Cause That's What Soldiers Do

Here are lyrics to a new song by Monk and Neagle that I really love.  I do not have much else to say about them, but that they are pretty touching.

Cause That's What Soldiers Do
Come and walk with me, my son
I need to share my heart
Tomorrow when the morning comes
I'm headed off to war
So take care of your mother
And your little brother too
I'm praying that I'll be home soon
So I can be with you

I know you're only 10 years old
I know that you're afraid
But I need you to be brave for me
And for the family
I know it's hard to see me cry
But put your mind at ease
God is watching over us
So we can be at peace

With all my heart
I can't wait to tuck you in
And sing a song to you
Son, stand strong
Love is the reason I would give myself for you
‘Cause that's what soldiers do

Remember what I taught you now
About how to be a man
Talk with God throughout the day
He will help you stand
With faith to see, hope to believe
And love for everyone
Know that I'm so proud of you
And I will always love you, son

With all my heart
I want to take you to our favorite place
And catch a fish or two
Son, stand strong
Love is the reason I would give myself for you
‘Cause that's what soldiers do

And as I go, I want you to know if I don't make it home
You are gonna be alright
I'm telling you, son, you're gonna touch the sky
Don't lose hope, just lift your eyes
We'll be together again some day

So with all my heart
Hold on to Jesus, son
And He will lead you through
Son, stand strong
You may never go to war
But you're a soldier, too
And when you have a son like you
Teach him to fight for what is true
‘Cause that's what soldiers do

The picture in this blog is of my friend First Lieutenant Mike Brown, currently stationed in Iraq, with his son Ben.

All the gold in the world has no significance!

It's amazing how no matter how many times you do things, God always has something to teach you.  I've been on 7 missions trips now, and God continues to teach and show me incredible things.  This is not to say that I've done it all and I know everything there is to know, but rather is a statement of God's incredible goodness.

I went to Cambodia May 1 - May 24 with 6 grand girls from IWU and it was an incredible experience. I think you could assume that.  God taught me many lessons, and here are a few things that touched my heart:
The first afternoon we went grocery shopping.  It was my 1st experience in a foreign food market and it really was a struggle. The conditions were gruesome and I really thought “How am I going to do this as a missionary?”  I saw an unbathed vendor lying on her table, inches away from her meat product, feet dirty and bare, simply resting and waiting for customers.  I talked to Tim (missionary host) at lunch and his words seems simple, but it influential.  He said something like: “You will be amazed at what God will help you do.”  Only THEN I felt comfortable about being a missionary woman in 5 or so years and going to the market.  It is not easy, but there is joy in sacrifice.  Joy in serving Christ and loving His people.
Our main ministry was at the Wesleyan Bible Institute and also at the various surrounding churches where the WBI grads are now pastors and English teachers. There are only 8 students at the Bible college, and we hung out a lot, taught them a lot of English worship songs and dramas, and played a lot of games.  It was a lot of fun forming relationships, with the 5 girls especially. All the students and workers were so kind and loving and it was really hard to leave them. The afternoon before we flew home we were all in a circle and took turns sharing a message, and one of the students, So Phol, shared a really special message and thanked us for allowing God to love her through us. She was so sincere and it was special.
We were there for 3.5 weeks and on each weekend we traveled 3-4hrs to a different province where we stayed a couple days.

We visited the grad’s churches, sharing, doing children’s programs, and also teaching English on weekdays if classes were offered. One of my favorite things was traveling, and seeing new churches, and meeting the believers. The churches were all distinct, but very similar in the aspect of simplicity.  God really reminded me of what church really means. It isn’t a decorative building or a large crowd of people – it’s a gathering of believers whose hearts are focused on Him. I felt His presence in a little shack house church, acapela worship, only 10 in attendance.  The other things aren’t bad, but we can’t let them be distractions of what is most important.
The same day, Tim gave a sermon on the Great Commission and talked about baptism like I had never really heard it talked about before, but I realized something even greater. I almost didn’t expect to be challenged or to change, I mean.. the Great Commission? I was on a missions trip, my heart’s desire is missions, I’m obviously “going and making disciples of every nation,” but I was reminded like never before that this needs to start here, IN MY HOME as Dad isn’t living a righteous life. I was thinking about the testimony that I had prepared to share just after the sermon. I was prepared to talk about how great God is, how he is my strength, joy, and peace, and how amazing He truly is; and I realized... if He is truly this great and I love Him this much, why have I not affected my father’s faith in 19 years of living? For the next thirty minutes, until the conclusion of the sermon when I was called up front, I fervently and passionately prayed for my father like I never had before. It was the first time that I really felt the love that would sacrifice myself for his salvation, a salvation that means he is fully surrendered, and striving to do God's will. It’s easy to say (that I would give up my life that my father would find true life), but was not easy to truly claim.
On the same trip, we rented a 15 passenger van, and with it came a *Buddhist driver. Although he never openly admitted or asked questions, it was awesome to see him gradually be vulnerable as we prayed over dinner and visited two churches. I believe our purpose in going to Seam Reap may have been meeting Cherat and praying with him, opening the Cambodian-translation Bible for him in one service, and displaying Christ's love.

Lamentations 3:19-24 says:  I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall.  I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.  I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him."  I encourage you to remember where God has brought you and what He has taught you.

More to come...

2 Cambodian poems

I wrote these poems about Cambodia, while in Cambodia.  They would be more amusing if you were there, but I think that you will still enjoy them.  I had an incredible time in Cambodia, thank you for your prayers.  The first few days were rough and I wasn't sure that I would ever enjoy myself, but I loved it!  It was challenging and stretching, but God is good and He taught me so much.  I will have more blogs posted soon.  Here are 3 links to 3 facebook photo albums from Cambodia:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2003457&l=e04d5&id=1170930026

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2003451&l=791b8&id=1170930026

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2003451&l=791b8&id=1170930026

All This and More in Cambodia
by: Jewel Reed
I don’t understand how Vandy is a man.
Or how 23 people could fit in one van.
Why did our Kratie hotel toilet throw poop
and why did the American people say they were a Singapore group?
Why is there mold on Melanie’s toothbrush
and why does our toilet never flush?
Why do Karen and Jewel laugh at everything?
Seriously, do we really have to sing?
You have never lived until you have seen Arun make pb and jelly.
You have never lived until youhave been to the market so smelly.
I cannot believe that I ate a whole frog,
or that Tiffany almost hit a van in a huge traffic clog.
Does Whitney’s dad really work for a print shop?
Shouldn’t all moto drivers know the word ’stop?’
Have you ever heard "Everything but the kitchen sink?"
Did you know that Titos likes pink?
Have you ever sang a song with Song?
Have you ever been stuck in mud for two hours long?
Why does Som On laugh like a goat
and why did we go on a dolphin cruise in a janky little boat?
Can you believe that Juns in the mafia with Whitney’s dad
and why does Pholla speak English so bad?
I am so glad no one saw me slip on the stair,
but I am more glad that everyone saw Melanie break a chair.
Why does Noel not like children and games?
How do you pronounce all these Khmer names?
Did you see all the Post-Its on Beth’s face?
Maybe we should try to sing Amazing Grace.
Well, Kristens a doctor, won’t she know what to do?
There’s a really big bug, do you have a big shoe?
Why did Pastor Jun give his daughter a bird black and blue?
It died in our van and I think we all might have bird flu.
She had it on a string, swung it around her head.
No one is surprised that Jairah’s diseased bird is dead.
Did you hear that Tim wore a little grass skirt?
Did I tell you that our bus driver is a little flirt?
Have you seen Vandy sit in the fridge at night?
Have you seen Chamnol dance on the bed? It’s quite a sight.
Last night there was a gecko on Karen and EVERYONE heard Jewel scream.
For breakfast every morn, the Khmer have rice and the team - iced coffee with cream.

Oh Cambodia, Cambodia
by: Jewel Reed
Oh Cambodia, Cambodia, how lovely is your culture.
The motos fast, the cows are slow;
and in the streets, trash seems to grow.
Cambodia, Cambodia, how lovely is your culture.
Oh Cambodia, Cambodia, how lovely are your people.
The roads are mud, the Khmer brown;
When couples kiss, the people frown.
Cambodia, Cambodia, how lovely are your people.
Oh Cambodia, Cambodia, how many are your germs.
The fish uncooked, baby butts in the sink.
No TP in the stalls, Titos likes pink.
Cambodia, Cambodia, how lovely are your germs.

Tess, Chamnol, Vandy and MUD

Our team has returned from Kratie to Phenom Penh. We arrived on Sunday and expected to have no electricity except at our hotel in the evenings. Good news -- we had electricity our 2nd day. It was a long 5-hr drive. After being told there was no electricity, and knowing that it was a 5 hour drive, I had wanted hoped for another option, but.. God is good and I had an AMAZING and blessed time in Kratie, Cambodia. We worked alongside Tess and Chamnol and Vandy at A New Life Wesleyan Church and New Hope English school. They are 3 incredible people and have a special place in my heart. Tess is a World Hope missionary from the Phillipines teaching English at the school. Vandy is the pastor of the church, and Chamnol works for both the school and the church. The school and church share one small property. Tess spent 2 nights with Karen, Mel and I at the hotel because she did not have electricity in her home. Tess is amazing and beautiful and it was so encouraging to see her so faithful to doing the Lord's work through tough circumstances. Chamnol (Tito) and Vandy have great testimonies too and I had a great time laughing and playing Mafia and Signs with them. I hate goodbyes, but we had to do it. We will be attending a wedding on Saturday, and Tito & Vandy will be attending with us, but I know I likely may never see Tess again.
My hotel room had a slight plumbing malfunction. For three days it was gurrgling and bubbling in the middle of the night. However, being in Cambodia, we simply ingnored it. Well…funny thing, while I was showering Saturday afternoon someone else's (key word: not mine or Karen's or Mel's or Tess') fesis exploded into our toilet bowl (key word: ours). Obviously it needed attention so I went downstairs with Jun, told the right man, and a guy with a plunger and a comb (yes, only a plunger and a comb) spent 15 minutes clanging around behind closed doors. Not sure quite what happened... but we definitely didn't open our toilet for two more days.
We awoke this morning to discover it had rained all night. Yesterday was the 1st night I have slept all the way through without disruption, so maybe I have the peaceful rain to thank for that, but the rain caused great difficulty on the dirt roads. Our 5 hour journey home quickly became 9 hours when we hit mud, which took our '92 Camry all over the road. It was comparable to a terrible snow/ice storm in Indiana, except... it was ridiculous and terrifying. The roads were built on dirt mounds 1-3 stories above ground to prevent flooding in the rainy season. It was a high stress situation, I was really nervous for our drivers, Tim and Jun. Yet I was more worried about the adults and the children (covered in mud from head-to-toe, some also naked) who thought it amusing to chase our car and push our bumpers. We reached a rough spot not half way through our journey and were stopped for 2 hours because a gas truck and a large bus were stuck in the mud only inches from one another. Tim, Tiffany, Noel, Mel and I journey through the muddy street to reach our other half in Pastor Jun's van, where we played Mafia to pass the time. The Lord was faithful to answer our every prayer (many were lifted as we treked miles of mud) and we were protected, as well as the people around us.
A few random things you may be wondering: We do have air conditioning in our bedrooms here, but the only showering option is cold. I have not had milk. What I miss most from America is milk. I haven't learned any more Khmer since I have been here. A huge part of our ministry here is teaching English though, so many we encounter have little-great English-speaking abilities. It's really hot, but tolerable. I haven't eaten a tarantula or duck egg, but I did hold a really large elephant beetle.
This week we will be staying at Tim and Tiffany's house in Phenom Penh, working with the students at the Bible school. I am so excited to spend quality time with the students and build relationships with them. Pastor Jun and his family are returning to the States on Sunday, so there will be more sad goodbyes on Saturday.
Thank you for your continued prayers. I love Cambodia.

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.