How great is our God! -- from Indiana to Cambodia

Hello from Cambodia - like 11 time zones away... weird.
Cambodia is ok -- I'm not sure Asia is my cup of tea. Things are very different - very different from the States, and very different from South/Central America. I am definitely out of my comfort zone, but that is a good thing. I prayed to be stretched and to be uncomfortable. I just really cannot find how I am supposed to ''fit into'' the work we are doing here. Our team is starting to grow closer I think. I just really haven't been able to connect in our ministry. I am praying to know what God is trying to teach me. It's nice to be with Tim & Tiffany. It was so great to see them waiting outside the airport gates. Having a special bond with them before they were missionaries and Cambodia, and seeing them in their element now has made me really think about how my life is going to change once I am in my true God-called element. I haven't felt too sick yet, but I don't eat much. I already almost don't like rice anymore. I did stay at the house sick yesterday while our team went to Teoul Slang and the Killing Fields (like a Cambodian Holocaust, only 30 yrs ago). It's hot here, but tolerable. I definitely feel like it was hotter in the Dominican Republic 2 summers ago. I can't understand a single thing the Khmer people are saying when they talk this asian language. I keep wanting to talk in spanish, but "Hola Zanda" just doesn't fit. I feel like I'm getting enough sleep, but we have been absolutely exhausted every dinner everynight, and getting to bed anywhere between 9-10 usually, with the exception of the night we arrived. Tomorow we are headed to Croche, about a 5 hr drive. We will be there for 5 days teaching English classes. The area has lost electricity, but we're hoping and praying that our hotel will still be functioning on a generator. Tim and Tiffany's house is very nice, but I usually "hold it" when we are other places. Pray that I can find my place on this team, my niche, that I can connect with some students and build good relationships. I don't feel "used" yet. It feels like it has been a two weeks but it has only been 6 days, which means 18 more. On our 1st day I went with Tiffany to the market, and it was really my first experience in the situation. I never went to the Dominican market, the Mexican market, the Honduran market, the Ecuadorian market. It was hard. The smells, the sights. The ground is absolutely disgusting, like the streets and yards and everywhere, and the tables and bowls and hands are almost equally disturbing. I know the vegetables and fruits and meats can be washed, which is ok, but it was difficult. I honestly stopped and thought and couldn't imagine doing this on a daily basis - food is a necessity. In 6 years I intend to be serving in a very third world country, married or not, and I WILL have to buy my food in a similar market. I was talking to Tim about how bothered I was, and he said something like: "You will be amazed at what God can do through you." God will help me overcome the difficult things, and there will be many difficult things. I'm so excited to learn more and see how God will work in me and through me now in Cambodia, and later in life at other places and in other opportunities. Praise Him. I will never forget what Ruben, our van driver in the DR, said one evening: "We are serving the same God in the Dominican Republic, in China, in Africa, and in the States." What an amazing thought. How great is our God!

Where am I?!?

I am amidst the wreckage that I refer to as the "unpacking/packing process."   Two days ago I moved home from college (somehow Jessie and I's stuff consumed nearly every inch of two cars and a van) only to prepare to pack up and leave for Cambodia eight days later.  These pictures give you only a midget glimpse of the reality that is the dump in my room.  Dump is not the most appropriate word, as these are valuable things, but it paints a clear picture.  
It really is an extraordinarily overwhelming task.  I might ask for help but I would never know where things are placed and I do not trust anyone to choose my clothes.  That isn't unreasonable, is it?  Wish me luck as I reshuffle the piles to pack a suitcase of necessities.  Thankfully it will be 90 degrees because capris and skirts pack easier than jeans. =]

Ecuador?

Here are the newest pictures of Kiara that her father sent to me:
Kiara at 10 wks

For quite a few weeks I have been discussing with Geovanni (Kiara's dad) and with Tom Hines (Ecuador regional director) about a possible trip to Ecuador this summer.  July is really our only option.  I am taking a summer course through June 27 and I move back to IWU the last week of August, and Saltos family will be traveling the States the end of July and beginning of August.  I am so excited about this possibility.  I think about Ecuador and Kiara everyday.  Maybe it is where God has called me?  Idk, but I do know that when God gives you a passion, He wants you to work through that passion to honor Him and live according to His will.  Anyways, I cannot wait to meet my little goddaughter and hold her in my arms.  She is so precious and I know that is more true than me simply being partial!  Geovanni and Christine say she is finally growing and is healthy.  Being born quite prematurely in a "primitive" Ecuadorian hospital was certainly a concern for her health, but God is good.  Please pray with me that this opportunity to travel becomes a reality. 

A Very Sick Little girl...

Please pray with me for this little 10-year-old girl named Chrissy Briles. Late February she was admitted to Riley hospital with a variety of problems related permanent damage in both kidneys.  On March 20th Chrissy was readmitted to Riley with a rash. The rash has gotten continually worse since admittance and has developed into boils or blisters. There are infections in the boils from an allergic reaction to the medicine she was given for her kidneys. Skin patches roughly the size or 6" X 6" were falling off of her and many other blisters and rashes. She has severe blisters all over her body and inside her mouth and private parts. She has been placed in the intensive care burn unit. She is a very great deal of pain. Because her skin will not hold up to being taped, they had to suture her tube to her jaw. This pain medication has thrown her into very difficult breathing spells, and Chrissy is on a respirator/ventilator. The doctor sat down with Chrissy’s parents today and said that Chrissy is a very sick little girl. He has seen worse that have survived, but her odds at the moment are 50/50.  Here is the link to their family blog: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/chrissybriles It provides much better terminology and emotion than I.


Abba Father, Healer, Miracle Worker... rest your healing hands upon Chrissy Briles tonight. God touch her skin, take away this boils, stop the peeling… Father please take away her unbearable pain. May she not cry out in pain again tonight. God I remember the day You healed Lycia’s eyes… God I remember coming broken, in agony, to You in the shower months ago, and You healed my eyes too. I have seen Your miracles and I know that Your power is infinitely great. God I remember your words in James that say, “Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and to anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well’ the Lord will raise him up.” Father you are the Lord over both body and spirit, so I pray that you would touch both. Touch John and Jill, Matt, Andy, Steve… God I am offering this prayer in faith that you will give us a miracle and heal this sick little girl.

Kiara Sofia Saltos pics

I realize I never posted the updated pictures of Kiara, mi ahijada. Muy linda! No?

Razzle Dazzle!

I'm so far behind,

....I wont' be able to die for another 100 years!

In Him, I lack nothing

Pslam 23

1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
     he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he restores my soul.
     He guides me in paths of righteousness
     for his name's sake.
4 Even though I walk
     through the valley of the shadow of death,
     I will fear no evil,
     for you are with me;
     your rod and your staff,
     they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me
     in the presence of my enemies.
     You anoint my head with oil;
     my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and love will follow me
     all the days of my life,
     and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
     forever.

Quite unfortunately, this psalm has become rather cliché in Christianity today. I will admit it is a chapter I have quoted without much reflection or depth. Until now.
David’s 23rd psalm is a reminder of who it is that comforts us, sustains us, protects us, blesses us… and keeps us alive. Truly it is God and nothing/no one else.
God leads us through LUSH meadows and clean waters. He gives us rest. (1&2) He serves us a six-course dinner, revives our drooping heads, our cups brim with blessing (5). God does not withhold Himself, His blessings are not in shortage! He cares for us by meeting our needs. True to His Word, He lets us catch our breath and sends us in the right direction (3). When we go through the roughest of times - He is there! Walking beside us, securing us with comfort and protection. He doesn’t take away the danger, but He is there! When I was little and fearful, and screamed through the dark for my parents, they came and comforted me, not turning on the lights, but sitting beside me. Only then was I safe. Through the length of my days the house of the Lord [and His presence] shall be my dwelling place.
God is my shepherd! I do not need a thing!