Cafe Eden News Updates

This is the day the Lord has made!. We will REJOICE and be GLAD in it!

"Now faith means putting our full confidence in the things we hope for, it means being certain of things we cannot see."

Heb. 11:1

Thank you for hoping, believing, trusting, encouraging, laboring, giving, and praying along with us here in Battambang.

Saturday, December 4th, we opened the doors of Cafe Eden!

The Khmer workers, my dad, Mike, and I gathered together for prayer before opening. It was such a powerful moment as voices in two languages prayed fervently for God's favor and to praise Him for his faithfulness.

Cafe Eden News Update

God Answered my prayer and sent me a brother!

I was having one of the roughest days of my life. I was exhausted and had already had a few breakdowns during the day. I came back to my house to begin to fix a BBQ for some coaches that were coming from Washington that night. I was excited because some of them were from a church back in Washington. I was talking with one of the other coaches and we were talking about a mutual friend Sy. We were sharing stories and laughing about him. I went up to my room and had my back to the door when all of the sudden I heard this deep voice I couldn't mistake...Sy Reeves! I have known him since diapers as our families grew up together. We played together and he would always pass down his soccer cleats to me. We embraced and I let out a sob. It was amazing, on this day, to be hugged by my brother, my dear brother in Christ. After we got our emotions back in check we spent the next 36 hours together sharing about our families, our hopes, hurts, and dreams. I got to show him the cafe and showed him all around Battambang. I also got to spend some real special time doing ministry with him. He was here coaching soccer and so I was able to pray with him over some of the girls that he had developed a heart for and was also able to translate for him so he could communicate on a deeper level. We also got to watch this film together about a young girl who was caught up in the child labor industry in Thailand and how God had changed her life through soccer. The original movie had been done in German and when it was being translated into English Sy was asked to do the voiceover. So, it was extra special because he was able to meet this girl in real life and I was able to experience part of my life in America being connected to my life and ministry and the things I work with here in Asia. It was a wonderful day and a half! It was so neat to see how God orchestrated all this as Sy came at a time when I really needed some family around. Two funny notes: 1) One morning he woke up and went downstairs to get coffee where my friend Rachel gave him a cup that was made with some coffee I had given her. He asked what kind of coffee it was and she said, "Ah D and something." He flipped out and said, "D&M?!!!" D&M is a Washington coffee! It was a special moment of bringing our worlds together. 2) He brought me a gift from his brother Gage, their first CD from his band called, "Keep Your Fork, There's Pie." It was fun listening to the CD with Sy picking out Gage's voice knowing that in a couple of months I would be playing that CD in my cafe in Cambodia.

Mr. Switzerland!

I recently got a surprise visit from Raphael, a guy I studied my DTS with in 2001. He and I both went to India together on outreach. Here in Cambodia I work with another one of his really good friends from our DTS who runs a soccer ministry. It was a lot of fun getting to see him. He very politely told me, "Anna, you look just the same, the only thing you changed is your hair!" I quietly laughed as I know that is not true as I am 9 years older...and many things have changed! I found out that he has recently been voted "Mr. Switzerland." I asked him if it was a body building contest or if it was more like the Miss America pagent. Again, I giggled to myself as he told me it was based on "popularity and beauty." That evening my friend Rachel and I had been preparing a meal for him and a bunch of other coaches who were here doing ministry here and I let my mouth loose and started sharing funny stories about him and our DTS. In one of these stories I admitted that whenever we played soccer I always made sure he was on the team that had to take off their shirts....lets just say, he was made Mr. Switzerland for a good reason!

Earl

Another blessing from God came in the form of a man named Earl from Australia. I had never met him before but he was able to give me some good advice and help fix some holes in my roof. God is good!

I thought kids were supposed to work for their parents!

Right from the start I put my parents to work...and they almost never stopped! I loved watching them work together, it was so sweet to see them love and serve each other and me. And it was great to have people to dream and create and plan with me. But almost daily I had to remind my mom that we are in Cambodia and things don't happen that fast, or we can't buy that here! One day there was a down pour and things started to fall apart. Rain began to pour through the leaks and down the walls. Mom told me to come look at the sink that I had made because it was bubbling. As I looked into the sink water began to shoot out of it like a fountain! Mom grabbed the camera thinking it was a great photo op, but I didn't feel quite the same as there was water shooting in my face. I went up to my room, cried a bit, and then called my landlord and asked him to come over right away. To which he responded, "I can't come, I don't have a rain jacket!" Pop asked where the landlord was and when I told him what he had said, he responded, "well then I will buy him one!" I rarely see Pops angry, but his protective Fathers heart was upset. Eventually my landlord did come over and I asked my Father to please be nice, as I have been working on building a relationship with him. Of course Pops was kind, because he always is, and we were all able to talk. I was able to share honestly how frustrated I was and he showed me real compassion. At one point my Father and him were able to talk privately (he speaks good English) and Pops shared with him his fathers heart for me and how he wants to provide for me and protect me. He asked my landlord if he could help do that and he said "yes, I will try to help protect her." It was wonderful for me, at age 30, to still be my dads little girl. I was also reminded that my heavenly Father fights for me daily. It ended up being a really special time.

Family away from home

Ever since I first started coming to Cambodia 8 years ago, God has placed a special people in my life that has become my family away from home. God knew how important family is to me and so he brought a special family into my life to be my Grandma and Grandpa, my mom and dad. My parents were very excited to get to meet these people! They got to meet Pastor Keypun, who we call Lotah, which means grandpa, and his wife and daughter, Rachena, who has also been an important part of my life. We spent an evening together and it was extremely special to hear Lotah's family history and how rooted he and his wife have been in doing the Lord's work. At an early age he became an orphan, but was then raised by missionaries, one of whom was the very first missionary to Cambodia--he was with the CMA church! (He is pictured in the middle photo.) It was really special for my parents to be able to express their gratitude for embracing me and taking me in as family. As we talked both sides of the table were filled with tears of joy and tears of love.