We have one week left in Cambodia before we head off to Thailand.  So far it has been a very interesting stay here.  Last week we went to the drug rehab center on Thursday and Friday morning.  Thursday was interesting because the schedule we were given for the program did not end up being followed, so we only did about two things out of the five or six we had prepared.  However, despite the miscommunication it was a very rewarding time.  English teaching went fairly well, as well as it can go having to prepare something for students I had no idea how advanced they were.  It turned out they were more advanced than I thought, but it worked out ok and they responded very well.

           It was really encouraging for me to see that the work being done there was really having an impact on the people.  I wasn't sure at first if what we were doing was really meaning anything to them, but as we were driving home on Friday we all agreed that these men's lives were touched by the Holy Spirit.  When we first arrived I was a bit intimidated by the high cement walls, armed guards, and barred windows throughout the complex.  I wasn't sure what to expect; I didn't know if the men we would be working with were responsive, respectful, or even totally present mentally.  However, as soon as we entered the "classroom", all of my fears disappeared.  I can't explain it exactly, but I felt completely safe there and somehow I knew that they were responding to us and the pastor who works with them on a regular basis.  They had a level of joy and peace that one would not expect in a place like that.  It was a real joy to work with them, and I am a bit disappointed that we won't be doing any more work there, but I'm grateful for what we were able to do:)

       

The rest of this week we will continue to work in Bakong with the children and then we leave Monday for Bangkok, from which we will fly to Chaing Mai in Thailand. Thank you all for your prayers, everyone is healthy for the most part now and we've had more connection with the kids we work with in Bakong.  We still have three more days there so we're praying for more creativity and inspiration on how to connect and get responses from the kids.  One of the biggest things that's come against us as a team is miscommunication.  It has been happening with the leaders at the base, people we work with to do ministry, and between us as a team.  It's been getting better, but we would really appreciate prayer for clear communication and understanding.

     Thank you so much for your support, it means so much!'

Blessings,

Aubrey

Siem Reap!

It's really hard to get internet because we have to go to an internet cafe that has free wifi and we haven't had too much time to go out lately.  We're staying at the YWAM base in Siem Reap where we'll be for the next week or so.  For the past week we have been ministering in a village about 30 minutes from the base working with kids in the afternoons. 

We do a program where we teach them songs and games, sometimes telling a Bible story and sometimes washing their hair and clipping their nails, depending on the day.  The kids seem to pick up the things we teach them quickly, and they really enjoy the different activities. The weather is extremely hot, almost oppressive, and there were a couple of sleepless nights at first of it.  We've had some attacks physically as a team as well, which has made things a bit difficult.  Ben and Lucy have both been sick for two days and had to opt out of ministry today because of it, Lisanne's stomache is not liking the food and she hasn't been sleeping well, Eva's knee got banged up from a fall today, Juil is having a hard time with the heat as are Kelly and myself.  We would really appreciate prayer against these attacks so that we can continue ministring where the Lord leads without any hindrances. 

Tomorrow we will be doing a program at a drug rehab center where we will be working with mostly male 17 to late 20 year-olds who are recovering from severe addictions to drugs.  We will be doing songs with them, active games such as volleyball, art, and teaching english.  On friday we will also do song and games, but instead of english we will be doing our "ribbon drama" (similar to the lifehouse skit) and sharing a testimony and devotional.  I have high hopes for this ministry because I've heard good things about it, but we haven't seen how things are done yet so we will have to be really flexible and have more than enough activities prepared, just in case:) (we've learned this from experience).   

       Please keep our ministries in prayer because although I know God has really great stuff planned, the enemy is trying really hard to make us feel like we can't make a difference here and we don't have the skills we need to do God's work.  We want to agree with what God's plan is, and if our God is for us then nothing can stand against us!  I will be teaching the english lesson tomorrow at the rehab center so I would also love prayer for wisdom and inspiration on how to help them.  The ones I will be teaching have a "basic" knowledge of english, but as of now I don't have any idea of what that means other than I won't be having a translator with me because he will be helping with the other group of less advanced students.  

                                                                        Thank you all for your support and prayer, this is an amazing experience, and I'm learning more about stepping out in leadership and creativity, as well as how to depend on God for strength and direction (because without His help I couldn't do anything).

More updates to come (when I can get wifi:))

Be blessed!

Love, Aubrey

                                                                                    

 

      

We're Here!

Thank you all so much for your prayers, we made it to Phnom Penh, Cambodia!  We leave tomorrow for Siem Reap where we will be staying for about two and a half weeks, and then move on to Thailand.  We left saturday morning from Carlisle and arrived here at around 10pm Cambodia time.  The flights were extremely long (we traveled for about 26 hours total, including train) and we are still adjusting to the time change.
             The first thing you notice stepping out of the airport in Cambodia is the blanket of humidity that envelopes you.  The temperature is hot, but the humidity makes it feel like the heat is sticking to your body and won't get off.  Our hotel room has air conditioning, thankfully, but once outside there is no such luxury (unless you go into the main shopping place where the buildings are totally enclosed).  All of the markets and local restaurants are open and have similar temperature to outside; some are even hotter because there is no wind inside. 
            The people are lovely here, and their language is so intriguing.  So far I've been practing "thank you" (aw kohn) and informal "hello" (sua s'dei), and I hope to learn more words as I go.  We've ridden quite alot in "tuk tuks", open two-wheeled carriage-type contraptions pulled by motor bikes.  Driving down the street was a bit scary at first because there doesn't seem to be too much clarity on right of way or speed limits.  Most people drive motor bikes, though no one goes super fast and there is a lot of room for people to slip in, out, and through traffic.  There seems to be unspoken communucation on the road of who goes first or who stops for whom: there doesn't seem to be any right of way laws in that respect.
             Please keep praying for our team, we are in a predominantly buddhist nation and there are temples and shrines all over the place.  We are standing in intercession but we have had things such as weariness, heaviness, confusion, apathy, and discouragement come at us as a team and individually.  There's a lot of warfare that needs to happen, but greater is He that is in us than He that is in the world!  We head out tomorrow to our more permanent location in Siem Reap (where we are staying exactly I don't know) so please pray for our bus journey there and for our spiritual health as a team.

Thank you all, I love and miss you and there are more updates (and pictures) to come!

Blessings,
Aubrey

ASIA!!!!

                              The Holy Spirit has been moving strongly this week, and it has been really incredible!  Hahaha joy unending and laughter overflowing: drinking of the spirit pushes aside reason and overflows onto everything, including the body!  I can see that the Lord is giving me tools for what He is preparing me for in the future, and the process is quite exciting.  It’s really amazing when we stop trying to figure everything out with our minds and invite Holy Spirit to come and have His way; incredible things happen!  We had some awesome ministry times this week where spiritual baggage was broken off and there was bubbling joy (resulting in bouts of laughter), song, overwhelming peace, and many other spectacular things.  Intercession has a new door open for me, as it is becoming more exciting as the spirit moves and directs me how to pray more effectively.

                              We leave for Asia on Saturday!  It feels so strange that we’re leaving, I’m looking forward to what God has in store for us.  Thank you for all of your prayers, please continue to lift up our team as there are many stresses that come along with outreach.  I will be posting pictures and updates soon, bless you all!

Love, Aubrey 

Finally updated! (sorry for the long delay:( )

             I realize that I haven’t posted anything in over a month, and I apologize for that.  Things got a bit crazy for a couple of weeks and then we were in Manchester the week before last so I could write nothing then.  The weather has become much better here and spring is at last arriving swiftly to Carlisle.  Trees are budding, flowers are blooming all around the city, and the back garden of the Vic is beginning to come alive with color and life.  As these changes in season are occurring in the city, the Lord has been speaking to my heart about awakening from the time of winter and moving into spring.  My eyes are being opened to the love which He is pouring out on me, and I’m finding myself sitting at a window or going out on a walk just to talk with Him and spend time with Him.  It’s not easy to do though because I’m so used to think of myself as simply “doing things” for God, rather than just being a child of His.  He is beginning to show me just how much He loves time spent with me, no matter what I’m doing. 

                              The week before last we went to the city of Manchester and joined about five other YWAM bases from England, Norway, and Wales for a week on evangelism.  About sixty of us stayed in a church located at the heart of the city where the area wasn’t the greatest, but the people were in desperate need of Jesus.  I learned so much during that week about God’s heart for people, and I learned things about myself as well.  It was a packed week with lots of meeting new friends and stepping out of comfort zones.  We went out and had some good conversations and got to pray for people while getting some good teaching on evangelism and fear of the Lord.  I especially loved one “treasure hunt” I did with Lucy (staff on the Norway base).  What you do in a treasure hunt is ask God for clues about the “treasure” that you and your partner are going out to find, aka a person God wants to bless, and write them down on a piece of paper (your “treasure map”).  This could be a physical description, place, prayer needs, etc. Then you go out and look for people who fit some aspect of the description you got and talk to them about what you’re doing. 

                              When Lucy and I went out we talked with about six different people, some long conversations and some fairly short.  One that was encouraging to me was when Lucy and I were talking to a teenager and his little sister when a mom with a double stroller with two little red-heads in it walked by.  I really felt like we needed to talk to her, so when we finished our conversation I asked Lucy if we could go look for the mom.  As we walked in the direction she had gone, we looked ahead and saw that she had stopped at the entrance to a park and was turning to walk back towards us!  As she neared I asked her if her young ones were twins and she said yes.  It turned out she was the mother of five boys and the twins were the youngest, which reminded me so much of my family I began to really feel God’s heart for her.  As we told her about what we were doing and asked if we could pray for her, Lucy got the sense that she needed to give the mom a prophetic picture she had drawn of a woman walking a dog on a beach with the words “Rest and Restoration” written at the top.  It turns out the family had a dog, and just the weekend before she had gone to the beach with some friends for a short vacation.  I think she was really blessed by what we said because we spoke a lot of life and peace into her and I really felt like the Lord wanted her to be rested and refreshed, as being the mother of five young ones with twins at the bottom can be highly stressful and tiring (you can ask my momJ).  I really enjoyed seeing the Lord reach out to people and touch their lives through me, it is blessed to be a blessing!

                              We leave for Asia in three weeks, which is so crazy to think about.  It’s almost been three months since I left home, and I can really see the Lord’s hand in where He has me.  I feel so blessed to be His child and to know that He will always watch out for me: He won’t let me fall.  Going to Cambodia, Thailand, and China is going to be an eye-opening experience for me and I’m looking forward to experiencing the beautiful Asian culture first-hand. If you could pray for our team this last couple of weeks it would bless us very much; there is still so much preparation to do, especially for the staff, and it can be very stressful. Thank you so much for your support and prayer, I’m really trying to focus in on what the Lord wants to show me now and will keep you updated on what He does, hopefully more often than I have the past monthJ

I send my love back home to all of you, bless you!!!!

<3 Aubrey

It’s so amazing how completely changing culture, surroundings, friends, and climate can show you so much about yourself.  I’ve been seeing different things pop up in me; strength that wasn’t there before, parts of me that are not actually “me”, but rather traits I have acquired from other people, and areas of vulnerability that I have been able to reveal.  I’ve been learning more about myself and seeking the Lord to help me find my identity in Him, rather than my identity in the world.

                              The weather here has been quite moody the past week or so; it doesn’t seem to know whether it wants to be grey and depressing, crisp and sunny, frigid and windy, or simply wet and freezing.  Friday night it was snowing outside, but it’s actually rather funny how I found out (for I didn’t notice right away).  I was on kitchen duty and needed to wash the floor, so I was walking through the dark hallway to get a mop.  As I neared the office door (going slowly for lack of light) suddenly Hannah flung the door open and leaped out right in front of me yelling something.  I gave a startled cry (for not only was it dark in the hallway, her exclamation was completely unexpected) and I fell to the floor, which made her laugh so hard she went on the floor as well.  We both laughed hysterically for a minute or so, rolling in the middle of the hallway and getting a surprised and confused look from Kelly who was walking by at the moment.  Hannah was excited about the snow and was going to proclaim it to the world, but I happened to be in her way at that moment and, apparently, gave her even more amusement because of my startled reaction.  leaping through the air right towards me. I in turn gave a startled cry and fell to the floor, which made her laugh so hard she went on the floor to and we were both laughing hysterically while rolling in the middle of the hallway for about a minute, it was pretty funny:) lol She was excited about the snow, and was going to proclaim it to the world but I happened to be in her way at that moment, which gave us both a story to tell and a good laugh. It's the second time she's scared me unintentionally haha

                              The Lord is working great things through this DTS, but there are constant obstacles to cross over along the way.  There are distractions, warfare, and challenges to conquer, all things defeated by prayer.  Thank you all for your prayers, they mean so much to me!

Blessings!

~Aubrey                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Beginning Week 6!

I have been learning more and more about the love God has for His creation, and the depth of His passion for us.  He’s helping me to understand that He doesn’t love me for what I do for Him, the way I respond to Him, or even because He sees Jesus in me; He loves me for me.  That is what we are on this earth for, to be loved and to love.  We are here because God loves us, period.  Yes we worship, yes we serve and pray and go to church and evangelize; we do all of the things “good Christians” do, but none of those things are why we are here.  Ahgggg, why is that so hard for us to understand?  Why is it so hard for me to understand?  I want to understand it, I want to know the love God has for me on a deeper level, I want to see myself and those around me the way He sees us; that is just about the most difficult thing to do in a performance-driven world where love and affirmation are earned. 

                              Last Saturday we went to the Lake District via bus and it was beautiful!  We walked around a lake called Derwent Water (by the town of Keswick) and although we didn’t go super far (we walked about thirty minutes in) it took hours because we stopped so many times to take picturesJ  We saw lots of sheep, geese, dogs, and grass, not to mention water and gorgeous scenery.  Kelly stayed behind to spend time with Ernest and Emma (Ernest is Kelly’s cousin and also the husband of Emma, the YWAM base leader).  Lisanne, Juil, Eva and I all went together and we hope to go again because it was so beautiful.