Beautiful

Hello from Cambodia:
We arrived here safely on the 14th, can't believe it's been a week already. It's been a journey here so far! We're staying at the orphanage with the girls-there's about 20 of them that live here during the week. The house mothers have been taking really good care of us. We have experienced many flavorful foods- rice with every meal. It is very interesting to see American culture within the Capital. The weather makes Florida's heat seem mild- we are becoming very grateful for fans!
We are so in love with the girls here!! They captured our hearts within the first few hours that we met them. They keep us busy and our days are spent playing jump rope, hand games, and teaching English from sunrise to sunset (literally). One of their favorite English words is beautiful and that is what they truly are, both inside and out. They each have different personalities that reflect Christ: they love without abandon, they are humble servants, and they have hearts full of joy. The one thing that we have noticed is that many of the girls have a distorted view of beauty; they seem to equate it with the American stereotype: blonde hair, blue eyes, perfect light skin. During our time here we are trying to communicate how beautiful each girl is as well as help the understand that the beauty of the heart is what brings joy to the LORD. Please pray as we try to enforce these truths despite the language barrier.
On another note, we got to go to church with one of the girls on​ Sunday and it was a very inspirational experience. The percentage of Christians in this country is so small, but the faith of the believers is enormous! Although we didn't know the language (Khmer), the passion they had for Christ spoke volumes to our own hearts. We are moved by how the Christians here live out scripture daily. It is an encouragement and challenge to our own faith.
Please pray for new opportunities to minister to the girls in the orphanage, as well as to the community of Phnom Penh. Also, pray for physical endurance for our team so that we may be the most effective for His Kingdom. Thank you so much for your support. We love you all!!

In Him,
Simone, Anna, Amber, Sarah, Alicia