Letters, Love & Prayers Vol. 2

Dear Family and Friends!

I can’t believe it’s 3 months into 2010 already! My travel start date is getting closer and closer! And that is exactly the reason why I wanted to update you on what’s been happening with my upcoming journey to Cambodia and the ministry I will be doing there.

I’ve really been using these months before I leave as preparation. Preparation of my heart, of my mind, of my finances, and of my spirit. I’m attempting to teach myself some of the local language, Khmer, which is proving to be an overwhelming task! I’m also planning on learning some basic Cambodian cooking. I wasn’t crazy about the food, so I’m hoping to practice on preparing some dishes and acquire a taste! Or it’ll be my year of rice. I’ve also been working towards making myself debt-free! Thankfully, my debt is small, and with some budgeting, I should be completely debt-free by September. This is a huge deal for me, to be able to travel without the stress of bills and payments. It will be quite a relief. We’re also right in the midst of Lent, and this year I chose to participate for the first time ever. I’ve been purposeful with my fasting to use my extra time in prayer and study to ask God to prepare me spiritually for this journey. I don’t think I’ll ever be “ready” spiritually, but I know He will uphold me and sustain me as needed.

I’ve also been networking a ton, through friends and acquaintances, and even through my blog and Facebook. It’s been exciting to see the people and organizations God has put in my path during this season. And I know this is only the beginning of things to come. I’m always looking for more networking contacts, so if you’d be interested in letting me come and speak at your church, small group, Sunday School class, youth group, one on one, or other gatherings, I’d love the chance to share what God is doing in Cambodia and how others can be a part of ending sex trafficking. Please email me!

I had an amazing opportunity in February to help fight against human trafficking in our own state. I spent 4 days in Miami Beach leading up to the Super Bowl. I went down the Florida Coalition Against Human Trafficking, and we partnered with 5 other organizations for this outreach. Our goal was help identify missing children and to provide outreach & awareness to people regarding sex trafficking. I love opportunities like this, since I will be fighting against sex trafficking in Cambodia. So I feel that any experience I can get is good experience for the ministry ahead. The night outreach we did consisted of observation, watching and looking for underage girls who have been prostituted. When we were able to identify someone, we’d approach them with a brief interaction and get in their hands a safe hotline card that they could use to get off the streets. We approached several girls and handed out many cards. Some were receptive, others just blew us off. But the important thing was that we made contact and let them know that help was available. We did this for 3 straight nights. The other aspect of our outreach was focused on community awareness. We walked around to businesses, like hotels, restaurants, bars, shopping centers, and handed out information on missing kids from the area, as well as tips to identify someone who could be a victim of sex trafficking. The card also had the national hotline so tips could be reported immediately. We had mostly positive response, especially in regards to looking for the missing kids. They didn’t seem quite as enthused knowing we out there trying to help prostitutes, but that’s OK, it’s all part of why we are out there, to change the public perception. By the end of the weekend, 2 missing girls had been located, and 6 leads had been reported. One underage girl was off the streets for the night, and countless others had been contacted. Also, an out-of-state man was arrested in Miami Beach on sex trafficking charges. He had been found with girls that he was prostituting out during the Super Bowl and one was underage. That news release and more details about my trip are on my blog: http://bindingthebroken.blogspot.com in the “Miami” section.

As far as new information on the DTS [Discipleship Training School with YWAM], I officially got my acceptance letter! So my start date is September 23, 2010 and I’ll be reporting to Orlando, FL.

My biggest prayer needs right now is continued persistence in preparation and discipline. I really want to make the most out of my last 6 months here, and not miss out on ministry that God is doing. Also, I still have a great financial need for this trip. The training school costs have been broken down like this: I need $1,060 by August 13th, which is 1/3 of the Orlando Lecture Fees. Then $2,130 by September 13, which is the remainder of the Orlando Lecture Fees Balance. October 22nd is when I would need the international airfare, which would vary from $1,000 - $1,8000 depending on location. The final amount due of $1,700 by November 30th, covers the Field Assignment Ground Fees. As of right now, I don’t have any of this amount. I have great faith that God will provide this amount and beyond to begin my “life in Cambodia” ministry fund, and I’m excited to see how He is going to do it! I would ask you as supporters to pray and see if God is leading you to financially contribute to this ministry.

Keep in contact with me through my email: joy2theworld82@gmail.com and my blog: http://bindingthebroken.blogspot.com.

If you are interested in financially supporting this upcoming missions project, you can donate online through PayPal on my blog or by check. Make checks payable to YWAM [Youth With a Mission] and mail to myself [email me for mailing address]. There is no need to put my name on the check anywhere, as I will be sending them straight to YWAM myself.

Thank you so much for your prayers and encouragement. I can’t wait to update you again with more news!

Ruined for the Ordinary,


Joy Engdahl