88 degrees & sunny with a high chance of hope!

Cambodia is home to an extremely young generation as the result of the mass genocide of the 70s that killed 1/3 of the population here. Because so many Cambodians died under the 4-year regime of Khmer Rouge, 80% of the population is under the age of 30. I am so humbled that I am even alive today because had my parents lived under similar circumstances, they would have been executed for merely having an education. The Khmer Rouge came into power through the proclamation of lies that they promised the people here. They promised change and hope, and then when they came into power, they immediately evacuated the cities of Cambodia so the entire nation could be forced to farm in the fields. There would be no class system, no money, no healthcare, no freedom. They arrested, tortured and exectuted anyone who may have interfered with that plan.

Fast-forward to the sentiment here today. Many of the people who survived the genocide are bitter about what happened and still hold onto that. Some spend their lives trying to numb the pain and become highly addicted to alcohol and/or drugs. Many children live on the streets and do not attend school because they just don’t care. The public schools charge registration fees but it is hard to justify paying for this because many of the children end up dropping out. Praise God for people like Ingrid Willmann. Several years ago, Ingrid moved from Germany to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, with hopes to reintegrate these street children back into society. She started several programs to aid in this dream. Our team is helping two programs this month: Value Life, a midwifery program & Bethlehem Night Shelter, a safe place for street kids to sleep at night.

Value Life aims to train up new midwives to deliver babies in the poor countryside. Almost 0.5% (5 in 1,000) of births in Cambodia result in the mother dying due to lack of medical attention. This is an alarmingly high number. The problem is that the university program here is taught in English and many of the girls here don’t speak it. Our role is to teach English to the 4 women enrolled in the program here so they can enroll in the university in October. If they can’t pass the entrance exam, they will not be enrolled in the university. Please be praying for these women to excel in their English studies so they can continue their dream of saving lives.

Bethlehem Night Shelter provides a safe place for street kids to learn, sleep and play. This program exclusively reaches out to at-risk boys. The boys are required to spend 3 months at the shelter studying for at least 2 hours a day in order to prep them for a full school day of 4 hours. Once they accomplish this as evidence that they are serious about attending school, the program will pay for the registration fees required to enroll them in public school. When they are not at the shelter studying during the day, many are on the streets begging. At 5 o’clock, the shelter becomes a home to these 10 or 11 boys. They come and eat a meal, possibly the only meal they will eat for a day, and then we love on them and play games until bedtime at 8:45. We always read a bedtime story in English and one of the older boys translates to Khmer. It is so cool to see. Please be praying that the boys desire to continue to study because ultimately it is their own choice whether they end up back on the streets or on the path to becoming a functioning member of society.

I love the hope that I see in this nation. Some don’t see it yet, but I see a nation that is open to God’s love for them. I am so excited to be able to be here and share God’s love through me. I know this only possible because of God’s love for me and I praise God for giving me the strength and courage to live out his will. Thank you, Jesus!