Hello,
Long time no see! Even though I haven't seen you in awhile I trust and pray and wish that everything in your life is going well and that you are healthy and happy :) I have been doing great too! I have been working and making time for travels here and there, trying to stay healthy and happy too. Other than that I have been trying out new things like jiujitsu, learning the guitar, and I am also thinking of adopting a dog! Amidst all of that, I decided to go Cambodia for the second time this year for a missions trip. God has really been teaching me and prompting me to work to serve Him, and not to serve myself and I believe that this trip was one of the things that I could do to try to serve Him.
Many of you know that I have already been to the Cambodia missions trip last year, and this would be my second time going. Last year, I had an amazing time. The kids that I met at the Center of Peace (COP) really touched my heart and I received so much love from these precious souls. I had been thinking about returning, and thinking about the children made me not second guess my decision to go once again this year. To give you a bit of an explanation about COP, they are an orphanage but also a sort of dorm house or care facility for kids who do have parents but had to be seperated due to abuse, or financial difficulty. It is a Christian organization run by a couple who lives there and have adopted two kids from the center. They also do other teen-related missions work in another organization. These kids also volunteer to go to the rural villages sometimes to do Christian ministry work where hundreds of children and families are living in worse conditions than them too. At COP we will be doing a VBS program for the children and also spend time with them and hopefully help them in their faith and their spiritual growth. We will also probably go to the rural villages with them together and do VBS programs for the children there too.
Although the children at COP are very positive and loving, they often come from broken families and past experiences that are hurtful and possibly scarring. They are all each unique, very playful, and adorable. They all have different interests and hopes and dreams, but they also have fears about their future. Most of them are concerned about money and finances in pursuing their future. Please pray together with us for their complete healing, spiritual growth and walk in God, and also that after leaving COP, that God will protect them and provide what they need and guide them according to his unique plans for them.
If you can, I would also really appreciate it if you can contribute towards the funds for this trip. We will each have to raise approximately $900, which is half the amount of the $1,800 needed to go on this trip. The other half will go out of our personal expenses. Also, any amount that goes over will be donated to COP so they can pay their rent and use it for their other daily expenses such as food and clothing for the children. COP has been losing a lot of donors lately, so they have been actually returning the kids back to their homes. Compared to last year, only about half of the kids are still there. If you do donate, it doesn't have to be a big amount, even a small amount will help and encourage me and the children at COP too! All you have to do is go to the jubilink that I will be linking here and follow the instructions: http://www.jubilink.com/en/cambo2017
Thank you so much for reading this and I hope to hear from you soon.
Love, Michelle