This is the kind of letter I love to get:

I have recently returned from a 17 day trip to visit Asia's Hope orphan homes in Prek Eng, Battambang, and Chiang Mai. I am a member of the Western Resrve Grace Church Team that went to dedicate the Haven of Hope (BB5). I cannot tell you what this trip meant to me. God called me to go, and I went. The trip greatly exceeded my original expectations!

To go half way around the world to give love to children, but be given that love in return at least 10-fold was just amazing! Those kids touched our hearts ina way I cannot even begin to explain. We made some heart connections that will last a life time! The day we left Battambang, the kids from Haven of Hope came to see us off at the Hotel Khemera. We spent about an hour with them in the hotel lobby. The first half hour was full of singing and hand holding and hugs and kisses.

Then the tears began! We were told that Cambodian children doen't cry...wrong! that departure from each other ripped all of our hearts apart. I spend a good portion of my day wondering what they are doing, which uniform they are wearing, are they thinking about us, etc. I have their pictures all over my desk. I'm sure my co-workers think I'm a tad bit nuts! I am beginning to save money for next year's trip! God Bless Asia's Hope! Our kids now have hope! -- Jen Lewis

Every day I receive dozens of emails: documents, agreements, attachments, applications... some make me smile, some make me grimace, some make me scowl. But the ones that really get me excited are the bios of new kids we've brought into our orphan homes.

I won't give you all the details, but I'd like to share some excerpts from the bios of a few of our new kids at the "Grace Place" orphan home in Battambang, Cambodia:

One child:

Parents Background: Her father was a soldier and he had died after one year he divorced his wife. Her mother head had a serious wound on it and she became acute illness for a year and then she died in 2005.

Brothers and Sisters: 1 Brother and 2 sisters

Life before living in the AH orphanage: She and her brother lived with poor grandparents and they have no job to do. Her grandmother has diabetes and also high blood pressure. She must take the medicine everyday. Srey Nith was responsible to do the housework like cooking, carrying water, and other things.

Reason for moving to the AH orphanage: Because of her grandparents did not have ability to feed and to give her the good future and they observed that she loves to study so after they are informed about Asia’s Hope they have decided to send her to “Grace Place” of Asia’s Hope Orphan Home in Battambang.

Another child:

Parents Background: Her father was the drunkard and ferocity to the children and to his wife almost everyday. Because of this situation, her mother was serious sick and she coughed with blood and she also has a womb disease and then she died in 2005. Her father now became feebleminded and the lunatic, sometimes he did not know what he is doing, and did not care of his children.

Brothers and Sisters: 1Brother and 1sister

Life before living in the AH orphanage: She lived with her father the feebleminded. She and her younger brother lacked of daily food. Some days her brother and she got fed by their neighbors who showed pity on them and sometimes they got some money from working for their neighbors to buy food to eat like carrying water or house cleansing or working.

Reason for moving to the AH orphanage: The neighbors and the village chief saw this situation and reported to the staff of A.R.M and then they reported to us about that. We went directly to this village and took her to live in Grace Place of Asia’s Hope.

And another:

Parents Background: His father was the drunkard and he is addictive to wine. This is always happened that made his father never cared on the need of family and children. Because of this his mother left home to earn money as a night club woman (prostitute), and then she has another boy friend. Soon not later they got divorced and abandoned their son since he was small. Kim Hab was living with his widow handicapped aunt since 2004.

Brothers and Sisters: 2 brothers

Life before living in the AH orphanage: He lived with his widow handicapped aunt who got small income from selling small things in the market. So his aunt faced to the difficulty of providing food for him and her own children. Kim Hab could not help any thing because he was small.

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And the stories go on. Each one more heartbreaking than the one before. All of these kids have experienced more pain in their first few years than most of us will experience in our whole lives. Each of them lived without hope. Now, each of them has a chance for a bright future. 

I can't wait to see these kids in a couple of months, after their transformation has gotten underway, and their healing has begun. Pray for these kids. Pray for the hundreds of others who need our help. And pray for Asia's Hope.

On Tuesday, my friend Andy Taylor and I drove to Pittsburgh so I could give an update to the youth at the 2009 Momentum conference. Last year, the students raised more than $90,000, enough to open and operate two orphan homes for an entire year.

It was an honor to thank the students on behalf of our staff and kids in Cambodia. I also got a chance to hang out briefly with Je'Rod Cherry, who raffled off one of his Super Bowl rings to help kids in need. Asia's Hope was a recipient of some of those funds, and we were able to purchase land and underwrite a large portion of the construction costs for our Doi Saket 3 and 4 orphan homes.

It's really amazing to see God's spirit move in the hearts of so many people across the nation, and i'ts especially encouraging to see God work so powerfully through the youth of the Grace Brethren fellowship. Very cool.

I've just returned from Cambodia and Thailand, and I'm amazed at how well all of our kids are doing.

I've watched God transform these kids from scared, vulnerable street kids to confident, strong brothers and sisters, sons and daughters.

Like all charitable organizations, Asia's Hope is feeling the pressure from the global economic downturn. As an organization with only one full-time staff in North America (and nearly 90 in Asia!) we have always pinched our pennies and stretched our dollars to the max.

Right now, however, we have a number of urgent, unexpected bills we're struggling to pay -- a well that's run dry, a sudden increase in rent at an orphan home, repairs to an air conditioning unit, repairs to a vehicle -- and a few others.

Would you take a moment and pray for Asia's Hope today?

Would you also consider clicking "Donate" to make a contribution via PayPal or credit card?

May God bless you as you stand in defense of orphans.

Boy, do I miss my family.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m having a great time here. And I’m certainly not hug-deprived – I can barely walk two steps inside the gates of one of our orphan homes, so eager are the kids to latch on to my legs, arms, back, neck and torso. But, you know. It’s not the same as being home with one’s own family. So, by the time I leave on the 25^th, I’ll be more than ready to get back to the States.

My time here hasn’t been all hugs and dancing. I’ve spent most of my days in meetings with staff, directors and ministry partners. When I’m not in meetings, I’m usually working on things with exciting names like, “operational principles,” “philosophical foundations,” “best-practices implementation standards” and “statements of ecumenical consensus.”

A couple of days ago, however, I spent the entire afternoon lounging around on a bamboo cabana beside a lake with our directors and their wives. We ate snails sold to us by little old ladies in long, wooden boats. We sipped Coke and orange Fanta – a favorite here in Cambodia – and I think I may have even fallen asleep. “Fellowship,” we call it in Christianese. It was very nice.

Tonight, it’s another dance party. I’m buying some special food and drinks, and we’re going to try to replicate the revelry we enjoyed in Battambang.

Before then, however, I have a 3-hour meeting wherein I’ll bandy about terms like “organizational aspirations” and “Institutional financial vehicles.”

Later, I’ll look them up to see what I was talking about.

It's been a couple of days since my last post, but I have an excuse. Really. Our intern, Kaillee Dravenstott, has been sick, and I've been shuttling her back and forth to hospitals and clinics.

As of this morning, we don't think she has dengue (our first fears). It looks like it might just be one of the many weird viruses floating around Cambodia. Keep praying, though, and I'll keep you posted. Eventually.

More photos from this set...

Last Sunday, I was worshipping in Doi Saket, Thailand with all of the kids in our four orphan homes in that town. Today, I’ll be with the kids from all five of our Battambang, Cambodia homes.

I’ll be teaching today from 1 Kings 7 – the story of the four lepers during the siege of Samaria. Not the most famous of all Bible stories, but I think it’ll be fun. It’s got war, leprosy and cannibalism. What more could a kid want in a story?

I’m still a little tired from last night’s party. We bought pon moan aang (grilled chicken eggs) and Coca-Cola (carbonated high-fructose corn syrup) – both are special treats that the kids love.

We started at about 5pm with a big ol’ unruly game of ‘capture the flag’ – boys versus girls. It’s hard to tell who won. For the very little kids, we played ‘duck duck goose.’

At dusk, we stretched a big sheet on a couple of sticks, hooked up a projector and sound system and watched a DVD of funny commercials from around the world. And then we danced.

And danced. And danced.

For at least three hours (and maybe longer – I left at around 9:30), staff, kids and guests danced in the cool night air to Cambodian hip-hop and club music. Now, dancing in our context isn’t the bump-and-grind you’d picture in an American night club or high school prom. It’s more like hopping around in a circle making hand motions. For hours.

The lightning that crackled across the horizon provided some extra ambience, while the thunder added some bass. And even though I didn’t grow up dancing very much (or very well, for that matter), I had a fantastic time.

If there’s a better picture of the Kingdom of God than a dance party at an orphan home, I can’t think of one. These kids have had so much pain. It’s great to see them enjoying themselves with such complete abandon.

As I returned to my hotel, the words of a song we sometimes sing at my church echoed in my head:

“Open up the doors and let the music play. Let the streets resound with singing! Songs that bring your hope, songs that bring your joy. Dancers who dance upon injustice.”

Thanks again for your prayers and your support. I know I’ve said it before, but it truly is an honor to serve these kids on your behalf.

It’s hot in Battambang, somewhere in the low 90s. I’m lying in bed at the TeO Hotel, which finally has Wi-Fi. After about a dozen visits to this hotel, let me just say, “It’s about time” for this place to be blessed with wireless access to this here internet.

I had planned on hanging out at our main campus – home to three of our five Battambang orphan homes – but Savorn, our national director, wisely suggested that I take a nap. He’s right, you know. I didn’t sleep well last night or the night before, and I wore myself out this morning at the Battambang 2 and 3 homes playing tag, ‘Simon says,’ ‘Steal the bacon,’ coin hockey, paper football and something sort of like rugby.

I’ll be in town for the next few days; I can afford to pace myself.

On my “visits to the troops,” I’m more Bob Hope than Douglas MacArthur; I take my role as designated merrymaker very seriously. Prior to coming to live at Asia’s Hope, each of these kids had a hell of a life -- in a very full sense of the expression – and I think they deserve to have as much fun as I can give them.

Read with me a few excerpts from some of these kids’ bios, and you’ll see why it’s so important to me that they have a chance to smile and play and laugh:

… Her father was a farmer, but he was killed by a land mine when she was 10 years old. Her mother abandoned her when she was 11 years old…Her grandmother made her taken care of pigs in order to earn some money to buy food. Sometimes the pigs died by disease and she could not take them to sell at market, so she had no money to buy food or clothes. She tried to find morning glory to get it to sell, but in the dry season she could not find it anymore, and she did not have enough food or other basic necessities…

… His father was a fisherman. In 1996 his father died of a liver disease. His mother was a housewife, but in 2001 she died of high blood pressure…After his parents died, he lived with an elderly grandmother. He took care of pigs and planted vegetables. However, because he did not have enough strength to do this work, he become sick and had no money to buy medicine. He could not go to school and his grandmother did not have a sufficient income to take care of him. He had no hope…

…Her father was a farmer. He was always drunk, and in 2006 he hung himself during the night from a mango tree and died. After her father died, her mother washed her neighbor’s clothes and dishes in order to earn some money to feed her children. Unfortunately, her mother contracted HIV, so no one wanted her to work for them anymore. Because of this, her mother abandoned her daughter to live with the neighbor…but the neighbor’s family was poor, and they had many of their own children to care for. As a result, they did not really like to feed her. The neighbor required her to go and collect morning glory and simple shellfish that she could sell, and then give the money to them. They did not let her go to school. She never had enough food or good clothes…

These aren’t the “worst-of-the-worst” stories, selected for dramatic effect. I have hundreds of stories just like these. Each one of our kids has had some sort of trauma or abandonment that brought them to us, and each one was at high risk of being trafficked -- sold or tricked into slavery or prostitution.

This is why I never feel like I’m wasting my time here, even when it might like I am. I’m not just playing ‘freeze tag,’ I’m helping reclaim some little boy’s stolen childhood. ‘Simon says?’ I’m helping to reformat a little girl’s self-image by telling her, “You’re important. You’re part of a family.”

Certainly, the most important work is done by the staff and the orphan home parents. They work tirelessly to provide everything that this world had stolen from these kids. But I will -- unashamedly and with a strong sense of a truly sacred calling -- run around with funny things on my head, make silly faces and play silly games as long as God gives me breath.

Tomorrow, we’re having a party. We’ll have special food and music, and we’ll laugh and dance and play more silly games. And with each laugh, each song, each round of coin hockey, we’ll write another happy line in these kids’ admittedly complex life story, and see the kingdom of darkness pushed back just a little bit more as God’s kingdom comes on earth – in Battambang, Cambodia – as it is in heaven.