Traveling With Friends
This morning, I sent Kori off to the airport. She’s currently in the air between Hong Kong and Dallas, and will be back in the office before the end of the week. It’ll likely be a rude adjustment – trading sunny skies, 90 degree weather and tropical fruit for Ohio’s gray February climes and bagged lunches.
I’ll miss her. She’s not only my best friend but a great travel companion. What a blessing to have someone like her to share this weird and wonderful life of mine.
I’ll be home in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, my time in Cambodia continues with two dear friends – Jared Boyd and Parker Frey. These guys are co-pastors of my home church in Columbus, and I’ve loved traveling with them over the past few days.
After saying goodbye to Kori, we drove the four-and-a-half hours to Battambang, where we’ll be visiting kids and staff for the next few days. Our church sponsors the Battambang Student Center, home to about 80 university students who grew up in our 13 nearby homes.
Although Jared has been to Cambodia before, it’s been more than a decade since his last trip. Back then we were sponsoring the Prek Eng 2 home near Phnom Penh. That home now has another sponsor, but it was great to spend time with the current generation of kids and welcome some of the first generation back home for an after-church reunion lunch.
This is Parker’s first visit to Cambodia. I’ve been talking with him about Asia’s Hope ever since we met, and I’ve loved introducing him to my friends, family and colleagues here in a country that captured my heart nearly 25 years ago.
I hope you’ll enjoy a few pictures from this portion of our trip. I’ll be sure to post more once we’ve had the chance to spend some time here in Battambang.
