By Team Leader Allyson Overstreet

The Saving Susan Team Trip to Cambodia has gone to a new level. It was 10 years ago that Jay first stepped foot in Cambodia as part of Sanctuary Church and met Vichika (Susan) for the first time. This week they were reunited after 18 months, and the reunion was just beginning.

Since the moment we arrived, our trip has been all about ‘reunion’. One of our parent partners, Doreen Buben came, to celebrate the graduation of her Parent Partnered child. Her last visit in 2019 was for Srey Pov’s high school graduation. We began with a special dinner with the Next Steps kids in Phnom Penh along with Pastor Sihok, Dr Nop, Steve & Noit Hyde and their children. Mike Gurick, a co-laborer working on a different mission from Sanctuary church, joined us as well. That was a divine appointment.

While traveling to Imparting Smiles, we were joined in Siem Reap by the kids from Bileg. This was a planned surprise for our founder, Jay. At lunch we were joined by Debbie Sheffield, who had been visiting her daughter, Katie and her family. Katie’s husband, Sokion, is our Cambodian discipleship pastor for the Next Steps students. Our team of 12 was now complete. The Bileg kids followed us on the Saving Susan bus to Imparting Smiles, where all the SSM family shared a wonderful dinner hosted by Steve and Noit Hyde.

Early the next morning, five of the Next Steps students arrived at our hotel in Poipet. They had ridden the night bus from Phnom Penh to join us for worship on Sunday.

Did I mention that our music teacher, Oliver, came up with the Bileg kids? He is from the Philippines and met us in Cambodia to be a part of our August 2022 trip. He has spent the year teaching music at Imparting Smiles and Bileg. His first part of his year was spent at Imparting Smiles and now teaching at Bileg. This has been a tremendous blessing for the children, and the concert performance with all the children on stage was simply amazing.