Ashley and Randa's Adventures in Cambodia Day 2

Part 1-
This day was completely worth everything we worked for. We started off our day with NOODLES for breakfast!! Ashley enjoyed the hot tea while I ate fruit and noodles with shrimp. We met a new friend at the hotel...Roger, the cat, and he loved to come and eat with us. After breakfast we took the amazing bus to the salon. Not just a regular salon but a salon ran by Rapha girls. It was super cool and we took lots of pics. We then went on to the island. We had to ride in a boat over the Tigris River to get to the island. The people of the island wanted to build a church but they wanted the cross to be seen from the mainland so it is right where you get off of the boat. The boat was a neat experience. We had to get on the boat one at a time so it wouldn't tip. Ashley always thought it was going to tip when it rocked. When we went up there, children were everywhere. It was so cool to see all of their faces light up when we played with them and just when we said hello. As soon as we got there Lindsey wanted to take a picture with this little boy and girl. The little boy automatically put his fingers up in a peace sign and smiled really big...then everyone wanted to take pictures with them. While we were taking pictures Ashley dropped her camera and it broke! So from now until the end of the trip its my duty to take pics for both of us, which Ashley is really grateful for. After a while of playing with the little children we went on a tour of the island. As we were just getting started, a little boy came up to Ty and was pointing to his muscles. Ty told him to hit him and he did...it made him smile when Ty told him he hit really hard and that it hurt...he then flexed really big and told Ty in Khmer that he could take him, Therin translated for us. The ''muscle man'' as Ashley called him linked arms with her and Josh and Ashley invited his friends to link arms. They all joined and linked arms with Ashley and Josh. They kept speaking in Khmer and we didn't understand a word of it, so we just shook our heads. Then Bev mentioned that Ashley was lop-lop, which means crazy in Khmer the boys burst out laughing. From then on they called me lop-lop and that was my new nickname. Then Randa joined the chain of kids. As we were walking through the trees and fields we started singing In the Jungle, from Lion King. "Muscles" the little boy, was looping arms with Ashley and I, started singing too. We would sing one line and he would repeat it. He kept singing and singing because he had learned something in English and he loved it. When we were singing and laughing and having a good time, we had our first encounter with a centipide. It was scary! Those things are poisnous. When we got back to the church from our tour we had a church service. It was so amazing and breath-taking. They were singing songs as loud and proud as they could in their language while we were singing it in our language. They had confused looks on their faces when they heard what we were singing. They took up an offering and it was amazing to see how the people give even when they have nothing. After the eye-opening service, Ashley played hacky-sack with a bunch of our group and the little kids. As we got back on the boat and watched the little children and the moms wave to us from the stairs, I realized that in Cambodia they have so little and give so much whereas in America we have so much and yet we give so little-Randa. I realized that they have so little and will give it up and in America we have so much and yet are so selfish. Why are we this way? Also, I learned that they are grateful for what they have and don't complain about what they don't have like I tend to do. They have so little and always are joyful and we gripe and have more then they probably will in their whole lifetime. We complain and are never satisfied, but they are excited by what they have.-Ashley

Part 2 of Day 2
We then rode the bus to the Friends for Jesus Club. It is at Therin's house. It was a place for the children in the neighboring area to come and learn about Jesus. It is reaching out to the needy children of the area. As soon as we got off the bus and started walking down the alley to the house, little children grabbed our hands and begged for attention immediately. When we got in the gates we saw quite a few children. We interacted and played with them. We were introduced to Layla and her family. She is a God-pleasing woman and she started the Mark Trotter Foundation, which supports the Friends for Jesus Club. She showed us around the house and told us about the children in the area and how they were trying to help them out. Then we were taken to the homes of one of the children that they had supported to go to school. We were both speechless when we saw the home, or shack. It was pieces of wood that had no roof, and basically just a table. There were no walls. Just a frame made out of wood. There was a man down the alley. This was very saddening, these people had so little. They were known as "squatters" and the government was trying to push them out of the street and they would be homeless. Randa gave her chex mix away to one of the kids and his family that lived down the alley. Then we went to Kiwi's for lunch. It had a lot of different foods. Josh ordered some type of noodle and added some spice, needless to say it made it very hot and spicy. He didn't hardly eat any of it. We ordered pink lemonades and they were really good, but pretty sour. Then we went back to the Friends for Jesus Club. We made backpacks with goodies for the children. There were 300 backpacks made up. As they started to give away food and backpacks it got really chaotic. Kids were pushing and scrambling for food. It was really a sign of desperation. Mothers with their children were lining up. There was pushing and fighting. It was sad. It was really sad when we gave the last back pack away. We had to start turning kids away, which was the hardest part. Some of the kids were allowed to come back and get their backpacks later, others wouldn't get one. There was a crowd outside the gate that was trying to get in too. After the hard work and 300 + kids fed later we were shocked! We had basically been a part of a miracle!! What could we do now? So to lighten the mood we began to sing. The voices were lifted up and we think that they were probably heard in heaven, as God was smiling down on us. Then Therin's family wanted to feed us. Some of us felt a little guilty after we had just turned down kids, but it would be rude not to eat, so we did eat. The spring rolls were amazing and Randa and I said that we would just eat one more, but one turned into like 10, or maybe even 20...lol! Then we were going back to the bus and Randa realized that she forgot her tennis shoes, but Serena, a little friend of ours, went back with her to get them. The bus ride home was pretty silent, because everyone was tired out. We didn't have devos, because we all needed to take showers. We went to our room, took showers, and went to sleep. Our 2nd day was definitely busy, but very rewarding. We felt like God was looking down and smiling at each of us and saying "thank you good and faithful servants."

Ashley and Randa's Adventures in Cambodia

Last time we blogged we were in the Hong Kong Airport. Since then we've had quite an experience. On our flight Ashley tried some eccentric fruit that was gross, it's called dragon fruit and it has no taste. Randa watched the Simpson's and it was funny, up until they started playing Cambodia music videos in the middle of the movie. When we got off the plane we met Stephanie and Taree and they took us to the bus to go to our hotel. They arrived bringing us gifts of bracelets made out of flowers, known as Jasmine. The building had a really neat architecture to them. There were lots of temples. As we were driving crazily we saw tons of motos, also known as scooters that are gas-powered. They surrounded us, and they would fly by us, and we were a little scared that they would hit us. Our hotel was a four star hotel and totally sweet!! In our room we got a little crazy and decided to use our bracelets as halos and sing...it reminded us of the good old days. Everyone was tired but instead of going to sleep like we wanted to we went to the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum. It was sad and made us speechless. It reminded us of the Holocaust. While we were there it rained, warm rain too!! We were drenched but it felt amazing. We rode the bus back to the hotel and were told not to go to sleep...so much for that! Randa and I both took a short nap while waiting in line to get on the internet. Randa didn't end up getting on the internet, because she was tired. After that we were really tired. We then went to the mall to eat pizza. Randa and I were pretty much dozing off. The pizza was pretty good, but tasteless to us...the sleepy. That night after eating we went back to the hotel for devos. Randa and I were way tired at this point. We went to bed at 8 PM even though we were told to stay awake til 9. We crashed!!!!

Adventures of Ashley and Randa

It all started with the Fayetteville Airport. First, Ashley was stopped by the security. I don't know what was wrong with me. They took my backpack and did a search of my CD player and Bible. It was really strange. I was freaking out when they stopped me to look in my bag. Randa was laughing her head off when Karen, her mom, set off the security alarm! We were on our way to Dallas, TX. It kind of finally hit us we were finally on our way. We were going to Cambodia after months of planning. The flight was boring! Randa and I colored our "pretty princess" pictures and reviewed our Cinderella characters. Next the Dallas Airport. Randa got stopped this time. It was quite an experience. Ashley tried her first ever Lemonade Sorbet Ice Cream from Ben and Jerry's, and Randa finished her strawberry lemonade smoothie, made with apple juice. It looked gross, but tasted gross too...lol! There was a huge storm cooking in Dallas. We got on our plate later than planned. Then we sat in the runway while it was raining and lightning. We were waiting for the other planes to take off and we were number 15 in line. Randa had an emotional breakdown...jk...she just got a little claustrophobic. Then we took off and it looked like we were flying into the storm. The plane ride was bumpy and made Ashley nervous. And Randa was still in her own bubble.  As it turned out, when we got off the plane in L.A. I (Randa) left my ipod on the plane, so I called my mom and told her about it because we were running to our next flight...we were late, but since we were such a big group they wouldn't leave without us. LA to Hong Kong was well....what can we say? Basically undescribable and  a huge luxury. There were TV's with movies, games, and everything in the back of each seat. The coolest part was that there was an upstairs floor, to which we were not allowed to explore....which was kind of disappointing. The 13 hour flight was bumpy too, but awesome. We slept, some, but mostly watched movies and listened to music...oh and ate lots of food! Ya... our favorite comedy movie was "Bride Wars." Now we are in Hong Kong Airport and it is pretty early here. It's exciting to be overseas. Our dollars are worth a lot in Hong Kong. Seven of their dollars equals 30 cents of ours. We just ate breakfast and it's around 7 am..Randa had the pot stickers with Ashley and an eight dollar coffee...which I didn't even get to finish because this lady threw it away! =[[  Overall, it has been a good experience, but I think we are both ready to be in Cambodia. It will really be a life changing experience. Our eyes are already being opened. Well it is about time for you guys to go to bed so we will blog more about our adventures later! Love you guys lots and remember to pray for us here! 

Until next time, 

Randa and Ashley <3

One week from tonight!

Cambodia.........one week from tonight the team will be will be in Cambodia........Why was my childhood happy and safe and so many young girls isn't?

I just came from an evening of prayer with my sisters for myself and the team........How thankful I am for prayer and for them. We prayed for our hearts to overflow with grace and love for everyone we meet and for God to WOW us with HIS glory! It is going to be amazing! God you are so faithful, you never cease to amaze me with your goodness.

Anticipation

We have met for the final time as a team until we gather at the airport to depart on this journey with God.  For now, we continue our preparations in gathering last minute items and packing them in our bags as well as seeking God's Word and placing it in our hearts where God will continue to cultivate it for the time He will bring it to our minds for joy, or comfort, or strength.

Other team members will begin blogging their thoughts in preparation for the journey.  Make sure to check back often.