No, no "adios," see you tomorrow...?

Just a monkey, chillin' and eatin' corn

     This is what the little girl I've been teaching Spanish told me when I left today - the last time I said "Adios." Stop it. You're breaking my heart. I knew she understood "Hola" but I wasn't sure we had gotten the "Adios" down. We had. Oh goodness.      

     Last week in Cambodia; my goodness it has flown by! This week I got to wrap presents and prepare a quarterly birthday party for the girls at the home, the staff, and the volunteers who have birthdays in July, August, and September. If you didn't know this about me, I LOVE giving gifts and wrapping them is one of my favorite parts of the process! Bethany and I planned the games at the party - face painting and balloon relays. It was such a joy watching the girls smile and laugh and celebrate each other's birthdays. They were so excited to open up their presents; I have never seen anyone so delighted to open up a $10 mp3 player - NOT an iPod - just a cheap little mp3 player where you have no idea which song is up next. And there was no jealousy at all! The girls were all genuinely happy for each other...wow. Just made me think about all the things we take for granted and expect in our life. 

Beth & I in front of Bayon Wat and its reflection

Angkor Wat

     Thursday night we got to visit the slums of Phnom Penh and help a local Christian church pass out food and water to children and families. It was definitely an eye-opening experience, to say the least. There are so many people just living in filth in a house that is constantly flooded during this rainy season. The people came out of the woodwork, it seemed, just to get a bottle of water and a snack. We drove back through the "neighborhood" on our way back to our house and watched the people hungrily eat the food we had just given them. They were all smiles as they shouted "aw-koon!" and "thank you" to us as we left. wow again.      

Elephant ride with our awesome tuk-tuk driver, Pov

     Bethany and I also had the amazing opportunity to visit Siem Reap, a calmer and more touristy city about 6 hours by bus. It's filled with countless ancient Hindu (now Buddhist) temples or "wats," with the most famous being Angkor Wat. Wikipedia says it's the largest religious monument in the world. We aren't convinced. Ever tour guide tends to have different facts...think Slumdog Millionaire and the Taj Mahal. But because our awesome tuk-tuk driver, Pov, told us about all the cool places and things to go do, in the most efficient way possible, we were able to see 4 temples. There were so many foreigners everywhere and even the Cambodian people spoke pretty amazing English - a great change of pace for us. We even impressed a lot of the locals with the few Khmer words we know. 

Teen circus performers: 2 legit 2 quit. I'm obsessed with them

     We also got to visit the Cambodian circus - yes big top tent and all - and watch an acrobatic act performed entirely by teenagers! It was so well done and absolutely hilarious and energetic. There are a few organizations here in Cambodia that work with street kids or at risk youth by providing a place for them to put their talents and hobbies to good use. This organization is called Phare and it focuses primarily on artistic talents, but there's another awesome non-profit called Friends International centered in Phnom Penh. Friends is a restaurant, cafe, and shop that trains street kids to be waiters and employees. I'm absolutely obsessed with this idea, and I would love to one day do something or start something like this to work with at-risk kids in big cities. 

      And then...we rode an elephant. I had to add this to my bucket list just so I could check it off. There's really nothing more to say about it except that I was singing Aladdin the whole time. Check out our genie pants. Prince Ali's got nothing on us. 

Beth and I with Anet - check out the Mexican flag logo :)

      We stayed in a cheap hotel that ended up being a restaurant as well - a chain of Mexican food restaurants that we've already been to. Viva! Breakfast burritos for included breakfast...delish! Our waitress was a friendly teenager named Anet, who spoke very good English. She came up to our table to ask what kind of lotion or product I used to get my freckles..haha! We got to explain to her how she was so beautiful and loved by God. She is in school and wants to go into accounting when she finishes. Please pray for her now, that Khmer believers will come into her life and share Jesus with her. It's hard for us as Americans to come into this Buddhist culture and try to share Jesus' story without making Christianity seem like just a Western religion. We've added Anet on Facebook (thank you God for social media!) so we'll be able to keep in touch and continue to share truth with her.

     Wednesday the 16th is our last day of work and it was really beginning to make me sad that I won't be able to take photos or videos of the girls, due to obvious privacy reasons. But last week they told me that I could go film the girls at the new transition home (called Home of Hope) for the girls who are lower-risk and who hope to be reintegrated with their family again, permanently. Little Changes International (the organization that helped to send Bethany and I here to Cambodia) is a huge reason and financial help to open this new home. So I was able to go in and get some footage of the girls (without faces) which will be so encouraging to always be able to hear their little laughs and voices. I will miss hearing "hola Raychelle" as I walk through the gate everyday. 

     On my last full night in the city, we went down the the river front to meet with Chamnam, our Buddhist monk friend. It just happened to be the one year anniversary celebration of the King's death so the Royal Palace was lit up and there were hundreds of Cambodian people standing around watching a fireworks show. It was by the grace of God that we were even able to find Chamnan. We stood and talked with him for over and hour and a half - just about his Buddhist beliefs and the idea that Jesus loved us enough to actually DIE for us. There is no greater love than for a man to lay down his life for his friends. Please pray for him because Bethany is planning on meeting with him more while she's here for the next 2 months. So yeah, by the way Bethany is staying until December to work with another organization that deals with preventing trafficking. Pray for her and her friend April for the next couple of months. 

     I got to lead devotions today (Wednesday) for the girls for my last day. In the schedule I made, this week we are talking about Adam and Eve. So I shared about how God sees us and sees everything we do, both good and bad. But that He also loves us and His love will never fail. So, naturally we sang "Your Love Never Fails" again with the motions. BEST way to end my time here, watching the girls smiling and laughing as they try their best to sing the words in English. They will remember those lyrics forever..."You make all things work together for my good." At the end we said our goodbyes - happy goodbyes - and left. 

     My taxi comes to take me to the airport in 15 minutes so I got to go. Thanks for reading and keeping up with my adventures!