Alexa Hope Velasco

Alexa Hope Velasco was born on July 18, 2011 at 4:28pm.

She was 8 pounds, 6 ounces, & 21 inches. She’s a perfect blessing from God.

March in Battambang

Hey Everyone!

March has been a busy month with lot’s of wonderful things happening in Cambodia! Steve continues to teach computer & Bible class everyday. One of the students in his Bible class recently accepted Jesus as his Savior and is now able to grow deeper in that relationship through the Bible class! Steve has also almost finished redesigning the entire base website, we’re excited to put it up online soon!

Steve teaching computer class

Krissy is still running around doing as much as she can while still resting & taking care of herself being 7 months pregnant now. Everyday is different with different needs arising and lots of projects to get taken care of before leaving at the end of April for Virginia. Still her favorite things to do are spend time with the Cambodian girls, help at Jeevit’s House, and translate so she’s trying to do that as much as she can in the next month!

A few weeks ago we went to Bangkok to have a thorough checkup for Krissy & the baby. Everything is healthy and baby seems to be developing 100& correctly and Baby GIRL Velasco is set to arrive last week of June/first week of July. We did learn that Krissy’s blood type, O-, will require Rh- Immunoglobulin injections in order to protect her & baby. God’s timing is perfect, as we learned this just in time to take care of it with no issues. Health care is very different in Cambodia and not so readily available,  so it was really God that we went to Bangkok when we did to get the check up.

Baby Girl Velasco

Krissy @ 24 weeks

April marks the Cambodian New Year. It’s gonna get crazy around here! Thank you all for your prayers, love, and kindness to us. We remain blessed.

Starting 2011 off with a BLAST!

Wow, so much has been going on! We’re really excited to be able to update you on all that God has been doing in a tiny little town in a tiny little corner of the world – Battambang, Cambodia! We’ll re-cap January & February for you below:

*January 4, 2011 our Base turned 5 years old! We celebrated with a HUGE THANK YOU party to Jesus for all He has done. We cannot believe how much we’ve grown in the past 5 years…from 4 staff to 50, no schools to 4 annual YWAM schools, 40 students in the Youth Center to over 400 students coming through the doors each day to hear about Jesus! It was a wonderful night of reflection, remembering, and also celebrating the future & all God has in store for the people of Cambodia!

*We did a total makeover of our new facility, that we call Base 2. We told you about this new facility before, and now God, in His gracious provision, provided the finances to do much needed renovations to the facility (as it is quite old). Check it out:

Base 2-Before

Base 2-After

Painting Base 2

*Krissy was able to be in a wedding of 2 of our staff members, Channoeun & Kovonne, who are also both really good friends of ours. Krissy has worked closely with the groom, Channoeun, for 3 years now. It was so much fun to be a part of their special day right here in Battambang!

Wedding Party

*Ruin & Rein, our little brother friends we told you about before, who live at Jeevit’s House full-time with our Jeevit’s House Staff, are doing great! Rein is walking and starting to talk, and is often super proud of his climbing adventures. Ruin studies 1/2 the day at Cambodian school and 1/2 the day at English school. We’re still really trusting God to open up long-term full-time care for these boys, in safe homes that they can grow up in being loved & knowing Jesus.

Ruin, 7 Years Old, Being Silly!

Rein, 16 months, Climbing!

*The Phase 2 school that Krissy was helping to lead also finished up. Most of the staff went on to be our Discipleship Training School Staff, and several others are now serving around the Base in different roles. We finished with a fun dinner together!

Krissy & Some of the Phase 2 Girls

Phase 2 Last Dinner Together!

*TODAY our 5th Battambang Discipleship Training School began with 21 students & 11 staff (from USA, Hong Kong, Thailand, & Cambodia)!

*And, our personal BIGGEST NEWS, as we hope you all have heard already, is we’re having a BABY! Baby Velasco is due to arrive in early July. It’s been a big mental adjustment thinking about about what life will look like here for us after we have a baby, but we are super excited for this new adventure. We will be in Virginia to have the baby and will return to Cambodia soon after the baby is born. We’ll be in Virginia May-August. Sorry, we don’t have any pictures yet, but we will post some soon!

*Due to our coming baby, Steve needed to stop studying the School of Biblical Studies for this year, as he would not be able to complete it before the baby arrives. He will continue it in January 2012. He is helping out a lot around the base: teaching a Bible & Computer class in the Youth Center, redesigning our Base website, discipling some young men, and studying the language several hours everyday. We for sure stay busy!

Thank you for your love & prayers. We think of you all often and are very thankful for all God is doing here and how each of you are choosing to be a part of it through your love, encouragements, prayers, & giving. We are truly blessed!

Phase 2 & SBS 2010!

Phase 2, our ever famous (haha, not really) staff internship school began on September 6. There are 20 new & old staff in the program, all willing and desiring to grow in Jesus and continue serve on staff with us. They are a fun bunch of folks and we’re working in the community in the areas of: healthcare, women at risk, children at risk, hospitality, agriculture, worship, and fundraising! We are learning how to use our gifts to bring glory to God and serve the people around us. You know you want to come see us! Check out how great God is in this bunch:

2010 Phase 2!

Also, our 2nd ever School of Biblical Studies started on September 20. There are 14 students from Cambodia, America, and the Philippines all ready to dig into God’s word for 9+ months. The students will read the entire Bible 5 times and inductively study each book. They needs lots of prayers for diligence during this time. Check out some pictures of this fine group below:

2010 SBS

school theme: Transformed by the Word

Krissy translating for SBS, Steve studying

SBS students hard at work!

We got hitched!

We haven’t been on the site in a while, but we’re back, and will be updating over the next few weeks. Thanks for your patience!

July 24 we got married in Chester, Virginia, USA. It was a GREAT day! We’re so thankful for our time spent this summer at Krissy’s home and for all the blessings from God. Now we’re back in Battambang, Cambodia and ready to go!

A few fun moments from our big day: