Back in the swing of things and a beach adventure with 300 people!

(Hanging out in Sihanoukville)
(This was a giant statue right across the street from our hotel
in Sihanoukville)
(Dara and I chillin' in the sand)
(At the beach, playing with kids, and not a care in the world!)

Hey everyone! I can't believe I have been back for over a month! Time sure does fly :) I am back into the full swing of things at Place of Rescue. I am teaching 4 classes a week and doing some one on one tutoring. I have really enjoyed getting reconnected with everyone and shared with my church here in Phnom Penh how God has been healing my heart the last three months. A highlight of my time back came this past week. Place of Rescue does a yearly trip to the beach at Sihanoukville in Western Cambodia. I LOVED seeing pure joy and smiles on the faces of 300+ kids, grannies, house moms, and staff members. I remember standing on the beach looking at the kids and playing, I was blown away by the sheer goodness of God. So many of these kids have stories that would break your heart, yet to see them being kids without a care and just playing at the beach was amazing! I am really excited for this coming week because I will go to Place of Rescue II. Place of Rescue II is in Monkol Borey, Northern Cambodia. I am excited to see how the orphanage looks, meet the kids, and hear the amazing stories of what God is doing in the lives of people here in Cambodia.

My hope and prayer for you all is this, that you embrace the life that God has given you and love it passionately! I know I do :)

Love and Blessings,
Brian

The lighter side of life in Cambodia...

I really do believe that one of the best gifts we have in life is laughter. The ability to laugh with others and laugh in the right situations truly is a gift. I want to share with you a couple of lighter moments I have had this week...

Yesterday, (Monday for me), I was playing with some of the kids before they went to have dinner and they kept wanting to see my biceps. I don't have the biggest arms ever but apparently here in Cambodia I do. I thought I would have a little fun with the situation and I told the kids that the reason why I have the muscle that I do is because I do the following things...
1. Eat all my vegetables.
2. Listen to my mom and Marie.
3. Go to bed when I am supposed to.
4. Do all of my homework every night.
We all shared a pretty good laugh and lots of smiles.

I went to the local market in my village of Baek Chan on Monday. I rode a bike for about 15 minutes into Baek Chan from Place of Rescue and was greeting by many smiles and surprised people to see a big, foreign guy riding a bike along the road in the village. I got to the market, parked my bike in the "parking lot" (covered hut that cost me 12.5 cents to park at), got some money exchanged and started shopping. I was really excited to be at the market and practicing my Khmer language skills. I stopped at one stall and got talking to the people that owned it. We were having a great chat, I was explaining to them that I was an English teacher from Canada and they got a kick out of how tall and broad shouldered I am. We probably talked for about 5-10 minutes. I turned around to leave the stall and proceed to absolutly smoke my forehead on a cross beam of a stall. I think it was about 6 or 7 of the sellers at the markets got a HUGE laugh out of it and I did to. I guess I need to duck lower next time...;-)

It's good to laugh and appreciate the lighter moments of life. Thanks be to God...

Love and Blessings,
Brian