is I was hoping I would not see a reck. Thursday, when we got off the plane, our contact was waiting for us with our rides and within the first hour I was in complete shock. Culturaly, I have never experienced or able to see all that I knew was true. My first shocking experience was when I say trash on the side of the street right infront of local stands and businesses. Not only were dogs eating the trash, but little childeren we finding a way to survive. I had to try very hard not to bust out into tears, because I knew I would see so much more. My next encounter was seeing a man sprawled out onto a wagon looking thing, with his limbs hanging over the side. Not knowing if he was alive or dead, was hard to handle. Like I said this was just the first hour! On our second day we had a day planned from beginning to end. We started off with rice and a fried egg for breakfast accompined by ice coffee( seems to be all the rage here), next our contact took us to see his daycare which holds around 30-50 childeren each day from 10 in the morning to 5 in the afternoon. At first these children were shy around foreigners, and they just went about their songs and prayers. However once the were given a bath they were so free and enjoyed the attention on them, so much they are overlooked and not held to the high standard that God holds us to.  Their faces were full of joy and genuine happiness. Unlike the faces of men and weomen, we encounterd while on the Tuk tuks. At one point Emily from my team went up stairs and began to braid the girls hair, and a few of us began to clothe, dry off, and brush the hair of young boys around the ages of three. My heart went out to these children and from then on, for the rest of the day children I passed on the streets stole my heart. I could only imagine where my sponsored boy lives, it's hard to be so close to him but have no idea or means to see him. From then on we visited S-21a place of intergreation and execution on Pol Pots reign.Later that day we went to the genocide meuseum which housed many graves and places of murder. Seeing the skulls and live photos is so different than just doing a project on the Khmer  Rouge in History. Now  I am able to understand why the faces of these lovely people are so hard. My day has been filled with adventures… this is why it's called Adventures in Missions!

As my team leaves tomorrow morning to begin our life, for the next two monts, please be in prayer for safety, health, the building of relationsips, and also the opportunity to share the Gospel. "God doesn't call the equipped, He equips the called."

Much love from Cambodia!!