Look what I got today :o)

 Ask me why?

"Why?" you asked? Well, let me tell you why :)

Two years ago, our church teamed up with Steve Hyde to help build an orphanage in Poipet, Cambodia. The goal was for our church to raise $45,000. We don't have a very big church, really, but we do have a VERY BIG God! In just a few weeks, donations and pledges exceeded $100,000!

I took this picture of our church family last year for the dedication of the orphanage.

This summer we have the opportunity to go visit that orphanage and help give the 70ish orphans that are living there, and hundreds of local children, an awesome VBS and show them how much God loves them. They are telling us to expect around 500 children....it is going to be amazing. We will also get to help do renovations to the elementary school by the orphanage and just help serve in anyway we can while we are there.

When I heard about our church going, I thought that was great that they are going again. Good for them. Then the karate team that C is a part of was planning to go also. Big Daddy and I thought that it would be a great thing for C to get to experience and decided to look into me taking him. We started praying and getting excited about it. Then I talked to our pastor and learned that they are not allowing children under 16 to go. Bummer. I was disappointed but really, if it isn't safe for him, we wouldn't want him to go and were glad to find out before we put any more time and energy into it. I moved on to other things but it kept being on my mind. The bottom line was, if I was willing to go with C, why wasn't I willing to go without him??? So we started praying and talking about just me going, and I'm excited to say that I will be joining about 20 other people from our church on this mission trip this summer!

Now for a couple of requests:

• It seems that Cambodia and Thailand are sort of at odds right now. Prayers for peace and safety and for an end to all the conflict would be appreciated.
• It will be very hard for me to leave my family/country for 9 days. The kids will be very well cared for between Big Daddy, both sets of grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins...but it is always hard to leave my family. Also, a couple of my kiddos are a little attached to me and I would greatly appreciate prayers for their little hearts to be excited and not anxious as they prepare for our time apart.
• I would also like to ask for prayers specifically for the team going. I know that Satan is going to begin (continue) throwing all kinds of junk at each of us to try to interfere with us spreading God's love to the sweet children and families in Cambodia. Please pray for us as we prepare for this great adventure.
• And lastly, each of us is having to raise $2200 by April 15th for this trip. I am not one to ask for money....I hate it....but I'm asking for money ;) If you feel led to make a tax-deductible donation to help offset the cost of this trip for me, I would be so grateful. I know that times are still tough for a lot of us so please, don't feel any pressure! However, if you would like to help out, you can send me a check, written to Freedom Church, or do it online at www.freedom-church.com. There is a button on the left hand side that is for "online giving". You can specify which fund the donation is to go to, select "other" and put in "Cambodia Donation for Leslie". 

Thank you all so much for both your prayers and financial support for this exciting mission.