wow. so these passed 2.5 weeks have contained some of the best moments/days of my life.

Started off with Cambodia. 5 days in Siem Reap with Darla, Emma, Izzy, & Nicole. We were blessed with this opportunity because Darla was a part of the founding team for an Organization called Caring for Cambodia....This organization provides the Siem Reap area (as well as surrounding communities) with an education system for the Cambodian children. In the passed 6 years it has become one of the best in the country, attaining recognition from government education as well as the prime minister. Most western countries spend around 5.5% to 6.4% of GDP on education. As one of the poorest countries in the world, Cambodia only contributes 1.6% of its national GDP for education...

That breaks down to:
$18 USD per student/year, $0.38 USD per student/week, $0.05 USD/day.

Finding out all of this really weighed on my heart...I prayed all week for God to prepare my heart for the things we were about to witness...with Galatians 5:13-14 in mind...

"...through LOVE serve one another"

I knew we were sent there to make a difference. someway some how. We (Darla) donated and got donations (from P&G) of toothbrushes...a total of 700...to give to the children and their families and teach them the importance of dental care (Did you know that not brushing your teeth not only leads to tooth decay and such problems but it can also shorten your life span). We also brought along several donations for the school from the foundation & other supporters. Headed to the air port with 11 bags. Definitely a change compared to our usual backpacking crew. Another difference compared to our trips before was the amazing airline we were able to go on (thanks to Kevin & Darla) SilkAir, which is part of Singapore Air....we waited in the business class lounge (Darla is a member) prior to our take off...ate appetizers, relaxed, had glasses of champagne...roughing it up.

We left for Cambodia, Nov. 6. Saw some boys from school at the airport, random...but fun. Nov. 7. Tour time~! Our driver and tour guide (yes we had a driver for the week, there are no taxi's in siem reap) took us to Bayan, To Phram, and Angkor Wat. Those names may not mean much to you but they are full of ancient history...hand made temples/memorials from the 11th and 12th century. They were beautiful. Made from sandstone (taken from somewhere 50km away, chopped out of a mountain, put on rafts & floated down the river to siem reap....incredible), hand-carved, and constructed)...it was amazing to see that throughout so many years of history...wars...religious battles...natural disasters...that these buildings still held up...holding hundreds of stories...hundreds of lives...so much history. I love thinking about that, imagine...400 years ago seems like a long time...still not long enough to even comprehend the beginnings of these structures...but for scenarios sake...400 years. Right where you are walking. Wait stop. Now where you are standing...someone else was standing... maybe a servant...a child...a man in love...a trespasser...a beggar... someone with a story to tell... someone rich ...someone poor... someone healthy...someone sick... maybe they were inspired to write a book....paint a picture... maybe their lives were changed... maybe they had no idea where they were... the world may never know. but what is certain...is that you are here today...someone was there yesterday...and hopefully someone will be there tomorrow. its history. right before your eyes. ive never been a fan of history. but now im kind of interested. mostly ancient stuff.
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Anyways, oh yeah note: ta Phrom was where Tomb Raider was filmed. fun fun.

Nov. 8. Went to the Floating Village. I can