July started with a trip home to see family and friends and to attend the 2nd Annual General Meeting of Eggshell Cambodia.
We enjoyed precious time spent with Liz’s father who is a young 94, our children, grandchild, our extended family and our friends. It was so nice to have a few good warm days too as Northern Ireland does not always have good weather during the summer months. In Cambodia, it becomes dark between 6pm-6.30pm so our staff were amazed at a photo they received showing how light it was at 9.30pm, they just could not believe it.
Before we left for Northern Ireland our Senior day-care worker Mazong made jewellery for us to sell at our talks. They were all made out of beads and looked wonderful. Mazong used some of the money raised to buy cushions for the children to sleep on.
Our first meeting was with a group of ladies from St John’s Church of Ireland, Orangefield who are coming out on Mission in October. They are excited and asked many questions which were hopefully answered for them. We are looking forward to having them and ask you to remember them in prayer as they make their preparations.
We were so blessed to be able to go along and support Boots Chemist at Forestside who were fundraising for us by doing a cyclathon over the first weekend we were home. Alongside all those on staff who were doing their bit in the shop, it was so nice to see people who had been with us on Mission Trips turning up and helping as well – we thank you all. They raised an amazing amount of £767 but more importantly raised awareness of our work in Cambodia.
We also thank Willowfield Little Lambs who raised £182 doing a sponsored walk and Bangor Grammar who sold sweets in school for a week and raised £110. You are all amazing.
We had the privilege of sharing an update of our ongoing work at Ballyhenry Presbyterian in Carnmoney and were encouraged by the amount of people who attended considering it was the start of the summer holidays. We thank them for their ongoing support. We had a great night of fellowship; it was like coming home to a huge holy hug.
Liz also had a lovely morning a with Eggshell Cambodia Supporters at St Donards Church of Ireland where she did an update and was presented with a cheque for £500. Many thanks to John and Joan Bell who organised the sponsored walk.
On the Sunday morning just before returning home we talked at St Clements Church of Ireland, again it was great to be among friends and we enjoyed updating them and seeing their newly updated facilities.
Our Annual General Meeting was held in Willowfield Parish Church on Monday 8th July. We were so blessed as our Chairperson and Treasurer gave a review to supporters who attended, of what has been happening over the past year but also excitingly share in our vision of the Charity for the coming year and further into the future. For those of you who could not attend, year one saw the day care open and operating with children at risk being protected during the day – year two will see us expand in numbers at our present location but also we are looking to identify Eggshell Cambodia No. 2 within the coming year. We thank you for supporting our work would ask you to pray that God shows us the right location for Eggshell Cambodia No. 2. We would ask that you please continue to support us prayerfully and financially so we may see God work in the lives of more children in Cambodia who are currently at risk.
Tuesday 9th July, we boarded our first of three aeroplanes to return to our home in Cambodia. We arrived into Phnom Penh Wednesday afternoon but unfortunately our luggage didn’t; we are thankful that they arrived after three days – Liz was running out of clothes!!!
We were so happy to welcome our children on Thursday morning and see their smiling faces as they ran in the gates. It makes our hearts burst to see them, happy to be with us and being free to be children without worries or cares.
The sad news on our return to day care was about a lady who lives close by. She lives alone in extreme poverty and was approximately 6 months pregnant. She was attacked with a knife by a young man who was high on drugs – she was badly injured with deep cuts to her head and bruising, but unfortunately, she also lost the baby during the attack. Please remember her in your prayers.
We would like to take this opportunity to wish our friends David and Esther Allen a Happy 25th Wedding Anniversary and also wish them God’s richest blessings as they prepare to return to the UK after 9 years in Cambodia to take up new positions within an Elim church in Southport. They have supported us over the years not only by hosting Mission Teams but also over the past year helping us settle into life in Phnom Penh. We will miss them when they leave.
May we forever be encouraged in our hearts and minds on how awesome is the goodness of our God.
Until next time.
Liz and Mark.