Back Home

We arrived back home early Sat. evening, a little tired, a little sad and a little overwhelmed by what we have experienced the past 2 1/2 weeks. I feel like I was given a glimpse of heaven and coming back home was like returning to earth. God gave us the wonderful gift of experiencing this trip together as a family, but he did not give it to us to keep to ourselves. If we do that it was nothing more than a "family vacation". Pray for us as we sort through things, we need wisdom to know what and with whom God wants us to share. Pray that what we have seen and heard will be burned deep into our memories so that we will never forget.

If you are interested in hearing about our trip and seeing our pictures, send us an email at richardson5868@embarqmail.com or give us a call at 330-264-2761, we would love to share with you.

Good-bye Cambodia

We have spent the last two days getting in a few more hugs and saying good-bye. Yesterday afternoon we said good-bye to PE1 and 2, sort of....we saw most of them again today at the school. We did some painting there and helped some of the kids with their English and of course played. After school was over we went to PE3 and 4 for a final good-bye. We took water balloons with us and taught them how to have a water balloon fight, we are pretty sure that they have never done this before. The PE3 kids really got into it, when the water balloons were gone they found all sorts of other containers to throw water, even Sony (Savorn's wife) joined in!! It was a great way to end our visit here with the kids.

We had dinner with all four of the orphan home directors and their wives and Savorn and Sony. These are the most Godly people I have ever met.

It's hard to believe that tomorrow morning we will get on a plane and come back home. We would all rather stay here.

After a very bouncy 5 1/2 hour bus ride from Battambang we arrived safely Phnom Penh. We spent the remainder of the afternoon and evening down at the waterfront of the Mekong River and having dinner.

Below are some pictures of our day yesterday.

Saying good-bye to BB6 kids. Jenna's soccer team had donated a bunch of their old soccer clothes and we gave most of the to this home. They were all way to big but the kids loved them!

BB2 good-byes.....this was the view from the front seat of the van. At all the homes as the kids would tell us good-bye they also said "God bless you", " I will pray for you", I love you". The kids would run after the van for as long as they could.

This little girl is from BB3 and she needs your prayers. At first Sherrod thought she might have a hearing problem because she seldom talks. After talking to her for a while it turns out that she is very afraid of loud noises and crowds, her father used to beat her before she came to Asia's Hope and who knows what else has happened to her.

Hand washing station at our restaurant at lunch, this was actually better than most!

Fun with BB1,4 and 5 in the pavilion. In the background you can see Sherrod trying to conduct a medical clinic in the middle of the non-stop action that happens when you put approximately 100 kids and some balls in the same place.

BB4 kids.

Each one of the 6 orphan homes in Battambang has it's own unique personality, just like a family would. The older kids help look after the younger ones and everyone seems to work so well together. I am so impressed with the work that the orphan home directors are doing, they have truly created a family for these kids. We got to see Kevin and Jill Kane on Sunday and Kevin was telling us how what we were seeing on Sunday was not being done as a "show" for us, this was the way they worship each week. He has also been able to observe the homes many times as they come regularly to help the kids with English, he commented that they are always this happy and don't behave any differently when the teams come to visit. Please pray for these directors, they have sacrificed alot to lead a family of 20-40 kids, I wonder how many of us would be willing to do that.

We are saying our good-bye's in Battambang today. We've said good-bye to BB6, 3 and 2. We took a break for lunch and are back at the hotel for a short rest/regroup time before we head out to BB1, 4 and 5.

Our family spent a couple of hours at BB2 painting and playing with these kids yesterday so this one was really hard. Several of the older girls cried and hung onto us as we tried to leave. BB6 was hard because these kids are just more needy than the other homes. They are much more demanding of your attention and affection, I think they are just making up for lost time. It's heatbreaking to leave these kids, you can't help but fall in love with them.

Saying good-bye just stinks :{

Sat. and Sun.

This morning we experienced another awesome worship service. I wish I could describe to you the sound of these children praising God. It must be the purest form of worship I have ever heard. In the middle of all the poverty and hardness of life that is Cambodia I felt like I experienced piece of heaven. After the service the team went to lunch, meals are always an adventure, they definately don't do fast food here. The meals are never brought out at once, there almost always is one meal that comes out last, usually after everyone else is almost done. It's become kind of a joke to see which one of us will have to wait!!

After lunch Sherrod, Rachel, Jenna, Savorn and several of the older orphan kids went to a village close by to do a medical outreach. Our family went to BB2 to finish up the painting we had started on Sat. We got to spend some time playing games with the kids while we waited for the medical team to come back and pick us up.

BB2 Kids

Waterpark fun!!

How you transport 20+ orphans in Cambodia,

there was a second Tuk Tuk for the boys.

Tomorrow we will visit all 6 orphan homes here in Battambang to spend some time playing and saying good-by :{ Pray for us, this is not going to be an easy day for any of us.

Thanks for all the encouraging comments, it's good to know that someone is actually reading this!!

Yesterday morning we were up bright and early to catch the bus to Battambang. By 7 AM we were all in the lobby along with all of our luggage, which was about 20 bags!! We thought the bus was coming to the hotel to pick us up but apparently someone didn't communicate that to the bus driver. After about 30 min. of phone calls and discussions hotel staff, a van showed up to pick us up and take us to the bus stop. Problem is you cant put 8 people and 20 bags in a van....not even in Cambodia!! So Tim and the bags went to the station while the rest of us waited for a second van to pick us up. Needless to say we were the last ones on the bus and the bus was a little late in leaving....not unusual at all here. Cambodian time is definitely different than Ohio time. After a 3 or 4 hour bus ride with multiple stops along the road to pick up and drop off people we finally arrived at Battambang. After checking in at the hotel we were off to see the kids. All six of the orphan homes came to the Battambang "campus" where BB1, 4 & 5 and the pavilion are located. It was pretty cool to get to see the pavilion which is the result of the first Team Hope marathon in Cleveland. Thank you Diane for your obedience!!!!

Each of the six homes performed a dance for us, the kids all sang together, the sound of these kids singing is the most beautiful sound I have ever heard!! After the show was over the kids, and the team were treated to 2 boiled eggs and a can of pop. It was a very interesting combination but the kids were very excited about it.

Things were then rearranged and the dance and fireworks party began!! They turn the speakers up as high as they go and dance, dance, dance. Tim had his own personal dance instructor who really tried hard to teach Tim some moves, Tim gave it his best effort! While we were dancing there was also fireworks, which the kids loved.

When the dancing stopped the kids all went to their respective homes and the team crawled back into the van hot, sweaty, tired and very happy. We came back to the hotel restaurant, several of us had ice cream for supper, yum.

This morning we went to BB2 and painted some swing sets and around the base of the house. It's pretty interesting to paint with 20 kids hanging around. This afternoon it was off to the water park with all the orphans...that's almost 200 kids!!! Oh my, Oh my, what chaos that was! The kids had a great time.

Tonight we are off to BB6, the newest home, to visit with those kids for a while. Can't wait to see their happy faces when we pull up. When the van door opens eager little brown hands reach out to grab us and hug us, it's awesome. We get to experience this over and over each time we visit a home.

Will try to post pictures later tonight.

Temples and Elephant Rides

Today we visited 4 wats (temples) in the Seim Reap area. The most famous of these is Angkor Wat, it's the one you see on the Cambodian flag. The last temple is on the top of a small mountain, so we choose to take an elephant ride to the top. The view from the top was incredible!!

Tim and Carol's elephant

Aaron and Sherrod's elephant

Tomorrow morning we are off to Battambang to see all the orphans there!!

What a contrast between Monday and Tuesday! Tuesday was a day filled with orphans, hugs, laughter and fun. We visited all four orphan homes in Prek Eng. We painted handprints of each of the kids on a piece of fabric for each home, we braided hair, played all kinds of games, Aaron even got a karate lesson at PE2. By the end of the day we were hot, tired, sweaty and happy. It was an awesome day. Thanks for all your prayers.

Today was another full day, but there wasn't alot of joy in it. We visited Toul Sleng Prison and the killing fields. It's hard to understand how these things could have happened...why someone didn't do something sooner to stop it. What we saw today, what happened in those places was pure evil. As unpleasant as these place were to visit I think that it gave us all a greater appreciation and understanding of the people and culture of Cambodia.

There were a few bright spots in the day...the Russian Market, drinking coconut milk right from the coconut and a nice dinner. We also worked on separating all the supplies that we brought for the orphan homes. Tomorrow we will visit all four Prek Eng homes, the plan is to paint the kids names and hand prints on a large piece of fabric that will be hung up in the home.

Oh yeah...I am having trouble with my computer, so if you are trying to contact me via email, it won't work.

Looking forward to tomorrow, being around the kids is way more fun than what we did today.

A Bit of Heaven

I think I experienced a little of what heaven must be like today. This morning we worshiped at the school with the kids. The service was outside in the hot, humid weather, we sat in plastic chairs with children sitting on our laps or hanging over our shoulders. We couldn't understand what was being said but we didn't need to....doesn't sound much like heaven yet....the "heaven" part came when the children sang. I really think it was the most beautiful sound I have ever heard, you would have to be here to understand, I don't have a big enough vocabulary to describe it other than it was heavenly.

After church we helped with a community outreach health clinic, I think about 60 people from the community showed up, many were there for the service. Sherrod asked for a couple of us to mingle with those waiting, talk to them about their families, find out why they were at the clinic and pray for them. This was way out of my comfort zone. I asked one women about her family and when Ravi, my interpreter, the director of PE4, ask her this question she became very upset. Turns out one of her four children had recently died because they didn't have the money to get him to a hospital. All I could do was to pray for her.

The other part of heaven came this evening. We had left the school for lunch and then back to the guest house for a quick rest. We then returned to the school for a party! When the children saw our van coming down the road they all started to jump up and down and cheer! They are always so happy to see us. We can hardly walk when we get out of the van because we are being mugged by hugs! The kids all had chicken wings and pop for supper, they ate outside. The staff had prepared a wonderful meal for us. After dinner was over we all went outside and the music and dancing started. Oh my, can they dance! Even the orphan home directors joined in. The kids tried really hard to teach me some dance moves, I'm not sure they were successful though, I just can't dance! Emily, Aaron and Jenna didn't seem to have any problem fitting right in and learning some new moves!! There is just so much joy in the kids and our staff!!

Sorry there are no pictures today, will try to post some tomorrow.

Thanks for all your prayers.

Fri. and Sat. Update

Team and Asia's Hope staff in Phnom Penh airport. We were greeted by Asia's Hope staff who a flower lei for each of us - they smelled wonderful.

We were taken to Narin's guest house where we unloaded and took much needed showers then headed out to lunch. After lunch we went to the Asia's Hope Christian School where we were greeted with lots of hugs from most of the kids from the 4 homes in Prek Eng. They also performed several "shows" for us. Below are pictures of some of our new friends.

Today, Sat. we did an outreach at an outlaying village. We took along several of the older Asia's Hope kids. About 180 kids showed up.

Hopefully I will be able to post more tomorrow, however, that will depend on our schedule and the availabilty of internet service.

We Have Arrived

We made it! Five airports and 30 some hours of travel time later we are finally here. We were met at the airport by many of the Asia's Hope staff who gave us an awesome greeting complete with wonderful smelling flowers!! We then traveled by van to Narin's guest house, which is beautiful!! Will post more later, time for team meeting for afternoon instructions!

Crunch Time Ramblings

It's almost time!!! So many thoughts are swirling around in my head...something seems to be swirling in my stomach too, it's either excitement or those huge blue malaria pills we just started taking.... so this post will most likely be very random thoughts.

I am so thankful to be sharing this with my family, what an awesome blessing/gift from God that he has made it possible for us all to go. We get to drive in the HOV lane!!! Sunday morning's sermon was about not doing life alone and how we were created to need each other.

Giants...we talked about those in our ABF. God has already shown that he is capable of slaying them in making this trip possible. He has provided financially in so many cool ways...from total strangers to close friends and family......from those close to home and friends half way around the world....an offer to loan us any balance left at no interest... every single donation regardless of the amount was an encouragement to us. We have also been humbled and encouraged by your interest in our trip, your donations for the kids, your prayers (and ice cream), your luggage "loaners"...we will do our best to return them in the same condition!! I have no words to express how you all have blessed and encouraged us. Thank you for being a part of our trip.

Just getting ready for this trip has been an adventure, I can't image what actually being there will be like!! How will I possibly be able to compose my thoughts enough to write them down then!!! Oh My!!

Please continue to pray for us....health, safety, pray for our hearts to be open to what God is doing and for us to join in.

Better go check my list, I am sure there is something that needs checked off!!!

11 DAYS....and counting

Only 11 days left until our family embarks on the biggest adventure that we have ever taken!! It's still hard to believe that we are actually doing this. God has provided in such cool ways, donations from lots of family, friends, our church, even a donation from a complete stranger!! We are trusting Him to provide the remainder of the cost of the trip, so keep those prayers coming!

Today we met the other members of our team and discussed lots of things about our trip....long plane rides, shots, travel modes, Cambodian history, daily activities, orphans and on and on. My brain didn't stop spinning for several hours after the meeting. Below is a list of things that we are collecting to take to the orphans, if you would like to donate any items please have them to us no later July 18.
Medical Supplies:Tylenol/ibuprophen, cough/cold meds., toothbrushes and toothpaste, antibiotic cream, band-aids, etc.
School supplies: pens/pencils, blank notebooks, markers, scissors, stickers, etc.
Fun Stuff: hard candy(nothing that will melt please), any type of ball, frisbees, UNO cards, Scrabble Slam, water balloons, small stuffed animals/dolls, nail polish, anything else that a kid likes to do!

Keep those prayers coming as we count down the days!