With everything going on we weren't able post an update covering February, so we will briefly cover both February and March in this update.  
​

I heard a pastor (Derrick Fleck) once say, "there are no good or bad days, only grace filled days." The last two months have definitely given us opportunity to lean into God's grace and rethink how we define our days. This has been a trying time for people around the world. It is up to each of us to choose into God's abundant grace for today. Although we have had a lot of choices to make the last couple weeks about staying/going, health, safety, finances, etc. Currently we are safe and feel blessed to be on this journey. We are trusting what God has for us here and now. 
​

Love,
Megan, Aaron, Harper, and Ember Holmes

If you'd like to write us a post-card or send us physical gifts, please email us [email protected]; we would be happy to send you our address and instructions. 

We no longer have our old phone numbers. If you would like to contact us please email hardplacesaaron@gmailcom, or use any of our other social media listed on our website to connect with us (social media can be found at www.holmeslove.com/contact. 

If you would like to find out more about our family and what we are doing in Cambodia please visit our website: www.holmeslove.com. ​

The last 6 months have been a time of settling and figuring out how to do life here. We have been really blessed with family and friends visiting, making new friends, and seeing God move here in Cambodia. January has been a month of transition from getting settled to moving forward. Megan started her new full time position at Hope school as the PA to the director. Aaron also started full time language school. ​

Megan started her new position at Hope in January. The position includes several roles including secretary to the school board, personal assistant to the school director, and child protection liaison at the school. However, most of Megan's time right now is filled with preparing for the school's upcoming accreditation visit. In March Hope's accreditation agency will come visit the school and require a plethora of documents. Megan is primarily responsible for making sure all the right documents are collected and paperwork filled out. This is not her favorite kind of work, but she is doing great and almost done. When the visit is over she will be able to transition into the child protection services role which she is looking forward to. 

I (Aaron) started full time language school in January. In the fall I completed level one as night classes. Level one finished in mid December and the school relocated to a brand new building before the new term started in mid January. The new building is really nice and has tons of group study space. Fortunately the new building is only a couple blocks away from the old building and not much farther of a commute. Level two has been very challenging. Most of the rest of the class did full time together last term, and are ahead of me. I feel behind compared to others who had done the full time class last term, and I am not able to understand instructions as well. However, I am spending extra time studying, and working with teachers to get caught up. The teachers have been great to work with, they are helping  by giving me class materials a week ahead of time so I can preview before class begins. I am also meeting with a tutor one-on-one twice a week to review previous vocab and get more practice listening to instruction in Khmer. I do feel like I am slowly catching up but it is challenging. 
​

Thank you to all who have been so amazingly generous with our family. We literally wouldn’t be here without both your prayer and financial support. We were able to get some of the things on our list last month thanks to you all!
​
Below are some additional needs and ways you can partner with us financially.

1. $500 by March 25th for Aaron's next term of language school ($3,000 total to pay for the rest of school)

2. $500 more a month for our house helpers, ministry expenses, and annual costs such as insurance, taxes, visas, home visit, etc.

3. We would also like $2,000 for some additional setup items:

• Finish setting-up guest bedrooms for visitors, gap-year students, and HPC interns
• Setting-up Aaron's office for school and meeting with people
• Moto for Megan's daily commute to work
• A generator before power outages start during the hot season

To partner with our family go to: www.holmeslove.com/donate

All donations are tax deductible and directly support the Holmes Family in Cambodia.


Thank you for partnering with us!

​The holiday season has been both hard and good. Thanksgiving was really hard for me (Aaron). I wasn't fully prepared for the implications of trying to celebrate a holiday in a country that doesn't celebrate it; which included Megan having to work and Harper being in school. I realized later that as a quality time love language guy, not being with family on Thanksgiving would really take a toll on me. We did get to have a traditional Thanksgiving meal with our HPC family, which was really really good. However even that was bitter sweet as we were only there for a couple hours. We had to leave early to get Megan and the girls to bed because they all had school and work the following morning. It all reminded me that this was different than normal, and we didn't get to celebrate it the way I would have wanted, which would have been to spend all day with family and friends without any time concerns or commitments the following morning.

With that said, a whole month of getting to prepare for Christmas felt really good. We spent lots of time decorating, watching Christmas movies, reading bible stories, and talking about the reason for the season. We were so incredibly blessed to have our friends Lauren and Carol visit the week before Christmas. It was a huge blessing getting to share our journey with her, share our home with her, and share some laughs and tears with her. She also brought us loads of Christmas cards and some gifts from all of you that also blessed our whole family.

Megan and the girls last day of school/work was the 19th. It has been amazing having some quality time to play and rest together. We have also spent a lot of time calling family and friends back home. We still have a few days before the girls and Megan go back to school, so be sure to hit us up with a Facebook audio/video call if you have time.

In general we feel really good. The "settling" season we have been in since we got here has been exactly what we needed. We really believe it has helped Megan to be working. She really thrives with structure and having a place to connect with people, and pour herself into. For me (Aaron), it has really helped to not have full time work, but instead do part time language and full time family things. To be able to spend time figuring out how to live here, where to shop, what we can do for food, fun, retreats with the Lord, etc. It all helps. I do better with lots of time to process through things. We have also been making friends individually and as a family. Off and on the girls have taken turns having a hard time with the transition. But everything they have been feeling has been normal and overall they have done really well. As of right now they are both doing great and ready for school to start again. Now that we have all transitioned we feel ready to step into a new season. ​

Like I said before, we have been so blessed by the opportunity Megan has had to work at the girls school, Hope International, for a variety of reasons. It has helped her transition, it has helped financially, its nice for her to be there for the girls, and helped us all get more connected. With that said, there was a bit of trepidation when she first started because it was an interim position that was scheduled to end in December. Megan spent a lot of time looking at other jobs. However, after a few shorts months Hope told Megan there was a new position opening up, and they wanted her to apply.

Due to required processes, they couldn't just give her the job, but no one else applied. It was pretty clear from the first mention of this position that they wanted to do whatever it would take to keep Megan, and this position was more or less designed with her in mind. She accepted the new position a few weeks ago, and really steps into it when school starts again in January. The position includes several roles including secretary to the school board, personal assistant to the school director, and child protection liaison at the school. For those who know Megan, you'll know how great a fit these roles will be with her experience and passions. It also turns out the current director is leaving this summer and they are still looking for a new director. Megan beginning this position now is strategic to help with the transition to the new director, whomever they may be, and whenever they may start. She will excel at all of this. Also, Hope is a great school with great people, and it is a blessing for our family to be part of it. ​

• Continued grace for Megan as she adjusts to her new position and that the school finds someone amazing to step in as Director
• Praise that God provided partners and finances to get us through December
• God’s provision bringing enough partners and monthly support for Aaron to transition to full time language learning.
• God’s provision to pay for a language helper for Aaron, remaining household items, and annual costs such as taxes, visas, home visit, etc.
• That we would continue to adjust to living in Cambodia; including the humidity, culture, language, home, and community.
• That the Lord would continue to open opportunities to get to know Khmer nationals and share the love of God with them.

If you'd like to write us a post-card or send us physical gifts, our permanent address is Megan’s mom’s house; and she will send things with people coming to visit us:

Aaron and Megan Holmes
3664 Sunwood Drive
Redding, CA, 96002

We no longer have our old phone numbers. If you would like to contact us please email hardplacesaaron@gmailcom, or use any of our other social media listed on our website to connect with us www.holmeslove.com/contact. 

Also please note that from now on we will be sending out monthly updates through our newsletter, which will also be posted on our blog at www.holmeslove.com/blog. ​

Love,
Megan, Aaron, Harper, and Ember Holmes

I have so many things I want to tell you all about. I am so thankful for the opportunity to share through this blog about our family and what God is doing here in Cambodia. If you can believe it we have been in Cambodia for over three months already. I find it hard to believe sometimes. We are finally starting to feel settled. Well, more accurately I am starting to feel more settled. Megan has been working since a couple weeks after we got here, which I think has helped speed up the process for her. For me, not only are we in a new country learning a new language and all the other cultural things, but I have transitioned to being the stay at home parent. Not that I mind, but spending my days shopping and doing laundry, and cooking and cleaning, has taken some getting used to.
 
I like to think I have always had respect for stay at home parents. My mother was a professional homemaker, and she was one of the hardest working people I have ever known. However now that I find myself living that life, I definitely have a better appreciation for it. It is a lot of work. It also is an incredible blessing. For years I missed out on being home with Harper and Ember, being available for sick days, and having daily time to be intentional about our lives and home.
 
But after three months, the settling has been going well and we have started to feel more at home. Our team at HPC has been a major factor in that transition. Our team has welcomed us so well, and been so engaged, that it has really helped us feel connected and like we have a community around us. It is hard, but it would be so much harder being here in this foreign country and culture without all of you if it weren’t for our incredible team here.
 
It has also helped me transition to start meeting with people. I am focused on language learning right now, but I have started meeting with a few people a week. This has been a great chance to see what God is already doing here, and start building relationships. Many of the people I have been meeting with have similar passions for journeying with God and men. One of the men I met with a few weeks ago is in the process of writing curriculum for a men’s year-long school. One of the guys started celebrate recovery here and runs men's meetings throughout the city. One of the guys I met with is one of HPC’s Khmer staff who started a soccer program, that has opened up the door for him to do weekly discipleship with dozens of young people. There have been more, but they all are Godly men making a difference in the lives of others. It’s been a blessing to see God moving here.
 
Your love and support has been another big part of why we have been able to transition and get settled here. Thank you so much for you prayers and to all who have reached out to us; it really means a lot! I can’t wait to share more with you all next month. ​As always, please email or message us on social media how we can be praying for you.

With our love,
The Holmes Family; Ember, Harper, Megan, and Aaron

​One of the big things God put on our hearts coming to Cambodia was to be an example to people by doing family well. I believe how we celebrate says a lot about us as individuals, our family, and our culture. Do we go through the motions? Do we genuinely engage? Do we do what we do because of outside references? Do we intentionally invite the father into co-creating something meaningful? How does our engagement reflect our level of connection in community? These are the kinds questions that came to my mind a few weeks ago as I prepared for my birthday. Having moved across the world, things are obviously different here and I wanted to take the opportunity of things being different anyways to bring intentionality to my birthday. To rethink how I do my birthday and take some time to invite the father into the process. With Megan’s support I got away the day before my birthday and spent the day reflecting on the last year.
 
I journaled through the hardships and the blessings. I literally laughed and cried while I thought about everything that we have been through this last year. All the traveling, finally finishing and showing the film I produced over the last 7 years, working several jobs remotely, saying goodbye to friends and family, and finally moving our family with 12 checked bags to a developing nation on the opposite side of the world. Wild! We got to see so many friends and family we hadn’t seen in years. Thinking about the last time I saw many of you brought tears to my eyes. Remembering how much love and support we have in being here blessed me. Remembering the jobs I have worked in the last year made me really thankful for them and how well we have been taken care of by the Lord. Such an amazing year with so many ups and downs, but constantly filled with Gods presence and love from our community.
 
I also got to dream with God about this next year. As I feel myself coming out of chaos phase; a normal part of the emotional transition into a new culture where nothing seems normal; I find myself presented with a unique opportunity to bring intentionality into every part of my life. What I eat, how I sleep, how I engage Megan, Harper, Ember, scheduling, work, language learning, media, and ultimately how I pursue God and let God pursue me. I don’t know that I have any major revelations to share other than the way I engage and live out my days is already looking very different. My time is being spent differently, and my attitude is different. I am feeling strength through my day from the blessing of engaging with God about life.
 
On my birthday, Megan and the girls and I went to a swimming pool in the morning and enjoyed time together as we rested and played. Sunday night we went to dinner with friends. Making friends and getting to know people is fairly slow going here. However, we have such amazing community already with our HPC team. Everyone came to celebrate with me and it felt like family. Our team here showed me what it means to love well.
 
For me, celebrating well this year looked like making time to reflect on the last year, dreaming with God about the next year, spending time playing with family, and inviting community to celebrate what God has done and is going to do. My prayers are with Cambodia and I look forward to seeing God move through our family and how we celebrate in the years to come.

Our vision for our time in Cambodia is to be given to whatever the Lord has for us. The invitation so far has been to support existing ministries at Hard Places Community. For Aaron that looks likes coaching and discipleship of the 55+ national staff. However to do that I feel really strongly that I need to be able to go to deep places in their heart language; Khmer, which requires an advanced level of language speaking ability. To get to that level, I am looking at one to two years of study and practice. 

In September I started part time language class through Gateway to Khmer (G2K) international language school. I am in level one of four, with 5 other students. We meet twice a week in the evenings for a couple hours per class. So far we have learned basic greetings, questions, numbers, and job titles. Some of the other students are teachers at an international school and the others are working at various NGO's. The class primarily is focusing on vocabulary so far, but is well run and I am learning pretty well in that format. My current class goes for 10 weeks, after which I will start level two full time.

Last week I also started meeting with a language helper. The goal is to accelerate my language learning by learning more topics than just what they are presenting in class. I also wanted to get time with someone who has no teaching experience but speaks fluently so that I can learn the correct way to pronounce things without any presupposed ideas on how to teach. I learned some language learning activities when we went to culture school in Colorado in June. My language helpers name is Annuch. She recently graduated high-school and is volunteering full time in the Library with Megan to practice her English and get job experience before she starts university in November. She didn't have any prior experience and has been enthusiastic about doing my activities with me and answering lots of questions. So far I have been learning directions, locations, vehicles, times of day, personal pronouns, and how to form past tense and present tense sentences related to transportation. I am really enjoying this one on one time and am getting a ton out of it! Yesterday in our session, among other things, I was able to tell her that: others and I went to a school and market the day before yesterday on a bike, all in Khmer with correct syntax. My time with Annuch amazingly is free, and in return for her help I am spending some time every session helping with her English. She already speaks very clearly, but we are focusing on her reading and writing skills. 

Annuch starts at the university in November, but has offered to keep meeting with me if she is able. Either way I'm very grateful for how quickly I am learning because of her help; and will look for another helper if she is not able to continue working with me. 

Language learning is an important part of our life and ministry here in Cambodia. I am very blessed by the training and opportunities I have. Its not always easy finding time to practice right now outside of class and time with Annuch, but I know that every minute spent learning gets me closer to loving and journeying with HPC Khmer staff; and that makes it more than worth it. Thank you everyone for you prayers and encouragement as we continue on the wild journey with the Lord. 

​This blog post is a copy from our quarterly newsletter which was sent out a couple weeks. I wanted to post it here for anyone who doesn't receive our newsletter. I will start posting new weekly updates here next week.

We are in Cambodia! 
We have been in Cambodia for almost two months already, the time has flown by. Thank you to everyone for all of your amazing prayers as we traveled from California and have transitioned to living here.  We have seen God do many things already: 

• We had several check bags overweight, but the sweet gentleman that helped us didn’t mind! He even gave us a free checked bag so we could redistribute one that was way over.
• The girls and Megan all got decent sleep on the flights, Aaron even slept for a couple hours.
• There was a major storm coming in and threatening all air travel in southeast Asia, but we missed it by a day.

Here's a few prayer request highlights: 

• Continued grace for Megan as she adjusts to working full time, and amazing relationships with her coworkers.
• God’s provision bringing enough partners and monthly support to reach our budget through December.
• God’s provision bringing enough partners and monthly support to reach our full monthly budget by the time Megan finishes her interim position in December.
• God’s provision to pay for a language helper for Aaron, remaining household items, and The rest of the cost of the visas.
• That we would continue to adjust to living in Cambodia; including the humidity, culture, language, home, and community.
• That the Lord would continue to open opportunities to get to know Khmer nationals and share the love of God with them.

If you'd like to write us a post-card or send us physical gifts, our permanent address is Megan’s mom’s house; and she will send things with people coming to visit us:

Aaron and Megan Holmes
3664 Sunwood Drive
Redding, CA, 96002

We no longer have our old phone numbers. If you would like to contact us please email hardplacesaaron@gmailcom, or use any of our other social media listed on our website to connect with us www.holmeslove.com/contact. ​

​Financial Partnership:
Thank you to all of you who have been so amazingly generous with our family. We literally wouldn’t be here without you. Besides our monthly budget we raised $4000 towards our moving costs. 

Some items we used the moving budget to pay for include:

• Some of the travel costs
• Down payment and first month’s rent
• Part of the cost for new Visa’s
• The girl’s tuition in August
• And random items around the house like:
  • Bedding for Aaron and Megan, a couple fans, a toaster oven, dishes, plates, silverware, and cooking utensils.

We would still like to raise $3500 for the remainder of the expenses to fully setup our new life in Cambodia. We also need to raise about $500 more a month right away to get us through December. Partner with our family and go to www.holmeslove.com/donate

All donationations are tax deductable and greatly appreciated!


Thank you for partnering with us!

​The second half of culture school continued the great experience we were having from the first two weeks. The training continued to be very well thought out, well taught, and extremely helpful. It was also challenging. The focus in the latter half of school was cultural transition training, particularly stress and conflict management. Our group bonded even more as we shared stressful experiences and vulnerably processed through our feelings.
 
We weren’t really expecting it, but we became very close with the other missionaries at the school. It was hard to leave everyone and say good bye. However, we are very thankful for that. The pain we experience from saying goodbye is a sign that we have loved well. It is a lesson that continues to pay dividends. After school we went back to Idaho. We had the opportunity to be sent by the Assemblies church in Sand Point and say many good good-byes. We are very thankful for the community we have there. We also had the chance to stop in Tiller Oregon for almost a week to spend time with friends. The community there feels like family and it was very refreshing and fun to see everyone. I also had a chance to preach at the church in Tiller on Sunday and share about our move to Cambodia. The response was overwhelming supportive and we were very blessed to say many hard goodbyes.
 
We got back to Redding Thursday before last and have been so excited to see all our family and friends before we finally move to Cambodia. As we get closer to our leave date of August 6th, God continues to impress on us His desire for others to be part of what he is doing in Cambodia. He keeps pressing us to invite other to be part of what He is bringing us there to do. We are so grateful for everyone partnering with us in prayer and financial support. We have had several events the last few weeks, which were great opportunities to share about Cambodia, and see everyone. For our last week here, we have a marathon of seeing friends and raising support. We are so excited for what is to come, but also enjoying our time here.
 
Our next blog will be from Cambodia. Thank you everyone who has helped make this possible!
 
Blessings,
Aaron, Megan, Harper, and Ember Holmes
 
 

We finished week two of culture school with a deep sense of appreciation for being here. The school is really good. The first two weeks focused on language/culture learning. We have adopted a foundational perspective on language learning that gives us a lot of hope and excitement to learn Khmer in Cambodia. We have learned a ton of really practical tools that will accelerate our learning process. The teachers all have a ton of experience and are incredible teachers. The program is very well organized and allows for optimal learning and growing.

Likewise, the girls have been classes full time as well. They both really enjoy their teachers and classmates. They’re curriculum follows the same topics as ours; adjusted to their level and probably even more fun 😊. We are all getting some great communication tools that are already helping us adjust and grow as a family. One of the concepts we have been learning was yay duck and yuck duck. The idea is that paradox of simultaneously feeling both happy (yay) and sad (yuck) is normal. Rather than viewing yuck feelings as bad, the girls are learning those feelings are normal and even good if they are able to voice those feelings in community. For example, when we move, we will simultaneously be feeling happy about moving to Cambodia and all the Lord is going to do, as well as good yuck feelings like leaving our family and friends here in America. We are able to embrace and validate each other’s feelings, which has been building trust, vulnerability, and healthy growth. We are really excited about these communication tools as we know they will really help us adjust as a family in Cambodia.

Another highlight so far has been the relationships we have been building with the other missionaries. The girls especially have enjoyed playing with all the kids. To put it in perspective, there are about 36 adults and 34 kids. Harper has made some really good friends and is absolutely loving it here. The transition for Ember has been a little more emotional. We think the adjustment to being in class all day and away from Harper for most of the day for the first time in her life has been a major contributor. However, even with that, Ember is enjoying class, playing with Harper and the other kids.

This week we have transitioned out of language learning and into cultural adjustment, which we will be learning over the next two weeks. We really enjoyed the last two weeks, but are especially excited about the cultural training. Already we have been discussing what it is like for kids to grow up as “Third Culture Kids”. The idea being they will not be growing up as fully American, and not grow up fully Khmer. They will have a unique combination of cultural experiences with a unique set of challenges. The lessons have been from both the missionary perspective, and that of former missionary kids, which has been really helpful.

Please be praying as the next two weeks will include various stress exercises to help bring up our stuff to teach us tools for healthy processing and working through conflict in new cultural settings. It will be really good and we are looking forward to it, but we would love your prayers. We also need to pay for the girls school in Cambodia. We are looking for 20 people willing to commit to $50 dollars a month for the next year (+/- as you are able). Please go here to sign up for convenient tax deductible monthly payments.

We aren’t able to post a lot of pictures in order to protect some of the missionaries, but follow our social media accounts for updates. I’ll post another blog in a few weeks to let you all know how the rest of school goes.

Thank you for partnering with us in encouragement, prayer, and finances!
 
With Love,

Aaron, Megan, Harper, and Ember Holmes

                Between birthdays, projects, travel, family, friends, and work, the last few weeks have been very eventful. Some of you know my youngest brother, Gabe. It has been a lot of fun living in the same home with him for the last 8 months. I moved to Redding when he was only two and a half, so this is the first time we have lived together in a long time. We just celebrated his 16th birthday a couple weeks ago and had blast. Last year he was at our home in Redding for his birthday, and we celebrated by getting him a princess cake. This year he opted for pumpkin cheesecake, which is fine too I guess. After dinner most of us went to see Avengers End Game. He was throwing out theories the whole way there, and some of them were right. I cried about 5 times during the movie. However, seeing my youngest brother grow into such a creative young man who pursues God makes me even more emotional. I am very proud to be his big brother and so blessed we got to be home to celebrate with him.
                The next day we left for Washington and began a weeklong get-together marathon. It all started on Sunday at First Christian church where I grew up going during my teenage years. We had an amazing time sharing our story and what God is doing in Cambodia. It was a lot more emotional then I was expecting. Seeing people who influenced me as I grew up and planted seeds for my value of family in the church. We got to see family and friends the rest of the week. We caught up with aunts, and uncles, and Megan’s grandmother; my siblings, and a ton of friends. It was such a blessing catching up, laughing, crying, and praying together.
                That Friday I found out that I would be traveling down to Redding the following week to help out with a project at work. I checked out all the different travel options and the train ended up being the easiest and cheapest. The train is the most comfortable and beautiful way to travel and I highly recommend it if you have the time.
I spent the following week and a half in Redding. The first week was mostly work, but I got to spend some quality time with tons of friends. It is a huge blessing to spend time with our community; you all inspire us and empower us to live out Gods calling.
                ​Through the midst of it, we have been processing a lot about moving to Cambodia. We have been wrestling a bit with doubts about moving to Cambodia and how the transition to living there will go. Its been really good processing together and the Lord has been revealing himself as we have been asking questions. I think it is going to be really good for us both in Cambodia. Really excited to get their and jump into family routines and language school and meeting people.
                This last weekend I went on retreat with my Dad. We went to “Big Rock”, which is a camp site near Rimrock in eastern Washington. It’s a place I grew up going to with my dad and has a lot of emotional significance for us both. Going there on retreat with my dad, spending time with God and with him was really wonderful. God brought up lots of memories and gave us the chance to really connect with Him and with each other. Thank you everyone who was praying for us.
                Tomorrow we leave Idaho and start a two-week road trip to Colorado for a month-long culture school intensive. We will be visiting friends and national parks along the way. Please be praying for safe travels, and finances as we need help paying for the rest of culture school. The school is going to be amazing for our family to prepare for moving across the world.
                Thank you all for your prayers, encouragement, and financial support on this wild journey!
 
Blessings,
                Aaron, Megan, Harper, and Ember Holmes