I am in love with this woman. Yes, I said woman, Katie; you're a woman now!
Katie is in Cambodia right now doing her required internship for Simpson University's Cross-Cultural Studies major. She left May 2nd, and she is staying, by herself, in a foreign country for two months. She is working with a program called "Daughters" that helps women who are in the human trafficking trade get out and stay out. It is an amazing organization that my friends Jenna Barney and Libbie McIntosh worked with a couple of years ago, and my friend Harrison Yager even randomly visited and supported when he was in Cambodia. Now, Katie is working there, hands-on, with these broken women; encouraging them, supporting them, affirming them, and teaching them their worth and valuable skills that can help them earn an income in a safe, healing way.
Now, you may already be amazed at the sound of how amazing Katie is, but I am not finished; oh, no. This was not just a required internship for this woman. Working with girls stuck in prostitution has been her dream for a very long time; helping these women who are forced into this way of life with no visible way out has been something that God has laid upon Katie's heart for most of her life. I've known about this dream since I met Katie my freshman year in college. This quirky, hyper, adorable, spunky Asian's love for people permeates everything she does, says, and just is.
Katie Marie-Siu Soresi-Tam inspires me to my very core. She and I can laugh til our lungs give out at the smallest things, but we can also sift through very profound questions that we just can't answer until we're with our Savior. I've seen her through the easy stuff and the hard stuff, and she has always been there for me. Sometimes, we look back, dumbfounded, at how much we've grown since we first met; we were both afraid of relationships, and look where we are now! We've always laughed at how similar we are, and luckily, one of us is always slightly ahead of the other, so we can say, "Mm...been there. You're feeling this and don't know why this is happening, right? Yep, it gets better, I promise; here's some silly advice to get you through." We've had amazing times, from 312, Jamaica, modest swimsuits!, calls with Phillis, N*SYNC stick figure dance moves, bloody noses, PEPPER TURKEY!!!! >:(, wrestling for the honor of Bilbo, crazy photos..mostly on Thursdays, to our amazing notecards, laughterlaughterlaughter, painting, stripeyheadbands, "Aubrey, have you washed your face yet? Can we do it at the same time?", ascetic junkies, Wake Me Up, Nolan, Relentless Love, Garrett, Starbucks dates, Lifegroup..kinda :p, laughing for hours and hours at silly youtube videos like Aicha (that will ALWAYS be a classic :D), homework on our beds, reading LOTR finally, and soooooo much more.
Katie. You are amazing and are one of my very best friends. I am so proud of you for what you are doing for those girls in Cambodia, and I can't wait to hear it in person when you get back. I love you so so SO much.
And I know I'm gonna remember stuff later.
