Another Day of Learning & Loving

I am going to make an attempt at writing a new entry, hoping that I do not get kicked off of the internet again. These internet cafes in Cambodia are slightly different from the United States, as are many things. :)

Barbara and I are feeling the prayers of many of you back home. So, first, THANK YOU VERY MUCH for praying and emailing us. Your words have been uplifting and encouraged us so much!

We were able to go to the salon for the first time yesterday...and it was so much fun!! I was able to work with Nhu, as Barbara enjoyed getting a foot massage, manicure, and pedicure. These girls are very talented and are doing a great job with what they have accessable to them...Nhu has done a great job training them to this point. But please pray for her. She is feeling sick and it makes training her more difficult. But what a delightful girl she is! We have hit it off instantly...but she is so easy to love that it took no effort what-so-ever. :) The main hang-up we are facing is that these girls do not have much available for them to use...everything from products they use, sell, color hair with, and hot tools (like curling and flat irons). They are using things you would buy at a drug store in the States. And for those hairstylists reading this, they only use 40 volume developer for everything. (Yikes!) Please pray for Nhu, Carl, and I as we come up with a "game plan" to how best help them...both now when I am here, and also as I go back to the States to collect supplies, further training, etc.

After we left the salon we were able to go visit the girls in the apartment. These girls are so FULL of love!! I didn't think it was possible to hold that many little hands at one time! There were times, as we took a walk to dinner, that Barbara and I had about six girls each, holding our hands. We are continuing to learn from these children. We wish we could just know each of their stories deeply...they are profoundly heartbreaking. We find it such a blessing and privilege to hold these girls and love their little broken hearts. The Lord is really restoring them...their faces express so much joy and their smiles radiate Jesus!

This morning I read Acts 17. This was helpful for me in processing what we saw at the National Museum this morning. I read about how Paul was in Athens, and observed the city full of idols. This morning we walked within the museum full of idol after idol. We saw figure after figure that represented different gods...from the god of protection to the god of destruction. It is so clear how embedded this is in the culture. While we were standing in front of these things, I got out my Bible and re-read my morning Scripture. Acts 17:23-31 "For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, 'TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.'Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; no is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; and He made from one man every nation...we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent..." This is what we are praying for the people of Cambodia, the people who God loves...that they recognize clearly the True and Living God, and they they repent.

We are falling in love with the people of Southeast Asia. Thank you for your prayers...we are still much in need of them.