Two Weeks at NHCC

hi, again!

just a quick...very quick...update to say hi and show you where i'm working for the next two weeks! we are about an hour outside of Phnom Penh at an orphanage called New Hope for Cambodian Children (NHCC). If you get a chance, you can check out their website: http://www.newhopeforcambodianchildren.com/index.htm

It is a seriously amazing place. We are working at the "Dream House,"which you can find on the website. There are currently 157 orphans here - all HIV positive (with the exception of a few siblings that don't have HIV...they won't split up families). This orphanage was started by a couple from the U.S. that have the biggest hearts and are Big Ten alma mater, so we're quick friends.

Bill Clinton actually buys the medication that each HIV positive child in Cambodia needs - for the entire country!!! He's visited NHCC a few times. He says that there are two things that have truly affected his heart since he left office. One was the tsunami that happened a couple years ago. The other was a child named Basil, who is at this orphanage. Bill met him when Basil was a couple of months old and dying of AIDS. He's now on the medication he needs, which Bill buys, and I spent today running around and playing with him. This kids are seriously precious, and offer so much love...and WANT so much love in return. I can't even count the number of hugs I've had within the first three minutes of being awake (which, by the way, is at 5am. yeah.) The power shuts out at 830pm, so that's bedtime! We're definitely on outreach here - sleeping in mosquito nets, using bucket showers, eating rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner...with hundreds of flies.
BUT, we have a view of the mountains!! It's beautiful out here - there's a lake on the property, palm trees and mountains...with a beautiful sunset each night. God is good.

We're all healthy and doing so much here. Every day is beyond busy. Please pray for strength. It's painfully hot and the days are long but we're loving the work. We play with the kids, paint and move furniture, plant mango trees (in our name!), go to shop at the market with the cooks, paint a mural on a water tank...and that's just the first couple of days! We're so blessed to be here and are excited to be working with the Tuckers and all these beautiful kids!

Love you guys so much and hope you had a really good Easter!!

love,
mal