3 capitols in 3 days!

We finished up our time in Colorado with a fun day in Denver. We got to see the wonderful King Tut exhibit at the Denver Art Museum and then we toured around the state capitol. Then we had yummy Pho, or Vietnamese noodles with Rachel's parents and their Chinese friend, Jingli.

Becki and Rachel exactly one mile high at the Denver capitol.

Mr. Meyer, Rachel, Becki, Kimberly and Mrs. Meyer (holding up Korean cookies) outside an Asian market.

Mrs. Meyer, Mr. Meyer, Jingli and Rachel. Where will Jingli and Rachel see each other next? China? Cambodia? America? Who knows!

We left Denver last Wednesday and drove to Kansas City to meet our new teammates Angel and Nate. Before we arrived, we had to visit Topeka, the state capital of Kansas.

Rachel and Kimberly hamming it up in front of the Topeka capitol.

Becki and Kimberly enjoying their picnic lunch in the park nearby.

This is Becki's first trip driving west to east in America. Yet another new thing on our journey!

This is Becki seeing the Mississippi River for the first time.

Last Thursday, we drove from Kansas City to Grand Rapids, Michigan. We were lucky enough to hit our third capitol in three days on this leg of our trip.

Becki, Abe Lincoln and Kimberly outside of the Springfield capitol (our favorite so far)!

Rachel and Kimberly in the state of Illinois (but pretending that they were back in Asia).

We have been busy over the last few days taking in the beauty of Michigan and meeting some really cool people. We have been so blessed by people's hospitality and eagerness to hear our story. Tomorrow we hit the road for Ohio and a visit to Rachel's sister. Perhaps we'll hit a capital along the way. :)

Current Update

Here is our most recent update sent out by email on Saturday, August 14th. Please drop us a line at graceandpeacegals@gmail.com or leave a comment if you wish to be added to our newsletter email list.

Hi Friends,

We're writing today from Denver, CO at Rachel's family's home. We are currently starting the fourth week of a 12 week road trip to raise support for our upcoming move to Cambodia. We are still greatly missing our friends in China, but look forward to what God has for us in anti-trafficking work in Cambodia. If you haven't gotten a chance to read our last newsletter, it has the full story as well as some pictures and our support information - all in two colorful pages! If you did not get this last month and would like to receive a copy, let us know.

We had a great time in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California, all the while making new friends and reconnecting with familiar faces. Our most recent Sunday service at Church Alive in California was especially encouraging! Every time we give our presentation, we are reminded of God's calling and our passion for this journey ahead.

So far we have spoken to 10 groups about our future work. Our August goal for raising support is 30 monthly partners. We now have 9 monthly partners submitted and confirmed with International Outreach Ministries. We are thankful for what God has provided.

To be very honest, as we look ahead to the next weeks of meetings, travel and work, we are a little discouraged by the financial progress so far. Please pray for us to trust in Him fully and for Him to continue to move in the hearts of the people that He wants to join in on this mission. We also ask for prayers for continued travel mercies, health, joy, and for our faith to increase more and more each day.

If you are interested in partnering with us financially please contact us.

Much love,

Kimberly, Becki, and Rachel

California and Utah!

Since the last time we blogged, we have visited four new states (California, Nevada, Utah and Colorado). Here are some pictures from the first few states:

In Southern California we met up with our friends from China--from left to right Madelyn, Joanna, Rachel, Melissa, Molly, Kimberly and Becki.

While we were in L.A., we got to see our friend Liane who took us to authentic Chinese food for lunch. We were so excited to finally use chopsticks again!

Renee, Kimberly's friend from college, graciously hosted an event for us at her apartment in Pasadena.

After a wonderful week in California, we escaped the crazy traffic and spent a few days at the national parks in Utah. We camped for three days and enjoyed God's creation--we even got to see the peak of a meteor shower in the dark, starry sky!

The campsite post with our reservation ticket.

Becki and Kimberly overlooking a natural salt dome in Canyonlands.

The overlook on the canyons at Dead Horse Point State Park.

We are currently in Denver, Colorado, visiting with Rachel's family. Stay tuned for pictures from the golden capitol dome of the Centennial state.

Leaving Arizona

We just spent a wonderful week in Prescott, Arizona with Becki's parents. We enjoyed the beauty of the mountains (even though it rained every day we were there!) One of the goals of our trip was to meet each other's family and it has been such a good gift to have quality time with the important people in our lives. In a conversation after one of our presentations this week, we learned that Phoenix has a brand new museum, the MIM or the Musical Instrument Museum (http://www.themim.org/). Kimberly (and Becki and Rachel a bit too) was so excited to spend a morning looking at instruments from all over the world. If you ever find yourself in Phoenix with a few hours to spare, we highly recommend it!

We felt like we were back in China with this huge gong.

Also getting to see simplified Chinese made our hearts happy.

It was a bit complicated, but we made it to our second state capitol building in Phoenix!

Perhaps you've noticed our trip counter on the side of the blog. We have driven around 3,000 miles in the last two weeks. Yesterday, on our drive from Phoenix to Los Angeles, we were able to add to our national parks totals by making a quick stop in Joshua Tree National Park.

Does it still count as a national park if they didn't check our parks pass?

We have a few busy days scheduled here in the L.A. basin. We are excited to see old China friends and visit with family in the area. Sadly, we won't be making our way up to Sacramento to see the California capitol.