Newsletter updated posted on June 24th: mailchi.mp/c5d7793a6f0d/quarterly-update-in-cambodia-19879414

Newsletter update posted on June 1st: us19.campaign-archive.com/?u=fb4e7dbe12c6e71fe62d1a760&id=146b467493

Newsletter update posted on May 22nd: us19.campaign-archive.com/?u=fb4e7dbe12c6e71fe62d1a760&id=3186cbc95a

Newsletter update posted on March 23, 2025: us19.campaign-archive.com/?u=fb4e7dbe12c6e71fe62d1a760&id=3186cbc95a

Newsletter update sent on Jan 02, 2025: us19.campaign-archive.com/?u=fb4e7dbe12c6e71fe62d1a760&id=41dbbb82bd

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.  
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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. 
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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. 
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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!
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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.