Life Orphanage in Buriram absolutely changed my life, but now I need to tell
the story of how we ended with our ministry here Phenom Phen, Cambodia.
A little over three weeks ago we were given a list
of ministry contacts to prayerfully consider. Within the team there was strong
promptings towards a few of the options in particular, but we could not make a
final decision as a team. From the first time Chelsea read the options #6 literally
jumped off the page and captured my heart. It read…
“Ingrid created the
Bethlehem Night Shelter in 2004 to provide protection and support to homeless
street children. At the shelter, they provide a safe place for street children
at night. They also provide encouragement and counseling to the kids. Some kids
live at the shelter longer-term and are helped to complete school and
reintegrate them with their families. Teams can help by teaching English,
teaching life skills, playing sports with the kids, teaching Bible, etc. They
also have the opportunity for doing outreach to street children, and visiting
sponsored children in the province. (Kaleb)”
In the end there was still a decision to be made as
a team, so we fasted and prayed together before making our final decision. I
trusted God that He would unify our team for a final decision and I knew in my
heart that if God wanted my team and I to do the sixth option that He would supernaturally
come through. The morning of the day that we were supposed to submit our final
decision, Chelsea had checked her email to find out that each team “had
already” submitted their choice for ministry and ours was inevitably option #6.
My heart nearly jumped out of my chest and I can say without a doubt of my mind
that I am exactly where I need to be. God began to speak to me in that moment
about our next month and asked me to prepare my heart in turn.
The journey here to Phenom Phen consisted of about
10 hours of bus riding and few hours at the border dealing with customs. In
addition, along the way we visited the oldest functional bridge in all of
Cambodia and snacked of some tasty banana chips and I even got the chance to
eat and pet a tarantula. I’m currently located in Phenom Phen and staying in a
YWAM base with my team Absolute Abandon and team Freely Given.
We are working alongside Kaleb ministries, an
organisation that really lives out their slogan, “Restoring Broken Lives”. It
has been an honour and a privilege to work alongside of Ingrid (founder of
KALEB), a native of Germany, a real woman of God with a heart towards the poor,
and a lifestyle that radiates the love of Christ. Heroes of the faith are hard
to find, but she is definitely one of them and to work alongside of her has
been a true blessing.
four mid-wives in training to prepare them for university and we asked one of
them why she wanted to be a mid-wife, she simply, but passionately responded,
“I want to save lives”. The reality is that many woman and babies die during
the delivering process here in Cambodia due to a lack of proper medical
assistance.
with homeless street children teaching English to both university students that
live there and to some of the boys from the street. But, most of all we are
there to love on them and to share the hope we have found in Jesus-Christ. Each
and every one of them has captured my heart and it can be easy to forget that they
live on the street, sometimes having their only meals at the night-shelter. I
see all of these young men as my brothers and nothing less.
As a team we are serving in any capacity we can even
when were not working with the Kaleb Ministry and we are growing day by day.
but beyond anything we are becoming less like us and more like Him. And I pray
that all who read this would do the same, the world needs Him and I’m reminded
of this reality every day on the race.
