Loved with an everlasting love!

Today I want to share with you what God has been speaking to me. I have found myself in a battle lately. Like Paul, in Romans 7:15-20, I find myself in a loosing battle with my own desires. I end up doing the things that I know I should not do, and I don't do the things that I really badly want to do and know I should do. But despite how many times I screw up, I am reminded that God loves me with an everlasting love -- a love that will never end. Romans 8:37-39 says:

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Today in church, a man from Finland spoke on Isaiah 43 and part of it really stood out to me today. Verses 1-3 say:

But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; YOU ARE MINE. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour..."

Wow, isn't it amazing how much God loves us and how much he cares about it. It's it encouraging to know that we are HIS. He paid for our sins for us by dying on the cross. He loves us more than it is humanly possible to love another person. I am constantly amazed that God would love me even though I keep hurting Him by doing things that I know do not please Him.

If you are fighting the battle like me today, do not give up. Keep fighting to serve God. Psalm 46:1 says that God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Use His strength. Persevere. In Jesus' name we can win this battle.

Thank you to all of you who are praying for me! Please don't stop!

Heart Beat for the Day

Today was one of those days where the pain of reality seeped through my skin. There were 3 things I noticed today that really broke my heart.

1. We have some new girls at the center -- one of which is really young and adorable. WHY????

2. While playing play dough with the girls, one of the young ones was making a penis.

3. At street ministry, one of the older boys who used to attend, spent the time with the older men sniffing glue instead.

Today is just one of those days where these things get to me. I guess its a good thing because it means I am not growing cold and callous to the hurts around me. Nonetheless, they break my heart and it really hurts.

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Here are some pics from street ministry:

Pictures from Bali and KL

Sorry it took me so long to post these -- and that I did not take a lot of pictures.

So when we first arrived in KL it felt so nice to be in a car driving along a highway (similar to those at home). It was really weird not seeing a thousand motos everywhere I looked. This is the hotel that we stayed at. The most exciting thing about it was that it had Starbucks (YUMMY!) The hotel restaurant was closed when we arrived so we went to a local spot close to the hotel. The food was very similar to Indian -- I really enjoyed it (unfortunately my stomach didn't... but that's another story).

In the morning, Gary, Bev and I went on what was supposed to be a 3 hour tour. Malaysia is a very Islamic country and so its architecture is a unique blend of British architecture with Islamic themes -- notice the mosque in the center of this picture.
On the streets we noticed a huge absence of women as they are in the home rather than on the streets. As we drove past this street shown below, we saw a man beating a woman in the middle of the street. It felt really different being a woman there. It really made me appreciate Canada and Cambodia.

Apparently our 3 hour tour was actually a 4 hour tour so we had to leave an hour early to get to the airport on time to catch our flight to Bali. Sadly, the last stop on the tour was a trip to the twin towers and so the view from the hotel window was the closest that I got.My time at the conference was really good, but I think I wrote about that already. I really didn't find Bali all that exciting. The best part for me was the shopping mall -- except I was too cheap to buy anything.

This is a picture of the beach which the shopping mall was on.

My favourite part of the trip to the beach was McDonald's.

Its not that I love McDonald's very much, but there is something about being able to have a treat from home that you can't get where you live. It was exciting having a mini McFlurry for fifty cents and having a fancy drink at Starbucks. But now I am back in the country which I love dearly. We don't have all the big fancy chains but we do have amazing food and some really nice places to relax (with smoothies :p). I really missed Cambodia when I was away. It's good to be home!

Birthday Pictures

Here are some random pictures:

(This is a random picture of some kids from the orphanage.) (This is one of my students from the Bible College holding a birthday cake for me.)(This is how I looked at the end of our birthday celebration at the orphanage.)

(At our orphanage birthday celebration we also made valentine's cards for Valentine's Day. This card is now on my bedroom door.)(These are a few of my new housemates. They took me bowling for my birthday -- we actually have one bowling alley here.)

Blessed beyond my imagination!

This week I celebrated my 25th birthday. I didn’t have any expectations for my birthday. I just thought I’d hang out with my housemates for dinner one night to celebrate and that would be all. On Wednesday, when I showed up at the Vietnamese school the other teachers somehow remembered that my birthday was this week (I think I may have told them my birth date back in July/August). They showed up in the middle of my class with cake, ice cream and presents. I was soo surprised! Then on Thursday (my actually birthday) I showed up at the Bible college to teach and my students surprised me with a birthday cake too! I also received a package from some friends from Canada (thanks guys – perfect timing!). Then when I got home some of my housemates came and gave me presents. I didn’t expect that at all. I had to run to my room because I was so overwhelmed by God’s goodness. In the afternoon, when I went to teach at the orphanage we had planned to have a big birthday party to celebrate everyone’s birthdays. It was so much fun. It was probably the best birthday party I have ever had. By the end of the night I ended up being covered in cake icing and the kids crowned me with a hat, balloons, and valentines. I looked like a goof! That evening, some of my friends had me over for Indian food to celebrate and then last night I went bowling with my housemates. I have been really blessed this birthday. I still miss my friends and family from home – but I think that this year has been the best birthday ever. Isn’t God good!

I tried postings some pictures but the connection is too slow. So please stay tuned in for some funny pictures :)

Future Direction

This week I have begun the process of applying to come back to Cambodia as a long term worker. I am really excited about this possibility. Please pray for wisdom and direction for me . Pray that God would confirm to me if this is where He wants me for the next couple years of my life and if so what He wants me to do here. Please also pray that the application process and everything else will go smoothly too.

Many Blessings!

Global Development Conference

This past week I had the opportunity to go to Bali for a conference. It was an honor to sit and chat with people who I have grown up hearing about and praying for. People working all over the world were able to attend. It was so exciting to sit and hear peoples stories and experiences. I met so many wonderful people.

One of the reasons I wanted to go to this conference was that I needed some time to clear my head and re-prioritize. It is so easy to get caught up in the busyness of life that you lose focus. That was happening to me and I knew it. So at the conference I was able to have a lot of quiet time to pray and read my Bible and refocus. Right now I am praying that God will give me a specific vision for what I am doing/what He wants me to do.

Thank you all for your prayers!