Hello Family and Friends!
I wanted to update you on my whereabouts. I am in Kampong Thom, Cambodia and have been here since February 3rd. I am staying at a children’s home called, Hope Center, which is one of the programs of Evangelical Mission Organization for Development (EMOD). Staying here with 36 amazing and beautiful children has been so rewarding and it has only been a week!
The Hope Center is only one of the great programs EMOD has going on here in Kampong Thom. They also have an English school in the city, a beauty salon school, a feeding program, and a chain of churches in multiple villages surrounding Kampong Thom.
The Hope Center is a children’s home that takes in children who are either orphans, their parents are too poor to take care of them, or their family lives in distant villages without opportunities to attend school so they are here to be closer to the city to get an education. The children here are sponsored by donors so they can have a roof over their head, food in their bellies, and receive an education.
These kids are amazing. They showered us with the love the moment we walked in. They run up to you and hug you. After only a week with them they tell you they love you and kiss you goodnight. It was a hard realization that these kids are desperate for love and affection. They don’t have parents here who love on them. WE are their mothers right now, in this month. WE are to shower them with love, affect, praise, and a sense of approval. Since they have teams who come and go so quickly these little ones are used to loving quickly in order to maximize the love in return. Their hearts are so open for affection. It makes you feel warm, but also very sad.
There are two males in their early 20s who live here with the kids and one family with wife and husband and their two kids who cook for the children. But this is not enough. Not enough mother, not enough father to spread to over 30 children to feel that intimate love and support. Yet there is sooo much joy in these kids. You can see it in their eyes. You can see it in their laugh. They have so little but have so much. They receive so little but are able to give so much love! God you are incredible! You have rescued these little gems for you and are giving them life, giving them joy, giving them freedom, giving them a future through this amazing organization! This is going to be hard to leave these kids!!! There has been so much love, fun and joy here with them all!
Our days here start at 5:40am with a bible study with the kids. Then we all help clean by picking up trash, watering, sweeping, and mopping. Then the little kiddos go off to school. After breakfast we pile in to our tuk tuks (kinda like a taxi on a motorcycle) and head off to a nearby village to play with more kids. At the different villages we play games, sing songs, and tell bible stories. In the evening we all teach English classes. There are five different classes and we rotate between them all either teaching by ourselves or with a partner. Three of the classes are in the city at the English school and the other two classes are in here at the Hope Center teaching those who live there.
Even though living in such close proximity to the kids (down the hall) is great there are definitely challenges with that. You can’t really ever get away and be “off”. The opportunity to minister and impact these kids positively for Christ can be a 24/7 job. Last night we got back to the Hope Center after teaching english in town and had a spontaneous dance party with the kids. We performed a dance we had made up ourselves during training camp to the song Overcomers which inspired our team name. After that we followed up the dance party with Cha Cha Slide, Macarena, Hookie-Pookie, and the Cupid Shuffle. Even though I was so exhausted after teaching and coming back from a long day as soon as I saw the kids in our room and waiting for us I was filled with a second wind. So much energy that I wasn’t tired anymore. They filled me up with their presence. It was so much fun and gave me so much joy to be around such innocent and pure excitement and fun.
The pastor who runs this organization told us that some of the supporters for some of the kids backed down and there are some kids who do not have a sponsor at the moment and that if they cannot find a sponsor the kids won’t be able to stay here. If anyone is interested in sponsoring a child their website is below. Please email the pastor if you want to sponsor a child. I can personally tell you something about each and every one of these kids. They are real, they are amazing, and they are in need. www.emod-ema.org Email: [email protected]
