It's the end of our Tuesday night and the mood of the team is great. We are really starting to work cohesively even with our mix of personalities and backgrounds. I feel a much deeper sense of unity amongst the team and many of our individual strengths and weaknesses are coming together allowing us to be the most effective servants as we can be for the teens.

For the girls group we have been able to build relationships with them through intentional hangouts where we can just..."chill" as us Americans would put it. Each day we would schedule a time slot where we take a few girls out on tuk-tuks and they would be able to show us some of their fav hangout spots or even just a little of their everyday life in Cambodia. Today a few of the girls took us out to what I think she tried to translate to as Monkey Mtn where it was a huge park and we were able to feed and pet monkeys, quite the scene, never saw so many roaming the park and climbing on trees freely before. Besides just the fact that they were so excited to show us their hometown, this really gave us an awesome opportunity to ask how God has led them to the place and state they are now. Because language barriers seemed to be an issue for these particular girls, I was very encouraged when one of the girls opened her bible to show me her fav passage. This was a simple act but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that this was something very amazing- Gods Word is universal and even language barriers don't hold back the joy of reading the Word together in both languages while bringing glory to the same Father in heaven.

Today the girls small group covered the passage John 15- the vine and the branches and the fruit they bear. We had each girl write a strength they possessed and then talk about how their childhood has brought upon or produced this trait. Because Amy, Carrie and myself felt that the specific needs of the girls were confidence and not getting easily discouraged from their past, we figured this might be the best way to empower them and really allow them to see themselves as a huge contribution to the Lords kingdom. The stories and testimonies were so inspiring. I think this time of sharing was really good for them because Many of the girls hold onto these dear stories and never get the opportunity to express how they really feel or how they have healed from it. Ive come to know and love these girls so much already that I'm already dreading the day we have to leave. I want to make sure I leave them all knowing that they are valued, treasured, princesses of God. 
After today's session I am convinced that this team is following the road that God has paved for us. It would be impossible to say that it was any of our teams efforts that has caused the growth and the relationships that have formed thus far, it is truly God. The guys group have even taken the guys to their high schools just to see where they hangout and study everyday. There is finally a sense of trust and this was exactly the larger vision we had for this trip.

So as I close, just wanted to share a few of my personal thoughts. I wanted to thank all the prayer support back home. Besides the first few days being huge adjustments and culture shock for me, I really sense that there are and will continue to be many road blocks ahead for this team. Of course Jesus is strong at work within the vision of our team, but I also see many spiritual attacks on the team overall- sicknesses, conflicts, emotionally drained from different things we come into contact with..etc, but praise God that through these issues, Our team is aware of the importance of unity and teamwork as we go forth strong with Gods vision on our hearts. I wanted to thank everyone who has partnered with us and have continually been praying diligently for the teams. We are incredibly impacted by your prayers!! Our trip would not be the way it is without your prayers...seriously. Thank you!!

-Lizz