Live from Cambodia....it's THURSDAY NIGHT!!!

Hi everyone! We're in Preah Vihear this week and boy have we been busy. We've learned just enough Khmer for the locals to giggle at us :) but they have been amazingly gracious hosts. God has blessed us with several exciting opportunities over the last week. Yesterday we were invited to join a house raising and it was awesome. Today, we did some work at the church in PV (CCH) and we hope to work at the missionaries homes in the next few days.

We have lots of pictures and funny stories to share when we get home but there's lots more to do before we leave Cambodia. We're excited to be here serving the Lord and can't wait to share our experiences with you all when we get back.

Now for some much needed rest!

TeamSeven

Wow, it is so hard to believe that Friday we depart for Cambodia!!! There are so many mixed emotions...excitement ..anticipation...nervousness...stress of getting last minute things done to name a few.

Am I prepared spiritually? I have been trying to be more focused in this area, praying and reading, and just talking things out with God. I am certain however, that he will be with me and my teammates.

There are so many aspects of service that this trip will entail; so many ways God wants to use us. I know from experience on my last trip, that he will reveal to us deeper glimpses of his perspective of His World and its people. It is sometimes overwhelming when you begin to capture this. He will work in each of our hearts individually. Stretching and challenging each one of us. Alot 0f the concerns and questions expressed to us over the past several months have been ones of being prepared physically, various safety concerns,what will you eat(most popular) etc.. all legit......but I know that this experience is so much more! The spiritual stretching and the emotional ride is indescribable ( I truly could not think of a good word to describe it!!)
We hope to...no, no, no, we have FAITH that we will bring back many testimonies of what God taught us. We also trust that God will use us in some way not only to impact Joel's ministry and the Cambodians but also to our church family, friends and family.

Thank YOU, for your support and encouragement. It is a privilege and an honor to go as ambassadors from WFC. We will try to update our blog, maybe even pictures, while we are there. It will depend on alot of different factors, but we will attempt this.

We still need your help while we are there!

Prayer is vital! I have listed a few ways below, in which you can be strategic in prayer. (my good friend Judy S. put this together so nicely...so I m plagiarizing her words!) I also listed a condensed list of our itinerary, so you can see where are what we are doing throughout the day as you think of and pray for us. (keep in mind, this may, or may not be subject to change!)

~Patti

Specific Prayer:

Our trip begins Jan.9th at 8am as we fly out of Phila. to Atlanta then onto S Korea then Pnohm Penh Cambodia...approx 23hours travel time! Phew !
There is a 12hr time difference. Cambodia is 12hrs ahead of us in EST US time.
We return Sunday Jan 25th
-Pray for Travel Logistics!

-Health and Energy.....We do have a few members going with chronic illnesses that are
managed but need people covering in prayer. Also we will all be destined for Pol Pots
revenge,he is a cousin to Montezuma's revenge!!!


-We will be keeping journals. (There will be time for this carved into each day.) The men
on our team, (with Tony leading), have been asked to teach on leadership.Please pray
as they prepare.The women will possibly have opportunity to meet with the women
and share /teach please also pray for them as they prep.

-Spiritual readiness
-Ministry to Cambodians and Missionaries
-Good reception and ministry in Preah Viheah province
-The families left at home of each team member
-Remaining financial need
-Joel and colleagues who will be receiving the team

SCHEDULE :

WE land in Cambodia at almost midnight Saturday night Cambodia time, and after going
through Visa application and other airport lines we will finally be greeted by Joel and
go to a hotel in the city and to BED!

-Day 1:
Orientation,trip to the market, Tuol Sleng (was a toture prison camp during
Pol Pots reign.)
Visit to Royal Palace and visit the Riverfront with possible opportunity
ministry opportunity with street children and others in evening. (These experiences
will help us see and learn alot about the culture ,the past history and introduce us to
the people and the needs in Cambodia....this day will be one of those emotional rides!)

-Day 2:
Travel Day north to Preah Viheah in a "mini bus"! Leave at 9am. This journey will take most of
day. Preah Viheah is the Province where Joel lives. We will be staying in a guest house in the
town where he lives. Cathy will be staying with Susan Kana a single women serving with
the team there.

-Day 3:
More orientation. Then a Khmer traditional lunch, a side trip to the fields, and evening praise and prayer time at CCH (Church of Changed Hearts...this the Cambodian Church that World
Team planted in this area, and also the group Joel works with and whom we will be serving
and spending alot of time with. We plan to spend time in the evening planning and learning
from Joel.

-Day 4:
Will meet with the Gabriels,(a family with 3 children sent from Davisville church),
Susan Kana, and Joel for an overview of their work. Another time of meeting with CCH
and 2 of us will be giving our testimonies through translation.

-Day 5:
WORK DAY.....CCH building, grounds, cow barn and a goat pen..moooo!
We will then have an opportunity to go with Joel as he teaches a class in afternoon. At 4pm we will meet with YWAM staff,(Youth with a Mission), at their youth center. Then in the evening we will be spending time with the missionary team at one of their homes.

-Day 6:
Free time . We will also probably get to do some preparations on some teaching that has
been requested of us, most especially the men in our group. We will then have an Evening Worship Service, which we will be involved in in several ways.

-Day 7:
We will be working with youth/teens and younger children today. We will be going to the
Youth's meeting in eve.

Day 8:
Another WORK Day. This time we will be doing work at the missionaries homes; ranging anywhere from electric to plumbing and computers, etc.

Day 9:
This day is the Pastors half day workshop from 8am -12 noon. All leaders and Pastors from the area are invited.This is the BIG teaching Day for our men. They will be giving 4 lessons on biblical and spiritual leadership from the books of Timothy and Titus. Joel will be translating.
In the afternoon, we will be again working with the Youth of the church in various projects. We will have dinner at the church and a campfire and send off party for our group.

Day 10:
We will be going on a road trip to Siem Reap. We will see and learn some more as we
travel and spend some fun quality time with Joel.

Day 11:
We will be visiting the temples of Angkor Wat! One of the Wonders of the World
We will learn alot, especially from Joel, as he has a degree in anthropology.

Day12:
We will head back to Phnom Penh, and possibly have one more trip to the city's water front
area.

Day 13:
Our last day! We will possibly be visiting the killing fields, the market and whatever else God may have planned for us to squeeze in!

PHEW!! Intermingled in this I am certain there will be... crazy moped rides,good and of course interesting food, exhaustion, group dynamics, learning some simple language, being appropriate culturally (oh boy!), laughing, and crying.

We can't wait to tell you all about it !!!

December 31,what a crazy year its been for me,waiting and preparing to go to Cambodia. I still can't believe I'm actually doing this! Sometimes I say to myself what was I thinking!!!But my God has been good and faithful .Soon I'll be traveling to Cambodia, no doubt an adventure for me, but with Him in charge. Something I struggle with daily, allowing God to be in charge. Easy to say,but hard for me to do. I want to let Him control our time as we serve. People ask what will you be doing over there,and I say all kinds of stuff. Correct and simplified answer would be serving Him. An answer I don't always give. Taking me out of my comfort zone. Too many questions for me, just let me serve, but I don't think that is all he has planned for me! He has many things to teach me. He gives me the oppurtunities to talk about Him, but I feel my words don't always impact people the way I feel. But I try anyway, because I should know He will do my talking for me. I do know my life will be changed,but how it will impact others as I try and talk about it,thats going to be tuff, just let me trust in Him. It would be great if you could remember us as we travel abroad and be praying for the folks (teamseven) I'll be serving with.They are a great group of friends. Thanks Hey I finally wrote a blog,how exciting. Michael

Alright, alright already. I know it's taken me forever to get on this blog, but here I am. I'm very excited to see Ron is team member #4, because that makes me team member #1!

As for Pete and his team member #8, I will wash my hands of that whole situation! Last time I went I got busted for sneaking food into America (I forgot officer! I swear!) I will have no parts of sneaking a woman into the country!

At this point I'm just going to cut and paste a bit from a letter I sent to my fans, I mean supporters:

"In exactly one month, I will be hopping a plane to sweet, sweet Cambodia. On a day like this, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I’m really looking forward to that 90 degree weather!.....

......I seemed to have compartmentalized this trip into something that was happening in January and was unable to allow it to completely seep into my life right now. Over the past week, God has shown me that I have caused myself to become overwhelmed and was in fact relying on this trip to rejuvenate me. Rather than being prepared for it spiritually, I was relying on it. Through a variety of vehicles God is leading me out of that mindset and bringing me into His sweet peace and rest. Believe it or not, your support has been a part of that deliverance. I know that God has given me a task and you have supported that, and I must be the best that I can be. And I can only be that through Christ...."

~Cathy

Coffee House

Please join us Sunday, Dec 14th, 6:30-8:30
for an evening of Starbucks coffee, homemade desserts and the musical talents of
Heather Wituschek, John Lyford, Paul Wituschek, Dave Smith, Dave Liebert and others.

This event is free. There will be a freewill offering box.

There will also be a silent auction for pieces of Premiere Jewelry.

This is a community event. Please feel free to invite your friends and neighbors.
Fraser Hall, Warrington Fellowship Church

A Message from Joel

Greetings from Preah Vihear, Cambodia! Preah Vihear (PV) is limbering up to stretch out it's hands to welcome the Team Seven here. I (Joel) am in the throes of catching up on things, getting ready for Christmas and thinking through details regarding the upcoming WFC Team Seven trip... First of all, I want to let folks know that God is doing some incredible things here in an area of the world that 30 years ago was a place of unimagineable misery... Now those "Killing Fields" are turning into "Living Fields". This is one of a very few countries that is open, ready for the harvest and unreached... and we have front row seats! My prayer for this team is that, rather than planning to DO something (your presence and encouragement will be enough), plan on a change in your BEing! Pray to see things from God's perspective... and perhaps even begin to see things from the perspective of the Khmer people who live and sweat in this land to eke out a living. While it takes years to acquire a good understanding of the culture, a lot can happen to change one's own perspective in 10 days. The shots were the easy part... there will be fun, hard work, and you will be physically taken care of... but I hope you don't go back the same person. I hope that some of the values you previously held might be shaken a bit... because that will bring you closer to God's viewpoint, which is the best place to view from. So have FUN! I hope everyone gets behind you and becomes part of the Team! I pray for your preparations, and that mint M & M's find their way into your Action Packers! But most of all, I pray that you will be praying for God to change YOU, and as you go back to Warrington that God will use you as agents of change and ambassadors for Cambodia. Happy packing and preparing! And may your Christmas be blessed as you anticipate serving God in a place that knows very little of Christmas, or why it is celebrated.

~Joel Stewart

Hi, #4 of team seven here. Just wanted to check in and see if I could do this. I think I can, I think I can. Anyway I'm pretty excited about all that has happened so far. The meeting's are going great and our speakers have been excellent. Very informative,thanks to Judy Severns and Kevin Kane. Prayer requests at this time would be for peace in knowing that God is in control. Also I have some health issues that need attention before we go. Please pray for all and thank you for your love and support.
~ Ron Stewart.

Tardy...as usual

So, I was thinking that it would be appropriate for me to be the last one to blog on here from TeamSeven (since I'm bringing up the rear on all of the other pre-trip activities), but I don't want to give Patti any more reasons to get mad at me. So, here you have it. My very first blog about our Cambodia trip.

I am still working on getting my support letters out and I haven't gotten any shots yet. So, I'm way behind. But if you know me at all...you know that punctuality and I are not well acquainted. However, I usually get the job done. So, after this short blog entry, I will go work on my address list for my support letters some more.

Prayer stuff...
It has just occurred to me that there is now less than 2 months until we leave and during those two months is the Christmas holiday which is always a busy time of year. So, please pray that we are able to complete our preparations in the coming weeks.

While I'm working on the other things that have been keeping me busy (scheduling vaccinations, doing homework for school, working on DSL and FIOS issues at WFC, etc), I tend to get frustrated and I have to remind myself that those things will get done and there's no need to worry about them. So, please pray for sanity, focus, and peace. Philippians 4:6-7

That's all for now from TeamSeven's 7th (and possibly 8th) member,
Peter (and the yet-to-be-found, Mrs. Peter)

Hit me with your Best Shot!?!?

I can clearly remember the last time we sent a team to Cambodia. I said “Even though I would love to go to Cambodia, I could never do it because of the SHOTS!” Fast Forward to 2008, and WFC is forming a new team to go to Cambodia. God is speaking to my heart, telling me that I need to go. I decide to listen to His voice, instead of my fear, and I add my name to the list. And so begins the countdown to my date with sheer terror.

This is a fear that has been with me as long as I can remember. One of my earliest memories from Elementary School is a day where I was called to the nurse’s office to receive some vaccination nobody warned me that I was getting. I screamed and cried and ran away shouting, “I’m not supposed to get this, I’ve already had it!” Many years later, I even begged the nurses not to give me the shot that would keep me from bleeding to death after giving birth to my son, but they insisted I get it. Some people say to me “How can you be afraid, you are a nurse?” That is true, I do not fear the needle, and I have given countless thousands to other people. But when it is my flesh that is being pierced, all rational thought is completely discarded. I’m very glad that the airline tickets were bought early, because that meant I could not back out. So, after putting it off, I finally called to schedule our appointment. Of course, the doctor said I could come in that week, but my heart was definitely not ready for it yet! I chose a day closer to the end of the month.

All too quickly, that day arrived. Even though I knew a small army of people was praying for me, my stomach had still been in knots for several days before, and from the moment I awoke, all I wanted to do was cry. I got into my husband’s car, and bawled like a baby. It didn’t help my nerves any that traffic was so bad, we were 15 minutes late for our appointment. I didn’t want to go, but I didn’t want to be late either! I made it very clear to the doctor and nurses how terrified I was about the whole thing. So the time came for us to decide, with the doctor’s direction, what vaccines we were going to get. The count just kept getting higher and higher. Polio (Can’t I get the sugar cube?) Tetanus (The one that hurts!) Typhoid, and two Hepatitis (A and B). And then the even better news, Hepatitis requires 2 more boosters later, and I need to get MMR(Measles, Mumps, Ruebella) too! Finally, it comes down to the moment of truth. I turn on my iPod, listening to one of my favorite Newsboys tunes, and bury my head in my husband’s chest, crying like a baby again. 1 down, 2 down, 3 down, time to switch arms. Hepatitis B (of course, one that I need to get more of) burns. Now I am chanting to myself “Only one more, only one more” Then, it is over! Tony’s turn. He sails through like an old pro, and takes his seat next to me. Suddenly he’s making his way back to the examining table to lie down. He learned the hard way the importance of having breakfast before having 5 shots! Good thing the nurses brought some snacks in for me.

Although I know I have to go back again in a month, I do not think I will be nearly as frightened as I was the first time.

~Sue Kaskoun

Premier Jewelry Party!

Please come to this awesome opportunity to support and raise funds for Cambodia Missions Trip Team!

Hosted By:
Ruth Feiler & Missions Team

Location:
Ruth Feiler's Home1827 Fox Run Terrace, Warrington, PA 18976

When:
Sunday, November 2, 12:00PM to 3:00PM

Phone:
215-491-9433

Ruth has been hosting parties & selling Premier Jewelry for many years and has made an extremely generous contribution to our Team. The team members going to Cambodia will earn 40% of all sales!

Please come and check out the jewelry, make a contribution to the team, and go home with something for yourself or someone on your Christmas Shopping List!

The show will be an Open House set up to browse and place an order and will run from 12-3 p.m. that afternoon, so stop by on your way home from church! Ruth will also be taking orders for an additional two weeks following open house, so you can take a catalog with you.

MEN Welcome!! We can help you pick out something special for that specialsomeone!!!

QUESTIONS???? contact: Patti Lyons 215- 343 2977 email Pattialyons@gmail.com, or see any Cambodia Team member

Showing Some Support

I support my Mom Mom & Pop Pop!

Ethan Fink in his Cambodian print tee shirt, well and he had to americanize it a bit with the baseball cap and lollipop hanging out of his mouth. :)

Thanks!!!!

Just want to send out a big shout out of THANKS!!! :
Missy Staude for your hard work and perseverence in getting our airline tickets!!
Doug Simon who has committed to helping us in keeping track our finances!
Melissa Fink who put this blog together for us!
Our church family,friends ,family and co- workers who give us words of
encouragement ,support, and are praying for us...even the smallest gesture of a
any of these is truly appreciated!
So....THANK YOU!!!! Team Seven

Welcome !!!

We hope you will check out our site frequently and be a part of our journey as we share our joys,concerns,progress,prayer requests,etc....!!! We are all so excited to be going, and thankful to be given this opportunity to serve in Cambodia for two weeks in January.I f we are to be honest along with the decision to go, comes nervousness,doubts,fears, and sacrifices.This we are finding is all part of the journey !!! It draws us closer to God as we give over these concerns to Him and also it has helped strengthen us as a team. We have had many opportunities to praise as we have seen God working. He has surprised us in big ways and in small quiet ways....He is awesome!!!

We have been meeting regularly praying...planning..preparing..training ..learning about cross culture missions..reading.. and we have all had our own assignments.We have talked to Joel Stewart, who we will be working with in Cambodia ,many times. We are working on getting Joel live via skype on the big screen some Sunday morning soon... so stay tuned!!!

Joel told us last we talked that he thinks he has come up with a construction project for us.....many of us are very excited about this. We have a team that has a wide variety of all different types of skills so it will be exciting to see the Lord work and use us.

Last, but certainly not least, we really, really need prayer support from all of you! We have a few people going who have health concerns to to deal with .We want to serve faithfully .We may be the ones going but it is our desire for all of you to be a part of of the sending out.We are being sent to encourage Joel and the Church of Changed Hearts in Preah Vihear just as the churches of the New Testament sent people out (on foot!!) to encourage Paul and other missionaries! I'm glad we get to fly although it is a looooooong flight ..about 23hrs !!

Please pray and visit this blog often. We will hopefully soon have an update on our Chick fil a fundraiser, thanks to all.... it was fun!!! We will have all the other members of the team share on this blog, their own ups and downs as we move along in this process and also as we are in Cambodia!!!!

Thanks Again.....Love Patti Lyons