She is on a Christian project at the moment based in northern india but currently doing the outreach phase in Thailand and Cambodia.
In Thailand she had easy access to Internet etc but now in Cambodia things are very different. So she is finding it hard to get updates out to all the band of supporters who are so wonderfully praying for her throughout
Thus the honour falls to me to update you on the past few weeks and she will try to blog next weekend.
The team of 7 arrived in Cambodia last weekend and are staying with 2 families in Phnom Penh. One of the hosts is involved in running a university dorms and so New Years Eve was a party with the students. It involved lots of laughter, Cambodia food, Cambodia dancing and everyone had a good time.
The main downside for natalie of being in outreach at this time is that they haven't been able to get into a routine of project work due to all the holidays. However they did go for a prayer walk alongside the local river on Friday and met a group of street kids who were selling bracelets and other knick-knacks. They chatted to the kids as best they could and played some games with them. All impromptu and spur of the moment but it brought smiles and laughter into the day for the little kids and the team were thrilled to have the chance to just show Gods love to them.
This week they are spending their days helping at a project that works with prostitute, providing a range of services to help them get off the streets and into new employment.
It will be emotionally hard for the team as they come alongside ladies who have very hard life stories and who are hurting and broken in many instances; pray for opportunities to reach into those lives and show Gods unconditional love in new and meaningful and lasting ways.
One of the lessons natalie was saying that she has learnt these past few weeks is about total surrender to God. She spoke of some situations, the details of which I will stay silent on in respect for the individuals concerned, where natalie just got to the point of holding her hands up in despair and crying out to God "help". Not situations of danger or anything like that but still times when the way forward was totally unclear.
It was at the point of total surrender that natalie found God doing the miracle of sorting things out. It was a real reminder to her about how important it is to give each day and each situation to God, and to not build up walls of stubbornness and 'doing it my way' that get in the way.
And that was a challenge to me. At the start of this new year, a time of reflecting on the past year and considering the year ahead, what better intention to have than to give each day to God, every situation in the day, all the unexpecteds as well as the expecteds. And in so doing to keep the walls and barriers down, so that God, in all His loving gentleness, can work out His purposes without having to wait for us to surrender in despair.
A resolution I will need to remind myself of regularly I'm sure. But here's praying it lasts for more than a day!
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