Saigon!

Alrighty where to begin... We have been in Vietnam since January 21st. It has been amazing! There is no other way to describe it! We are flying out tonight (January 28th) for Phuket Thailand. Time here in Vietnam has sure flew by so quickly. I have met so many people and I don't know why but whenever I wear my Cubs shirt I always seem to meet more people. Must just be because they're the best! Sorry to all the other fans that read this... We went to the tunnels which were used during the war here. I got to crawl through one and it wasn't to bad for me but I'm shorter than most so, they were really cool though. I loved seeing the other side of the war here and our guide was in the war for about 10 years. We also visited the place where they make all sorts of things, the people that make them were handicapped in the war. Yesterday we went to the Me Kong Delta tour. The Mekong is the river here, it was a great tour! Our group went with two girls from the Netherlands that we met a couple days ago. We ate Coconut candy that was homemade, we went on a 15 min. bike ride around part of the island, then we ate a great lunch, and rode the boat back to our bus. Hochiminh is such a great city, I would have to say that it is probably my favorite city. I am happy to be going back to Thailand though, this time we will be in the southern part. Although it will be hotter and probably more humid hopefully it will be good! Only 13 days left until we are headed back to New Zealand! I'm very excited, outreach has taught me a lot about the real world and about how to make this a lifestyle. I am happy to return to a western world though. Until later my friends...

-In everything you do, do it for him!

Angkor Wat...

So I can't believe we have been in Seim Reap for 6 days. We are leaving tomorrow for Phnom Penh on a bus. God has challenged me to step out of my comfort zone which is something I've been praying about. The other day I met a man Tola he is from Cambodia and he works in an orphanage. How I met him was interesting. I was just walking along the river by myself, praying and taking in the city when I came along all these park benches and he was sitting on one. He asked me where I was from and I said America he said are you sure? I said yes why where do you think I'm from? He said here, you look like you're going to work. I started laughing. We had a great conversation that was based around God and I got to know a little more about Cambodian children. The way God puts someone in your path without you expecting it is usually how he works. It's great though! This outreach is a little over half way we have about 26 days left in Asia then we fly back to New Zealand. This outreach has taught me a lot about my self and the way God is using people...
We went to Angkor Wat today and to the other temples that are around it. We woke up at 4:30 because we wanted to see the sunrise at 6:30 but we had to be out there early. The clouds were in the way so we didn't really get to see the sun until about 10am. The temples are pretty cool to go through, the second one was my favorite because there was so much to explore, it made me feel like a little kid again trying to hide from my mom when we would go to places like that (don't worry she always found me). We climbed the steepest staircase I've ever seen. The steps were probably up to my knee and it was straight up, the steps weren't very wide either so you had to side step it up. Going down was even more scary but thankfully we made it! It was definitely something to see. I hope and pray everyone is well!

Blood anyone?

So this town is ah-mazing so far!! Lets see where to start...

1. We were sitting having a team meeting of our hostel the other day and low and behold guess who walked in: Tim and Jamie from the slow boat! Just to think that out of all the hostels there are in this city they would pick the one that we are at! It's great to see them again. Anya and I were walking down the street yesterday, more like on the street  and Tim and Jamie passed us in a tuk tuk they yelled Cheaters! I about had a heart attack because I didn't know who was yelling! So last night they were in on the computers, so I went up behind them and scared them! It was great, we have a rematch in cards tonight at 8pm! They will probably lose, but it will be great to talk with them and share our adventures so far!
2. I gave blood yesterday to the childrens hospital here. I never thought I would be in a 3rd world country giving blood! It was super easy though a lot easier than in the states. I have a rare blood type so they really needed it. It was great to be in the place that it is actually going to! The children are really sweet and it was just great to help. Although after I was done, I got up and walked over to the laboratory where Anya was waiting for me and I started feeling dizzy and I couldn't hear anything, yep I blacked out. They layed me down and gave me some water and I felt much better. I just got up to fast and after loosing a pint of blood that could have happened to anyone. I got to know the doctors real well after that. I'm fine now though I don't even have a bruise on my arm. It was a good day!
3. Our team has really been seeing the blessing here, we have run into so many  other people that we met either in Thailand or Laos. Siem Reap isn't really a small town and there are a lot of hostels but they all seem to end up at the one we are staying at! It's all by God and that is amazing! We are probably headed to Phnom Penh in the next couple days then we will make our way over to Hochiman, Vietnam. We will spend a week or so in Vietnam then we will go to Phuket Thailand and spend a week there then we fly out of Bangkok on February 11th. I am excited for these next couple weeks and to see what God is going to do with our team and with me as an individual!

Thank you to all who are praying for me and our team! I hope everyone is well! Prayer Requests that I do have are:

• Deeper Conversations with people that we meet
• Team Unity
• Love for others
• To not have a fear of man and to be bold to step out in our faith!

God Bless!!!

Do I look like a Native??

Where do I even begin... So we left Laos on the 7th and we took a 4 hour van ride to Vientiene the Capital of Laos. From there we took a 14 hour bus ride to Bangkok. We had to stop at the boarder and go through immigration. When we arrived in Bangkok we were all so tired and decided to find a park to sleep in so we were lying down on the benches and we got woken up by a man saying that we cannot lay down on the benches. But however we can lay down on the grass and that doesn't matter or we can even throw our garbage in the street and it doesn't matter. I don't understand! From there we had a team meeting at 8am at starbucks where we had a huge surprise of our school leader Denver! It has been such a blessing having him here with us for the past couple days. We left Bangkok and had a 6 hour train ride to Cambodia. Once we crossed the worst boarder in Asia for immigration which thank God we all got through fine, we had to get a taxi to Battambong. The taxi was a little difficult to find because we were trying not to get ripped off and it was late, we were all tired so it was a great experience. Once we got taxi's it was a 2 hour taxi ride with 6 people in a 5 person taxi. I tell you what in 24 hours I was in 3 countries, 3 of my passport pages are filled up and I am so tired. But God really showed himself to me while traveling because I don't know where else my energy came from. When we were in Battambong we met up with Earthcare, It was so great to see them because I have missed them so much. They just arrived 2 days before we did. It was a great time of fellowship, worship, prayer and having fun. We left them this morning hopped on a train for Siem Reap which is where we are now. This town is a little better than Battambong just because there are more backpackers and we can do our ministry easier. So I am currently running on 16 hours of sleep in the past 4 days and I think I'm a little out of it.
God rocked my world in Laos in my quiet times with him and in worship with him it has been so great! Now that we are staying put for a while it will be good to catch up on rest and to see who God wants us to meet. I am doing good health wise thank you to those who were praying for me. My grandma emailed me for the first time ever it was so great and such a blessing. Here is a funny story or at least I think it's funny:
So far in every country I have been in Asia I have been spoken the "native language" to, in Thailand people spoke Thai to me, in Laos they spoke to me, in Cambodia now I have been spoken Khmer to. I just fit in really well over here because I am dark skinned, dark hair, and I am short. This country was made for me, although it is third world everyone here is short. I never thought there was such a place. That's just the way God made me and I'm not complaining. Some people on my team have hit their heads because they are so tall. hehe. It makes me laugh. We have some great stories of how God is working and also just some silly stories which every trip has. Ours are mainly a bunch of sarcastic jokes but that's the way our team is. It's been great though. We only have 4 weeks left so we have been in asia for about a month. Crazy where the time goes! I hope and pray everyone is doing well! I must say that one great thing is that I don't really miss the snow, it averages 75 here all the time and 70% humidity. So sometimes I miss the Snow. God Bless!!!

Laos!!!

Happy New year! Delayed I know... It has been great here in Laos, I am currently in Vang Vieng. We arrived here after taking an over night bus after taking a slow boat for 2 days. On the slow boat I met 3 guys from Australia Tim, Jamie and Gary, and one guy from Canada Mike. We got along great for the second day for 8 straight hours we played cards and I laughed so hard that my stomach hurt. God has really been showing up for our team here. Things have gotten more relaxed. When we arrived here at 2 am we had to walk to find a hostel, The one we found is actually pretty cool. It has a shelter with a bunch of bunk beds in it and each bed has a mosquito net over it. This town is right on a river so there is tubing, tourism, and drinking. It is really more of a spring break sort of town. We have found some people in our hostels because we are divided into 3 hostels, that don't drink. It is really nice because we went rock climbing and swimming with some of them. God has really been showing me patience which is something that I know I need to work on. Laos is actually very beautiful there are mountains and rivers, it makes me feel like I'm in New Zealand. After being in Thailand I really missed the mountains and I missed not being in the city. After a couple days of that smog I would rather be anywhere but there. We have done prayer walks around the town and we did worship on the river bank this morning, it was so nice to express ourselves without anyone but you and God on the river bank. We are moving to Cambodia in the next couple days, but I will keep you posted. Thank you to all who have been praying for me and my sickness, I have gotten a lot better! I only really have a cough but no more fever or stuffy nose! Hooray!!! Some prayer requests that I do have are:

• Guidance for our team
• Safety while in Cambodia 
• Love for others and each other

I hope everyone is doing good and having a wonderful new year and that everyone may be blessed!!!