Traveling Home...

We are currently in the Singapore Airport using their free Internet access. The first leg of our trip is down, 2 more to go.




The last day in Batambang was memorable. Our hosts were so hospitable. They would give us water, and even when we would show them our water, they would say, "These are cold." We were also given snacks in the morning and afternoon. We felt very appreciated. The students even performed a traditional Khmer dance - in costume. When we were leaving, all the students were sorry to see us go and it was bittersweet for us.




When we arrived in Siem Reap, we were welcomed, rested, and then while we ate, there was a torrential downpour. It was fun to listen to and watch - especially since we were under roof. :) We had one more chance to haggle at the market followed by ice cream at the Blue Pumpkin.




We have all been healthy and have been sleeping well (though we are looking forward to sleeping in our own bed soon). Thank you for the comments you have left. It has been encouraging to us.


This morning we attended The Alliance church in Siem Reap and listened to worship and the message in Khmer.  Karen and Carl were asked to share there testimonies during the service.  It was such an amazing experience for us all. Singing in English and Khmer and listening to the sermon in Khmer while someone was translating gives us a tiny glimpse of what heaven will be like. However, we will understand each other, not needing translation...


After coffee and lunch following the church, it was time to head to the airport.




We are now on our way to terminal 2 in Changi airport, Singapore, where we walk past living orchids almost every 50 - 100 feet. We were even treated to a butterfly garden in the airport. We feel God's peace surrounding us throughout our trip.




Looking forward to seeing you all soon.

Batambang - Day ONE

Our first day in Bantambang is a resounding success. Our students range from 11 to 41, but the average is probably 14ish. This group seems to be younger and their experience with English is not as advanced as the group in Poipet. They are all a joy to be with. Our hosts are very hospitable and have welcomed us with open arms. We started today with the students dancing for us. One group of students choreographed a couple songs while a second group performed a traditional Khmer dance.

During our teaching time we mixing both English and Khmer. It is a joy for all of us to learn together (and laugh we ... or at ... each other).

Thank you all for your comments and prayers! We are encouraged and lifted up with your comments, knowing you are thinking of us and praying for us!

Language Exchange Poipet Day 3

Today was our final day in Poipet building relationships with the students. The blue and green teams faced off in a final "freshie showdown" - a talent show of sorts. After the judges decided both teams tied, it was time for another competition. Our teams were each given a funky smelling new fruit to try called durian. The first to finish eating all the fruit was the green team! In addition to all the competitions, we sang, Karen shared her testimony, and we had final lessons in teaching English and learning Khmer.

Today was filled with mixed emotions. We were happy to have made so many strong connections with the students but we were also sad to have to say goodbye! We were thankful for some time to rest on the three hour ride to our new location for Language Exchange outside of Battambang City.

Greetings from the team to our families...

Karen - Mike, Tyler, Ezra, and Baby S - I miss you all so much! I can't wait to see you and share all my experiences with you. Tyler and Ezra, I introduced the Floss to Cambodia :) Mike, thank you for encouraging me to go and I hope all is going well with the boys. I love you all and will see you soon!

Randy - Anita (hon), Miss you !, doing fine! So much to tell you about when I get home. Hope things are going well there. We'll talk more as soon as possible. Continue to pray for our teaching and learning ministry. It's been great experiencing the culture here and the people.

Kelly - Dean, Alysha, Aaron and Alanna. Love you guys and miss you!  Hope you are all doing well.  I cannot wait to share with you all that God is doing.  Thanks for all your prayers and support back home.  I love you all!!!

Diane-  Family and friends... The Khmer are incredible people; they are more like Jesus than they know. They truly have servants hearts. We have been overwhelmingly welcomed since our arrival. Carolyn - I pray you are feel God's love and that your persuasion speech went well. Goodnight. Sweet dreams. I love you! xoxo

Scott- Lorelei, Marisa, Benji and Leanne, I am enjoying your cards (Lorelei and Leanne), they are very encouraging! Thank you! We are struggling with Khmer, but are learning and the students are very encouraging when we say things correctly. Love you and will see you soon!

Carl- Linnea, Laura Leigh, Andrew, Christopher, and Mathias!  I miss you all so much and I think about you often.  I have seen some great things and I have met some amazing people.  The Khmer people love seeing the white people!  We have taught English and have learned Khmer everyday and it has been challenging and rewarding!  In between lessons we sing and dance...the only dance move I know is the dab so I have stuck with that.  Love you all and see you in a few days!

We would love to hear from you - when we blog, we check for comments, so please feel free to leave some! Thanks for all your prayers. God has been doing amazing things in and through us, but we are not done yet.

Language Exchange Poipet - Day 1

Today was our first day of Language Exchange in Poipet. There are about 25 students that were divided into two teams - the green team led by Carl, Randy, and Karen, and the blue team lead by Scott, Kelly, and Diane.

We started as a big group with introductions. We sang songs, heard Kelly's testimony, and there was some healthy competition (2 students and a teacher from each team had to drink a bottle of water and the first team done won...green won). Then we split into our teams and taught the students common phrases in English, such as "Good Morning. Good Afternoon," etc. After the English, the Cambodians had the opportunity to be the teachers and teach us Khmer. That was challenging.

One activity we engaged in is playing telephone, where a Cambodian whispered a Khmer phrase into the ear of the first person in line. That person had to repeat the phrase to the next person and so on. That was fine until it hit us, the foreigners. We had a hard time repeating the phrases.

After an hour for lunch, we again met as a whole group, singing songs, hearing Randy's testimony, and again engaged in healthy competition (this time 2 students and a teacher had to each 2 french baguettes - blue won). We again split into our teams for teaching both English and Khmer.

On Wednesday, each team must present a show. So we worked on that a little during our teaching time. The students are excited to see us again tomorrow and we are excited to see them as well.

Cambodia Day 1 and 2

Day one was spent catching up on sleep and fighting jet lag.  A visit to Buddhist Temple ruins in Siem Reap helped us to understand the spiritual darkness in which the Khmer people live.  Even now in Poipet we are hearing monks praying over a loud speaker, blessing a new temple.

Saturday morning was spent in orientation for the language exchange camp that starts on Monday.  Saturday afternoon was spent traveling from Siem Reap to Poipet by bus where we are currently writing this blog post.

We have been able to enjoy some home cooked meals by Hin, Pastor Pearum's wife.  The venture in to this new food has treated us well so far and we are enjoying the building of relationships with our brothers and sisters here in Cambodia.

The team continues to grow closer, encouraging each other as we share this new experience together.  Please continue praying for health and stamina!  Please also pray for Scott as he prepares for and then preaches at church on Sunday.

We've Arrived!!

Just wanted everyone who has been praying for us to know that WE MADE IT SAFELY! Thanks for your prayers. We look forward to a trip full of great ministry and growth!

In Transit

We had a delightful experience flying from San Francisco to Singapore, even though the flight was long. All of us were able to sleep a little bit and are currently in transit in Hong Kong. Everyone is doing well. We will update you as often as possible. Thanks for your prayers!

Cambodia here we come!!

We are on our way to Cambodia!  We are so thankful for each one of you who have prayed for us, given financially for our trip and have loved us and supported us along the way.  Keep watching the blog for updates!  We will try to update it as often as we can.

Pray for safe travels over the next 24-30 hours.  It is a long journey to Cambodia!

We look forward to sharing our stories and all that God did on the trip when we return on Monday,
August 6!

Blessings and love from the team!
Kelly, Scott, Randy, Carl, Diane and Karen

Sending out the Cambodia Team!

The Daybreak Cambodia Team is soon set to depart: we leave on July 24 and return on August 6!  This unlikely group of six individuals became a close team as we followed God's leading to join him in His mission to the people of Cambodia!  By sharing our struggles and desires with each other, lifting each other up in prayer, trusting each other, and humbly submitting our own individual desires for the good of the team and mission, we have grown to know each other more intimately as brothers and sisters in Christ!

We are grateful to our Savior for calling us to join Him in His work and for your financial and prayer support.  We know that you have been praying!  Here are some ways that you can continue praying.

• Praise the Lord that financial needs for the trip have been met!
• Please pray for our hosts Bill and Ilana Lobbezoo.  Bill was recently admitted to a hospital with an infection and is on his way to healing.
• Please pray for our current health concerns and for continued health while in a new culture to which our bodies are simply not accustomed.
• Please pray for safety and endurance as we travel.  We have 27 hours of flight time when we leave Washington DC!
• Please pray for opportunities to share the love of Jesus on our way to and from Cambodia.
• Please pray for our family members and coworkers as we leave them for two weeks.  Pray for a comfort and peace that passes all understanding.  Pray that our obedience to join God in His work will itself be a witness to them and provide us with opportunities to share Jesus's love with them too!
•  Please pray that God will continue to prepare the hearts of those that we will be serving.

Thank you for praying!

Written By Carl Hollander on behalf of the Cambodia team

Two pictures

We have obviously taken about a million pictures this week. However, here are two for you to enjoy. The first one is from the skit we mentioned a few posts back, and the other is our team wearing our English Camp shirts. Enjoy!

Raining Down Tears of Joy

  It is with tears of joy, hearts full of love and minds filled with AWEsome memories we close the curtains on English Camp for 2016.  We spent the morning in teams compeating in dances, contests, and worshipping.  What a blessing to see the hearts of the Cambodian students pour out in open worship.  A huge shout out the the camp worship band for doing such a great job:)
  The competition was tight today and came down to a 3-way tie.  After the tie breaking competition, the GREEN team came out victorious.  Each team was rewarded with some sweets and snacks while we watched a video compilation of pictures from enlgish camp present and past.  This was the 14th English camp here and it is with a tear in all of our eyes that this legacy draws to a close.  The ministry here in Cambodia is far from over and the use of english education is one of the strongest ways to reach the people of this country.  It is a way to prevent human trafficking because it provides an opportunity for Cambodians to  learn and further educate.  This in turn gives them more of an opportunity to learn trades and find better jobs to help provide for themselves and in turn their extended family instead of having to turn to a career in the trafficking world.  Please continue to pray for the ministry here in Cambodia as the focus is directed to creating English Programs in the communities for longer term education.
  After the fun and the games, each of the students was presented with a certificate for completing English Camp.  The teachers were all presented with a certificate and a gift, a scarf (krama in Khmer), as a way of saying thank you.  We sang "Goodbye My Friend" together while sharing hugs, taking picture, and of course shedding tears.  It is amazing how bonds and friendships can be born/built in just 6 days.  Many of our team members exhanged emails and facebook names in an effort to kindle some of the amazing bridges we have built with the Cambodian people.
  We shared one final lunch with the students who began trickling out to head back to their homes.  Many hugs and final "Leah" were said.  We shared team photos and even some personal photos with those students who left an impact on us.
  We are all excited to be returning home to our loved ones, friends, showers with shower curtains, and non-flooded streets, but truth be told a little piece of each of our hearts will be forever in Cambodia.  Thank you all for your love, your support, your prayers, and helping to be part of the change that is taking place in Cambodia.

Team Siem Reap

Happy Independence Day from Cambodia

First, we want to send a patriotic "Happy 4th of July" as we celebrate with you 1/2 way around the world.  We were not nearly as prepared for our national holiday as our Canadian teammates who brought stickers, flags, pins, and T-shirts.  Instead, we made due with what we could find in our surroundings (which ended up being the in room coffee packets at the guest house which had an American flag on it) and lots of big smiles.  The Canadians joined in celebrating and singing our national anthem during breakfast.  A great tribute to God's dilligence was delivered to us by one of the Canadian team memebers .  We had discussed at OUR team devotions this morning the verse about running the race (Phillipians 3:12-16) and standing strong til the end.  What would you know the Canadian team member Janet shared a prayer written by one of her team members wives  for today that had the same exact essence.  God is Great.
Our first stop today was to Angkor Wat, one of the seven wonders of the world.  We swtiched roles with our students and asked them to be the teachers today and share some of the rich history of Cambodia and the temple.  It was fantastic, intricate and quite an accomplishment of the ability of man.   It was also VERY HOT while visiting but the whole team did amazing with interacting with the students and enjoying the beauty it holds.
We returned to camp for a brief lunch and then headed out to our second stop for the day - Ta Prohm.  It was a very different temple known for the way the jungle has taken it back.  If you are wondering what it was like it is the temple that was used in the movie Tomb Raider.  It began to rain in sheets as we visited which left the groups the option of exploring or heading back to the buses.  Many of the students who are not use to colder rain or had no covering returned to the buses while others stayed the storm with us teachers as we explored the ruins.  This was a fun adeventure for our team as we took full advantage of the small crowds, smaller group of students and explored the intricacies of the crumbling temple (and saw the efforts of restoration process).
We shared our last dinner with the students this evening.  It has been such a joy to get to know them, learn about their homes, their families, and even their dreams.  As we prepare to wrap up English Camp 14 by practicing some last minute dances, making crowns for the queen of the games, and squeezing in those final relational connections, we can also reflect on what has happened over the last 6 days.  We have seen students go from being nervous and quiet, to jumping and cheering.  We each have been blessed by the beauty in the youthfulness of students, their heartwarming smiles, and their efforts to not only learn english, but help us each feel welcome in THEIR country.
We plan on finishing the day with some group reflection, encouragement time, and some sparklers for the 4th.  Thank you for your continued prayers.  Lots of love from the other side of the globe.

Team Knock Our Socks Off

Team Sharing, Caring, and Puddle Jumping

The last couple of days have been a whirlwind of excitement. Yesterday's activity was running through the market with our teams of 30ish people to buy 7 items on a list spending less than $20 total. The team that came in first with the most change recieved the most points towards their overall team score. The adventure was not without its challenges due to the size of our groups and the language barrier, not to mention competitive spirits running high. Did I mention that it was raining through it all? You haven't seen a rain storm until you've seen one here in Cambodia.

Our teaching time has been filled with games, songs, and practicing English. The students have opened up more since the beginning and it is heartwarming making connections. Karissa has enjoyed getting to know Dou (which is shorter for a longer name none of us can remember or pronounce). They have enjoyed talking about favorite songs, movies, and Bible verses as well as singing together and acting goofy.

Jaci's effervescent personality has attracted a group of Cambodian girls who love and enjoy being around her. Who wouldn't? :) One of the boys in her group, who was shy and quiet, was the one who, at the spur of the moment wanted to get baptised. That was a highlight for her!

Karissa was the first to share her testimony with the students. Her story was one that the students could easily relate to and she delivered it with joy and enthusiasm.

Cheryl volunteered to share a story based on a Bible character and she chose Samuel when God first called him. She recruited the acting talents of Josh and Scott to bring life to the story. As she told the story, Phearum translated, and the boys acted out their parts.  The student laughed and were captivated.

Josh enjoyed the delicacies of a scorpion, tarantula, frog, silk worm, and crickets. Cheryl jumped at the chance to nibble on a taratula leg and silk worm while Jaci, with eyes closed, was fed a taratula leg all being video taped by Karissa.

Every day we kick off English camp with worship, testimonies, stories, and games. During the worship times, Cheryl loved being part of leading the students in song while Scott plays guitar with Phearum, Moch, Seiha, and Matt.

Josh throws himself into all he does, dancing the worm and being called on to do more freshie shows (crazy dancing around the room for losers) than most. He also provides daily health check ins, keeping us healthy due to his background.

One of the team competitions after the market scavenger hunt was to eat the native fruit, durian. To provide context, durian is a fruit known for its pungent aroma; so much so that many establishments in asia prohibit durian on their premesis. Daybreak was represented well by Josh, Jaci and Scott as they scarfed up the pudding-like, foul smelling fruit.

Maureen has captivated younger girls with her "round a ball" rhyme/tickling game. One of the girls, Seiha's daugher, named Marisa, laughes uncontrollably when Maureen does this with her. The game was first started with Maureen's mom and Maureen has been taking it around the world.

This morning we worshipped together with all the teachers from English camp, many of the students, as well as those that attend that church - and a family from California that were directed to the church by their travel agent. Scott had the honor of bringing the message entitled, "The Power to Live a Life of Love". Thank you to those who have been praying because Scott preached with the confidence of the Lord. Everyone enjoyed it.

Tomorrow we are looking foward to our excursion with the students to Angkor Wat and another temple where we hope to sing, "At a Time Like This" like we did 9 years ago.  Thank you again for all the prayers and encouragment.  Please continue to keep our health, our energy, and our display of love of Christ to the people of Cambodia in your prayers.  We love and miss you all.

Baptisms, a lake & a silk farm

Camp is great so far! There are 41 English teachers here from North America (we even celebrated Canada Day today with our Canadian teammates), and 128 Cambodian students who all have English-speaking skills at different levels. We spend our mornings in smaller groups practicing our English skills using fun learning tools, games, etc., and then we spend our afternoons on field trips. It's all about building friendships with the students and being a positive and consistent investment of love into their lives.

Yesterday we went to the silk farm, and today we spent some time swimming at the lake. Maybe one of the coolest things we got to experience with everyone was a baptism at the lake. A Cambodian pastor (who also helps to lead English Camp), had planned on baptizing 2, and then a third individual decided to get baptized at the last minute. Witnessing baptisms is already an amazing experience - but witnessing them in another culture? Suffice it to say we were honored to be there today.

We feel like a broken record saying this, but THANK YOU FOR PRAYING FOR US!!! We miss you all but we're doing great. We even had the chance to go to the night market last night and bargain our way through some good deals and fun purchases. :)

Miss you, family & friends!

P.S. If you're friends with Mel on Facebook, she reposted some photos from a few of the IW's who are taking pictures at Camp. Check them out!

Training Day

Our first full day in Cambodia was fun, a learning experience, and all-around great for our team!

Did we tell you yesterday we had one lost bag from our travels? Good news, it arrived today! Also, we all had a great night of rest, some connecting and devotional time together as a team, and then went to the church to train for tomorrow's camp. We are looking forward to a great week and meeting all the students!

One cool adventure we had today was a major rain storm, so we walked through flood waters to get home. Not everyone can say that, eh? :) AND, the food has been yummy - cooked over a wood fire by some of the women of the church.

Please continue to pray for us, specifically for good health, adjustment to the time zone difference, team unity among us and all the IW's and other teams here, and great connections with the students tomorrow.

Thanks for all your love and support! We'll try to be in touch soon with an update on our first days of camp.

We're here!!!!!!

We are here in Siem Reap! We are tired from long flights and trying to stay awake all day. But we're in great spirits and looking forward to crashing soon and getting a good night's rest.

Our first flight out of DC was delayed, just enough to cause us to miss our connection in London, but Singapore Airlines put us on the next flight out, and we actually made our initial third flight from Singapore to Siem Reap! We landed local time around 11:00am on Tuesday and were only missing one bag. :)

We had dinner tonight at the church and look forward to English Camp training tomorrow. Thanks for praying for us, everyone! We'll try to be in touch again soon!

2016 English Camp - Here we come!

Hello All!  Our team is extremely excited for our trip to Cambodia in 4 days! 4 DAYS!  Wow!   We are all finished with our team meetings, and are looking forward to serving in Cambodia.   It has been so much fun getting to know each other and spending time together.
We have been taking time each day to pray for each other on the team, and for our trip...it has been a great way to prepare our hearts for our journey across the world.  Our team came up with a little team motto of "God, knock our socks off!!"  We are really looking forward to getting to Cambodia and seeing all the ways God is going to knock our socks off!  Thank you to ALL of our amazing friends, family and fellow Daybreak members for the support and prayers.  We are so grateful for this opportunity and really do feel that God has brought our team together for a reason.

Elephants, Monkeys, and Tuk-Tuk's

This Sunday our team had the chance to go to church and relax later in the day. We split up and participated in two different churches in the city. At New Jerusalem, Mel and Jamie shared their stories with the church and Scott played guitar with the worship band. Also, Jamie and Scott got to connect with students they met five years ago in Phnom Penh, which was so cool! After the Khmer service, we all just hung out with the students and got to meet the pastor. Meanwhile, at Cell Church, Eileen, Liz, Kim, & John were able to spend time with their English students while one of our international workers translated. As the Cambodians sang “As the Deer” in Khmer, we joined in worshiping in English.

After a chance to rest for a bit, we took a tuk-tuk ride to Wat Phnom (which means “temple on a hill”). At Wat Phnom, we rode an elephant named Sambo! Sambo has a harness with a seat attached on top of his back and two people at a time ride Sambo. We have many, many pictures!

Today (Monday), we had the opportunity to spend an extended time in worship together. We talked about all that God did in us and through us and encouraged the strengths that we have seen in one another. We also went to the market today and had some ice cold lattes at the internet café.

This is our last blog entry before we return home. We will be flying out tomorrow morning (Tuesday); first to Taipei, then to Anchorage, then to New York. Please pray that we would get a bit of sleep and arrive home safely. Pray for our awesome drivers who will pick us up at the New York airport around midnight and drive us back to Daybreak around 3am!

Some Notes to Our Friends and Family

OK, so we already posted earlier tonight (see below), but since we had some extra time we thought we would take the chance to write to our friends and family. Here you go, guys! We are enjoying smoothies, coffee, ice cream, and cake in a coffee shop in Phnom Penh as we write to you. Feel free to post comments back to us at the bottom of this blog, but we’re just not sure when we will be able to check it again. We love you all!

From Pam: Hi Kiddos – I love you so much and miss you like crazy! Allie, I can’t wait to hear your highs and lows and all the fun things you did with Grandma and Papa. Zach, I miss giving you hugs before bed. Ty, I miss your laughter. I have lots of pictures to show you of the great Cambodian people. Today we went to the zoo and I got hugged by an elephant. Wish you were here with us. Mom & Dad, thanks for sacrificing so much time to take care of our little angels. (Or at least I hope you still think they are angels. ) French family – So sad we couldn’t be there for the funeral. We love you all! Prayer partners, thanks for praying. God has answered prayers for health, joy and peace!

From Jamie: Hi Allie! Hi Zach! Hi Ty! I miss you all so much! I hope you’re taking it easy on Papa in dodgeball! Allie, I can’t wait to tell you all about Cambodia…maybe you can all come back here with us someday! Zach, I can’t wait to wrestle and play with you. Ty, I miss your jokes and your hugs! I love you all and will see you soon! For everyone else, thanks for praying…we’ve had a great trip!

From Eileen: Hey Mom and Dad! I’m having an incredible time and can’t wait to share all my stories with you. Mom, you can stop worrying about me, I’m eating, I’m healthy, and I haven’t gotten hit by a moto. Miss and love you, talk to you soon!

From Kim: What a cool trip it has been! I especially love the students I have been working with and our Daybreak team. God is so good!

From John: This place is nice, there’s lots of rice, I can’t find ice, got some advice? Happy Birthday, Mom! Dad, you would be the tallest person in this country. It has been a great trip so far, as we have learned and experienced so much. Thank you, prayer partners, for praying for me!

From Mel: Hi, Mom & Dad, Val & Brian! Miss you guys and cannot wait to see you when you come up soon to PA! Mom, I’ll be going to the market tomorrow to look for some cool fabric for you. And tell Grandma that John and I are doing great and are really loving it here. We’ll try to stop by and see her soon after we get home. Bev & Paul, hope the ultrasound went great. I’m assuming I’m not an aunt yet, but we can’t wait to meet the little guy. And to all my BFF’s, I love you all so much! I got all of your kids the coolest t-shirts that I can’t wait to show you! Deb, wish you were here, friend. It’s awesome. This team is awesome, and we would never be here without you. We’re having an awesome week. When will we get to do this again together?

From Liz: Hey Everybody!!! I appreciate all of your prayers!!! This trip has been amazing – I would definitely come back again. Today we took our students to the zoo and the high point had to be watching the elephants dance….the low point included a minor monkey attack…Tomorrow is our last day with the students it will be very hard to say goodbye to them, however, soon we will be able to say “Hello” to you! See you all soon – Liz

From Weavers: We’re having a great time! We’re all healthy, eating well, and enjoying some incredible experiences. The girls are picking up a lot of Khmer and new friendships. Thanks for praying!

From Leanne: Hello everybody! How are you? I’m having a great time. :) I had SHRIMP for dinner. I LOVE SHRIMP! I made a lot of good friends. They’re all great. Everyone in Cambodia seems so happy even though they might have so little. To see kids here happy really makes your day. On the street when all of us go to English Camp we’ll see kids who are really excited to see us. You here little voices going hello! hello! hello! hello! hello! and it’s so cool. Some of us go up and give them high fives. :) They’re just so cute! At the zoo where we went today some of the students and I went down to a lagoon and there was this bird next to us and it started to attack us. All the students started to sprint and I was running so fast. I got scared to death!
To Kelly: You’re letters are so amazing! They’re really great. I know you stayed up all night trying to write those letters and they’re really encouraging. I LOVE them! They’re really awesome. I absolutely LOVE you’re letters. You should see my nails. :) They’re awesome. One of my Khmer friends did them for me.
For Everyone: I miss all of you! I can’t wait to tell you guys about all my new friends. They’re so friendly and nice and happy! I know I said a lot. I should get going. I’ll see you soon! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo:)

If you want to also read Scott's personal blog about his time in Cambodia, you can visit www.weavercambodia.blogspot.com.

I Walk By “Face” (that’s Cambodian English for “Faith”)

I thought I would begin by quickly saying that everyone on our team is healthy and has been for the whole trip. A headache here, fatigue there, but all-in-all everyone has been doing great. We’re probably a bit dehydrated, but we’re good!

I’m not sure what we’ve told you yet, so allow me to give you a quick picture of what a typical day has looked like for us this week at English Camp.
• We are staying in what the Cambodians call a “guest house,” but you would know it better as a small motel. We have been soooo thankful for our accommodations as there are only 2-3 people/room, we each have our own bathroom, and there is air conditioning!!! You have no idea how nice it is to come back to an air-conditioned room to sleep after a full day in the 90+ degree heat and more humidity than you can ever imagine.
• We start every morning together as a group @ 7:00 AM, meeting together with our Daybreak peeps to sing and focus on God’s Word and just get charged up for another day. Breakfast is served with the other 25 volunteers from the US and Canada at the English Camp Venue.
• Our English Camp Venue is only a 6-minute walk from the place where we are staying, so most mornings we walk over together to make it to our 7:30 AM breakfast. There are days, however, when Scott decides to drive this covered truck thing, and we all pile in the back cab for a quick trip.
• Breakfast is much like lunch and dinner… there is not much of a difference between what is served at the different meal times. There is always rice, and then some kind of meat with some kind of vegetable in some kind of random sauce. You just pile it all in one small bowl and either use chop sticks or these Asian spoons to eat. Except at lunch and dinner you also get fruit for dessert. Everything has been quite tasty, actually, and we have eaten well (when we don’t feel too hot to eat.)
• Our 90 students arrive at 8:30 to start camp, so we need to clear out the breakfast tables and get all of the chairs set up for our opening service. Each day begins with loud chants from each of the five teams (each team has five or six teachers and about 15-20 Cambodian students). We sing a few worship songs, have a few competitions, share a few testimonies, and tell a Bible story.
• At about 9:30 we break into our teams, where students learn and practice English through games, smaller group times, and conversation. After breaking for lunch around 12:00 (see above meal description for details), we head out on a field trip of some sort. We have taken students to the Royal Palace, the Russian market, a water park, an orphanage, and a zoo. The goal of these times is to continue to build relationships with students through conversation that will also increase their English speaking abilities.

We have been so blessed by the kindness and enthusiasm that we have experienced with Cambodians. We have come to know and love many of them, and look forward to sharing with you some of the stories of those we have met. Please continue to pray for us as we spend our last few days here and prepare to return to the US. We hope and pray that the changes that God has made in us will continue as we pursue Him back home.