Meet our Family
JUDAH
Four years old, birthday in mid September. In kindergarten. An accomplished drawer of cars. Enjoys Marvel, Legos, and Nintendo.
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EMBER
Eight years old, birthday in early march. In third grade. A popular party host for friends and dolls. Enjoys unicorns, bike rides, and drawing.
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HARPER
Ten years old, birthday in late November. In fifth grade. An unquenchable reader of graphic novels. Enjoys American Girl dolls, Babysitters Club, and Unspeakable.
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MEGAN
15+ years of team leadership experience, 12+ years of project development. MBA from Eastern University. Enjoys hiking, organic food, and burn notice.
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AARON
18+ years of project development, 17+ years of mentoring, 10+ years leading retreats, 6 years advising young adults. Enjoys camping, board games, and science fiction.
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We Moved to Cambodia
In 2017 I (Aaron) co-led a retreat for Hard Places Community (HPC) staff in Cambodia. On that trip God promised to give me the opportunity to journey with people around the world. I was also invited to apply to work with HPC long term.
That might sound nice, but up to that point, I had told God many times I would never do long term missions overseas (cue God laughing). However, something had shifted. There was a real connection here and God was doing something.
When I got home I told Megan "we should pray about considering maybe one day possibly thinking about the idea of...I don't know...moving to Cambodia." If you know Megan, you know I should have expected her answer; but I wasn't ready when Megan responded, "Ok, lets go now!"
So we prayed, but we didn't tell anyone. Within two weeks, four different friends shared dreams they had of our family living in Cambodia. That was the confirmation we needed. It took us two and a half years, to sell our home, pay off debt, raise support, complete cultural training, and move with our two girls, Harper and Ember, to Cambodia in August of 2019.
That might sound nice, but up to that point, I had told God many times I would never do long term missions overseas (cue God laughing). However, something had shifted. There was a real connection here and God was doing something.
When I got home I told Megan "we should pray about considering maybe one day possibly thinking about the idea of...I don't know...moving to Cambodia." If you know Megan, you know I should have expected her answer; but I wasn't ready when Megan responded, "Ok, lets go now!"
So we prayed, but we didn't tell anyone. Within two weeks, four different friends shared dreams they had of our family living in Cambodia. That was the confirmation we needed. It took us two and a half years, to sell our home, pay off debt, raise support, complete cultural training, and move with our two girls, Harper and Ember, to Cambodia in August of 2019.
Our Beloved Son
Before we moved to Cambodia, God told us family was going to be a big and important part of our life and ministry in Cambodia. We had no idea our family would actually get bigger. In the middle of the pandemic, we brought home Judah when he was nine months old. He was born ten weeks early and abandoned at the hospital within hours of his birth. After bringing him home we decided to be his forever family.
We spent two years going through the process of becoming his legal foster parents and then adopting. Cambodia does not have an adoption agreement with the US; so we weren't able to talk about Judah publicly until after it was finished because of the complex and delicate nature of adopting as foreigners.
In the end, we not only were approved to adopt, but also were able to change his name! That's right Judah is officially a Holmes! It was challenging and costly. We were told no this won't work, so many times. It's really a miracle that it happened at all. Even though we weren't able to talk about it, we couldn't have gotten through without the amazing prayer and generosity of our support family around the world! Thank you everyone for partnering with our family! Next steps are to journey towards a legal process to get Judah US citizenship. It will be challenging, but we are so thankful to face it together as a family.
We spent two years going through the process of becoming his legal foster parents and then adopting. Cambodia does not have an adoption agreement with the US; so we weren't able to talk about Judah publicly until after it was finished because of the complex and delicate nature of adopting as foreigners.
In the end, we not only were approved to adopt, but also were able to change his name! That's right Judah is officially a Holmes! It was challenging and costly. We were told no this won't work, so many times. It's really a miracle that it happened at all. Even though we weren't able to talk about it, we couldn't have gotten through without the amazing prayer and generosity of our support family around the world! Thank you everyone for partnering with our family! Next steps are to journey towards a legal process to get Judah US citizenship. It will be challenging, but we are so thankful to face it together as a family.
Trauma in Cambodia
Around the mid-20th century, Cambodia was considered the jewel of south-east Asia. It had a stable government, growing economy, ancient historical wonders drawing tourists, and a thriving creative arts scene.
That all changed when the Khmer Rouge regime came to power (1975-1979). In just four years all major cities had been evacuated, and over one quarter of the population (over 3 million people) were murdered in genocide. Politicians, businessmen, entertainers, the educated, anyone wearing glasses, and their entire families were targeted. Families were split apart, people were murdered, infrastructure was destroyed, and the country was in chaos.
Today Cambodia is growing and developing. The current regime has been in power since 1985. Foreign investors have developed some infrastructure, industry, and tourism. But at the heart of the people there is still great brokenness. The country is primarily Buddhist, most live in poverty, it has one of the highest trafficking rates per capita in the world, and families are still living with the traumatic affects of the Khmer Rouge.
However, God is moving in Cambodia and there are many amazing people and organizations doing powerful restorative work in the country.
That all changed when the Khmer Rouge regime came to power (1975-1979). In just four years all major cities had been evacuated, and over one quarter of the population (over 3 million people) were murdered in genocide. Politicians, businessmen, entertainers, the educated, anyone wearing glasses, and their entire families were targeted. Families were split apart, people were murdered, infrastructure was destroyed, and the country was in chaos.
Today Cambodia is growing and developing. The current regime has been in power since 1985. Foreign investors have developed some infrastructure, industry, and tourism. But at the heart of the people there is still great brokenness. The country is primarily Buddhist, most live in poverty, it has one of the highest trafficking rates per capita in the world, and families are still living with the traumatic affects of the Khmer Rouge.
However, God is moving in Cambodia and there are many amazing people and organizations doing powerful restorative work in the country.
In March of 2022, through much prayer, Aaron and Chhoengka felt this was the year to start THRIVE; a mentor-based small-group community that invites Khmer to journey into deep emotional and spiritual places with God and each other. We created curriculum, shared the vision, and accepted eleven young people to join small groups.
We launched in September with a three day retreat. Some connected with God in new ways. Some found forgiveness. Some found breakthrough. Many are working through healing emotional wounds. All came away excited for the rest of the year, ready to do the work to go deep and grow. We started meeting weekly in our small groups, which continued through May of 2023. We launched our second year of groups in September of 2023 add two groups in Siem Reap as well as the groups in Phnom Penh.
We launched in September with a three day retreat. Some connected with God in new ways. Some found forgiveness. Some found breakthrough. Many are working through healing emotional wounds. All came away excited for the rest of the year, ready to do the work to go deep and grow. We started meeting weekly in our small groups, which continued through May of 2023. We launched our second year of groups in September of 2023 add two groups in Siem Reap as well as the groups in Phnom Penh.
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Hard Places Community (HPC) is an NGO who's vision is to bring hope to the hopeless in the darkest corners of the world. We are honored to partner with their vision as a family.
HPC is based in Cambodia with several kids centers, a men's center, art center, restaurant, and more. HPC Hires local staff as social workers in its centers, many whom have gone through the programs themselves. These amazing men and women are making a difference in the lives of children and men who are being trafficked as part of the sex tourism industry. Aaron and Megan support HPC existing programs with an emphasis on bringing administrative experience, offering pastoral care to the national Khmer staff, and encouraging systems that seek restorative justice. Out of these efforts Aaron has started and co-leads the THRIVE mentor community. |
Hope offers both primary and secondary education with the mission of supporting families doing development and outreach in Cambodia. Harper, Ember, and Judah, all attend Hope, and love going to school every day. Hope has an incredible community of families that fosters growth and learning. We are so thankful for all of the kids teachers.
Megan working at the school really helped us get plugged into community quickly. It turns out that was important once the pandemic lockdowns started eight months after our move to Cambodia. Megan worked for our first two years here as the board secretary and PA to the Director. Megan went back to Hope in September of 2022 in a new role as lead staff recruiter. Megan is helping bring in and develop a strong staff culture that empowers the institutions mission. Megan started teaching high school geography part time in fall of 2023.
Megan working at the school really helped us get plugged into community quickly. It turns out that was important once the pandemic lockdowns started eight months after our move to Cambodia. Megan worked for our first two years here as the board secretary and PA to the Director. Megan went back to Hope in September of 2022 in a new role as lead staff recruiter. Megan is helping bring in and develop a strong staff culture that empowers the institutions mission. Megan started teaching high school geography part time in fall of 2023.
Join Our Support Family Today
You can make a difference in Cambodia by Partnering with our family. Here are a few ways you can join with the work we do:
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1. Engage
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3. Get creative
You can partner with us by creatively offering your unique skills, knowledge, and relationships. Maybe you are crafty, or an influencer, or you know people. Maybe you want to come visit and see what we are doing first hand. Whatever you bring to the table could help. Send us a message and lets dream together. |
Connect With Us
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