The end of April this year, I was spending time with Jesus and I told Him this...

If you want us to move back to Cambodia at some point, have the Iris team reach out to us with something specific. Little did I know that this little prayer would bring a voice message the following day from my dear friend, Mollie, who is one of the Iris team leaders. She gave us a couple of opportunities to consider coming back to Cambodia for.  So crazy that Jesus answered my little prayer that quick!! He cares so much about the desires of our heart! So Chad & I prayed, talked with our kids and decided we will move forward and join part of the first Iris Harvest School in Phnom Penh, Cambodia! Shaun had just been in overseas missions so he decided to stay home and keep working, but Ari, our 16 year old daughter,  joined us. 

a trip to remember...

So after getting approval from Chad’s amazing family company for him to be off for a month, we booked our flights and headed to Cambodia on September 29, 2024! Our heart behind this trip was to go and support the team (our friends) who were hosting the first Harvest School of Missions for 8 weeks, as well as, be praying to see how the Lord leads us in possibly returning at some point. We had booked a fully furnished apartment in the capital city of Phnom Penh where our Iris team is located.  The view of the city was lovely as we were on the 11th floor with a balcony! (also, no mosquitos since we were up so high!)

Most days, we joined the team comprised of a handful of international students, the Iris Khmer staff, and some other Khmer students. It was such a special group of people!  We were encouraged by many speakers who shared and the sweet worship.  Praying for and encouraging the staff and students was part of our focus as well. We had one on one time with various missionaries and people there which we enjoyed! I was able to spend a lot of time with one of the precious women that had been working in the bars. She has pulminary fibrosis and needs a miracle!  Sitting with her at the hospital and other times spent together was so special to me.  She recently gave her heart to Jesus and praise God, the bar she was working in closed so she is free!

One highlight was when our friend, Jen, found a space to rent in the red light district where she will open a cafe.  So exciting!  This same space will be a place of ministry, English classes and worship for our Iris team. This felt significant to us as Chad especially has a heart for business as missions and we have been believing for another cafe for Iris since the one we started in Cambodia closed in 2018. I plan to do another blog post sharing about our nearly 4 and 1/2 years spent in Cambodia at a later time!

Spending a night in the province was another highlight…very stretching but so incredible!  A group of  about 25 of us took a big bus from the capital city of Phnom Penh driving about 2 and 1/2 hours to Prey Veng province next to the Vietnam border. We stayed with this precious, Christian Khmer family in their stilt house.  There are very few Christians in this community.  After getting there, they served us a delicious meal and then we did home visits, sharing Jesus’ love, giving gifts, praying for the sick and inviting them to the evening service and the following day’s events.  This was so special as we saw people get healed and give their hearts to Jesus during this time!  One girl, who barely spoke and had mental challenges, received Jesus, got a huge smile, and then started speaking. She received a lot of prayer over the weekend and the family was so open…with her Grandpa also giving his heart to Jesus! Our big bus getting stuck a few times added to the adventure as well.  It was very challenging sleeping on a straw mat with no mattress or pillow(other than rolled up clothes), and many barking dogs, but despite the lack of sleep, it was such a rewarding weekend! Ari stayed with our dear friend, Mollie and her kids and had a wonderful time at the mall, the safari park, and getting coffee!

Taking a trip south to Sihanoukville, Kampot and Kep to visit good friends and our former cafe girls(spiritual daughters) was a gift too! We were so happy to join one of the girl’s engagement celebrations. Also, we were able to visit another one of our cafe girls and her family who started a cute cafe called Love Coffee.  Her heart is for people to experience the love of Jesus there in her small town and she is doing a wonderful job as a mama of two, wife and cafe owner! Some of our other former teammates/friends live in this area and it was great catching up with them too.  It was nice to get out of the big city for a bit.

Riding scooters, traveling on Tuk Tuks, shopping in the market, and having iced coffees were some of the simple joys we reveled in throughout our month long visit back in Cambodia. But spending time with all of our people, one on ones, bar outreach, province outreach,  and worship were definitely highlights! The day we left, November 1, 2024, the team prayed and prophesied over us which was so encouraging. God did so much and we are grateful for these 4 and 1/2 weeks in our second home!