Our days went a little something like this:

Wake up about 6:30am - meet the rest of the team in the lobby of the hotel by 7:00am - head next door to eat breakfast (devotional with team @ breakfast) - leave for the orphanage around 8:00am - bible lesson, art project, recreation activity - lunch - back to the orphanage for another round - dinner - devotional with the team - bed.  Now for the detail...

When we first arrived at the orphanage, as you can imagine, the kids were ready and waiting to greet us as we stepped off the bus.  We weren't all feeling 100% healthy, but seeing the kids definitely helped.  It was nice to have bonded with them at the beach for the few days before we arrived at the orphanage because they really made us feel like we had been there last year (half of the team actually was returning from last year).

As we stepped into their dorm (place where the kids stay and all of the activities are held) the first thing you do is take off your shoes and leave them at the door.  You always do this before entering, but it was particularly muddy outside due to a recent rain shower.  It has rained a lot more on this trip than in years past.  Once inside, the kids organized themselves into a circle and started singing songs - worship songs of course :)  We joined in on the ones we knew and at the very least participated in the hand motions on the songs we didn't.  So much joy! 


Then we kicked off our first bible lesson - Peter was our man for the job.  He talked about how we're all the same in God's eyes.  It was "awk-chaw" (awesome) for sure.  The art project aligned with with the lesson and the kids had to draw themselves as they saw themselves.  It was really cool to see.  Most of them ended up drawing pictures of our team :) The recreation for the morning was a mixture of soccer, volleyball, and frisbee.  Basically, just anything to release some energy and let the kids have fun.  Off to lunch...

After lunch we came back and started with more singing and it was Candy's turn for teaching the lesson.   Her message was about God leading your path straight.  We handed out mazes to the kids that had crosses in different places in the maze to help show the "right path."  Get it?  See what we did there?  We're so clever!  For recreation we switched it up a bit and decided to play some indoor games because it was sooo freakin' hot.  First on the list - musical chairs!  I don't think I've ever seen the kids get so excited.  The screamed with joy and Allen and Drew were all over some sweet tunes for the occation - Techno!!  That's right, these kids love the beat.  And that takes me to the next activity of the day - "freeze dance."  Freeze dance is pretty hilarious.  The kiddos (and our team) start dancing to the music (in this case it was Thriller by Michael Jackson) and every time the music stops, you have to freeze.  It was soooooo funny!  There was one particular little boy named Tha-ra (not sure about that spelling, but said like this:  tay-ra) whos smile was bigger than his whole body.  When the music was on, his smile was huge and when the music stopped, his face shut off.  It was awesome.  I only wish I had it captured somewhere other than my mind.

We'll continue catching up with the blogs and happenings at the orphanage.  Wifi has been a serious challenge this trip.  Just made it to Siem Reap safely, but want to fill you in on the rest of the trip first.

Much love,
Mike & Candace