Cambodia 2013/14

Reunited!

I'm finding myself at a loss for words trying to write this post. I just can't seem to sum it all up, all of the blessings my team and I experienced this year in Cambodia.

Stepping out into the familiar burst of hot air as we left Phnom Penh International Airport, I felt like I was finally home. I felt like I'd been waiting so long to just be back, and it felt amazing. I felt like I was finally back where He really wants me.

We set out to the S21 Prison our first day, where prisoners were detained, tortured, and murdered. It broke my heart the first time I toured this place, however this year it hit much harder. After last year I developed relationships with the Cambodian people, and a love for this nation. This connection brought me to tears thinking about how much devastation the Khmer Rouge has cost this country, and how broken it still is.

Up until now, I've always thought that the Lord would send me somewhere in Latin America because I speak fluent spanish. However, during the tour, I felt Him opening my heart to the possibility of returning to Cambodia in the future. WOW. Never in all my wildest dreams could I have ever imagined this possibility. As much as I fell in love with this country last year, I thought that God was preparing me for a life serving elsewhere.


Philippians 4:19 tells us, 'And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.' I am submitting my life into His hands because His plans are so much greater than my own. It's crazy to think that He would care enough about me to plan out my life and guide me down the path he Has prepared for me. Whether he leads me to Cambodia or not, I will follow.

One of my favorite memories from this week, among to many to count, was with one of the mothers who cooked for us during our time in the village. I had shared smiles and hugs with her for only about two days, and she told me through a translator that when she dies, she wants me to take care of her two young daughters.
My heart was touched and I was shocked that this woman I had just met would say something like this to me. I later learned that her husband is sometimes abusive and she's been married three times. Though her story is one of hardship, she's always smiling and so full of hope.

As for the physical aspect of our trip, our team built two houses and a fence surrounding the villages' elementary school, Glory International. We also painted a mural on the side of the school and put the team's handprints so that the kids can always remember us.

Our team learned so much from spending time with the villagers and loving on the children. Their hope and joy inspired us and taught us that materialistic items don't bring true happiness; God does. Once again, I'm amazed at how much God blessed our team! 

Thanks so much to everyone who prayed for our team and supported us in any way; we were truly blessed and we're so thankful to have such great support! We're currently praying about the possibility of returning next year!


As much as I wish I were back in Cambodia right now, and as much as I would be content to never leave, I'm learning to accept the fact that that's not God's plan, yet. I still have a lot to learn, a lot to experience, and a whole lot of time to serve where He leads me before life as a missionary. I'm learning to consider myself a missionary for Christ now, not just on the mission field.


'Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.' Matthew 16:24-27

'Here I am Lord, send me.' - Isaiah 6:8

Our team on the last day; bittersweet...

World Vision- #dreamshare

Hey friends and family! Lately, I have been very involved in World Vision Youth, as I am one of 60 WV Youth Communicators around the world! Right now, we're in the process of a project called #dreamshare, where we share our dreams on a global platform, and there will be one winner that will be supported by World Vision through launching a global youth campaign for their cause!

I was blessed to be nominated as one of these 5 candidates, and now we're in the voting process to choose on campaign. This is my campaign idea:

Voting starts now and continues until November 4th. I would really appreciate it if you'd click the link below and vote for my dream or any other dream you support! Also, feel free to share this link with your friends and encourage them to vote! All 5 dreams are equally amazing, and I'd be happy with any of them winning!

Vote here: http://blog.worldvisionyouth.org/2013/10/25/dream-vote/ (When voting, my dream is #2)

More from World Vision Youth:

Read more about my dream, 'Micro-Mission'

http://www.worldvisionyouth.org/acts/micro-mission-teens-for-change

A blog post WV wrote about S4S!

http://blog.worldvisionyouth.org/2013/10/14/scarves-for-service/

3rd Sale!

A couple weeks ago was my third annual Scarves for Service sale! I sold approximately 70 scarves, and raised over $1000, more than ever before! God provided again this year, as he always does. This was almost exactly all I need to pay for Gloria and Maria's sponsorship for the year! I'm in awe of how God works...

Moved to Action

When God puts something on my heart, it's like a recording that plays over and over again in my mind until I realize that it is a direct message from Him. That's what happened recently when I decided to sponsor another child through Compassion International.  I started to think about the young girl in Guatemala that we've been sponsoring since 2002 and that my 15 year old daughter Emily has recently committed to sponsoring two girls on her own. It struck me that my husband and I are sponsoring one child and we have a steady income and that our teenage daughter is sponsoring two girls without a consistent income to support her commitment. Emily stepped out in faith to sponsor these two girls because her heart could not handle the fact that children all over the world were in need.  In need of love, support, financial help, and someone who was going to love and pray for them regularly, even from continents away. 

So, she vowed to support them financially with no concrete means to pay for it.  She decided as she sponsored her second girl that she would use all of the proceeds from her "Scarves for Service" non-profit micro-business to pay the monthly fees required to provide for these two sweet girls.  Emily spends months knitting scarves for a November community sale where she believes by faith that God will provide the money she needs for the year to support these girls, which is about $940.  The thing that amazes me the most is that Emily knows without a shadow of a doubt that God will provide the money.  If she is faithful to do the work of knitting the scarves, God will provide the money to buy the yarn, the people to buy the scarves, and the venue to sell them.  

So, as I thought about the meager one sponsorship that we had, and that our daughter had two, I felt the pang of conviction that there was more that we could be doing.  That there was more that we should be doing.  God's word spoke loud and clear to my heart that day. "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." Luke 12:48b (NIV)

Thank you Lord for using my daughter to move me to action. Thank you Lord for using your Word to confirm that call.

~Charlotte Larsen

  Emily's Mom

Maria- Guatemala- 16

Sylivia- Uganda- 17

Hope (Blog Month Assignment #2)

Hope is the only thing some people have.
Her children fall asleep with empty bellies. Her husband has been out of work for weeks. Her health is deteriorating, and she can't get a job to provide her kids with a basic education. Hope is all she has left, but it's all she needs. God provides, He always does. Her hope is in Him.

When all else fails, hope remains, hope strengthens, hope provides.

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope." Romans 15:13

Hope is universal.
I dream of being a missionary. The people I will someday serve are 
my hope. Perhaps I will be hope to them.

My sponsor daughter tells me she's struggling in school. I encourage her to trust in the Lord. School is a struggle for me as well. We share hope, hope that it will get better, hope that our Father will provide us with the strength we need. 

Around the world, through good times and bad, there's something we all share, hope in an Almighty God.

Compassion Family- Update

Recently, my name was put on a list to be assigned to a correspondence child. I was first assigned to Sam, from India, who is 17. I then put my name on the list again, and was assigned to Wisly, from Haiti, who is 10. Again, I signed up for another correspondent buddy, and was assigned to David, from Guatemala, who is 5.

For different reasons, these kids don't get letters from their sponsors, so they are supported financially, but not emotionally by a sponsor. I do not pay the $38 a month for them as I do with Maria and Gloria, but I do correspond with them through letter-writing.

It breaks my heart that some children don't receive letters, because even though they are given the opportunities that their sponsors donations provide, the emotional connection and the life-changing encouragement that will motivate them to rise above poverty is lacking. I'm so thankful I can be there for them in prayer and love as they grow and become what God has planned for them.

If you'd like to be put on the wait-list to be assigned to a correspondent buddy, email Compassion at CICqueue@us.ci.org. I assure you it is an opportunity you won't regret!

Left to right: 
Gloria- 16- Colombia (sponsored)
Maria- 15- Honduras (sponsored)
Wisly- Haiti- 10 (correspondent)
Sam- India- 17 (correspondent)
David- Guatemala- 5 (correspondent)

Thanks again for all the love and support for S4S! Without my friends and family, I would not be able to support these children in Jesus' name! Please pray for them, and I will post more information as soon as I receive more letters with more prayer requests from them. Letters take about 2-3 months to be sent from me, translated, replied to by the child, and then again translated and sent back to me. 

So far I have received a letter from Gloria, and I am awaiting one soon from Maria. I just sent my first letters to Sam, Wisly, and David, so those replies will take a bit longer, since they are newer additions to my Compassion Family.

If you have any questions about correspondence, letter-writing, or sponsorship, let me know at emily.clairelarsen@hotmail.com

In Him, Emily Claire

God Provides.

Over the past couple of weeks, the Lord's provision has been so evident! I've had an abundance of babysitting jobs, and I am now also babysitting for a new family every Tuesday and Wednesdays, which is great because it's a more regular income. 

I also have a possible job opportunity lifeguarding next year (2014) at school, which pays well and should be fun!

This money will fund my second mission trip to Cambodia in December, while still saving for missions projects in the future. The trip will cost about $1,200 total, and I have about $4,000 saved up in my bank account already.

Seeing how much the Lord has provided, it gives me hope and assurance that He will provide in the future. I sometimes find myself thinking about the future, feeling uncertain at times. Where will I go, how will I get my start as a missionary, how will I provide for my family financially? 

I have to stop and tell myself that God will provide. He always has; why should I doubt that He will in the future. I also have to pause and realize that for goodness sakes, I'm only 15 years old. I don't have to worry about the future, because I'm still growing up and growing with the Lord. One of my favorite verses, Matthew 6:26 says...

Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 

As the Lord speaks that truth into my life, I realize that I am so fully provided for and taken care of by a God that love and cares for me more than I'll ever know.

I also realize that no matter how I may try to plan out the life ahead, God is and will always be in control. His will is far better than mine. Saying "yes" to God and surrendering my worries, weakness, and my life to Him is so much better than living a life of uncertainty on my own. God provides, and God empowers. God is Lord over my life, my deliverer!

Verses of assurance:

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.' Hebrews 13:5

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19