My calling to serve the orphans of New Life Church

I realize it has been quite some time since I’ve posted an update and I truly apologize that I have not been better about sharing my experiences with you over these past few months. Since my wife returned to Atlanta after her visit in December, I feel like time has absolutely flown by (although I’m sure she would say the exact opposite!) and while I’ve been fully aware that my blog has been sitting here seemingly abandoned, it’s been a little overwhelming for me to try and figure out exactly what words to use to describe the blessings and emotions that have been part of my final days in Cambodia.

As I sit here typing this entry, it’s surreal for me look at the clock and realize that in exactly 24 hours I will begin my journey home. It’s still very strange for me to think that it’s been nearly two weeks since I said my goodbyes to the kids at New Life orphanage in Banteay Meanchey and just over one week since I shared final hugs with the kids at New Life, New Hope and Asia’s Hope orphanages in Battambang. And it doesn’t seem possible that tomorrow will be my last visit to Asia’s Hope and New Life orphanages in Phnom Penh.

Honestly, I have been very amazed at how beautiful and positive my “farewell tour” has been thus far. Although there have definitely been a few very difficult moments, God has been gracious in allowing joy to shine through and it’s been a huge blessing to look back and realize that the smiles and laughs have far outweighed the tears.

I feel like my departure from New Life orphanage tomorrow evening will be the most difficult as these are not only the kids who God used to bring me to Cambodia, but also the ones with whom I have spent the most time with during my stay. I’m certain there will be tears, but I pray that God still has an ample arsenal of  smiles and laughs that he plans to bless all of us with throughout the day…and especially during those final few hours. As difficult as it will be to get on the back of Vannak’s moto and make the nightly drive from the orphanage for the last time, I know that I have the greatest gift in the world waiting for me at home…and it’s because of her that I can’t help but feel confident that this is absolutely God’s plan.

As I prepare to depart, I would appreciate prayers for strength and peace for both me and children. I also would like to ask for prayers for safe travel. My flight leaves tomorrow night at 11:20pm (which is 12:20pm EST) and I’ll arrive in Atlanta around 7:30pm Thursday. Total travel time will be over 30 hours (which includes a 12 hour layover in Korea).

I’m beyond grateful to think that God blessed me to come and serve all of these amazing children for nearly two years. And I’m overwhelmed to look down and my left ring finger and realize that I have the most beautiful, most supportive, most loving wife who also has a heart for everyone here that I have served. I can’t help but feel that Heather and I will soon return to see the kids and I can’t wait to be home with her so that we can pray together and ask for God to show us when our path will once again lead to Cambodia.

I’ve had the privilege of praying for several mission teams as they have served in Cambodia and one thing that I always try and share is my brief thought (yes, I occasionally do have moments of brevity) on the terms “leave” and “depart.” When it comes to completing their time here and heading to the airport to return home, that’s simply a departure…but I feel that it’s up to each individual to decide whether they truly will leave Cambodia.

I am absolutely certain that my getting on that flight is nothing more than a departure.

I will never leave Cambodia.

Over the past few months, I’ve received numerous emails asking about my return to the US. Seeing as I  finally do have information as to the exact timing, I figured it was time to get the question officially answered – and also do it in manner where I could reply to the majority of inquiries at the same time instead of trying to send individual responses. (Yes, that last part can pretty much be translated as “I’m lazy and still not good at responding to emails in a timely manner…and I hope people read my blog.”)

My goal with this entry is to try and answer the two questions that appear most frequently, but along the way I hope to provide some details that will touch on other topics that were mentioned in the messages. If it happens that I don’t answer a burning question that you have, feel free to send me an email or comment via the blog. Hopefully I’ll get over my lazy reply habits and send a personal response to you…or maybe you’ll just have to wait until I get enough inquires and decide to go the blog route again!

To start, here are the two questions:

1. When are you coming back?

2. Is someone going to replace you?

For those of you who enjoy a short read and would prefer to spend time playing Angry Birds or updating your Facebook account to have that new Timeline feature, the cut-to-the-chase answers are:

1. I will return to Atlanta on April 19th.

2. No.

Now, for those of you like a little more substance (and who also know that I am seldom a blogger of few words), here’s some additional insight into each answer.

Most people may already be aware of this, but when my flight touched down in Phnom Penh on July 23, 2010, I had no idea how long my stay would be. And from a relationship standpoint, I was footloose and fancy free.

(Side note: There have been several instances where I’ve found myself talking to people about my story and for some inexplicable reason have used the odd phrase fully single to describe my status when I arrived in Cambodia. I even feel like there may have been times where I emphasized the fully. Ummm…anyone out there know the difference between single and fully single? Because I sure as heck don’t. Best I can figure, my subconscious feels that adding the word fully in this situation is akin to having a desire to consume food and opting to tell someone “I’m starving!!!!!” versus the equally effective “I’m hungry.” When the right situation presents itself, I guess I tend to go for dramatic effect!)

While I was aware that only God knew exactly how long I would be here, it never remotely crossed my mind that the main factor He would introduce into my life that would come into play in determining my departure would be…a wife.

But, well, my God is big and He works in big ways!

So in what now feels like the blink of an eye, I’ve gone from…

being fully single…

to falling completely and deeply in love…

to getting down on bended knee…

to standing proudly at the alter…

to standing proudly at the alter again!

As Heather and I began dating (via Skype), we countless times brought up the more than obvious fact that (since we could only see each other on Skype) we weren’t together and talked about the challenges this could present (which, thanks to Skype, we could at least rule out the possibility of an enormous phone bill). We both felt God at work in our relationship and that made it extremely easy for us to come to the realization that we had no choice but to move forward.

After the engagement (Nov 2010), we logically started talking about the timing for our upcoming wedding. I had previously shared with Heather that I felt God calling me to remain in Cambodia through at least 2011, so as we started discussing dates, we were both aware that I still had at least year of service ahead of me. Although starting a marriage apart is far from ideal, we both very strongly felt that we were being led in this direction. We willingly decided to follow where God was directing our path, which is how we came to exchange vows on the steps of the Phnom Penh orphanage on July 23.

I can’t pinpoint timing as to when this started happening, but I began to realize that March kept coming to my heart whenever I would pray about my return to the US. So, for quite sometime, Heather and I have understood this to be the timing for when we we would become, as we jokingly like to say, a “full-time husband and wife.” And while I know we both would love to be together now, we’ve been content in knowing that timing was set.

Or at least we thought the timing was set.

During Heather’s visit in December, we had an innocent conversation regarding the New Year’s celebration in Cambodia. While they do celebrate the change of the year on January 1, the actual Khmer New Year takes place over three days in April – and it varies from year to year as to whether it falls on the 13th-15th or the 14th-16th. I was back in the US last year during this time to visit Heather, so I couldn’t really tell her much about how they celebrate. I just knew it was one of the biggest holidays in Cambodia.

To cut to the chase, I suddenly began to feel like I needed to be here to during that time…and Heather has graciously agreed to allow me to have those extra few weeks with the kids.

As of last night, I have my plane ticket purchased and will be leaving Cambodia at 11pm on Wednesday, April 18th and touching down to be with my wife at 7:30pm Thursday, April 19th. (A minor 12 hour layover in Seoul, Korea along the way means that I’ll have a total trip time of about 32 hours…and God only knows how much longer I’ll get to tack on to the end of the trip as I try to make my way through customs!)

Okay…one down!

Now, the question regarding a replacement will probably be a little more difficult for me to address and that’s because I get the feeling that some people think I am here through GlobalX (the missions department of our home church) or maybe even because New Life was looking for someone to help fill a need within their ministry in Cambodia.

Nope and nope.

My calling came during my short-term trip in 2009 and it did not result from one specific thing that I experienced or because I felt that I recognized a clear cut “job opening” that needed to be filled. My heart was quite simply overcome with the desire – the purpose – to provide love to these amazing children.

While I do feel that GlobalX is supportive of my being here, it was my decision to forgo the process they have in place for becoming a church sponsored missionary, so that means that they did not send me nor are they providing financial assistance. And outside of helping inbound mission teams firm up their agenda when they come to serve at each orphanage, there has never been “official church business” that I’ve been asked to complete.

As for New Life? Well, three weeks before our short-term mission team left in July 2010, I got an email from Pastor Vek asking why I was requesting his help with a long-term visa since the visitor visa issued to every member of our team would easily cover the 10 days we were in country for our trip. Yeah…umm…apparently discussions that began in January regarding my full-time move in July didn’t quite set in with him, so he wasn’t even expecting me to stay. Obviously I’m still here which means we conquered that little hurdle, but clearly it wasn’t like he had a To Do list with my name on it and was eagerly awaiting my arrival!

So…

I’m not salaried or receiving funds from any organization. (Yes, donations are directed to Fallen Sparrow, but I have been responsible for raising all of my own support.)

I’ve never signed a contract.

I have no written obligations or goals that I have been expected to meet during my time here.

Now, that said, the door for me to be here was completely opened as a result of the partnership between Fallen Sparrow and Brightpoint. With the sponsorship program having started towards the end of 2009, I was asked to help work with New Life to make sure that we could account for the funds that were being sent over each month. So while my being here has in a way been as “an agent” for Fallen Sparrow/Brightpoint, I have always believed that my primary role has been what I felt was very clearly laid on my heart during that trip in 2009…

To love these children.

To love HIS children.

THAT is what God told me to come here and do.

For some crazy reason, He created this amazing opportunity that has allowed me to spend my time focusing on pouring out as much love as I possibly can. And because He has no desire to see me running on empty, He then weaves together experiences that daily refill and rejuvenate my spirit so I can continue to fully live out His will.

Shortly after I found out I was moving to Cambodia, I felt like I was in a stage where I needed to focus my time and attention on the many friends that I would soon be leaving. I can clearly remember having the thought run through my mind (numerous times) that I was not at a point where it would make sense to try and develop new friendships. Granted, it wasn’t like I was going to runaway whenever a friend tried to introduce me to someone new…but the idea of having only a very short period of time to begin establishing a true friendship just didn’t seem possible.

Well, goes to show what I know.

A few months before my departure, God allowed me to create friendships (yes, multiple) that allowed me to be part of a spiritual prayer group/family that would not only provide me with a clearer understanding of who He created me to be, but that opened my eyes and heart to more fully accept that – as difficult as I often times found it to comprehend – He purposefully, intentionally and unmistakably was calling imperfect me to Cambodia.

As a direct result of one of these new friendships, I was given the opportunity to participate in a men’s retreat called Tres Dias. I knew nothing about Tres Dias (had actually never even heard of it), but I was told that it was a very intimate, very powerful experience that would allow me to connect on a more personal level with God.  Nearly all of the guys in the prayer group were going, so that alone made me want to participate, but finding out that a spot was somehow open for me on extremely short notice made me realize that this was something I absolutely had to do.

I apologize that I am not going to provide any details about my experience at Tres Dias, but I refer to it only because something I wrote as a direct result of how God revealed Himself to me over that 72-hour period in March 2010 may, nearly two years later, help me explain why there is no “replacement” headed this way.

Here is a portion of a message I sent out to all the men I shared that experience with:

After having discerned God’s will for my life, my feet will then deliver me to the destination where my calling awaits. The Holy Spirit strongly courses through my legs to guide me along the specific path that has been laid out by God for me…and me alone. The reason it is important to trust in the Holy Spirit at this point of the journey is because if I were to rely on my own sense of direction (which it’s Satan’s hope that this is exactly what I will do), I would never be able to recognize the roads that I need to take because they are most likely narrow and would be easily overlooked. My human nature would want to keep me on well worn, fully visible paths because I trust that God has already blazed a clear road ahead. And while it is correct to trust this about my God, what I need to understand is that while the trail has been determined, it is not yet cleared by fire. God’s will for my life is to travel down roads that are hidden from view and will require me to remove debris, repair potholes and lay fresh dirt on top of mud soaked ground. Although this sounds difficult, the blessing of the Holy Spirit dwelling within me means that each footprint I leave is (and I have to borrow now from the amazing Rich Mullins song ‘Let Mercy Lead’) marked by mercy and grace. So while the road ahead may look rugged, my steps will be made light by mercy and grace regardless of the obstacles in front of me. And as I continue to set one foot down in front of the other, it is only then that the path behind me is set ablaze and cleared in order to allow others to more easily follow.  

I truly do hope that part of God’s plan is to use my time here to help clear a path so that others can soon follow – because I feel as though I have learned and experienced things that will be of benefit when doors open for others to come.

But, in my eyes, much of what I may be able to share is secondary in nature. What I mean by that is this…

While I can tell others about things that I experienced culturally and share personal stories that will hopefully provide better insight as to what life here is like, there is one very important thing that I know I cannot do:

I can’t choose someone to come here.

Only God can reveal how He wants to personally use us to continue furthering His Kingdom through serving in Cambodia…and so the choice is His to make.

I believe that God alone is responsible for my being here and while I realize I am far from being the only person to visit Cambodia on a short-term trip and feel an immense desire to do more, I know that walking this road and being His servant here for the last 18 months has uniquely been His purpose for my life.

And that’s not something I feel that I can simply handoff to someone else.

While I may have felt like I knew what it meant to love prior to beginning my stay in Cambodia, I’ve come to understand that God brought me here not only to teach me more about what it means to love like Christ…but also to appreciate more what it means to be loved by Christ.

Each day I’m being presented with unique opportunities to refine my heart, pour out love and live life less for me and more for others. And with every opportunity I seize to give love, I’m humbled to realize that God somehow sees fit to provide me with even more love return.

I am still learning how He wants to use me and I am amazed and humbled that His plan has included the opportunity for me to love on hundreds of children and countless adults who are part of orphanage systems other than New Life…and also many children who have families, but are apparently needing to feel Christ’s love.

I don’t know if everyone I’ve expressed love to during my time here has seen Christ through my actions, but I’ve most assuredly seen Him reflected in their grateful eyes and infectious smiles.

And, most comforting, is that I’ve never failed to feel Him through each and every hug that I’ve received.

My time in Cambodia may be coming to end, but as I reflect on all the people here that I have grown to truly love, I know with absolute certainty that my journey is far from over.

I trust that God will soon bring about new opportunities for people to serve in Cambodia and, when they do, I am excited to learn what role, if any, I can play in helping with their transition and see how my experiences may potentially intersect in helping to reveal God’s purpose.

And should you happen to be reading this and become one of the people who God calls to serve this incredible country…

I holdfast to the belief that as I prepare to leave Cambodia, God’s intention is not for anyone to replace me. I know that for anyone who is willing to offer up themselves to do His service, His desire will be much greater than for you to be seen as “a replacement.”

While God may have a purpose similar to mine currently stirring in your heart, when the time comes for you to begin your journey – even if that sometimes means you find yourself walking on “my roads” – your true purpose will be found as you boldly allow yourself to follow God’s whisper and venture upon paths which my feet were never intended to tread.

You alone will get to ignite that blaze.

Your own narrow little road awaits.

Horrible as this may sound, I just need to come out and admit it:

I’ve wondered every single time I’ve seen it why someone brought Scrabble to the Phnom Penh orphanage.

Chess, checkers, Connect Four, Chutes & Ladders, Candyland and Operation. Yep, each of those I can understand.

But Scrabble?

A game that requires you to know words in English?

Really???????

I’ve seen the kids play all the other boardgames countless times. They’ve even used (and subsequently lost most of) the Connect Four pieces while playing what appears to be a game similar to marbles. (And for those of you wondering why only the Connect Four pieces have been used in this manner, it’s because the team brought an oversized checkers board with pieces that cover the palm of my hand. Those are a little harder to shoot like a marble!)

While I’m guessing the kids might have used Scrabble when the mission team was here, I’m pretty certain that they’ve never touched that box since.

And these are kids, mind you, that typically will bust into anything they are given within a matter of seconds. And, lest you forget, Scrabble has all those fun little tiles! Even if the kids can’t play with them as intended by Hasbro, I’m positive they could find dozens of alternate uses.

But, alas, poor Scrabble is the ugly ducking of the group and has been sitting on a table collecting dust.

So I was a little surprised this afternoon when I saw that the cover to the game was actually off. The game was still sitting on the same table where it’s always been, but the cover had been removed and was placed horizontally across one end of the box. My quick glance gave me the impression that the game hadn’t actually been played, it just seemed like one of the kids decided to open it up and let the tiles finally get a little fresh air!

I left the room, but barely got out the door before my brain processed what I had just seen…and I immediately turned around to take another look.

The tiles were scattered randomly throughout the box and, based on the positioning, I couldn’t help but feel that my initial impression had been correct: Whoever opened the game didn’t actually touch anything besides the cover. What I was seeing were the tiles exactly how they got tossed into the box after the game was last used – and the majority of them were facedown.

But there were a few scattered tiles that revealed their letters and I’m fairly certain most Scrabble players wouldn’t be overjoyed if their only move was to play the word I saw in front of me. Having to pair a 4-point letter along with a trio of 1-pointers…well, I’m no expert, but I think that might be viewed as a tragic use of a valuable tile.

Thankfully, I wasn’t playing a game, so the point value of what I was seeing meant absolutely nothing to me. The true value of the word, however, meant everything to me.

It is, after all, why I’m here.

I can’t help but shake my head and laugh about how I questioned why someone thought Scrabble was appropriate to bring to the orphanage. While the team may have assumed it was something they were packing up for the kids to enjoy, it seems that this was actually a gift for me.

Yet again, the ugly duckling has shown that, in time, it will reveal itself to be the most beautiful of all.

I’m still in the process of letting my experience from last night sink in and I have a feeling it is going to take quite some time. I did, however, want to get something on the blog about it right away, so this will not only be my shortest entry to date, but most likely ever.

Posted below are links to three videos that were taken during an all out dance party at Asia’s Hope orphanage in Battambang. I’ve heard Mary Chapin Carpenter, DJ Casper and Rednex sing these songs countless times before…but never have any of them been in a setting quite like this!

There is no way to explain the amount of joy that I have received from these 300 orphans. I have only known them for six days and already they have captured my heart and blessed me with a night that was, without a doubt, one of the best of my life.

And before you watch the videos, I would like to note that while I could have joined in during the first two dances, I opted instead to stay behind the camera. Participating in the Cotton-Eyed Joe? Well, that was never an option because…

I didn't want to chance waking my dance partner

Down at the Twist and Shout – http://youtu.be/5pdK4ZCwjsE

Cha Cha Slide – http://youtu.be/YcEnztUMrCI

Cotton-Eyed Joe – http://youtu.be/wU9HaCaUxjw

My Khmer is still, to put it as kindly as possible, a major work in progress.

While I can at least claim to have known the four words I used in the title, I won’t go so far as to state that my sentence structure is correct, that I have nailed the spelling (I honestly think I could ask four different people how to spell each word in English and get four separate answers – and each would claim they are 100% correct) or that I even know how to pronounce each word so that it would be understood by a native Cambodian.

But since I’m not being held to the highest Khmer language standards or receiving a grade for my blogging efforts, I do believe that I’ve done a fairly decent job of getting the title as close to correct as possible without really screwing up too badly on any of the vocab considering my pretty darn monumental language challenges.

That said…

Behdoong – Heart

K’nyom – My

Jeea – Is

Bpeun – Full

Now is the point where I’ll cease with the language lesson and try to focus on why my heart is not just full, but overflowing and overwhelmed by what I experienced last Thursday.

I promise that I’m not about to tell you the following detail in order to try and get well wishes. In fact, I’ve really never been someone who makes a big deal out of this, but it’s a pretty important detail as to why it was such an overwhelming day, so here it goes.

Last Thursday was my birthday.

(Honestly, I’m not really sure why it makes me kinda cringe whenever I mention my birthday to people. I think I just need to get over it and accept that we all have birthdays, they are important and, for the most part, people don’t tell others about it because they are trying to lobby for gifts or a heaping helping of attention – it’s just a simple statement of fact. Plus, Facebook let’s the whole world know anyway, so it’s not like it’s a secret!)

As has become the norm for each new day, my morning began with a call to my beautiful wife. While there is not a day that goes by where I don’t immediately think of her as soon as I wake up, my desire to see her face and hear her voice felt much more intense that morning. Thanks once again to the wonder of Skype, with the simple click of a button, I was able to start my birthday with the person who has captured my heart and shown me love that I never thought possible.

Despite being so far away, I was so thankful to be able to see Heather on my birthday and the brief time we shared together this morning had me feeling like I already had the best birthday ever. It was pretty incredible to think that truly was just the start to my day and I still had a full day to look forward to…although I never expected anything close to what I received.

One of my favorite parts to my day happens on my “commute to work.” I live about two miles from the orphanage and since I do not have my own means of transportation, I walk along the road until I find my daily chariot. Typically I’ll be on foot for just a matter of minutes before any number of local moto drivers realize there is a foreigner walking in an area that isn’t exactly known as a hot bed for walking foreigners. Suddenly I’m the most popular guy in the area (quick equation to show why: foreigner [person with money] +  on foot [needs a ride] = customer) and it’s not long before I’m being chauffeured to the orphanage.

While many drivers have attempted to turn on the final road because they assumed that I wanted to go all the way up to the orphanage gate, I always have them stop because of a promise I made to myself as soon as I found out that I was moving here.

As some of you may have already figured out from previous posts, the road I’m talking about is the “narrow little road” that I refer to in the web address for my blog. And I didn’t come up with the blog name out of the blue…there’s more to it.

“Narrow Little Road” is the name of song by Red Mountain Church that took on significant meaning for me after my trip to Cambodia in 2009.  I was familiar with the song prior to the trip, but after feeling called to come serve the orphanages long-term, I was hearing the song in a much more personal manner. I won’t post all the lyrics, but do want to share the opening verse and chorus.

I believe in the love of God, it is an orphans wildest dream.

It is a narrow little road, it is an ever-widening desert stream.

Oh I, and I, I will leave this road for the narrow.

As I believe most individuals who have participated in mission trip to the Phnom Penh would attest, there is great anticipation each day when you get on the van and begin the drive to the orphanage. The 20-some-odd-minute drive feels like takes forever and my heart always felt like it was about to burst out of my chest as we made the final turn and found ourselves heading down that narrow little road.

I experienced that rush during my first trip in 2008 (sidenote: The song ‘Risk’ by Ten Shekel Shirt took on special meaning to me during that trip…website address briefly, but fully, explained!) but it wasn’t until returning in 2009 and truly listening – not just hearing – “Narrow Little Road” for the first time that I realized how personal that song was to me.

And it hit me even more one afternoon as I finished a meeting where I had shared about my desire to return and serve the New Life orphanages. Standing in the parking lot of On The Border restaurant, one of the staff members from the church made a sweeping gesture with his arms in reference to the incredible things that life in the US had to offer and said “It’s wonderful to think that you would be willing to give all of this up for those children.” As he said that, the only two thoughts that went through my mind were “Give up all of what?” and “Please get me back to that narrow little road.”

Despite my knowing that I was far (far, far, far, far) from perfect and completely undeserving of this privilege, God still called me and opened the door to allow for this once in a lifetime experience. So, whenever possible, I’ve promised myself that I would walk that road and use the time to reflect on the blessing that I have been given in being able to spend each day serving these children.

Something else that is always on my heart during these walks was actually revealed to me on the evening of January 19, 2010.

That was the day when I sat in room with dozens of Cambodia mission team members and shared that I would be moving to Phnom Penh in July. What I experienced that night is also something that gets reinforced in my mind each time a new team comes over…so many people would love to have this opportunity. Truly, there is not a day goes by where I don’t think about everyone who has served on a short-term mission trip to Battambang, Banteay Meanchey or Phnom Penh and the desire I know is in their hearts to be able to show love to these kids everyday.

As I made that walk on Thursday morning, I was more intentional than I feel like I’ve ever been in making sure I was aware of each step I was taking. The further I progressed along the road, I not only became more grateful that I was about to share my birthday with the kids, but I thought more and more about all the team members back home and what an honor it is for me to be able to represent them here in Cambodia.

I honestly feel overwhelmed each day when I begin my walk on the narrow little road, but Thursday reached a level that I had not previously experienced. I had such immense joy radiating inside me and I felt like that walk, while so familiar, was somehow completely new. And while the walk is always something I look forward to, the biggest blessing comes when I reach the gate and get to see the kids. Outside of “indescribable”, there are no words that can adequately explain how my heart feels when I see those smiling faces coming to greet me.

With the majority of the kids either away at school (grades 7 and higher) or at church (grades 2-6 do not study on Thursday, so Pastor Vek took many of them with him because there was a mission group at the church providing free haircuts), I knew things would be a little quieter when I arrived, but I was extremely fortunate to have a one man welcoming committee waiting for me.

As soon as I reached the gate, I was greeted by an excited Hieng (Peanut) who shouted a very enthusiastic “Uncle!” and then gave me a huge hug. I was crouched down as he pulled away and he looked at me rather seriously, pointed a finger directly at my nose and asked “Birthday you?” As soon as I said “Yes,” he lit up into a huge smile, threw his arms around my neck for another amazing hug and said “Yaaaaayyyyyyy!!!”

I’m telling you, that alone would have been celebration enough for me…but, yes, there was still so much more.

The previous evening, Vannak and I had to transport some materials to the church and that caused us to miss dinner at the orphanage. We ended up eating in the city and as we talked, Vannak asked about how I wanted to celebrate my birthday. I told him that the important thing for me was for the kids to be the ones who felt like they were being celebrated…and we realized there was a purpose behind us ending up at this particular restaurant. A quick talk with a manager got us a guarantee that a large order for some special food would be ready for pick up the following afternoon. We also planned to get cokes and some type of dessert for the kids from a local vendor near the orphanage, so I was happy to know that the kids would be able to have a dinner quite different from normal nights.

After making the late afternoon run to pick up food and drinks, we arrived back at the orphanage where I was emphatically instructed by several of the kids to “Stay!” while the party room was getting a full makeover.

Within a few minutes, I was led upstairs and walked through a door adorned with…

28 paper hearts - one representing each child at the orphanage as well as one each for Che Sda and Rosa (Vannak and Hanna's children). To borrow a phrase I've heard Vannak use quite often, "So wonderful!"

Adorable Srey Kim was waiting just inside the door where she handed me a bouquet of flowers and then immediately ran over to join the other kids who, with their cheering and clapping, made me feel like the most loved and appreciated uncle on the face of the earth.

Wow. Just wow.

As Vannak ushered me across the room, I noticed that the decorations included more hearts from the kids. This time they were large hearts that read “Happy Birthday Uncle Alex” and included the child’s name at the bottom. (Before continuing, I feel like it’s only appropriate to thank the mission team that visited in November for coming up with the idea to celebrate Erin O’Connor’s birthday while they were here. The kids never took down the decorations from that party, so I got to enjoy them like they were my own!)

I ended up standing in front of the kids as they sang “Happy Birthday”, “This Is the Day” and “Thank You, Jesus”.

Enjoying my birthday serenade - with flowers in one hand and Che Sda in the other

Then came something that I most definitely was not expecting. The lights were switched off and…

In came Peanut with a birthday candle and Hanna (who barely snuck into the picture) with a party hat!

I loved that the kids thought to have these birthday party staples for me…and couldn’t help but laugh that my one candle was hand-delivered and my hat topped with flowers!

Once the candle was blown out (and I did manage to do it with just one mighty puff!) and hat secured, I got another special gift from Peanut…which happened to be a repeat of what he gave me when I arrived in the morning

No better birthday gift!

I thought we would eat at that point, but Vannak and the kids had one more thing that they wanted to do…

Pray for me.

While I am fortunate to have the opportunity to pray along with the kids at every meal and during Bible study in the evening – (and, yes, I say my own prayers in English during these times!), there is nothing that could ever compare to how it feels to have them all gather close, put their hands on me (or in some cases, wrap their arms around me) and realize that they prayers they are offering up are meant specifically for me.

Talk about truly being able to feel the presence of God.

Absolutely overwhelming.

And when you find yourself surrounded by love to the point where you feel at a complete loss for words…well…there’s really just one thing to do…

EAT!

Vannak and I worked together to hand out the food and cokes

And then everyone got to sit and enjoy…

Double decker sandwiches

Yes, they were more than a mouthful for a lot of the kids…but as Srey Mean showed, they were not the least bit intimidated!

And chicken pizza

Which Chhean devoured in record time! (I felt very lucky to get a picture.)

And soda

I loved watching how carefully Narin was pouring his Sprite into an ice-filled cup. And not a drop ended up on floor!

And a special noom (bread/cake) for dessert

Here my good friend Patrick Chung watches as Rosa attempts to partake in the feast!

Once all of the food was devoured (and, yes, that is absolutely what happened), it was time for the cleaning crew to do their work.

Srey Kim took it upon herself to get all the empty boxes crammed into a bag that was at least twice her size

While Vay and Srey Mom handled the sweeping duties

I considered offering up a final “grade” so I could try and put into perspective for everyone how incredible I felt this party was, but then I realized that I’m a little biased on this one. So I figured it was best to ask someone else instead.

“Hey, Vannak! Can you please let my friends and family know what you thought of the party?”

Really…Two thumbs up? Wow! Wait, what's that? Oh, not just two thumbs up, but two thumbs WAY up. Awesome!

As I reflect on the day, I am still overwhelmed at how special the kids made me feel and how I could not have asked for a more perfect celebration. And while the memories and pictures are more than enough to fill me with love, I have a few other mementos from this incredible day that will forever remain with me.

When I left the orphanage that night, I had a bag overflowing not just with the hearts that were hung from the door and strung on the hanging decorations, but crammed in there as well were…

Dozens of paper cranes (courtesy of Hieng) that were hung from the windows at the party

This pic was taken when I arrived in the morning. Hieng was sitting in a small "guard station" by the main gate and while I saw the cranes, I never would have guessed he was making them for the celebration

A handmade envelope from Vay that contained a beautiful drawing…and two more small paper hearts

I don't know what book Vay copied this picture from, but I absolutely love it. It depicts a small creature (maybe a mouse?) gazing out the window as he holds a Christmas wish list and has cookies for Santa waiting on the table. While they do celebrate Christmas here, the kids do not really understand Santa, so seeing this made me think of my niece and nephew back in Florida and how they will be eagerly awaiting a special visitor in just a few short weeks

A small box from Hanna that contained…yep…another heart

Hanna is like a sister to me and it's hard to explain just how much I was touched by this gift.

And, despite how blurry it turned out, I felt like I had to share a picture that was taken as Hanna gave me the present. While  you can make out both of us smiling and also see the box in my hand, the best part is the one detail that is perfectly in focus. You can click on the pic to see a larger view

Yep, Narin absolutely knew that he was in this shot!

And the last gift came from Ry – one of the older boys. I unwrapped the present and found not one gift, but two. And, of course, they both featured hearts.

The first was a keychain

When you squeeze the rabbit, the heart actually pushes out from the body

And my final gift was a ring

If you look closely, you'll see that there is a small line on the ring that connects the two hears to one another. Back in December of 2009, I sent a note to each of the children at the orphanage where I drew outlines of Georgia and Cambodia and placed a small heart sticker inside each. I wrote 'Atlanta' and 'Phnom Penh' by the hearts…and then drew a line connecting the two. I couldn't help but think about those notes as soon as I saw the ring.

I’ll close this entry by telling you that this entire day, perfect as it was…almost never happened.

As I mentioned earlier, I’m very reluctant to bring up my birthday. I feel even more hesitant about it in my current surroundings because birthdays aren’t typically celebrated in Cambodia (well, maybe they are, but around the orphanage and with the people I know, that does not seem to be the case) and I honestly worry that people might feel like they have to do something special because they think that Americans always want to celebrate.

I told this to Heather as we talked a few days prior to my birthday and she basically gave me a few very good reasons why I had better let Vannak know. And while I still may be new to married life, I realized very quickly that she wasn’t trying to suggest to me that I should think about telling him…she was flat out informing that I had no choice in the matter but to tell him.

And to do it immediately.

I’m thankful to have a wife who not only knows what is best for me, but who is extremely effective with how she presents her ultimatums.

I’m grateful to have family here (Vannak and Hanna – my brother and sister) who wanted to arrange a celebration for me.

And I’m overwhelmed not only at how these incredible children can continually find new ways to overwhelm me with their love…

But at how freely they give me all of their hearts.

Should I ever find myself on the verge of trying to keep from telling people about my birthday, all I need to do is think back on what happened the day I turned 38. What is most likely viewed as an extremely inconsequential birthday by many, turned out to be one of the the most important for me.

At this moment, my behdoong is absolutely bpeun…and cringing when mentioning my birthday is a thing of the past.

7-9-10-11-23

These numbers, thankfully, were not magically bestowed upon me after I capped off a fine meal by cracking open a mass produced cookie treat.

As best I can recall, not a single one of them was used to identify me whenever I took the field during countless seasons of baseball, basketball, soccer or softball.

They’ve never appeared on a vanity plate on my car or as digits in a new cell phone number or in any form or fashion as a part of a user ID for the internet.

And, no, I have never attempted to play them in the lottery.

Truthfully, I’ve never put these number to any sort of use that might lead to them being considered even the least bit “lucky”. Shoot, as I’ve already confessed above, I’ve never actually put these number to use for anything.

And had I been asked a prior to July if I had a lucky number (or numbers), I would have just shook my head and given a simple answer of “No”.

Funny how quickly things can change.

7/23/11 

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Yes, I am aware that I’ve already written the blog for the wedding and, nope, I don’t have any new details to add. But I wanted to finally share full videos of the kids from each New Life Orphanage performing at our ceremony. Without a doubt, three of the most incredible gifts I have ever been given.

Phnom Penh: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R87hrHlbMf4

Battambang: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXkeDXD3VAY

Banteay Meanchey: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCI5iSCM-Jw

9/10/11

Portland, OR

I was back in the US for a month starting in early September so that Heather and I could “officially” get married.

As far as we’re concerned, our anniversary will always be July 23, but due to a slight problem I like to call “no-one-at-the-US-Embassy-being-able-to-tell-me-how-to-obtain-documentation-showing-that-we-got-married-in-Cambodia”, my wife will now get two anniversary presents each year…and I get to live every guy’s dream of having two dates to remember!

Thanks, US Embassy. I owe you one.

(Honestly, even if we could have come up with the legal documentation, we had still planned on having a US ceremony so that we could celebrate with both of our families together. So I suppose I can let the Embassy slide.)

We once again wanted to have a small wedding and we were thankful to have friends and family who helped us to accomplish that goal.

Our wedding was not only held in the backyard of Heather’s longtime friends Troy and MacKenzie Fuhrer, but Troy made our day more personal by obtaining his minister’s license so that he could be the one who performed the ceremony.

MacKenzie was Heather’s maid of honor and her daughter, Addie, was the flower girl.

My older brother Nick was my best man, while my niece and nephew, Jenna and Cole, served as our junior bridesmaid and groomsman. And Jenna carried some very special flowers down the aisle with her.

When Heather and I were planning the wedding, we talked about the idea of her not having an elaborate bouquet and decided that something small would more than suffice. However, a few days after we talked about this, I realized this was a perfect way that we could have the kids from Cambodia be part of our US ceremony.

The kids here are incredibly creative when it comes to arts and crafts and a few months after I began my stay, I arrived at the orphanage one morning where several of the girls presented me with beautiful flowers that they created using colored construction paper. I’ve had the flowers sitting on my desk the entire time I’ve been here and it hit me that nothing would be more fitting than for Heather to carry a bouquet that was handmade by our amazing children.

I asked Vannak if he thought the kids would be able to make the flowers on such short notice (this came up only three days before I was flying back to the US) and he, of course, said it would be “No problem, brother!”

Sure enough, I arrived the next day and found the flowers waiting for me…and they were, as I knew they would be, absolutely perfect.

The most beautiful flowers I have ever seen

The only hitch to our plan to have Heather carry this special arrangement was that several of her friends ended up surprising her with an amazing bouquet on the morning of the wedding. Obviously we were not going to say “Thanks, but no thanks” nor were we going to not use the flowers from the kids. So that’s how Heather ended up with a truly beautiful bridal bouquet for the ceremony and Jenna found herself carrying the orphans contribution to our wedding.

Rounding out the wedding party was Heather’s nephew Max who served as our ring bearer…and we made a great call by deciding not to put the rings on the pillow that he was going to carry down the aisle. Heather had one of those, “Well, something could go wrong” ideas flash through her mind the night before the wedding when she thought about Max, who is 18 months old, performing his duties. Sure enough, Max got a few steps onto the burlap runner leading down the aisle, came to an abrupt halt…and promptly spiked the pillow like he had just crossed over the goal line and was about to begin a touchdown celebration.

My wife…so smart!

Heather looked as beautiful as ever as her dad escorted her down the aisle and I felt incredibly blessed to be able to marry the love of my life twice in less than two months. Some guys really do have all the luck…and, I won’t lie, it was pretty overwhelming to realize that I fell into that group.

The ceremony itself was very simple and since the temp was pushing 95, I think everyone was happy that Troy proved himself an extremely capable and efficient pastor as he got us from “Welcome. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all” to “Now, may I legally introduce to you Mr. and Mrs. Alex Themelis” in about 15 minutes!

The reception was just as relaxed as the wedding and it was wonderful to look around and see how easily it appeared our families and friends were interacting with one another.

As the reception was winding down, Heather and I were pulled aside and asked to unwrap one specific present. We opened the card and saw that it was from Patrice (Heather’s sister), Tony (her husband) and Tony’s parents.

Judging by the shape, size and feel, I could tell it was a large framed piece of art, but I never would have expected that it was a one of kind masterpiece specifically created not just for us…

but of us

This was a sketch of one our of engagement photos and it happens to be Heather’s mom favorite picture from our shoot. Here’s the actual photo

And it turned out that the gift was not simply from the family, but actually created by them!

Tony made the frame.

Patrice created the decorative accents that appear on the top left and bottom right of the matting.

And Nancy (Tony’s mother) drew the picture.

If you would humor me for a moment, please go back and take one more look at the actual picture Nancy created for us. I love how well she captured the details and can’t believe she took so much of her to time to make such a thoughtful gift for us.

And, more than anything, I’m amazed that she did this…despite being legally blind.

How incredible is that?!

Of course I feel like I could share many more details about not just the wedding (like how Heather and I snuck off a mere 30 minutes before the wedding for a photo shoot at a nearby park or how Jenna bought matching yellow rings in the shape of flowers for she and Heather to wear or how I ended up having a high school friend I hadn’t seen in 18 years come to the wedding after very randomly getting in contact with her just one day prior) but also about the wonderful rehearsal dinner hosted graciously hosted by my cousin Brett Hamel, wife Lindsay and daughter Sydney. (And a special shout out to Sarah Scipio who claims to have recently moved from Atlanta to Portland because of her husband relocating for work…but Heather and I really know it was because she was wanting to make sure we had the greatest cupcakes on the face of the earth at the dinner and wedding. You’re the best, Sarah!)

For those of you wondering why I didn’t post more photos to this entry…well…one final shout out. Our ridiculously talented friend Carrie Anderson (who was actually one of the bridesmaids in our Cambodian ceremony) graciously took time off work to come out from Atlanta and serve as our official photographer. And since it can take me quite a long time to upload photos, I figured I’d just cheat and have you go directly to Carrie’s website to check them out –

http://carrieandersonphoto.blogspot.com/2011/10/alex-heatherwedding.html

Truly amazed, blessed and just flat out awed by how God provided for me and my wife during our two wedding ceremonies. I don’t feel like there is anything that I can look back on and say “If only…”

How much luckier could one guy get?

Hmm…maybe I will have to play the lottery after all!

I’ve developed a new habit…and I’m fairly certain it took less than one day to form. And if I was to try and keep count of how many times I do it in a 24-hour period, my best estimate would be somewhere around 3,000 – that’s assuming that I sleep seven hours. If I were to be awake for an entire day, I’m certain the count would be over 4,000.

Most times I don’t even think I’m consciously aware that I’m doing it, but quite often both of my hands are involved and so I can’t help but realize that it’s happening….again.

Despite not knowing how frequently this new little habit is actually occurring, I can tell you with precise certainty the day that it began.

July 23, 2011.

My wedding day.

The day that Heather Lyn Dade promised her love and devotion to me forever. And, as a symbol of her vow, placed a ring on my finger to solidify our union.

A ring that I now fidget with probably three times every minute. Or 180 times over the course of an hour. Or (yep, you guessed it) nearly 3,000 times over the course of an average day.

It’s the most wonderful habit I can ever recall having and there is nothing in the world that I love more than the feel of that ring on my finger or looking down at it (as I’m doing at this exact moment) and reflecting on the events that led up it to being placed on my finger. Best yet, my heart experiences an intense surge of joy when I think about what the ring represents.

True love.

Endless devotion.

God’s greatest gift.

Now, I’m not going to make any assumptions that those of you brave enough to keep returning to this blog are dying to read a play-by-play of my wedding day, but seeing as many of you stuck through the 3-part dating/engagement series, I had very much debated writing an entry dedicated to trying to capture as much as I could about the event so you would have the complete story.

But I don’t think I can do it…at least not in words.

And, believe me, it’s not for a lack of want! It’s more due to the idea that despite whatever words I may be able to get out of my head and into the blog, I will NEVER be able to do justice the blessing that I experienced on that day. The more I reflect back on our ceremony, the more I find myself feeling like what happened had to have been of some movie that I recently watched because, in my eyes, it was more beautiful, more amazing and more perfect than I deserved. It truly is difficult to wrap my head around the reality that God created this ceremony just for Heather and I.

But the ring on my finger is not only a steadfast reminder that as overwhelming as these events have been, they are all very, very, very real, but also that this fairytale love actually does have a screenwriter. Luckily for Heather and I, however, He’s one who doesn’t sit at desk hunched over a computer developing ideas for fictitious characters…and, as we so often need to be reminded, He always gets things perfect on the first draft.

As with any wedding, there were moments of extreme frustration throughout the planning process and I’ll wholly admit that Heather and I were in constant need of the exact reminder I just mentioned above. From the moment we decide to hold our wedding at the orphanage, we did our best to let everyone here know that our desire was to have as simple a ceremony as possible…but we quickly learned that there doesn’t seem to be a Khmer translation for the term “simple ceremony.” I truly do not have a desire to go into detail about what transpired during the months leading up to the wedding, so I’ll simply tell you that as I would share with Heather the latest news about our planning, there were several instances where we clearly saw that it was differing from what we planned and we wound up asking each other aloud if our special day would turn out anything like we had hoped.

I’d love to say that everything had been resolved by the time Friday, July 22nd rolled around, but that was not at all the case. There were still numerous questions that needed to be answered regarding the actual ceremony and, unfortunately, a relatively brief meeting to discuss those items ended up leaving me more frustrated than I’d felt at any point over the past few months. Because of some things that were said, I began questioning where our idea of a “simple ceremony” was going to be as special as we hoped it would be. Thankfully Heather was at my side reminding me that while our idea of what would make for a special, memorable ceremony might not be viewed in the same light by someone else, we had no reason to feel challenged about our ideas.

This was, after all, our wedding.

Even as I sit here today, I don’t necessarily think that the meeting provided any insight into how our ceremony would go. My assumption became that we would iron out all of those details in a few hours when we did the rehearsal. And I’m pretty sure that’s what would have happened…had it not been the rainy season.

The rehearsal was supposed to start at 4pm and the rain started coming down at pretty much that exact hour. Typically it will rain for a short period of time (maybe 30 minutes) and then the clouds will pass. Well, not so much on this day. The rain, while not quite a downpour, just kept falling and falling and falling. As it neared 5 o’clock, the rain did finally start to let up, so we able to begin. Around 6pm, the combination of it getting dark along with the rain picking up again was enough for Pastor Vek to decide that we had done as much as we could.

You would think a good amount could have been accomplished in an hour, but the only thing that was done was that the kids from the orphanages practiced multiple times getting up from their seats and taking their places in the area where they would each be performing a special song and dance. Seriously, that was all that was “rehearsed” in the entire 60 minutes! We covered absolutely nothing in regards to the ceremony itself. There were countless things I felt that needed to be gone over during the rehearsal because the ceremony was not going to be the standard one used by Pastor Vek during weddings at the church. He allowed us to put together our own ceremony, so I felt that it would be very beneficial for us to go through it in its entirety at least once so everyone understood how it would work.

Oh well…so much for my plans!

Although I did have a little time on the day of the wedding to work with the orphanage directors on some important details regarding several parts of the ceremony where the kids would be involved, I did not see Pastor Vek until just a few minutes before the ceremony started. I still had quite a few questions as to whether he was comfortable with our ceremony, but the closer the clock approached 4pm, the more I realized that there was no more planning I could do. And when we did finally meet, the only question he had for me was…ready for this…”You did not iron your shirt?”

Minutes away from performing my marriage using a ceremony that was mostly new to him and never rehearsed…and the only thing he was concerned about was my shirt. All I could do was laugh.

And I’m sure you’re all thinking my shirt must have been an absolute mess for him to comment, but I promise you that it was not. However, the answer to whether I had ironed the shirt was “No”…but there two very good reasons for that.

#1 – I had been moving around a bit over the last week due to friends and family being in Cambodia and so my shirt was in transit with me. Although I was careful to always keep it on a hanger, I know there were times when moving from one place to another that it was not perfectly flat.

#2- I don’t own an iron!

I had my shirt (a very simple white linen button up) custom made and actually thought about the fact that I very well might not be able to iron it. I had wondered how well it would hold up in appearance without being ironed and I was very pleased to see no wrinkles in the shirt when I put it on the day of the wedding. However, there were a few creases in the fabric that gave it the appearance of being brand new, but I can only recall noticing those in the sleeves.

Moments away from the biggest moment of my life, I can assure you my concerns were miles away from a few small creases in my sleeves! But I could easily see the concern (maybe confusion) that my “flawed” appearance was causing Pastor Vek, so it was that minutes before I took my place on the alter, I found myself standing in my undershirt while the wedding officiant went upstairs to iron my shirt.

That was a detail that I most definitely did not write into the wedding ceremony!

And, since I really don’t think it’s possible to put our wedding into words, I think it’s best now to show you exactly how the ceremony unfolded…more perfectly than Heather and I ever could have imagined.

The "basketball court" and boys dorm at the orphanage were transformed into the most incredible wedding site

Everything is in place! The covers (white) and ribbon (yellow) on the chairs were nearly a perfect match to the colors of the dresses for the junior bridesmaids. And the first chair on the bride's side had a gold cover in honor of Heather's close friend Billy Hampton who passed away just days before our wedding. It was wonderful to have a special way to honor his memory.

Heather and I hadn't planned on having any decorations at the "alter" - we would have been perfectly content with just having the building serve as our backdrop. But we eventually gave into the idea that something special was needed and the kids blew us away with their creativity.

Personal notes and drawings from the kids adorned the backdrop. Umm…wow.

My friends helping make our ceremony even more special: Sarith (right) went above and beyond by basically serving as an emcee for the ceremony and Philip began the ceremony with a beautiful prayer - part in Khmer and part in English

As the kids began singing "This Is The Day," that was my cue to lead the groomsmen to the alter. Jon Vaughan (my good friend who unknowingly played match-maker for me and Heather) followed by my brothers Greg and Nick

As the groomsmen took their place, I turned towards the school building where I then had the honor of escorting my mom to her seat (in a freshly ironed shirt no less!)

As a way of thanking Samoeun for all she did to help with our wedding, Heather and I decided that the perfect way to honor her would be to have her escorted to her seat…and we knew that Huo would be the perfect one for the job.

Our beautiful flower girls from Battambang

Ya and Sa

Nat

Next came the bridal party (from left to right): Carrie Anderson & Srey Lin, Kristie Poll & Srey Heng, Rebekah May & Pony and Jenny Earnest & Srey Kim

With everyone in position, Brandon Heath's "Love Never Fails" began playing and I watched intently as the doors to the school building opened and...

Here

Comes

My (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Beautiful Bride

Since Heather's parents were unable to attend the wedding, we had to find someone to give Heather away and we knew immediately there was only one option…Hieng (aka Peanut). Heather has such an incredible bond with him and we both loved that he played such an important part in our wedding. Here Pastor Vek asks "Who gives his woman to be married to this man?" And Peanut a little nervously answered in Khmer, "We the children of the New Life Orphanages."

From left: Silong, Sinath, Kimchhai and Samnang read verses from 1 Corinthians 13. Since the rehearsal was rained out, it wasn't until a few hours before the ceremony that I finally had a chance to ask the kids if they would be okay with reading and then gave them their verses. I had the order selected a few days prior and Silong would be the one reading last - and he had just one verse, 13.

So I was amazed as I looked at the backdrop after it was put up in the morning and saw Silong's contribution. While most kids made drawings, Silong ended up writing the exact verse I was going to have him read during the ceremony! He had no idea when he wrote this that it would be his verse. I was blown away when I saw this…and it served as another confirmation that God had our ceremony perfectly under control.

The children from Phnom Penh then performed a special dance to the song “Your Love Is Deep.”

Banha and Philip then read Song of Songs 8: 6-7

And the children from Battambang performed a dance to the song “Can’t Live A Day.”

The songs from Phnom Penh and Battambang were both incredibly beautiful I could tell by looking at the faces of people at the wedding that that they were very moved by the performances.

And then came Banteay Meanchey.

My oh my!

Whereas the previous two songs were much slower, the tempo and energy displayed in the Korean praise song that the Banteay Meanchey kids selected was like a triple blast of caffeine on a slow moving morning. I don’t think there was a set of lips not smiling within seconds of the music starting. Philip Chung posted a video of the performance on his Facebook page and here is the link (I’m not sure if you have to be his friend to view it…sorry if that’s the case!): http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=249495391744934&set=vb.100000534247997&type=1&theater

And here are a few still shots

For a couple months, I had sat quietly night after night as the kids from Phnom Penh practiced and it gave me such joy to see how much they were truly enjoying the idea that they would soon have the opportunity to perform. It was so incredible to be standing at the alter watching these kids dance and realizing how hard they worked on these one-of-a-kind gifts. No words can explain how overwhelmed I felt watching all of the kids perform and the reality began to set in that this was being done because of how much they cared for Heather and I and truly wanted to be part of our special day.

With the “entertainment” portion of the ceremony concluded, it was now time to begin the more traditional parts of the wedding.

Pastor Vek addressing us on the importance of marriage and the commitment we were about to make to one another

And then we exchanged vows. We were going to keep it simple because Pastor Vek would not help us with "Please repeat after me…" but I "cheated" by making a last second decision to not recite what I had memorized. Just felt like I needed to speak what was on my heart at that exact moment. Granted, it was longer than what I had previously memorized, but I'm so glad that I followed my heart and spoke those words to Heather.

Heather admitted that she had a little stage fright when she learned Pastor Vek would not be assisting with the vows, so she "cheated" by having them written down!

We then had our rings delivered by Hieng and Huo

First Heather received her ring...

and then it was my turn!

And after a moment of prayer...

I got to kiss my bride!

Srey Nath then came up and sang a special song to bless our marriage

While this was a very moving moment, Srey Nath made pretty much everyone laugh when, instead of gently tossing jasmine flowers over Heather and I, she opted to repeatedly pelt Heather with handfuls of them at point blank range! (Unfortunately the pics I have do not capture the pelting in action, but all of the petals you see on the ground hit Heather with full force.) Thanks for protecting me, babe!

Pastor Vek then introduced us for the first time as "Mr. and Mrs. Alex Themelis" (with a long pause inserted before he said our last name because he only ever calls me Alex and I think at that moment it hit him he did not know how to pronounce my last name!), the kids began singing "Thank You Jesus" and I got to walk the aisle hand-in-hand with my wife!

It truly was a perfect ceremony and one that far exceeded whatever expectations Heather and I had. The decorations were beyond beautiful, the weather was absolutely perfect (not a drop of rain…which was an absolute miracle), the smiling faces of all the children were more radiant than I feel like I had ever seen them before and we were surrounded by friends and family.

We never expected that anyone would come to our wedding when we decided to have it at the orphanage, but my parents and brothers were all able to make it and we also had some very special guests in attendance from 9000 miles away.

My Family

With Heather and I building our relationship via Skype, it was only fitting that we had a Skype visitor at the wedding. Sitting in the front row is our friend Laura who held the computer the entire ceremony so Heather's mom, aunt and uncle could watch from Oregon. Ain't technology wonderful?!

We got to say hello to Mary right after the ceremony and the battery died minutes later. So thankful that she was able to see the entire ceremony.

The wedding party then headed out to the narrow little road to take a few photos. (Not pictured are the 30+ Cambodians who live in the area and were standing to the side watching our photo shoot with very curious expressions!)

Reception food was anything but standard Cambodian fare…pizza and hot dogs!

There were also plenty of cupcakes and ice cream. (Not pictured here are the plates of the kids - some of which had four pieces of pizza, three hot dogs and multiple cupcakes!)

And one final story before bringing this entry to an end.

Several weeks before the wedding, Srey Nath took my hands one night and wrote nearly identical notes on them – one to me and one to Heather. Here is the note to Heather:

I love U so much. Uncle loves U big 4 ok.

Srey Nath explained the “Big 4” meant that I had “big, big, big, big” love for Heather. She then told me that the first heart represented her love for Heather and the second one represented my love for Heather. Even though she loved Heather very much, she said she couldn’t love her as much as I did.

So her heart has a border while mine does not.

Heather and I considered not getting a wedding cake and just serving cupcakes, but we eventually decided that we would have a small cake so that we could at least cut it together. And since there are thirty-three children at the orphanage in Phnom Penh (the only orphanage that Heather has been able to visit so far) the decoration of the cake was very intentional…thirty-three small hearts with a blue borders and one large red heart with no border. And, of course, we had to ask Srey Nath to help us make the initial cut.

A perfect end to our wedding.

My friend Philip Chung told me this past weekend that he had planned to visit a school in Banteay Meanchey later in the week. He said it was fine for me to come with him, and as soon as I told the kids at the orphanage in Phnom Penh that I was going, they loaded me up with gifts to give to the kids in both Banteay Meanchey and Battambang. (Our bus would only be making a 5 minute stop in Battambang, so Ratha, the orphanage director, was planning to meet us at the bus stop for a quick handoff.)

Even though I visited both orphanages a few weeks ago and been given tons of gifts to distribute during that trip, I once again found myself realizing that I was going to need more than just the one little bag I had planned on bringing for my personal items. (I seriously am dumbfounded by where the kids keep coming up with all these gifts to give. It truly is staggering to see the amount of presents that they have exchanged recently.) Since the stop in Battambang would be so brief, I had to put all of those gifts into a separate bag that I could easily leave with Ratha. The personal bag I was taking on the trip was packed so full of gifts for Banteay Meanchey that I felt lucky that I was able to get toiletry items and a couple shirts and boxers to fit in and still get the bag to zip. Knowing I would only be gone for about a day and half, I decided I would be fine with just having the one pair of shorts that I was wearing that morning.

One word: Whoops.

Packing miscue aside, the trip was absolutely incredible. As I’ve been looking through pictures, I thought that maybe it would be best to share as many visual aids with you while trying to keep words to a minimum.

I am fully aware that editing myself is going to be a pretty big undertaking, but here goes!

The best way to start the story is by recalling the weather as I stepped out of my room at a guest house at Sreysisophon Christian Bible College in Banteay Meanchey early Thursday morning. Philip and I arrived at the school the previous evening and the rain began falling shortly after midnight. As I readied myself for worship service, I could still hear the rain coming down very steadily against the roof and window.

Despite the wet conditions, the temperature was near perfect and I felt like this was one of the most beautiful mornings I’d ever experienced. There was a crispness to the air that I honestly don’t think I’d ever felt before in Cambodia – yes, there have been a few “cold” days along the way, but it was nothing compared to how I felt when I opened my door and felt the breeze roll in. This was the first time in I don’t know how long that I’ve stepped outside (in the morning) and not felt blanketed by the near constant humidity.

Morning worship in the campus church was amazing. The students here have an intense passion when they sing and pray and I felt very fortunate to have the opportunity to start my day in such an uplifting manner.

The school is run by a Korean missionary named Kim Young Og and the vision he and his staff have for the students is that they will each start their own church once they complete their four years of study. Upon graduating, every student is provided with three very basic items that will help them plant their church: a moto (for transportation), a guitar (to lead worship) and a tent (as a gathering place for their newly founded church). With those items in hand and faith as their guide, they are then challenged with finding a spot to start their church in a rural area. I don’t know specifics, but once the church has proven to be a mainstay in the community, the school will then provide funding for an actual building to be constructed – and the land and building are put in the name of student/pastor, not of the school. So this truly does belong to the individual and provides them with an even greater purpose in establishing the church. The program has experienced a very high level of success and in order to make sure that the staff is fully equipping each student with the knowledge/training they will need to begin a church, the school only allows for a total of 150 students. They are currently at capacity and have numerous students on a wait list who are hoping they soon decide to increase their enrollment!

Since the semester had just ended, there were no classes for Philip and I to observe, so immediately after breakfast one of the staff members took us to see a few of the churches that had been started by former students. We were probably in the truck for close to an hour before we made our first stop and my best estimate is that the last 45 minutes of the drive were on muddy, unpaved, extremely (extremely, extremely, extremely) bumpy roads in rural Cambodia. I don’t think anyone here is familiar with the term ‘boonies,’ but I’m sure if  they did understand the meaning of that word that they would agree that is exactly where we were!

#1 – Completed in 2008

#2 – Construction should finish in 2 months

The following two pictures are of the home that is next to the church. As soon as we stepped into sight, we could hear non-stop laughter coming from the area to our right. Although Philip, myself and the staff member from the school were limited in our knowledge of Khmer, apparently someone was able to get across that the family in the house (and probably many others in this community) had never seen a white person before. And, as you’ll soon see, there were several younger girls who were the ones responsible for the giggles. Once that was told to me, I had a wonderful time smiling and waving to them – and I was able to zoom in a bit to take their pictures as I was waving. All of this perfectly served the purpose of bringing about more laughter and smiles from all of us.

These pictures were taken as we were preparing to get back in the truck and continue down the road to see the next church.

Little did I realize the toy in this picture was a sign of what was to come!

We didn’t get but maybe a couple hundred feet before…

STUCK!!!!

Philip and some of the boys assess the situation

She didn't have to speak English for us to know that she figured we weren't going anywhere anytime soon

But somehow help arrived! (Refer back to the photo of the boy above and also this link to get a better view of our "tow truck" - http://travel.ca.msn.com/international/rd-gallery.aspx?cp-documentid=26843571&page=5)

Hooked up and ready to go

"Gentleman…start your engine!"

Success! And away we go!

Church #3 – Completed in 2010

Boys had their ballfield on one side of the church...

…while the girls ran a salon on the other!

Church #4 – Construction should finish in 4-6 months

Barely visible to the left of the structure is the 26 year old pastor of the church - so the land and building are his and were provided by the school

Sign that you're getting a good amount of use out of your mixer? You've made so many batches that the excess amount collecting under the machine is beginning to bury the tires

Simply an amazing day visiting these churches and seeing the impact that the school is having on both the students and surrounding communities. And after a nearly 4 hour journey (which, by the way, ended with us pulling up for lunch and then being unable to restart the truck – thankfully we were back in the city and help was easy to find!), we finally found ourselves back at the school.

We had one final cup of coffee with Kim before we said our goodbyes and headed over to see the kids at the orphanage…and deliver all those gifts!

Sovita, Srey Chan, Dane, Srey Rort and Srey Kouch

Prach, Thai and Savoeun

Sinath and Simach

Theara and Sun

Silong

I also had the wedding DVD with me, so I was able to show the kids the special song they performed during the ceremony. (And, yes, I know that I still have yet to write an entry about the wedding. It’s underway and I hope to have it posted within the week.)

Philip had talked about wanting to go to Siem Reap before heading back to Phnom Penh on Friday, so after spending a couple hours with the kids we jumped in a taxi and made our way there. We had nothing specific on the agenda and truly expected that we would most likely walk around the city for several hours at night and in the morning.

Mission accomplished on Thursday night, but as we were getting ready to spend time sitting and talking after breakfast, I got a call from the pastor at New Life Church in Siem Reap asking if we would come visit. As we soon learned, there was a purpose for us being in Siem Reap other than just relaxing!

Pastor Mony Roth shared with us that his oldest son, Nimeak, currently studies at a university in Korea and happened to be in Phnom Penh over the previous week with a mission team from a Korean church. During their stay, Nimeak had his wallet, passport/visa and money stolen and was not allowed to board the flight back to Korea with his team. He made several attempts to visit the Korean embassy to resolve the issue, but had very little luck even getting in the door because he is Cambodian. Although Philip is a US citizen, he is originally from Korea and knows numerous Korean missionaries who are working in Phnom Penh. He assured Pastor Mony that he would use his contacts in order to help get Nimeak the documentation that is required so he can return to Korea in time to begin the new school semester on September 12th.

Obviously calls asking for assistance could have been made to Philip had we not come to Siem Reap, but being able to speak in person with Pastor Mony made the situation so much easier to handle. And you could easily see the relief on face of he and his wife when Philip assured them that their son would be taken care of by early next week.

So while that would have seemed to be purpose enough for our Siem Reap side trip, we were about to be taken to a hidden gem several hundred yards from the church that blew us both away.

In addition to the pastor and his wife, a church member named Somaly was sitting down talking with us and she told us about how she had recently opened up an English school at her home. She shared how she had lived in this area for her entire life and was heartbroken not only by the lack of education that the majority of the local children received, but more so by the parents disinterest in getting their children to attend school. So in early 2010 she began meeting with the community leader and shared with him her vision of opening a school. While I feel like it is common for parents in many societies to understand the value of education and then filter that idea down to their children, Somaly realizes that the only way many parents here will see the value is if their children reveal it to them – so basically reversing the filter process. The leader was encouraged by her idea and quickly helped her get all the necessary paperwork in order. Within a few months, Smiling Hearts Association for Children (SHAC) opened its doors.

As you are about to see, Somaly truly built the school right on her property. It might not be the biggest school you have seen (currently there are three classrooms…but she hopes to soon add more), but it is truly amazing to see how efficiently she has utilized the space that she has. She is dedicating her life to providing education for the children in her community and it was such a blessing to be able to sit and hear her talk about her vision.

(You can learn more about SHAC by visiting www.shac-smilinghearts.org)

Walking from the church to Somaly's home

Somaly was professionally dressed and I couldn't help but be amazed at how easily she made her way through the difficult terrain in what seemed to be a less than ideal pair of shoes!

View as we rounded the corner and came to Somaly's home

Somaly's artwork now adorns the side of her home

Somaly used to park her car under this roof until it became the initial classroom for SHAC (it now serves as a play area)

Outside view of one of the three side-by-side-by-side classrooms

Grade 1

Grade 2

Grade 3

The office

And of course I have to post a few pics of the kids!

He started off with just a smile, but quickly put his arm through the fence to flash the peace sign

Just swingin' in the rain

An adorable group

Never could I have imagined when I left my apartment on Wednesday that I was heading out on such an amazing journey. Not to say that Philip or I had low expectations for the trip, but we both commented numerous times to one another how we never could have planned something this incredible. Truly a 48 hour period that I will never forget.

God is so good!

Oh…and as for my packing miscalculation.

When we got stuck in the mud, our roadside assistance vehicle needed a little extra “oomph” in order to get us out, so me and a few of the construction workers from the church site had the honor of pushing from behind our truck. Somehow those guys all seemed to get out of the incident unscathed. Me? Well…

Not so much!

(And my word count is over 2000, so I guess I failed at that whole “I’ll try to edit my words” promise from earlier. Should have known better! But at least there were a lot of interesting pics along the way to occasionally distract you from all the words, right?)

(And, yes, I did get another pair of shorts. A denim pair of “manpris” [capris for men] were given to me by the one of the staff members at the school. Not exactly the pair I would have grabbed off the rack, but I guess it’s true what they say…Guys wearing mud encrusted shorts can’t be choosers. And here I thought that was just some ridiculous old saying with absolutely no merit. In the hopes of avoiding a repeat in the future, rest assured that from here on out I’m always traveling with a spare!)

A little over one year ago, I can recall a period of about two months where I would position myself in front of the computer roughly 3-4 times each week with my head full of ideas and a Word doc open in front of me. There I would sit for hours on end with my hands seldom leaving the keyboard as thought after thought raced through my mind.

For the better part of the first two weeks, I would step away from the computer each night feeling drained. Although I’ve never been one who can easily sit down and put my thoughts onto paper, this was by far proving to be the most difficult instance I had ever encountered.  Each night would end the same as the last – I would review the document and shut down only after it was thoroughly reviewed. As it turned out, that part of the process was rather quick and easy. Even though I had been camped in front of the computer for hours, the review took all of about a half a second.

Despite what you may have heard to the contrary, I promise you that blank documents really are quite simple to review.

As much as I wished that my sitting for hours on end would have been accompanied by a constant flurry of activity radiating from my fingers on the keyboard, the only part of my body beside my brain that was being overworked during those first two weeks were my eyes – which were focused nonstop on that blank screen in the hopes that words may soon start to appear.

In my heart, I knew that all the words were ready to burst out of my fingertips, but it took awhile for me to convince my head to stop filtering, editing, over-thinking, over-analyzing and obsessing over every single word. Eventually, however, my head did begin to release the hold it had on all of those ideas and, slowly but slowly (trust me, there was nothing “surely” about the writing process), the screen began to fill. Even though there were plenty of nights where words were still scarce, there were far more that resulted in real progress being made. And so it was that a mere eight weeks after my first attempt at sitting down to write, I hit ‘Save’ for the final time and knew I was ready to share my thoughts with family and friends. My support letter for my calling to move to Cambodia to serve the orphans of New Life Church was complete.

The two years prior, I also experienced similar episodes when it came time to write support letters for my short-term trips to Cambodia, but my letter last year was more of struggle because the previous two did not revolve around the phrase “move to Cambodia.”

Hoping that I had learned from the past, I thought that when I first sat down to start writing my letter this year (yes, the very letter you are reading now) that I would be able to get through it in easier fashion than the previous three. But I couldn’t help but feel like those hopes were unrealistic before I even sat down. Since I’m now on my fourth attempt at writing the letter in the last two weeks, turns out my hunch was right.

While I am always proud to share about how God put it on my heart to participate in these mission trips and eventually make the decision to stay long-term, creating the letters is nevertheless a bit of a grueling process.

Well, “grueling” really isn’t the right word. More like…humbling.

Each year, I’ve felt that I was able to somewhat easily write parts of the letters where I was telling about the process that led to me feeling called to serve. And when it came to sharing details about what I experienced with the kids on previous trips, I found those memories also made their way onto paper without too much difficulty. But simply getting the letter started is quite a hurdle to overcome. And the biggest struggle by far, which comes as no surprise to me, always revolves around seeking support – aka the asking.

Financial matters of any type are seldom subjects that I feel comfortable discussing with anyone, so the idea of having to ask for support for my personal missions has always taken me well out of my comfort zone. The more I’ve thought about it, however, the more I’ve realized that pretty much every aspect of these mission trips has resulted in me being taken out of my comfort zone. Having reached that conclusion, the more it’s become clear that this has always been about believing with absolute certainty that God not only has a great purpose for my life, but that He has an even greater desire to use me.

Turns out my comfort zone doesn’t factor into the equation.

To this day, I don’t have clarity on God’s purpose for my life. And I still have countless moments where I can’t help but wonder “Why me?” Having admitted to that, however, has not at all made me question whether God is working in me and through me…

Because I know He is.

As long as I can look at my life and know that I am somehow being used to accomplish His purpose, I’m perfectly content to not have definite answers or clarity. And I realize that I am blessed beyond measure to be given the opportunity to step outside my comfort zone so that I can serve in Cambodia.

After learning that I would be moving, I received an email from Pastor Vek indicating that I would be exposed to a number of ministries within New Life Church and that I might be used to serve in different areas. While that sounded like a great challenge that I was excited to explore, the main purpose I felt that I was going to serve during my long-term stay was quite simply this:

To love on orphans.

Despite the clarity I had about this, I initially found myself struggling when I tried telling people what I felt my purpose was. I somehow succeeded in convincing myself that I had to have a “greater purpose” that quite possibly included pages upon pages of well-documented facts about my specific duties as well as thoroughly researched details regarding expenses. Instead, all I had to offer was that God had put it on my heart to go serve these children on a daily basis and along with that He provided a specific number when it came to how much I should look to raise for my stay.

During this time of struggle, God not only used countless friends and family members to build me up along the way, but He also introduced me to an amazing new group of friends who truly helped me see that loving on kids was not only purpose enough, but that God specifically created me with gifts that made it a perfect calling for my life.

Having overcome the idea that I had to justify my purpose, I then wondered if I would have to defend myself when it came to financial matters. As some of you may recall, my support letter last year stated that I was attempting to raise $1,500 per month to cover living expenses. When that number was put on my heart, I immediately thought that it was way to high. I could easily live in Atlanta on that amount, so it seemed odd that I would need that much in Cambodia. But that number never waivered whenever I would pray about it, so I had no choice but to use that as my target.

To say that those of you reading this letter came through generously does no justice whatsoever to what I saw happen with the funding for my mission. When I stepped foot on that plane leaving Atlanta last July, I knew that I would be more than provided for during my first year in Cambodia. And I also realized that I would have funds available to help provide for expenses at the orphanages that were above and beyond those covered by the Brightpoint sponsorships. As it turned out, not only did your donations help to cover needs for all three New Life orphanages (tuk tuks, computers, medical expenses, materials for various projects, clothing and musical instruments to name just a few), but it also helped to provide for two additional orphanages – chairs for 73 children at Center of Peace orphanage in Phnom Penh and seven months of rice for the 30 kids living at New Hope Orphanage in Battambang.

For finances, I will start by telling everyone that I now have a set time when my stay in Cambodia will be over. As many of you may know, of all the amazing blessings I’ve experienced over this last year, the greatest (and most surprising) was that I met my soon to be wife during the short-term mission trip. Heather Dade and I began dating after she returned to the US, we were engaged in November when she came to visit over Thanksgiving and we will soon be married at the Phnom Penh orphanage. Although I did not have a timeframe in mind as to how long I would remain in Cambodia, I knew before I left Atlanta that it would be a year minimum. As Heather and I began to discuss setting our wedding date, I couldn’t help but wonder if our getting married was God’s way of showing me that my time here was complete. Turns out that the answer to that question was “Yes”, but I felt as though I was supposed to stay through all of 2011. Heather and I came to feel confident that God provided us confirmation about the two things we were specifically needing answers to: (1) we would be getting married on Saturday, July 23 and (2) she would then return to the US while I remained in Cambodia – and I would move back in March 2012.

So I have eight full months remaining in my stay and as I assess my current financial situation, I am amazed that my personal living expenses can be covered by current donations. That realization initially left me thinking that I would be writing more of an “update” letter instead of a “support” letter. Even though I fully understand that missions of any type cannot be accomplished without raising support, I’ll admit that I still do not feel complete comfort with the process, so I was a little relieved when I looked at the numbers.

But I’ve felt a stirring in my heart and keep hearing one word whenever I think about my financial situation…

Ask.

And so I have to laugh now because I just said “I have enough” and yet I know in my heart that I am supposed to follow that up by asking if you will consider providing additional support for my time in Cambodia.

Yep, time once again time to step out of that comfort zone.

I initially felt the stirring several months ago when I did a quick assessment of my finances and it seemed that there was enough to see me through until March. At that point I thought maybe I didn’t process the numbers correctly and I would see that additional funding was need when I did a more thorough review. But even as it became clear that living expenses were covered, the stirring grew stronger. I think this goes without saying, but there are incredible needs here – and that obviously extends well beyond New Life Church and the amazing orphans that I love with all of my heart. I never would have anticipated being able to provide for so many needs and I can’t help but wonder what greater needs are still waiting to be met. (And please allow me to clarify that I have never provided a gift and thought that I personally was the one responsible for meeting the need. I have not once lost sight of the fact that you, my supporters, have entrusted me with these funds and I am simply blessed to be the messenger who has been chosen to deliver on your behalf.)

As much as I would like to share with you the details of a conversation I had a couple weeks back that confirmed for me that I was indeed going to send a support letter, I honestly know that it would not be appropriate to do so. The only thing I feel that I should share is that your generosity allowed me to make a donation that ended up relieving a financial burden for someone that I care about very much…and it is someone who I never would have expected to help during my time here.

That conversation resulted in tears…and those tears spoke volumes. They showed me that God has mighty plans for those who serve Him. They were a visible reminder that we have no way of knowing or anticipating how God will use us and what impact our faithfulness will have on others. Most of all, they confirmed for me what I’ve known since the first support check arrived in my mailbox last April…the money that has been raised for my mission was never actually mine. It all belongs to God and He alone will guide me on the ways it is to be used.

Stepping out once again on faith and having no financial plan to provide or any immediate needs to present to you, I’ll share with you that I would love to be able to raise an additional $1000 per month – so $8000 total. Again, whatever money comes in at this point will be put to use to directly benefit the needs of others and not a penny will go towards my living expenses.

If you feel led to make a donation, there are three ways to do so.

Checks can be made payable to Fallen Sparrow Foundation and mailed to the following address:

Fallen Sparrow Foundation

c/o Carol McKown

3338 Peachtree Road, Suite 3407

Atlanta, GA 30326

If you would like to provide a monthly donation, you can set up an automatic draft by contacting your bank and providing them with Fallen Sparrow mailing address along with the amount and date for withdrawal.

Or if you would prefer to pay via credit card, please visit www.fallensparrow.org and click ‘Give’. (Please note that 3% will be deducted from all credit card transactions to cover Google processing fees.)

Earlier I had mentioned that Pastor Vek shared that there might be other areas of the ministry where I could serve. As it turns out, I realized somewhat early on in my stay that never was going to be much of a reality…and I truly couldn’t be more content with that. Being able to focus my attention on the kids has been the experience of a lifetime and there are no words to explain how incredible it has been to build relationships with not just the 33 kids living in Phnom Penh, but also the 38 in Battambang and the 21 in Banteay Meanchey. Additionally being exposed to the children at New Hope, Center of Peace and Hope for Cambodia orphanages has been a blessing that I never would have expected.

To say that the last year has been the most rewarding of my life does not even begin to scratch the surface of what I have gained from this experience. I can’t even begin to count the blessings that God has bestowed upon me, but I know with absolute certainty that even more are in store. And I will always look back on these 20 months of my life and realize that your support provided me with this opportunity…and for that I am forever grateful, forever thankful.

I would like to close by asking for one additional thing…prayers. As important as financial donations may be, I have seen and felt the power of prayer in ways far above and beyond what I have ever known and I will never underestimate how much we all need to be lifted up daily. In whatever way you feel most comfortable, please keep me and all of the beautiful orphans and the adults who serve them at New Life, Center of Peace, Hope for Cambodia and New Hope in your thoughts and prayers.

I know that God has great plans in store for me these next eight months and I pray that He will open my eyes to the needs that He desires for me to help meet. None of this would be possible without you…and I will do my best to post more regularly on the blog to keep you informed of how your support is continuing to impact the lives of so many deserving Cambodians.

In Christ,

Alex

In Psalm 28:2, David cries to the Lord:

Hear my cry for mercy as I call to you for help, as I lift up my hands toward your Most Holy Place.

Since last Monday night, there have not only been thousands of prayers calling out to God to show Silong mercy, but also for Him to have the ability to instill His compassion into the hearts of the family members who lost their young grandson/son/brother.

We all clearly knew that the horrible tragedy that occurred last week was not due to reckless or negligent behavior from Silong, but none of us had any idea if the family saw things in the same light. It while it seemed as though the family was responding positively to the love and support being shown by the everyone from the church and orphanage in Banteay Meanchey, that did not provide any insight as to what the decision would be when it came time to present their settlement.

Yesterday we found out the decision…and learned, once again, that God is faithful to answer the cries of His children.

The family has asked for $3,000 – and it is our understanding that this amount will be used to cover the hospital and funeral expenses. They showed no desire to seek financial gain from this incident and never displayed any intent at seeking punishment directly against Silong.

And it should also come as no surprise that while New Life was not sure where they would come up with any amount of money that had been requested, God had a plan. Through an unbelievable act of kindness and generosity, a donation has already been offered that will cover the entire amount of the settlement.

We are hoping that the money will be given to the family by the end of this week and, as best I understand, the matter will then be closed by the government and local authorities.

Through all of this, I still do not have any word on how Silong has been handling the situation. And if anyone has taken time to sit and talk with him, I’m not sure that I would be able to get much detail about any of those conversations. I think the only way I’ll never know for sure is to sit down and talk with him myself…and I do hope that I will be able to make my way up to Banteay Meanchey soon to do just that. And, of course, I will share the details of our conversation with you.

I cannot begin to thank everyone for the prayers that were offered up for Silong, the family and everyone else impacted by the events of last week. Your love and encouragement have been felt across the globe and it is a blessing to know that there are so many people concerned with all of our well-being.

I would like to close this entry with the words David offered to the Lord at the end of Psalm 28.

⁶ Praise be to the LORD, 
   for he has heard my cry for mercy. 
⁷ The LORD is my strength and my shield; 
   my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. 
My heart leaps for joy, 
   and with my song I praise him.

 ⁸ The LORD is the strength of his people, 
   a fortress of salvation for his anointed one. 
⁹ Save your people and bless your inheritance; 
   be their shepherd and carry them forever.

Amen.